Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Sword (The General, Book V), December 18, 1999
By A Customer
Mediocre ending to outstanding series. Every other book in this series I would give 5 stars to. This one was not too bad as a story, but as the climax of a 5 part series it was flat. It had essentially the same basic plot as the others (go to enemy, overcome obstacles, make brilliant tactical move, gain victory). The overcoming of the major problems and enemies the reader has been following for the entire series (untrusting ruler, corrupt and evil chancellor) are summed up with a few sentences at the end. What made this series outstanding is its combination of realistic warfare, politics, character development, history, and fantasy. The Sword essentially leaves out the politics and character development. As a next to last book in a series, The Sword would be fine, but it fails to wrap up the overall story in a satisfactory manner. Overall, however, The General is a must-read series for any military or SF fiction fan, and enjoyable for nearly everyone else.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Steam Runs Out Of the Series, November 3, 1998
By A Customer
A book series should be so fast paced and unpredictable that the reader doesn't have the time to pause and work out the plot - they should be absorbed in reading and the plot should always be so unique as to give them doubt about the final outcome. The first two books in the series hooked me, but then innovation ceased and by the fourth book I was telling myself, "Go ahead and kill of Barholm and put Poplanich on the throne and get it over with, will you!" The last book was no surprise. Even the innovation of tricking the Colonists into overextending their supply lines and starving themselves into submission was dull. (For a desert-wise professional army, the Colonist sure acted stupid). What got me the most was that technical innovation ceased. Given the resources of Center it should have blossomed. Just using the technology of the 1870s to 1890s, I was hoping to see field rockets on firing troughs like those used in the Zulu wars (and carried by mule-dogs), real Gatling guns (not the "splat guns" which offered too little firepower for their size), mountain guns, hydropneumatic recoil on artillery, bolt-action rifles (shooting 11-mm black powder cartridges, like the .45-70 Hotchkiss the USA Army tested or the tube-magazine Mauser 11-mm), iron clad monitors, heavy artillery (please lay off the 75s), sniper rifles (mentioned but not used). Then you might add in smokeless powders invented around 1886 and a deluge of other little ideas. Balloons, for example, and telegraphs. Even the lack of innovation didn't surprise me- the authors are hyped as military experts who strive for accuracy, yet their books tend to lack technical accuracy. In one story in the Riverworld series, one of them featured a Union soldier with a fourteen shot Henry rifle (a Henry rifle has a 15 shot magazine, plus room for one in the spout). In The General series the 75's shoot 10-kilo' shells (22 pounds - more suited for 90-mm howitzers) while a typical 75-mm would actually only fire a 7-kilogram shell (15.4 lb). For a high-velocity weapon, the 75' in the book has a very short range, one that even the lack of elevation cannot wish away - elevation is just a matter of jacking the wheels up, at which point 12,000 meters would easily be achieved. The pom-pom shell fluctuates from quarter kilo' (.55 lb) to 1-pound (.45 kilograms). The Skinner's are super-barbarians shooting 15-mm rifles with far too much accuracy; the 15-mm caliber would cause severe logistics problems, reducing ammunition supplies drastically and against humans having no real advantage over .45-caliber weapons. Besides resulting in a very low rate of fire. But, compared to the other books written by "military" experts, the beginning of the series is a fairly good read. By the end, though, it begins to get boring due to a lack of change in plot and result.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent 5 Book Series, September 12, 2000
This is the standard by which I judge all military fiction. I have never found another that was it's equal. Even when the same authors got together again for books 6 and 7 (which I have reviewed separately) they couldn't recreate the magic of this series.THE GENERAL series is about a fallen interstellar society which has climbed it's way back up to the technological level of the American Civil War. The hero, Raj Whitehall, has to reunite the planet in order to reach the stars again some day. This involves a lot of fighting and empire building. What gives Raj his edge is the pre-fall computer he has linked with that can see through his eyes. This series has outstanding character development, a solid and well thought out overall plot line, and good story resolution in each book. The two things that really make the series the top of its genre are the interaction between the computer and the hero, and the realism of the situation. The interaction is a delicate balance that the authors perform magically. If the computer (Center) contributes too much, then the hero has too much of an edge, he doesn't have to try, and the story becomes boring. Without the computer, the hero is just this god like superhuman character that can do no wrong. The computer assistance makes Raj identifiable to the reader, even after he overcomes overwhelming odds to defeat the enemy. The realism comes from the fact that Raj is based on the life of a real person. The whole story is very similar to the story of Byzantine General Belisarius who conquered most of the Mediterranean world for his Emperor after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. That makes it very believable. The characters are very real. Their actions really happened a millenium and a half ago. This is a must read for any fan of military fiction or empire building.
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