Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS....
And this Victor is fully capable of raking them in, a Bolo Mark XXXIII of the 4th Regiment, Second Brigade, First Confederation Mobile Army Corps, in the vanguard of an all-out Bolo strike against the planet Caern. The enemy is the Aetryx, shadowy, unknown beings who enslave other species with nothing less than the promise of immortality. As a savage, interstellar war begins, Colonel Jon Streicher prepares to lead Victor and the rest of his regiment in that most difficult of tactical evolutions -- a planetary invasion.
But D-Day turns into a disaster, and Caern is a deadly trap. Colonel Streicher and his command team find themselves stranded on the target planet, desperately attempting to survive the hellfire chaos of modern warfare, as Bolo faces Bolo-human hybrid in a cataclysmic showdown that will uncover unexpected truths, reveal hidden secrets, and even call into question the loyalty of the Dinochrome Brigade itself.
For just what will happen if the Aetryx aren't slavers after all, but literal gods who can make good on their promise of eternal life?
The Dinochromes are about to find out.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
A great disapointment
Customer Rating:
Being as longtime fan of the Bolo books, I was disapointed. The central third of this book needed severe editing. While it could have stood as a novel on its own- the endless feminist angle did not fit, nor did the extensive sociology (and again overly pressing a feminist viewpoint) just does not belong in this book. Nor does some of the somewhat obscure human relations (like the whole brother in law thing was a waste of my time).
The Bolo books are getting slightly stuck in a rut, but good lord, can we be spared this please and at least have someone write that has some military sense? Or an editor that understands the series and has the guts to chop out the amazing-astoundo-female-hunters-that-are-the-savior-of-their-race-but only when allied with human females who are of course much smarter then men due to their sensitive nature? My, how original. I sense a Star Trek script here.
There were some interesting concepts here, that could have made a great addition to concordiat history, but it was blown in this context. And yes, I do feel gyped for my $... Did anyone actually read the final text before agreeing to run it as a Bolo book? or did an editor OK it on an outline?
I give it two stars only for the first story which is the typical stuff we can expect, and the one or two interesting ideas in the second. Sadly, they were not well explored in a military SF way.
Maybe nmext time I will wait til the books hit the used stores.
Keith, oh why have you forsaken us?
Bolo versus Bolo!
Customer Rating:
The novel serves up great futuristic battle action with the immense, self aware, and incfedibly powerful Bolos. With Space engagements, ground engagements, and Bolos slugging it out against other run amok Bolo's - its a thrill. We even see a Bolo of the Line committ a mercy killing of another Human. It is a very engaged reading with constant action.
The ending? It fell apart at the very end. Otherwise it would have earned a 5 star.
Caern was once a human planet,
Customer Rating:
colonized during the Concordiat age. Cut off during the Melcon Armageddon the planet was absorbed by the Aetryx, an alien race who believed they were a race of Gods. The humans of the Cofederation Mobile Army Corps decide to launch an invasion to free the enslaved populace. But there seems to be a few problems. One, many of the people of Caern seem to be loyal towards the Aetryx. Two, the Aetryx seem to have Bolos within their ranks who are just as loyal. Three, the Aetryx may really be GODS!
The book is packed solid with good battle action, with savage space combat and lots of Bolos fighting on their own. Yes, sometimes the humans get in the way, but without humans the Bolos have no reason to fight, to reach for victory and to overcome their own limitations. Anyway the Bolos spend a good first-third of the novel on their own, fighting for their lives, before the humans even make land-fall. THEN things really get rough!
They just keep getting better.
Customer Rating:
How can you argue with a 32,000 ton Mk XXXIII Bolo Planetary Siege Unit? Veeeerrrry Carefully. Action, adventure, drug abuse and recovery, are there any bases Keith hasn't covered here? Well worth the read.
Take out the human element.
Customer Rating:
If there was no human element in this book, it might be 4 stars. It has a slow start. The star of the book,is Victor a Bolo Mark XXXIII of the 4th Regiment, Second Brigade, First Confederation Mobile Army Corps, in the vanguard of an all-out Bolo strike against the planet Caern. The enemy is the Aetryx, shadowy, unknown beings who enslave other species with nothing less than the promise of immortality. As a savage interstellar war begins, Colonel Jon Streicher prepares to lead Victor and the rest of his reigment in a planetary invasion. But the landing falls into a trap. They find themselves stranded and desperately attempting to survive the hellfire chaos of modern warfare as Bolo faces Bolo-human hybrid in a cataclysmic showdown that will uncover unexpected truths, reveal hidden secrets, and even call into question the loyalty of the Dinochrome Brigade itself. Should have only had the Bolo elements in this book.
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