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mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
Closer to "American Golem" (from Operation Arcana) than the single Seal Team 666 novel I read. The back half of the novel works better than the first half but the abrupt ending left me feeling a bit unsatisfyed. I'm unsure if there are more novels planned here but I would love to see Ochse explore the metaphysical aspects more in future endeavors.
sorrel29's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence
david_agranoff's review against another edition
5.0
There is a long and storied tradition of military science fiction. One author Weston Ochse knows well. His last trilogy of novels were firmly in the vein of that sub-genre best known for classics like Forever War and Starship Troopers. As for military horror there are random novels here and there but the undisputed master of this sub-genre is Weston without a doubt. Starting with the Seal Team 666 trilogy that were like a special forces take on the X-files. This sub-genre was inevitable and in less capable hands it could have been very hard to handle.
Weston has experience, he has served in Afghanistan and over 55 countries that brings us to Burning Sky. There is one human being with that much military experience who also teaches English and creative writing. Who else could write such a heavy novel set is Afghanistan that combines experience, horror, fantasy and has a thoughtful message. On top of that Burning Sky is well written and explores the very nature of violence and war that plagues our species. Yeah that sounds heavy because it is.
This is also a fun novel at times, with entertaining action, monsters, ancient gods and Philip K Dick worthy time shifts and alternate realities that will remind readers in all the right ways of Jacob's Ladder. There is a What the hell is real twist that is so well executed I was shocked when Weston told me in a e-mail that he has not read much PKD. That is a round about way to say this is a mind expanding cross genre read that I can't recommend enough.
Much like his last Grunt trilogy Burning Sky is very much about PTSD, but Burning Sky takes that theme and goes beyond. This novel is about what drives war. It explores the deep trauma not just of the warriors but society. The book points to key moments covered by the news in the last few conflicts that lead to Trauma that we felt collectively. The theme is expressed so beautifully in some of this novel's most horrific moments. As a writer, reader and fan of Weston I honestly pumped my fist in the air at one of these moments.
I enjoyed the Seal Team books, I like Grunt Life and respected the heck out of it. Burning Sky is masterpiece that I am more impressed by the longer I think about it. If you like your horror, political and thoughtful I would say you should pre-order this novel. It will be on my best of the year list for sure.
Couple of notes on this review:
1) We have a already recorded a long form audio interview with Weston Ochse for the Dickheads podcast that will be posting in a few weeks. The first half is spoiler free. The second half is a serious deep dive into the craft of the novel. I recommend reading the book and listening to the whole thing. Weston has alot to teach us. Updated with full interview link:
https://soundcloud.com/dickheadspodcast/interview-3-burning-sky-weston-ochse
2)I have to say off the bat that I was torn. When Weston Ochse offered me a chance to read his as yet unreleased new novel I was excited but he didn't have physical books yet. I am not much of an e-reader and trying to upload this PDF to my kindle taught me that it didn't work anymore. Thus this was my first experience reading an entire novel on my phone. That was not easy for me. So my process for tagging pages and taking notes was a little off.
Weston has experience, he has served in Afghanistan and over 55 countries that brings us to Burning Sky. There is one human being with that much military experience who also teaches English and creative writing. Who else could write such a heavy novel set is Afghanistan that combines experience, horror, fantasy and has a thoughtful message. On top of that Burning Sky is well written and explores the very nature of violence and war that plagues our species. Yeah that sounds heavy because it is.
This is also a fun novel at times, with entertaining action, monsters, ancient gods and Philip K Dick worthy time shifts and alternate realities that will remind readers in all the right ways of Jacob's Ladder. There is a What the hell is real twist that is so well executed I was shocked when Weston told me in a e-mail that he has not read much PKD. That is a round about way to say this is a mind expanding cross genre read that I can't recommend enough.
Much like his last Grunt trilogy Burning Sky is very much about PTSD, but Burning Sky takes that theme and goes beyond. This novel is about what drives war. It explores the deep trauma not just of the warriors but society. The book points to key moments covered by the news in the last few conflicts that lead to Trauma that we felt collectively. The theme is expressed so beautifully in some of this novel's most horrific moments. As a writer, reader and fan of Weston I honestly pumped my fist in the air at one of these moments.
I enjoyed the Seal Team books, I like Grunt Life and respected the heck out of it. Burning Sky is masterpiece that I am more impressed by the longer I think about it. If you like your horror, political and thoughtful I would say you should pre-order this novel. It will be on my best of the year list for sure.
