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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
I will admit that I have more than a casual interest in this book. It is dedicated to me, Susan Kyle's younger sister. I was too young to read any of it in 1963, when my sister set out to get published [wasn't even out of high school!:]. But, when I was 11, I proofread Susie's revised copy as it came, with three carbons, fresh from the typewriter. We used to joke about needed to fan the typewriter! My sister was an extremely fast typist.
I love this book. I read the older version as it was sent off, and I have read this one, expanded and just as exciting as the old one. But, this new version has a lot of material Susie wanted to put into the old one. It's the fulfillment of her dream, and mine, to finally see it in print.
When I received my hardcover copy, I sat down there and then, intending to read a chapter or two, because I needed to do other things. Uh, I sat up until 2 in the morning finishing it!
The description alone transports the reader to a totally alien environment. Then, the interaction of the characters adds the personal touch. These people become real as the story unfolds. But, unlike my books, which are at more of a walking pace, the action doesn't stop until the very end. The plot takes twists and turns that defy a single guess. Ruszel, the main character, is a woman who led an Amazon squad into battle, but she is a physician. She is an effective warrior, yet tender when caring for patients. I'd like to be friends with her. She's quite a loyal friend to her friends in the book, willing to give her life for them. But, she will go down fighting.
Mysterious Dtimun and the members of the ship Morcai are Cehn-Tahr, a catlike people who don't like to be touched. Their eyes change color with their moods. Dtimun, the Commander, is a no-nonsense leader. Komak, his second-in-command, is a fierce warrior when need be, but one wouldn't guess it from his joking attitude, accompanied by laughing green eyes. Guess what color Madeline Ruszel's eyes are? She's a green-eyed redhead who brawls right along with the fellas on leave. This doesn't amuse the straight-laced Commander a bit. Captain Stern, Ruszel's Captain when she became Medical Officer on his ship, is brave, loyal, and gets the job done. The other friend in the trio is Hanhson, also Medical Officer under Ruszel. Together they survive the crash of Stern's ship, and they are assigned to the Holconcom aboard the Morcai. No human soldiers have ever been assigned to a Cehn-taur ship. It's a volatile combo.
I won't spoil the read. If you like fast-paced space opera, this series is for you! Many people are discovering The Morcai Battalion: The Recruit, and buying The Morcai Battalion, originally released under the name of Diana Palmer. My sister always wanted to be published under her real name, and here it is, waiting for you, the reader, to pick up and enjoy. As with all my sister's books, The Morcai Battalion is well-researched and grounded in science, yet sensitive to the characterization, which really makes the book. Note that, though many think Star Trek was the inspiration for this book, it predated ST by three years. Susie had the characters, the universe, and the basic plot long before we eagerly sat in front of our small color TV in September, 1966, to watch the premiere episode. Susie knelt in front of the TV with a 3" reel-to-reel tape recorder which ran on batteries, to record every episode. They were lousy quality, but we played them often, just to hear this exciting new sci fi show.
I love this book. I read the older version as it was sent off, and I have read this one, expanded and just as exciting as the old one. But, this new version has a lot of material Susie wanted to put into the old one. It's the fulfillment of her dream, and mine, to finally see it in print.
When I received my hardcover copy, I sat down there and then, intending to read a chapter or two, because I needed to do other things. Uh, I sat up until 2 in the morning finishing it!
The description alone transports the reader to a totally alien environment. Then, the interaction of the characters adds the personal touch. These people become real as the story unfolds. But, unlike my books, which are at more of a walking pace, the action doesn't stop until the very end. The plot takes twists and turns that defy a single guess. Ruszel, the main character, is a woman who led an Amazon squad into battle, but she is a physician. She is an effective warrior, yet tender when caring for patients. I'd like to be friends with her. She's quite a loyal friend to her friends in the book, willing to give her life for them. But, she will go down fighting.
Mysterious Dtimun and the members of the ship Morcai are Cehn-Tahr, a catlike people who don't like to be touched. Their eyes change color with their moods. Dtimun, the Commander, is a no-nonsense leader. Komak, his second-in-command, is a fierce warrior when need be, but one wouldn't guess it from his joking attitude, accompanied by laughing green eyes. Guess what color Madeline Ruszel's eyes are? She's a green-eyed redhead who brawls right along with the fellas on leave. This doesn't amuse the straight-laced Commander a bit. Captain Stern, Ruszel's Captain when she became Medical Officer on his ship, is brave, loyal, and gets the job done. The other friend in the trio is Hanhson, also Medical Officer under Ruszel. Together they survive the crash of Stern's ship, and they are assigned to the Holconcom aboard the Morcai. No human soldiers have ever been assigned to a Cehn-taur ship. It's a volatile combo.
