KCR: Cowboys and Aliens (movie, western, scifi)

Went to see Cowboys and Aliens yesterday. It was a fun movie that is about the same as Battle: LA... looks great, but the motivations doesn't make sense, esp. for the other side. It's fun, but it's not THAT good.

WARNING

MAJOR

SPOILERS

AHEAD

SO

STOP

READING

ALREADY

Movie starts with the hero wakes up in the middle of the desert with almost no memory, wound, almost no cloths, but a very good survival instincts... when set upon by 3 brothers. There's this mysterious bracer on his left wrist. He went into town, was helped by the preacher, met a mysterious woman, and was arrested for being a wanted outlaw who robbed a stagecoach belonging to the local rich man... oh, and he pissed off the rich guy's spoiled brat.

As he's about to be transported to Santa Fe, the rich guy arrived with his "mob"... they want the guy... and the son... then the flying aliens attacked, and roped off a lot of people. The stranger, who we now know is "Jake", found his bracer activated into a weapon system, and shot down one of the flyers.

Now it's a battle. How will Jake find out who he is, what happened to him, and who is that woman in his dreams or visions? And what horrible things had he done that he can't remember?

When you examine the plot a bit closer, there's a ton of problems.

1) How would an alien weapon/bracer just happen to fit a human wrist, and be activated by it?

2) Why would an alien weapon/bracer react to other aliens, when they are hunting HUMANS?

3) Why kidnap all those humans any way? There's too many of them needed for "experimentation".

4) Mining for gold... doesn't make sense at all. They could have found far more precious metals and such out in the asteroid belt. They have plenty of technology. Why come to Earth at all?

5) There is only ONE of those bracers?!  Others have those big rifles, but haven't seen more than a handful of them. Most of the aliens do hand-to-hand only.

Told you, doesn't make that much sense.

KCR: Future X-Cops (scifi / Hong Kong / movie)

Image via WikipediaFuture X-Cops is one of those shameless Hong Kong "homage" movies that manage to demonstrate how bigger budget doesn't add to creativity.

Premise: after his wife was killed protecting a VIP against half-machine assassins, this cop must don a mechanical body and go back in time to prevent the assassination of the VIP, who is critical to Earth's future. However, two of the assassins are there, and they have a showdown.

The society depicted was futuristic looking... though it's hardly utopia. Regular cops have no firepower against these half-machine assassins who are obviously inspired by various comic book villains, such as Dr. Octopus (from Spiderman), and others. I mean, bat wings, prehensile tail, lobster claw... heh.

The fights are obviously CGI ish and way too choreographed. How they managed to convince Andy Lau to do the lead role, I have no idea. The plot is pieced together from various major movies, like Time Cop, Black Mask 2, even a few bits from Asimov's stories (about the girl who didn't know she's a robot). Add bits from Jurassic park (hide and seek in the kitchen), Matrix (sky duel between the hero and villain), and a few bits from Superman (bad guy keep using innocent civilians to distract the hero), and you get a feeling that this is a chop suey of a movie.

And yes, Big S (i.e. Barbie Hsu) is the leading lady. Hmmm... Okay...

May be worth watching once.

Related articles

• KCR: Triple Tap (movie, shooting, Hong Kong) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)
• KCR: Black Mask, starring Jet Li (movie) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)

KCR: Jump Pay / The Lucky 13th (novel, scifi, war, Rick Shelley)

Rick Shelley has quite a few books out, concentrating on three series: the Mercenary series, the Lucky 13th series, and Special Ops Squad series. This is a part of the "Lucky 13th" series.

The premise: 13th Spaceborne Assault Team, i.e. the Lucky 13th, was called upon to spearhead a huge invasion of the enemy arsenal planet. The enemy is building up troops and equipment for an assault and a Pearl-Harbor-style pre-emptive strike will be needed to destroy most of the arsenal. The action flicks from airborne assault using newly deployed grav belts, to recon squads doing hit and fade on enemy positions, to assault howitzer crews pumping out shells on enemy positions, and aerial fighter "Wasps" dogfighting and performing close-support on the troops, and the commander trying to make sense of the chaos, the war jumps from perspective to perspective, almost too fast to keep up.

Indeed, that is the main problem I have with the series: the action just keep flicking so fast that you have a hard time keeping up. As a result, you don't really get attached to any of the characters. They feel like cliches: the hard sergeant, the dumb rookie, the contemplative lieutenant, the colonel who have to choose between duty and not spending his soldiers needlessly. The enemy have no faces, no motivation. They are simply the bad guy. The weapons described makes little sense even though they sound quite futuristic. What happened to grenades? Or tanks? Or light armor?

