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eigendecomp's review against another edition
3.0
I have but one observation to add to the excellent reviews by Jared Millet and Checkman (the gist: very well-written military caper but the crypto-fascist bent is troubling). Here it is: I found it odd or maybe even a bit lazy on the author's part that wars in the far future, with routine interstellar spaceflight to boot, are fought using what is essentially WWII-style tactics and equipment.
capellan's review against another edition
2.0
I am conflicted.
On the one hand, this is an eye-poppingly jingoistic SF re-telling of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, with the Indians replaced by lizard-like aliens referred to by the slur 'geeks'. And the hero, such as there is one, is canonically the descendant of Nazis.
On the other hand, the human cast is so resolutely multicultural, and said hero so frank about his ancestors being war criminals, though I can hold out some hope that old HBP was making a sly point behind all the casual speciesism.
On the one hand, this is an eye-poppingly jingoistic SF re-telling of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, with the Indians replaced by lizard-like aliens referred to by the slur 'geeks'. And the hero, such as there is one, is canonically the descendant of Nazis.
On the other hand, the human cast is so resolutely multicultural, and said hero so frank about his ancestors being war criminals, though I can hold out some hope that old HBP was making a sly point behind all the casual speciesism.
cerv's review
3.0
This was different from most of what I've read from him. It's a military science fiction novel based on the Sepoy Mutiny set around 450 years in the future on the planet Uller, which has silicone based life rather than carbon based. The native inhabitants are slate-gray skinned 4-armed lizardmen who sweat quartz and are true hermaphrodites. How far is this idea taken? "The Kragan kings have always provided their own heirs, by self-fertilization. That's a complicated process, involving simultaneous male and female masturbation."
Regrettably, it begins with an encyclopedic infodump of many pages. The term "hard science fiction" wasn't used in print until 1957. This would have been better appended to the conclusion. It's questionable if it served any purpose other than worldbuilding since it's so speculative as it is. There are several short digressions, such as discussion the "semantic orientation" of the native's language and how the structure of their language controls the development of their society, which may be referring to the the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. There have been many times when I read older fiction that I've checked whether something already existed or if the author independently arrived at the idea before it was relatively popularly known, which is a basically a prescience check.
The protagonist, General Carlos von Schlichten, is of Nazi heritage, which seems premature to me considering that this was published only 7 years after VE Day. The love interest is of French collaborator descent. I don't know what was meant by this.
The book starts with some urban warfare, which is not representative of the whole at all, with depictions such as "shoved the muzzle of his pistol into the creature's open mouth and pulled the trigger, blowing its head apart like a rotten pumpkin and splashing both himself and the girl with yellow blood and rancid-looking gray-green brains." and "Von Schlichten shot him, and the Zirk literally blew to pieces", which seemed to be a bit much to me. In some ways the opening is a bait-and-switch because most of the novel is the protagonist giving orders, having discussions, strategizing with his advisors, and planning tactical maneuvers. Women seem to have all positions in the military and are well-regarded and competent, which led me to the wikipedia article on the history of women in the US military. The one notable prediction to me was an explicit parallel made that implied that Japan would soon become one of the greatest countries in the world. I don't know how common this belief was around 1952.
Ending spoiler: The protagonist discovers that the enemy has atomic bombs and decides that the only rational solution for their situation is to nuke them until nothing at all remains. So he does. Nagasaki is explicitly mentioned, which also being 7 years later, seems a bit unnecessary. After observing the smoldering ruins, the novel ends.
Regrettably, it begins with an encyclopedic infodump of many pages. The term "hard science fiction" wasn't used in print until 1957. This would have been better appended to the conclusion. It's questionable if it served any purpose other than worldbuilding since it's so speculative as it is. There are several short digressions, such as discussion the "semantic orientation" of the native's language and how the structure of their language controls the development of their society, which may be referring to the the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. There have been many times when I read older fiction that I've checked whether something already existed or if the author independently arrived at the idea before it was relatively popularly known, which is a basically a prescience check.
The protagonist, General Carlos von Schlichten, is of Nazi heritage, which seems premature to me considering that this was published only 7 years after VE Day. The love interest is of French collaborator descent. I don't know what was meant by this.
The book starts with some urban warfare, which is not representative of the whole at all, with depictions such as "shoved the muzzle of his pistol into the creature's open mouth and pulled the trigger, blowing its head apart like a rotten pumpkin and splashing both himself and the girl with yellow blood and rancid-looking gray-green brains." and "Von Schlichten shot him, and the Zirk literally blew to pieces", which seemed to be a bit much to me. In some ways the opening is a bait-and-switch because most of the novel is the protagonist giving orders, having discussions, strategizing with his advisors, and planning tactical maneuvers. Women seem to have all positions in the military and are well-regarded and competent, which led me to the wikipedia article on the history of women in the US military. The one notable prediction to me was an explicit parallel made that implied that Japan would soon become one of the greatest countries in the world. I don't know how common this belief was around 1952.
Ending spoiler:
bzedan's review
5.0
Piper clearly has a thing about how native peoples are treated, which I was familiar with from Oomphel. This story was originally part of a set of novellas that were based on a seed idea written by Dr. Clark. He gave the writers two worlds to work with and they ran with it. Piper threw in the "Bengal uprising against English-held India" (as stated nicely in a very good introductory essay about Piper's work by John F. Carr). We are also introduced to the common theme of Piper's characters having a cocktail hour and smoking, something that is kind of both soothing and off-putting.
Seriously though, the intro essay is really great and pretty much covers the themes that made me want to tear through the Terro-Human series—
In these stories we see Terro-Humans at their best and at their worst: Individual heroism and bravery in the face of grave danger in Uller Uprising; Federation law and justice in Little Fuzzy and its sequels; and, in "Omnilingual" and "Naudsonce," the spirit of science and rational inquiry. Yet we also see colonial exploitation and subjugation in Uller Uprising and "Oomphel in the Sky," the greed and corruption of Chartered land companies in Little Fuzzy, and political corruption in Four-Day Planet. These stories are about a living Terro-Human culture, not a utopia.
Seriously though, the intro essay is really great and pretty much covers the themes that made me want to tear through the Terro-Human series—
In these stories we see Terro-Humans at their best and at their worst: Individual heroism and bravery in the face of grave danger in Uller Uprising; Federation law and justice in Little Fuzzy and its sequels; and, in "Omnilingual" and "Naudsonce," the spirit of science and rational inquiry. Yet we also see colonial exploitation and subjugation in Uller Uprising and "Oomphel in the Sky," the greed and corruption of Chartered land companies in Little Fuzzy, and political corruption in Four-Day Planet. These stories are about a living Terro-Human culture, not a utopia.
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