I won't spoil the read. If you like fast-paced space opera, this series is for you! Many people are discovering The Morcai Battalion: The Recruit, and buying The Morcai Battalion, originally released under the name of Diana Palmer. My sister always wanted to be published under her real name, and here it is, waiting for you, the reader, to pick up and enjoy. As with all my sister's books, The Morcai Battalion is well-researched and grounded in science, yet sensitive to the characterization, which really makes the book. Note that, though many think Star Trek was the inspiration for this book, it predated ST by three years. Susie had the characters, the universe, and the basic plot long before we eagerly sat in front of our small color TV in September, 1966, to watch the premiere episode. Susie knelt in front of the TV with a 3" reel-to-reel tape recorder which ran on batteries, to record every episode. They were lousy quality, but we played them often, just to hear this exciting new sci fi show.
3.75 stars
First, this is not a romance. It is sci-fi with very light romance elements. It was a nice break from what I've been reading lately. While I thought the plotting was clumsy at times, and the dialog was straight out of a certain celebrated TV series that survives to this day, I enjoyed this fast-paced read. There is a ton of action, as well as high tensions from racial misunderstandings when humans and a combat troop of aliens are forced to work together to survive a traitorous attack from violent, murderous alien society.
More to follow
First, this is not a romance. It is sci-fi with very light romance elements. It was a nice break from what I've been reading lately. While I thought the plotting was clumsy at times, and the dialog was straight out of a certain celebrated TV series that survives to this day, I enjoyed this fast-paced read. There is a ton of action, as well as high tensions from racial misunderstandings when humans and a combat troop of aliens are forced to work together to survive a traitorous attack from violent, murderous alien society.
More to follow
Although it took me a while to read, and was confusing at times, I quite enjoyed this book.
Usually Diana Palmer writes strickly romances. This is her one and only sci-fi that she wrote when she was 17. Unfortunately at the time 40 odd years ago it wasn't accepted that women had high ranking roles in society. This didn't get published until much later and she had to change some things. She has been able to have it reprinted through Luna publishing with minor changes to the original. Considering this is her first book ever and she was very young when she wrote it, I thought it was very good. Keep in mind this was also written well before Star Trek or Star Wars were ever thought of. Many things in this book parallel Star Trek in many ways, but than you would only know that if you watch Star Trek!!
Well, I read it LOLOL. I love Diana Palmer's early 2000's books, but anything before that is too old school for my tastes, and anything after that is really just too much the same story over and over. When I saw that she had written a sci-fi romance I was both horrified and intrigued! I put off reading it for a while because I was sure I wouldn't like it, but really it wasn't that bad! It isn't romance, though I can see the beginnings of it popping up in some obvious spots.
On the whole, the world building wasn't too bad. It did find it really over the top violent at times - not in description but in ideas. It was a bit strange, and not really my thing.
As this was her first ever book, it reads like a fairly dated sci-fi story (as it is). It's a bit hard to explain how, it's mainly just the vibe and how the characters act. A modern sci-fi story would have given the female lead a lot more to do, whereas this book didn't have her actively participating as much. As she describes in the introduction - she wrote this book before Star Trek was there to put a lady in a position of power, so it was pretty unique for it's time!
While I wouldn't mind seeing how the romance plays out, I am just not into it enough to read more in the series. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be going into it, so that's pretty great!
On the whole, the world building wasn't too bad. It did find it really over the top violent at times - not in description but in ideas. It was a bit strange, and not really my thing.
As this was her first ever book, it reads like a fairly dated sci-fi story (as it is). It's a bit hard to explain how, it's mainly just the vibe and how the characters act. A modern sci-fi story would have given the female lead a lot more to do, whereas this book didn't have her actively participating as much. As she describes in the introduction - she wrote this book before Star Trek was there to put a lady in a position of power, so it was pretty unique for it's time!
While I wouldn't mind seeing how the romance plays out, I am just not into it enough to read more in the series. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be going into it, so that's pretty great!