Or as someone else puts it, this is like Hammer's Slammers, except it makes much less sense.

Rating: borrow it from a library and see if you like the style. I don't.

EDIT: apparently Mr. Shelley died in 2001

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• KCR: Slanted Jack (scifi, adventure, space) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)
• KCR: Aggressor Six (novel, scifi) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)
• KCR: Mission of Honor (scifi, war) (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)

KCR: Mechwarrior / Initiation To War (novel)

Image via WikipediaInitiation to War is part of ROC's Battletech novel lineup, this one being in a more "personal" Mechwarrior line. The book itself is a bit too slow, and the main guy is just a little too lucky, and too much of a cliche at points. However, the mech fights are good, and overall it's an okay read.

For those of you who don't know what Battletech and Mechwarrior is... Battletech is a book about 31st Century. Humans have settled most of the planets, but virtually continuous war, now mainly done with walking tanks called "battlemechs", have pretty much ruined the entire galaxy. The factions are varied, the intrigue and assassination are frequent. Add pirates and mercenaries, and you have a grand universe where almost anything can happen. Mechwarrior are the pilots of these walking tanks, and they are considered elite.  The game had been running for 25 years, and the universe is so vast it has assumed its own life.

In this book, the planet Epsilon Eridani is having a bit of civil war, instigated by outside forces, and a new recruit, Tybalt Kelly, newly minted mechwarrior (okay, mechwarrior in training) is in the middle of it. The problem with the book is pacing. There is very little tension until the war starts, which is about half way into the book. There is very little tension. Things just happen, and you barely care. The kid has a father who don't approve of his career choice, and has a teammate who is a bully. Other teammates are far more sympathetic. Add a hardcase commander and the cliche is complete, esp. when multiple females fall for the "hero". The tech wants a piece of him, he wants a piece of fellow mechwarrior Sam(antha), and when Sam was lot on a campaign Duke's daughter went to bed with him as sort of consolation for saving her. **** me.  The fighting is described pretty well, but the technical details sometimes break the pattern, and the end is basically one lucky shot after another.

While this book ain't bad, it ain't that good either.

KCR: Tron Legacy (scifi, and yes, I was late)

Image via WikipediaYes, I missed Tron Legacy. In fact, I missed the original Tron as well.

For a sequel to a film made almost 30 years ago, the movie looks absolutely amazing, even by today's standards. The original featured state of the art graphics for its day, and the idea of a world within the computer completely independent of our own has since been redone by a dozen films, including the Matrix trilogy, and in a certain level, by Inception.

The plot is relatively simple: Sam Flynn, son of Kevin Flynn, investigates the old arcade, and was zapped into the virtual world inside the machine created by his father. As Flynn discovered the rules in this virtual world, he encountered "Clu", a program that look just like his father, and later, his father, Kevin Flynn himself, and a program called Quorra, Sam Flynn wants to take his father home, when he learned the stakes of his failure to go back through the portal. Because Clu has a plan for all the "users" of the system...

The modern graphics are absolutely amazing, as the virtual world, previously only somewhat visualized in the original Tron, is now fully realized, by combining CGI with live action, and a LOT of post-processing. Disc combat is now far more stylized yet deadlier, and scenes that evoke "remake" of the original are now much better. The light cycle races are brilliant, and the lightjet dogfight is beautiful, if a bit cliche.

The plot is a bit formulaic, but the plot points and complications are laid out brilliantly, and character growth feels natural, nothing too forced here. My problem mainly is how much power Kevin Flynn has over the grid himself, as it seem to be wildly inconsistent. Also, about crossing over.. seem to violate conservation of mass. :)

All in all, Tron Legacy is a beautiful sequel / homage to the original, while making a ton of sense standing by itself. You don't need to know the original to enjoy this one.

Definitely watch it at least once.

KCR: Mission of Honor (scifi, war)

Image via WikipediaMission of Honor, book 12 in "Honorverse" by David Weber, is the proper Honor Harrington novel, as the war between the Republic of Haven and Star Kingdom of Manticore is about to come to an end, but enemies are moving against both sides, and other players are joining in.

In War of Honor (Book 10), Honor Harrington have barely averted disaster by winning the Battle of Manticore, where the Havenite forces decided to gamble the future on a single dice throw: direct attack on the home star system of Manticore, and it was barely beat off, at a heavy price.

