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A Band of Brothers | Rating | |
| B | |||
| William R. Forstchen | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| The Lost Regiment | Rally Cry, Union Forever, Terrible Swift Sword, Fateful Lightning, Battle Hymn, Never Sound Retreat, A Band of Brothers, Men of War, Down to the Sea | ||
The Republic is in trouble again. Ha'Ark and the Bantag Horde have invaded from the east and south and now occupy half of Rouman land. Roum itself is under siege, and if it is taken all is lost. The Republic is threatening to shatter under the strain, with Marcus threatening to settle a seperate peace for Roum in order to save his city and his people and even President Kal wondering if surrender might be a viable option. Keane needs to hold Roum, and hold the Republic together.
With Ferguson dead, someone else must take on the role of military inventor. I felt, however, that Forstchen made an unfortunate choice when he gave the position to his widow. She had shown no previous aptitude with technology, and sudden;y she is his heir to the mantle of genius? It would have been better, far better, to bring in some unknown name and say he was one of those Chuck had been teching in his last year or two. At least those classes are established to have started several books earlier.
Another rediculously avoidable problem is in the noticable errors within the text. This is the third book in a row with significant spelling and typographical errors. A person might be "feeling week" and at one point a commander declares that they will have to "love a unit behind" - which I found particularly funny. Less amusing are the missing quote marks, or added ones, that make some conversations difficult to deceipher. The last two books had similar problems but I ignored them, but three books? That's damn unprofessional, especially of the publisher.
On the good side, though, the fight for Roum is excellent. Simply excellent. And finally politics is making a comeback to the setting, albeit always with the same arguments presented by both sides. But at least it is more than just battles. There are also a range of battle types. There is a siege, and urban fighting that shows just how nasty a modern battle can be, as well as a forward thrust down south. Interspersed with all that is a nice air battle or two between zepplins.
The toll that nearly a decade of fighting has taken on the characters is finally taking its toll, too. For several books major players, including Keane, have been wearily saying they're being "used up." Now at last we see them finally crack, and it's a joy to watch them sudden;y acting against character - but plausibly so! It's very believable not just in its cause but in how it plays out, and how other people react to them as they give up.
This book probably would have gotten a better grade but for two things. First, a new continuity problem, in which Ha'ark wishes he had that special sense that allows him to see beyond what can be seen. Except in books five and possibly six he clearly had that ability. Second, there was a meeting with Tamuka of the Merki at the start of the book. A strategy is agreed upon, and then promptly forgotten for the rest of the book. It is never mentioned again, and affects nothing. If it is supposed to pay off in a future novel, it should have been included then, not now. If he wants to use it to tie the two books together ore closely, then he should mention it once or twice later in this novel. At least have Ha'ark wonder about how Tamuka is doing!
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