(no subject)
1. The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber
You know, for someone who says they're not into military sci-fi, I read a heck of a lot of David Weber. I think he's the exception, in that not only does he write characters I actually care about, but he writes the battle scenes and the explanations of futuristic tech in ways that make sense and that I find interesting. Like, I'm not the sort of geek who sees ships and weapons as cool in and of themselves. Matt, on the other hand, can tell you what kind of weapons are on a TIE-fighter as opposed to the alliance fighters, or describe probably every ship class in the Manticoran Navy. But Weber tends to put the ship and tech-geeking in the context of tactics or do neat things with character development intertwined with the tech-geeking.
There's one awesome and subtle bit at the end of Apocalypse Troll that I really enjoyed, about Milla playing herself off as "just a dumb fighter jock" to avoid giving 20th century earth too much info about future tech.
Anyway, basic premise is that in the future, humans are locked in a war with the Shirmaksu (who they call Kangas), who believe that all other sentient races are evil and it's their job to wipe them off the face of the universe. Humans are winning, but the Kangas make a last-ditch attempt to kill off humanity by going into the past and striking before they can get higher tech. Only one human of the force following them survives, Colonel Ludmilla Leonovna.
She's a very cool character, and I'd like to have gotten more of her thoughts and interior monologue. Aston, the retired Navy guy who rescued her, becomes the viewpoint character as soon as he finds her, and most of her characterization is through his reaction to her, not inside her head. And I find that vaguely annoying when we get so much of his thoughts.
I'm also finding it annoying that Weber's heroines are impossibly young and pretty. Honor because of prolong technology, Milla because *SPOILER*she's a Thuselah, which are humans who survived a bio-weapon attack by the Kangas and ended up with a symbiote that keeps them from aging or getting sick and gives them superhuman healing abilities. */SPOILER*
Because, male protagonists can be an age that makes sense for their skills and experiences, but women apparently stop being sexy (and therefore worthwhile) around 30, so the only way you can have a female character above a certain military rank as a main character is if some high-tech means keep her magically youthful. Blecch. But she can totally hop into bed with a guy twice her apparent age, whose looks reflect his actual chronological age.
That gripe aside, it was a very fun read. Well-written and deeply disturbing antagonist, lots of plot twists, interesting aliens. Definitely good stuff. And the ending mixed sweet and funny in a way that was just perfect.
You know, for someone who says they're not into military sci-fi, I read a heck of a lot of David Weber. I think he's the exception, in that not only does he write characters I actually care about, but he writes the battle scenes and the explanations of futuristic tech in ways that make sense and that I find interesting. Like, I'm not the sort of geek who sees ships and weapons as cool in and of themselves. Matt, on the other hand, can tell you what kind of weapons are on a TIE-fighter as opposed to the alliance fighters, or describe probably every ship class in the Manticoran Navy. But Weber tends to put the ship and tech-geeking in the context of tactics or do neat things with character development intertwined with the tech-geeking.
There's one awesome and subtle bit at the end of Apocalypse Troll that I really enjoyed, about Milla playing herself off as "just a dumb fighter jock" to avoid giving 20th century earth too much info about future tech.
Anyway, basic premise is that in the future, humans are locked in a war with the Shirmaksu (who they call Kangas), who believe that all other sentient races are evil and it's their job to wipe them off the face of the universe. Humans are winning, but the Kangas make a last-ditch attempt to kill off humanity by going into the past and striking before they can get higher tech. Only one human of the force following them survives, Colonel Ludmilla Leonovna.
She's a very cool character, and I'd like to have gotten more of her thoughts and interior monologue. Aston, the retired Navy guy who rescued her, becomes the viewpoint character as soon as he finds her, and most of her characterization is through his reaction to her, not inside her head. And I find that vaguely annoying when we get so much of his thoughts.
I'm also finding it annoying that Weber's heroines are impossibly young and pretty. Honor because of prolong technology, Milla because *SPOILER*she's a Thuselah, which are humans who survived a bio-weapon attack by the Kangas and ended up with a symbiote that keeps them from aging or getting sick and gives them superhuman healing abilities. */SPOILER*
Because, male protagonists can be an age that makes sense for their skills and experiences, but women apparently stop being sexy (and therefore worthwhile) around 30, so the only way you can have a female character above a certain military rank as a main character is if some high-tech means keep her magically youthful. Blecch. But she can totally hop into bed with a guy twice her apparent age, whose looks reflect his actual chronological age.
That gripe aside, it was a very fun read. Well-written and deeply disturbing antagonist, lots of plot twists, interesting aliens. Definitely good stuff. And the ending mixed sweet and funny in a way that was just perfect.