In this book, Admiral Honor Harrington was sent with a fleet to let the Havenites know that there is no hope for victory, but to preserve as much honor as possible on both sides. However, the Solarian League may be waking up, as powers within, manipulated by Manpower / Mesa, may be about to annex some planets near Manticore and precipitate another war. When Mesa unveiled their secret weapon against Manticore, causing tremendous casualties, in a true Pearl-Harbor style surprise hit-and-run attack, the tables are again turned, and Manticore will find a most unlikely ally...

The problem again, as with all David Weber "honorverse" books, is that this book will give you attention deficit disorder, as you jump from one group of people to another, then another. If Tom Clancy were writing space opera, it'd be something like this. The problem is David Weber then gets wordy as the characters discuss every thought and related thoughts with each other and that's just grating at time.

Still, the major plot advances in this book will give you a cliffhanger that will have you clamoring for the next book, as the various threads are starting to come together.

Related articles

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KCR: Storm from the Shadows, a Honorverse novel (scifi, Honor Harrington)

Image via WikipediaStorm From the Shadows is another novel set in the "Honorverse", David Weber's world of Honor Harrington and Star Kingdom of Manticore. This novel reads somewhat differently from the other novels, as this is a shift in direction for the series. Previously, most of the action is centered directly on Honor Harrington herself. This book basically features Honor's friend Michelle Henke, a fellow starship commander, and the stakes are raised by adding additional players that had previously been relegated to background status. Honor Harrington herself plays only a peripheral role in this book. The result is a book that reads familiar, yet quite different, and manages to setup the stage for later books in the series.

The premise: Michelle Henke's task force was ambushed by Havenite forces and her ship was damaged and left behind (on her orders). She ordered the ship self-destructed and became prisoner, only to be paroled back to Manticore with a proposal for summit and peace talks. She was sent to a different area (away from the Havenite war) as part of her parole, but stumbles into Manpower / Mesa's plan to destroy the Star Kingdom of Manticore... and the action also threatens to wake up the sleeping giant of Solarian League...

The problem with David Weber's writing, as I've explained before, is the universe is so large now there's dozens of characters, and they tend to get VERY talky as they spend PAGES talking about every angle of their thought process, violating the "show, not tell" rule. There are so many characters, you need a "cast of characters" to keep them straight! It also makes the characters too much of bit players, and the scene switching is fast and furious: a little here, a little there... It's equivalent of flash cuts in movies. If you like this style, you'll love this book. if you don't, you'll hate it even more.

This book also ends on a cliffhanger to setup the other books in the series and parallel plots, so it's not quite satisfying that way.

Rating: read it (if you're a fan of Honorverse)

KCR: Aggressor Six (novel, scifi)

Aggressor Six is an interesting twist on "know your enemy" novel on a sci-fi stage when the humans encountered the "waisters"... aliens that seem to bent on extermination of human species. Their technology is centuries ahead of the humans. Humans convened "Aggressor Six", a group of humans ordered to learn, act, speak, and ultimately, think like the Waisters, in order to give humans an edge in combat... if such a thing is possible. As colony after colony are exterminated, and the waisters are approaching the Sol System (the scouts were destroyed or driven off at TREMENDOUS casualties), will Aggressor Six find enough enough about the aliens to save humanity?

While the theme is hardly new, the execution is quite good, as this goes into the concept of war, on demonstration of superiority, and what constitutes sanity, and stubbornness. There's a surprising amount of actual science behind the sci-fi narrative, combined with enough action to satisfy those with shorter attention spans.

The book's old, and I encountered this in a used bookstore, but it's very good read. This is Will MacCarthy's first novel (dated 1996!)

KCR: Slanted Jack (scifi, adventure, space)

A sequel to "One Jump Ahead", the nano-enhanced soldier Jon Moore, and his sentient gunship Lobo seem always heading into some sort of trouble. This time, the trouble came looking for him...

Premise: Slanted Jack, a con man from Jon's past, came to seek his help. He needs to protect a child, who supposedly have special powers... and a lot of people want the kid. A religious fanatic who moonlights as an arms dealer... a notorious and ruthless gang boss... and a high government official out to clean up the frontier, each wanting Jon's allegiance, each with the power to crush Jon and Lobo. Then there's the kid... How does Jon and Lobo get out of this one?

Problem with Slanted Jack is the characters came across as a bit flat, with Jon being the only one with any depth. Every body else came across as cold-hearted people out to use other people to their own purposes for little reason other it it suits them. The book is sort of adventure where the hero tries to play off one side against another. The result is satisfying, though it's a bit shallow.

