Another pre-goodreads book i liked a lot ( )

A story of humanity caught in the crossfire as powerful aliens species fight over control of Earth, this is a gruesome, wrenching novel with just a touch of hope.

The pride is McCammon's usual mix of lurid description and sentimental wistfulness, but the characters are well built and the action riveting. Fun, but falls a little flat in the depth department. ( )

Average sci-fi entertainment that is marred by a particularly weak "it was all a dream" type ending. We don't even get to shed any tears, none, and all those shed along the way were wasted. I found the characters tepid by McCammon standards and the scenario and plot, while showing early signs of innovation, settled into a fairly conventional class in the end. Hardly an occasion for rejoicing about McCammon's return to 1980s form. A fat read strictly for McCammon aficionados. ( )

Hoo, that was super grim. ( )

Well. That wasn't very good, was it?

Look, let's just get this out of the way. If you want to read better versions of this novel, read [b:Swan Song|11557|Swan Song|Robert McCammon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1445981000s/11557.jpg|2947187] for the apocalytic elements, then [b:Stinger|11556|Stinger|Robert McCammon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340796928s/11556.jpg|16692450] for the really bad SF/alien elements.

McCammon is not a SF author. That's pretty damn obvious. He can be an excellent author when he wants to be. [b:Boy's Life|11553|Boy's Life|Robert McCammon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1314302694s/11553.jpg|16685995] proves it. Unfortunately, lazy, unfocused efforts like this one, or [b:The Five|10189558|The Five|Robert McCammon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327896424s/10189558.jpg|15088657] shows how off he can actually be when he's off.

Seriously, there isn't a single character in the novel that has anything approaching a reasonable back story that's developed enough for the reader to give a shit about them, or to reveal any of their motivations.

The aliens are similarly loosely sketched. Big miss on the main character, Ethan as he struggles after coming back from the dead, losing his memory, and dealing with an alien presence encroaching on both his body and his mind. None of it was developed.

Finally, there's the base premise. McCammon would have us believe that some sort of strategic border "passes directly through the planet" and causes the fighting between the two races. Right through the planet? Because, last time I checked, the planet in question, the titular border in The Border actually orbits the sun at a distance of 93 million miles, meaning that particular border must move by a factor of 186 million miles, depending on where it is in the orbit.

But they scrap over this planet? Stupid.

This was a rather sad way to finish off the last of the series of books that I started not quite a year ago, beginning with McCammon's first effort.

But I'm done now. And after this one? Kinda glad I am.