I have to be honest here, I'm not a huge fan of science fiction. I'm more of a fantasy lover. Yes, there is a difference in my opinion between the two subjects. This book was therefore grudgingly accepted from my boyfriend when he was looking for something for me to read instead of spending more of my tight budget. At first it took some time for me to figure out what was going on because, as I mentioned, this isn't my typical genre of choice; however, by the third chapter I was hooked. I thought that Mr. Dietz did a good job of balancing the reliable plot that the reader expects with the plot twists that truly shocked me at times. I found myself rooting for some characters and wishing I could attack a few others--isn't that part of what makes a writer a good writer?
I also appreciated that the future Mr. Dietz created was easy to envision--detailed enough to understand, but not so detailed that you get bogged down in it. There's also the fact that in my opinion it was realistic enough to be believed and far-fetched enough to lay any personal concerns to rest. Is it possible that this would be similar to the true future? Yes, anything is possible. Is it probable? Not in my opinion, but it is a wonderful fiction.
To say the least, when I found that I was approximately thirty pages from the end of this book I looked through my boyfriend's books, found the next volume and squirreled it away to begin reading the moment I finished the first.
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Dietz has a lot of ideas in this book, but none of them were particularly well done except the action - when he actually wrote it. As a fun, quick space opera, it's not bad, though. If he had made this into a trilogy, he could have made it quite a good story. As it was, there just wasn't enough meat to really be satisfying. He'd jump from one place to another, do a quick flashback on what could have been an awesome scene, but it was just a quick synopsis. Maybe that was my big problem - a lot of tell & not enough show.

I had some issues with the logic & physics that made up the story, too. There were quite a few magical fixes. Smart people had to act awfully stupid at times in order to make the story work.

There were a few love interests in the story. Most felt tacked on, as if he'd finished, then gone back & added them. One really ruined part of the story for me as it was ridiculous. Another added absolutely nothing, although the third was useful, if quite strange.

I won't break my neck looking for another book by this author, but if one comes my way, I won't turn it down. ( )

This is a quite good combat science fiction book. I'm not really sure how I discovered this series, but I'm glad I did. There are some new ideas here, as well as some that mirror John Ring (incompetence in command) and Keith Laumer (alien invasion). Overall and enjoyable read, and I'll be reading more from this series.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/William_C_Dietz/Legion_of_the_Damned.html ( )

I had a hard time getting into this book. It focuses on space wars, cyborgs, and a whole mess of people. 50 pages into the book, every new scene brought with it an entirely new group of people. The cultures of the various races were intriguing, and there were some not-awful love stories, but on the whole I found it barely readable. ( )

Dietz has several books of this series that are good sci-fi. I have them and re-read them at times. ( )