If you like sci-fi action, with a bit of intrigue, go right ahead.

KCR: Alternate Generals (anthology, fiction, alternate history)

Image via WikipediaEver wonder how things may have happened differently? Here are 16 tales of alternate generals fighting battles that they just MIGHT have fought...

• Colonel Robert E. Lee leading cavalry charge in the War of Crimea as a part of Royal North American Army
• Cardinal Napoleon Bonaparte inspiring troops in continuation of the Crusades
• Sun-Tzu made his way to Europe instead of one of warring factions in China

and much more

If you like "what if" scenarios, you should try this book. There's 16 tales here, and this has inspired two more volumes of similar anthologies.

KCR: The Lost Fleet #2: Courageous (novel)

The lost fleet series is about a man who does what he can to keep a fleet together, so he can see home again. However, much of the "action" consists of verbal byplays between John "Black Jack" Geary, the main character, with his officers and other people such as Co-President Victoria Rione, who's Geary's lover. This is the third book in the series, so it's hard to explain this book without explaining the background..

Background info: The Alliance has been at war with the Syndicate (Syndics) for over 100 years. A major alliance fleet on the way to attack Syndic homeworld was repulsed by an ambush and superior numbers. The battered fleet also recovered John "Black Jack" Geary, lost in space in cryo-sleep for 100 years from a previous action. During that time, Geary became a legend. Now that he'd came back in the flesh, fleet regulations made him the most senior officer in the fleet, Geary takes over as the new fleet commander, trying to take the battered and bruised fleet with its marines back to the Alliance. But many in the fleet are afraid of Geary, or want to protect their own powerbase...

This book is just a continuation of the previous action, as nothing was really resolved. Instead, a few bits of information have been revealed. The hyperspace gates have given the Syndics a strategic advantage, but Geary's fleet is also sensing that the Syndic civilian populace may not be fully behind the war effort as it seems. However, there seem to be hidden menace hiding in the background. What is this menace?

While each book adds a bit to the story, there's also no sense of completion. If you prefer serial fiction, give it a try, as this book will drag into 7-10 books easily.

Rating: read one and see if you like it to keep reading

KCR: The Quantum Connection (fiction, scifi)

Best described as a geek fantasy, Quantum Connection is a semi-sequel to "Warp Speed", where humans gained faster-than-light drive through some luck tapping vacuum energy. In this book, the stakes are higher. While the characterization is one-dimensional, the plot keeps things moving at a great clip.

Premise: geek Steve Montana have violent mood swings, but he thought he got it under control and got a great government job studying some mind-numbing technology that is clearly not of this world. Then he woke up on a flying saucer about to be dissected by the alien Greys... So he somehow broke loose through his geeky knowledge, saved fellow captive Tania, learned how to control the nano-machines, remade themselves into super-humans, then raced back to the moon to join a human program already underway to combat the Grey menace...

The action is fun, and sci-fi just believable enough to keep you grounded yet fantastic enough to be a good read. Don't expect characterization here. It's action almost all the way.

KCR: Torch of Freedom (scifi, novel)

Torch of Freedom is a novel set in the "Honorverse", i.e. the world of "Honor Harrington" series by David Weber. This book only peripherally involved Honor Harrington herself, but rather concentrated on the characters Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat, and Queen Berry of Torch.

To describe the novel would be rather difficult, as the Honorverse, with a dozen novels and several short story anthologies, is almost huge beyond description, but here's a tiny summary, just to set the stage:

The planet "Torch" was a slave planet held by "Mesa Corporation", which manufacturers genetic slaves. In a previous book, a slave revolt, with a little help from the outside, threw off Mesa, and with some outside help, the ex-slaves kept their freedom. The ex-slaves elected Berry, adopted daughter of Anton Zilwicki, to be their queen (yes, I know it sounds weird), because Zilwicki had a part in revolution, and Zilwicki's wife, Lady Montagne, was a Manticoran noblewoman who gave up her title to get a seat in House of Commons in order to fight for more help genetic slaves. When Queen Berry was almost assassinated, and similar strange assassinations were reported in other star systems as well, Anton Zilwicki (ex-Manticoran Navy Intelligence specialist), and Victor Cachat, his counterpart in the Haven Republic (both have a love for Torch), went off to look for clues on who may really be behind this...

The world is rich, and characters varied, but each is unique. You may have problem keeping the characters straight, but David Weber's novel reads like Tom Clancy writing science fiction, with a dash of Horatio Hornblower's derring-do.

