John Steakley (1951–2010)

The novel is actually composed of 2 very different storylines, extremely loosely connected:
1. A combat military sci-fi about a scout named Felix. This is extremely good and I enjoyed it immensely for its rhythm, grit and realism regarding the stupidity of the brass. The intense battles are reminiscent of the ww1 carnage (unlike Starship Troopers' obvious ww2 inspiration). 5/5 is barely enough for this part.
2. Another storyline about some wiseguy Han Solo type crook and... space pirates. Yes, in a book not from the 1930s,but at the same ridiculous level. This part is terribly boring, ridiculous, unoriginal and riddled with badly written characters. If I could go less than 1/5 I would.
So the average is 3, and if the editor kept just half the book (the mil scifi) it would have been a much better decision.… (mehr)