The City Who Fought (Brainship) (Hardcover)

by Mccaffrey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This space adventure further develops McCaffrey's vivid future universe of diversified cultures, technological wonders and twisted, sometimes corrupt, politics. Space Station SSS-900C, a profitable but out-of-the-way trading and mining center, is attacked by Kolnari, pirates from a planet of sociopathic exiles. While awaiting the arrival of the Central Worlds' Navy, the inhabitants play for time with a major deception planned by Simeon, the shellperson operating the station, whose hobby is the study of early warfare, including guerrilla tactics. (Shellpeople, damaged while young by accident or birth defect and encased in life-support systems, are wired into and control sophisticated technology such as space stations, cities and spaceships, while maintaining their own personalities and emotions.) Central to the scheme is obedience to all the Kolnari's demands while keeping secret the fact of Simeon's existence, since if the Kolnari gained control of the technically sophisticated shellperson they would have an intolerable advantage. As Simeon clandestinely builds his trap for the Kolnari, he wistfully watches and encourages a love affair between Channa Hap, the woman he loves and cannot have, and a noble refugee. McCaffrey (The Dragonriders of Pern series, The Ship Who Sang ) and Stirling (the Draka series) create vivid heroes and villains in a complex and deadly game.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
SSS-900, a huge space station controlled by the brain of Simeon--a shellperson who relieves his daily monotony by replaying computer simulations of great battles--becomes the only thing standing between ruthless alien pirates and total destruction.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 435 pages
• Publisher: Baen; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (April 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671721666
• ISBN-13: 978-0671721664
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #906,474 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite B&B book, January 8, 2000

By	Kali (Lancre, Discworld) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The City Who Fought (Brainship) (Mass Market Paperback)

City Who Fought is an amazing book which I really love. The characters are all very real and three-demensional. I found myself so drawn into the story that I forgot about many other things, including my favourite tv show. I stayed up til...bout 2:30 AM reading this book, so that I could find out what happened to Simeon, Joat, Channa, and the rest of them. My favourite character was Simeon, of course, but Joat, Channa, Joseph, Seld, Patsy, Chaundra -- okay, all of them, just about -- are also wonderfully three-demensional. Simeon is my favourite brain -- favourite character -- from any of Anne McCafferey's B&B books. The only problems I found with this book were a) that it was much more militaristic than I like, but I knew that when I began reading it, so I can only blame myself, and b) the Kolnari were a bit..flat, and 2-demensional, not something I personally like in a book, especially for the villians. One thing that I read in another review of this book was that it was not a good book for children, having a lot of sex and violence in it. My opinion on this is: It's not MEANT for children! It's an adults book, and the person who wrote that review should have realized that.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed - definately not a McCaffrey work, April 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The City Who Fought (Brainship) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really couldn't get into this book. I am a diehard fan of Anne, and I have read 99% of her books. This was the first one that I didn't even finish. I gave it about half the book, and then gave up because of the violence and awkward writing style. In fact, the style itself was nothing like Anne's! I would venture to say that Stirling wrote the majority of this work, and I found his style to be crude at best. Although, if you are into violence, hey this is the book for you! In fact, I bet it would be really good for folks who are into that. Anyway, I found it nothing at all like Anne's books, and I wondered how much of a part she had in the writing. I love the rest of the series though, and give the series a 4 star rating. :)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McCaffrey's characters fight real war Stirling-style, July 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The City Who Fought (Brainship) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've always considered Anne McCaffrey a lightweight. She's superb at characterization but she doesn't put her characters through destructive testing. Her favorite plot is the _deux ex machina_.

Not so here. This is NOT a book for children, and not just because of sexual tension between main characters. S.M. Stirling writes very good, very hard-core military fiction in which the bad guys sometimes win and the good guys _suffer_ even if they are lucky enough to survive.

The mix of the two is incredible, better than either on their own. _The City Who Fought_ forces McCaffrey's characters to the next level of courage and heroism, realistically mixing personal concerns and the horrors of war. _And_ they measure up to the challenge in distinctly different ways.

Oh, and see _The Ship Avenged_ by Stirling for the sequel. If you still want more "military McCaffrey", I suggest _Sassinak_.