My main problem with Weber is sometimes his characters goes into lecture mode, as the two characters have to say out loud every thought where they explain all the angles verbally, even when the two are like-minded. That's more of a nitpick though, not a fault.

If you read any of Honorverse novels, you should pick this one up.

KCR: The One starring Jet Li

Cover of The One (Special Edition)The One has a clever premise that is barely scifi, and relies on a clever premise: Jet Li vs. Jet Li. How do you set that up? Alternate universes, of course.

The setup: Gabe Yulaw was an MVA (multiverse agency) agent who once killed another version of himself in self-defense. He felt stronger. So he decided to go rogue... go through the various multiverses and kill all other versions of him. He had gotten much faster too, doing all the "Matrix" like moves. Two other MVA agents (Del Roy Lindo and Jason Statham) were dispatched to catch him, but ultimately it falls to the last remaining, "Gabe Law", who also had gotten stronger...

You sure don't watch this movie for the acting. If you understand any martial arts, you may actually notice that Jet Li used different versions of martial arts for the characters. But basically it's special effects all the way.

But then, you don't really watch Jet Li movie for the characters, do you?

Rating: Worth watching once, but not enough to own

 

KCR: Bolo Strike (novel, war, scifi)

Bolo Strike is a novel set in Keith Laumer's Bolo universe. Bolos are huge fighting machines, massing thousands of tons and fire "hellbores" (plasma bolts) from cannons that can effectively engage ships in orbit, as well as defeat almost anything else except other Bolos, unless overwhelmed. The problem with Bolo novels is that Bolos are such magnificent fighting machines capable of so much destruction, it is very difficult to setup a situation where it's even 'close" to a fair fight, much less a tense fight where the Bolo may lose.

The Setup: the Dinochrome Regiment has been called up to attack a planet called Caern, held by a race called the Aetryx, and their "pet" humans, supposedly enslaved and worship Aetryx as gods. The attack was meant to liberate the humans. Unfortunately, as typical of most novels, the enemy is vastly superior to what the Terrans (or even the Bolos) have anticipated, so the Bolos have a VERY tough fight against enemies that may even have suborned older Bolos to their will. With the Terran fleet destroyed or driven off, the Bolos are on their own...

The problem with this novel is it tries a bit too much to make the odds overwhelming for the Bolos, or specifically one Bolo Victorious i.e. "Victor", and his commander(s), and end up with situation that virtually require a "deux ex machina" to salvage, and that's essentially what happened... the Bolo did a "Kirk Maneuver" (hint: M-5).

The fighting is fine, as William H. Keith, author of over 150 novels, knows his plots forwards and backwards. However, it somehow seem to lack the few twists and turns, and reads a bit formulaic.

Still, if you like Bolo novels, you should like this one just fine.

Rating: Try it

KCR: Live Free or Die (scifi, novel)

Cover of Live Free Or Die (Troy Rising)Live Free or Die is first book in John Ringo's new series called "Troy Rising", and the premise is simple. Some friendly aliens just jumped into the system and dropped off a jumpgate. ANYBODY can be coming through, they warned, and the gate will defend itself. Good luck. The first aliens were friendly. However, then the nasties came through, and nuked a few cities. Without sufficient tech to fight, Earth surrendered and paid tribute every year to the new overlords.

Then a guy came up with an idea... With a bit of trial and error, he found a resource that will make him the richest man on the planet, but he's not using his fortune for gain... but to create science and buy alien tech to create a battlestation called Troy, that will allow Earth to be free of the alien overlords, and be free.

Well, somebody's got to do it...

John Ringo have a knack of setting up utterly hilarious situations that'll have you ROFL, like the US declaring war on its citizen for a common breakfast item, or being the only hacker that figured out something that's truly alien. Again, this not-so-genius turned out to be the geek of all geeks, and his ideas may just be crazy enough to be able to defend Earth...

If you like Ringo's writing style (no ground action this time), you should give this book a try.

Rating: try it!

KCR: Zoe's Tale (scifi, war)

Image via WikipediaZoe's Tale by John Scalsi is an interesting tale... if you've never read his previous books. The book is a part of his "Old Man's War" series, and is essentially retelling of his previous book "The Last Colony" from the viewpoint of Zoe, adopted daughter of the main characters.

