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A review by pjonsson
Barbarians at the Gates by Christopher G. Nuttall
5.0
It is actually a while since I bought this book by Christopher Nuttall. It has been sitting on my shelf (or rather on the drive of my tablet) quite a while. I have to admit that I was a bit afraid that it would be “yet another” story on the subject of the fall of human society due to political nonsense and bureaucracy as well as too similar to Mr. Nuttall’s The Empire’s Corps series.
Well, I was wrong on that. Sure, there certainly are similarities but this book is also quite different in several ways. One of the most important differences is that it is not at all as apocalyptic and dark as The Empire’s Corps series. I also feel that it is more focused on the adventures and military campaigns of our heroes than The Empire’s Corps. Sure there’s a lot of political manoeuvring, idiocy and treachery but the majority of the book is about the adventures of Admiral Drake and the young Roman Garibaldi, the latter being truly thrown into the deep end right out of the naval academy.
This book is really my cup of tea. It mixes two of my favourite themes. One being really good space combat and strategy between fleets of capital ships. The other being the development and advancement of a young hero in the navy as he rises in the ranks. As usual Mr. Nuttall’s writing is excellent and was a pleasure to follow the characters, how they developed and how the plot unfolded. As I wrote above the story is much less dark and much more positive than The Empire’s Corps. Unlike in that book our heroes are indeed successful in staving off the worst case scenario. In addition the bad guys, that is of course the political assholes, are getting exactly what they deserve in the end.
The author throws in a few romances as well. No good space opera can be without those I guess. Although one of them are a quite important part of the overall plot I would say that those parts are not very extensive but that is fine with me. I prefer the military aspects and adventures myself.
Although this book is fairly positive in the end, with a rather happy ending, without too much apocalyptic elements the events that unfold are bad enough and there are plenty of troubles and dangers ahead. I will continue to follow this book series with great interest. Book number two is already out and, without having read it, I hope that there will be more coming.
Well, I was wrong on that. Sure, there certainly are similarities but this book is also quite different in several ways. One of the most important differences is that it is not at all as apocalyptic and dark as The Empire’s Corps series. I also feel that it is more focused on the adventures and military campaigns of our heroes than The Empire’s Corps. Sure there’s a lot of political manoeuvring, idiocy and treachery but the majority of the book is about the adventures of Admiral Drake and the young Roman Garibaldi, the latter being truly thrown into the deep end right out of the naval academy.
This book is really my cup of tea. It mixes two of my favourite themes. One being really good space combat and strategy between fleets of capital ships. The other being the development and advancement of a young hero in the navy as he rises in the ranks. As usual Mr. Nuttall’s writing is excellent and was a pleasure to follow the characters, how they developed and how the plot unfolded. As I wrote above the story is much less dark and much more positive than The Empire’s Corps. Unlike in that book our heroes are indeed successful in staving off the worst case scenario. In addition the bad guys, that is of course the political assholes, are getting exactly what they deserve in the end.
The author throws in a few romances as well. No good space opera can be without those I guess. Although one of them are a quite important part of the overall plot I would say that those parts are not very extensive but that is fine with me. I prefer the military aspects and adventures myself.
Although this book is fairly positive in the end, with a rather happy ending, without too much apocalyptic elements the events that unfold are bad enough and there are plenty of troubles and dangers ahead. I will continue to follow this book series with great interest. Book number two is already out and, without having read it, I hope that there will be more coming.