The Chosen (The Raj Whitehall Series, Book 6) (Mass Market Paperback)

by S.M. Stirling (Author), David Drake (Author) "Commodore Maurice Farr lifted the uniform cap from his head and wiped at the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief..." (more)
Key Phrases: john hosten, raj whitehall, chosen council, David Drake, Jeffrey Farr, Maurice Farr (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Working with an ancient battle computer in order to prepare hundreds of planets for membership in the Second Federation of Man, Raj Whitehall encounters the militarist planet of Visigar, where racial practices are used to prevent unity.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Baen (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671877240
• ISBN-13: 978-0671877248
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #643,590 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #63 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Stirling, S.M.
  #68 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Drake, David

• This is item 6 in The Raj Whitehall Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Appealing to those familiar with Stirling and Drake's works., June 29, 1998

By A Customer

A continuation of the General series is a pleasant surprise. The Chosen continues David Drakes' penchant for molding a military fiction around actual history. S.M. Stirling contributes a strategical view of the situational plot which is usually lacking in Drakes' novels (not to the detriment of his stories, though). The S.M. Stirling/David Drake tandem achieves a notable work in this novel. Granted, I enjoy both authors, but rarely am I compelled to start and finish a book in one day. This one was an exception. The military action holds your interest while the promise of the resolution of the strategical situation keeps you turning pages. This novel is a worthy continuation of the General series, although the character of the CENTER computer is much more muted and almost non-existent. In past novels the computer was an integral part of the story; in The Chosen it is much farther in the background. In summary, the story could easily stretch over five novels as the previous series did. The story felt a bit rushed, with far less detail than I had hoped for.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Skips through the characters lives too much, August 18, 2000

By	silliman89 "silliman89" (Burke, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This entertaining book was very different from the GENERAL series with Center and Raj Whitehall. Raj only has a bit part in this story, although his reminiscing about his life after the general series ended was satisfying (but short).

This is a World War I technology level war story, with very interesting battle scenes, but poor character involvement. The story skips in and out of the hero's life over a period of decades. As a reader, I never really connected that much with the people. I was interested in the final outcome of the war, but the nations were just as interesting as the people in this story, and just as identifiable.

This is a good solid read. If you are a big Raj Whitehall fan, it's fun to think that Center has given him a sort of immortality. If you want to see two of the greatest military authors have fun with World War I, this book is definitely for you. Maybe, as some reviewers have mentioned, if this were expanded into a whole series I would have felt more involved with the characters.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Choppy., December 15, 1998

By	Stephen M. Bainbridge "www.professorbainbridg... (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not up to standards of the Raj series. Lots of vignettes, loosely tied together. I suspect they wanted to do another multi-volume series, but the publisher was only willing to do a single book--so they crammed everything into that volume. I also suspect this started out as a separate series, which the publisher told them to connect to Raj for sales purposes. It is only loosely tied to the Raj series and only by an implausible plot device. Neither Raj nor Center are central to the working out of the plot. Readers looking for a contination of the Raj stories will be disappointed. Readers looking for decent military SF will be modestly satisfied.