To setup the world... the main characters were rejuvenated old people to fight a war, against aliens, who don't want humans to expand, and is willing to wipe out the colony if need be. The humans don't exactly want the colony to succeed, but felt they need to "try" if only to satisfy the masses. The leaders of the colony knew they are being played, so they are doing the best to keep the colony alive through negotiation. And the daughter tries to live a teenager's life, with boyfriend, best friend, and two alien bodyguards who worship her like a Goddess because her late father gave them intelligence and sentience (but may have been a traitor to the human race?)  Later, Zoe realized that perhaps her bodyguards may be the only hope the colony have for survival...

John Scalzi did not write many novels, but he has a talent for dialog and character voice, and the ideas do link together to form a cohesive whole, though sometimes they do come out a little rough. It was a major gamble to write this novel from the viewpoint of a teenage girl, but the result is a fresh take on the events. Still, it does read like a bit of rehash, and thus, fans may enjoy a bit more than fresh readers.

Rating: Try it

KCR: Needs of the Many (Star Trek, tie-in, scifi)

Image via WikipediaThis "novel" is a tie-in for the new Star Trek Online MMORPG. It was written from the POV of Jake Sisko, by now a famous writer, who interviewed many of the "celebrities" of his time, about the latest threat to the Federation, a new shapeshifter threat called the Undine, that makes the Founders look like amateurs. Klingons have turned back into hostiles. The universe is a messy place. And who is this Undine? They are formerly known as Specie 8472 (yes, the fluidic space people from Star Trek: Voyager).

The problem with this war is nobody quite know who is the enemy, as they can look just like your neighbors and friends. So the Federation is sometimes reduced to suspecting anyone and everyone, and some of the deepest moral principles have been compromised, but how far?

The problem with the book is they are presented as a bunch of interviews with the various parties Jake have access to during his time... i.e. personalities from the various episodes of DS9 and VOY. While all the characters are in character, the problem is they turn into sort of... uh... sounding platform for that person's philosophy on dealing with the Undine threat, and some of that philosophy is just completely outrageous... at least to a normal guy like you and me. Or in other words, what's supposed to be scifi turned into a political and moral discussion.

If you can pick this up from a used bookstore it can serve as a good intro to STO, the MMORPG. However, as a standalone book it is quite lacking except for the "ensemble" effect (i.e. all the familiar characters are here).

Rating: Skip it (unless you're a Trekker)

KCR: Watch on the Rhine (war, scifi)

Watch of the Rhine is a novel of the "Posleenverse" (or Legacy of the Aldenata) series where the Posleen Horde invades Earth and wrecks it completely. This novel is about the European threater, where the Germans are forced to reactivate every last soldier and officer it has... including the few surviving members of the SS. The book is about their struggle to contain the Posleen, and failing that, to delay the Posleen so the civilians have a chance to escape. They have to do this while dealing with interior decent and as predicted a traitor in their midst. Also in their midst, a giant SHIVA tank built to kill Posleen "landers" with a motley crew trying to survive against tremendous odds.

As you can imagine, this is a controversial topic... SS is verboten in Germany... until the Posleen war left the Chancellor no choice at all. Most SS soldiers are honest Germans, but there were some truly evil people... but you need evil people to fight wars too... but can you fight a war of annihilation, and keep your humanity?

The book does make you think, about how much evil is there in war, and can you fight evil with more evil?

Rating: worth a read

KCR: Kris Longknife, Intrepid (novel, scifi, space, adventure)

The more I read Kris Longknife, the more the stories blur together, and there is an itch in my head, about how I've seen this sort of plot before... then I realized.... This is a typical A-team plot... very often.

Why? Let's describe the setup for this book. The Wasp Q-ship is out on the rim, hunting pirates, but showing not much luck. They visit a planet of recluses, but there's hint that they are up to no good. They visit another planet, and promises to take one guy to a frontier colony along with his cargo. Upon arrival, they found the planet was taken over by a bunch of mercs. Kris Longknife and her marines, along with some volunteers, must defeat the mercs, and figure out how this may be tied into the planet's recluses and what nefarious plot they may be hatching.

Why did I say it's like A-Team? The Kris Longknife team did all sorts of tricks and tactics to hurt but not kill the mercs, right up to the point where the final battle is joined... Then things got deadly. Before then, they got goats and sheep as infra-red lures, firecrackers to disorient, snipers to kill trucks and tires... so on. Basically, she did everything to avoid casualties... and give the other side a way out, but they won't take it.

The problem with this book is it has two separate plots but almost no link between them . There's a secondary plot about that planet of recluses. Somehow when the primary plot, about the mercs, concluded, that secondary plot all of a sudden turned into a main plot. So the book feels... disjointed.

Still, all in all, not a bad read.

Rating: borrow it