I did not expect to appreciate this book as much as I did. As you can see from the cover, the book looks very much like Halo. The cover led me to believe I was in for the novelization of a space marine-type video game. What I got instead was a nuanced military sci-fi story with an interesting and diverse cast of characters, realistic geopolitics, and real-world tactics. Knox’s Irregulars is the story of Randal Knox, the son of a national leader of New Geneva. […]
The movie is better.
How often can you say you liked the movie better with a straight face? Not often. Here’s what the movie has going for it: 1. It’s fun and watchable. 2. It has pretty people in it. 3. Horrible things happen to those pretty people. 4. It takes parts of this book and ignores the rest. 5. It completely subverts the pro-military message of the book into a satire. 6. It has Neil Patrick Harris in it as a psychic. 7. It’s cheesy and violent and tries […]
Even more badass than Ripley?
Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr is the baddest of bad asses. She strictly follows military protocol but can make a general feel like an idiot and a new second lieutenant toe her line while doing so. She is competent and smart and snarky and fucking wonderful. She’s got no time for your bullshit and it’s the best. If you read Valor’s Choice and don’t love Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr, we can’t be friends any more. “But, Amanda, what is Valor’s Choice about?” you might ask. Well, […]
The Life and Times of a Sassy Space Captain
Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon (1990) Two writers for the price of one! Or, since it’s three novellas, six for the price of one? This is an interesting read, mostly because of the first book (it’s split into three books). Sassy, or Sass, is a young colonial girl on a distant world who sees her family killed by slavers and is kidnapped, along with the other children. “Conditioned” to obey and kept under the worst conditions, the children are sold as slaves based on […]