Couple of notes on this review:
1) We have a already recorded a long form audio interview with Weston Ochse for the Dickheads podcast that will be posting in a few weeks. The first half is spoiler free. The second half is a serious deep dive into the craft of the novel. I recommend reading the book and listening to the whole thing. Weston has alot to teach us. Updated with full interview link:
https://soundcloud.com/dickheadspodcast/interview-3-burning-sky-weston-ochse
2)I have to say off the bat that I was torn. When Weston Ochse offered me a chance to read his as yet unreleased new novel I was excited but he didn't have physical books yet. I am not much of an e-reader and trying to upload this PDF to my kindle taught me that it didn't work anymore. Thus this was my first experience reading an entire novel on my phone. That was not easy for me. So my process for tagging pages and taking notes was a little off.
raforall's review against another edition
4.0
Review in September 15, 2018 issue of Booklist Magazine and on the blog: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2018/09/what-im-reading-burning-sky.html
theartolater's review against another edition
3.0
I have written before about my struggles with military sci-fi, and this one, at least on the presentation, appeared to be different. And on one hand, it is - the approach to this story, especially with the characterizations in play, feel very different than with other efforts I've read or tried to read. But what this didn't do is deliver beyond that - the take still felt stilted and sterile, and the ideas and conceits for me just failed to connect.
This wasn't a bad read - many who love this subgenre are praising this effort. For me, though, it just failed to connect. That's more on me than anything on the book.
This wasn't a bad read - many who love this subgenre are praising this effort. For me, though, it just failed to connect. That's more on me than anything on the book.
duncan_r's review against another edition
5.0
Excelent read. Longer review on www.duncansbooksandmore.com
mikekaz's review
4.0
I've heard a lot of good about Weston Ochse. I hadn't read any of his stuff previously, but I had already bought four of his books and put them in my To Be Read pile. So, it's no surprise that I was eager to read a book by him. Well ... weirdly the book both lived up to my expectations and yet left me disappointed.
Boy Scout, real name Bryan Starling, is in charge of an Tactical Support Team in Afghanistan. He and his team are escorting a General to a meeting when things go bad. Flash forward six months and Starling is dealing with some issues: overweight, out of shape, and working as a muscle for a small-time crook. He realizes that he has had enough and needs to face the problems he has been avoiding. And that's all I will say in order to avoid spoilers.
When I was reading the book, I powered through the first half in two, maybe three days. I was loving it. And then I hit the halfway point in the book where everything changes; once you get to that point, you'll know where I mean. For whatever reason, things quickly slowed down for me at that point. Maybe it was the new reality that I had to deal with. Maybe it was the tone switch of the book. Maybe it was just life keeping me busy with other things and distracted from the book. Whatever the reason was, it took me a while to get back into the book and finish it. The story and writing were both good. The characters were real and not cardboard cut-outs but at the same time, I stopped caring about them after that halfway point. I think that was due to the reality shift; subconsciously, and even consciously, I was waiting for another reality shift to occur and undo parts of the story. Don't get me wrong; I'm not claiming "foul". Ochse followed his own rules that he established in the book. And while the effect is very similar in tone to the movie From Dusk till Dawn, it does not have that "WTF?" craziness. The shift was still enough to make the reader re-evaluate the events of the story and, for me, that included re-evaluating the characters. I suppose I'm in a similar state to what I was before I read this book: I'm eager to read my next Weston Ochse but this time I'm eager to see which type of book I will get.
Boy Scout, real name Bryan Starling, is in charge of an Tactical Support Team in Afghanistan. He and his team are escorting a General to a meeting when things go bad. Flash forward six months and Starling is dealing with some issues: overweight, out of shape, and working as a muscle for a small-time crook. He realizes that he has had enough and needs to face the problems he has been avoiding. And that's all I will say in order to avoid spoilers.
When I was reading the book, I powered through the first half in two, maybe three days. I was loving it. And then I hit the halfway point in the book where everything changes; once you get to that point, you'll know where I mean. For whatever reason, things quickly slowed down for me at that point. Maybe it was the new reality that I had to deal with. Maybe it was the tone switch of the book. Maybe it was just life keeping me busy with other things and distracted from the book. Whatever the reason was, it took me a while to get back into the book and finish it. The story and writing were both good. The characters were real and not cardboard cut-outs but at the same time, I stopped caring about them after that halfway point. I think that was due to the reality shift; subconsciously, and even consciously, I was waiting for another reality shift to occur and undo parts of the story. Don't get me wrong; I'm not claiming "foul". Ochse followed his own rules that he established in the book. And while the effect is very similar in tone to the movie From Dusk till Dawn, it does not have that "WTF?" craziness. The shift was still enough to make the reader re-evaluate the events of the story and, for me, that included re-evaluating the characters. I suppose I'm in a similar state to what I was before I read this book: I'm eager to read my next Weston Ochse but this time I'm eager to see which type of book I will get.
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