Segunda parte de la serie de Starfire. El primero me gustó mucho y en este segundo hay menos de todo salvo batallas espaciales. En una gran guerra de movimientos, presenciamos asalto tras asalto de los Bichos y de la Federación. En algún momento, dado que las batallas son tantas, hay alguna impresión de que las cosas se repiten. pero en general está muy entretenido. ya estoy con la tercera. ( )

In Death Ground
Author: Steve White
Publisher: Baen
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: 1997
Pgs: 629

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
Humanity has departed the cradle. The discovery of stable warp points throughout the universe has made travel, commerce, and warfare a faster, more lucrative, and more deadly proposition. The Terran Federation Navy defends the Federation. They have stood against the felinoid Orions. And with the Orions against the Rigellians and the Thebans. Warp point surveys are carried out by Survey Command backed by Battle Fleet whenever possible. Mapping the web of warp points for future opportunities and to seek out potential enemies that they aren’t aware of yet. The Bugs were a surprise. They set a trap for Survey Flotilla 27, savaging the ships, but not before warnings were dispatched up the warp chain to warn the Federation. The Bug advance was relentless. And when word reached the Federation of what was happening to the humans on the occupied worlds, all out war became the only option. When faced with an enemy who sees you as food, you will face dire circumstances. General Order 18 is in effect. A war to the death had broken out. They die or we die. But we won’t be sharing the universe.

Genre:
Aliens
Fiction
Military
Science fiction
Space
Space opera
War

Why this book:
Love this series of books. Great military sci fi. I have read them before and I will read them again.
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Favorite Character:
Rear Admiral Vanessa Murakuma. Tough as nails in a light frame.

Admiral of the Fleet and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Grand Alliance Ivan Antonov and, his vilkshatha brother, Kthaara’zarthan, Lord Talphon of the Orions.

Least Favorite Character:
Bettina Wister, senator and troublemaker, trying to sway opinion to blame the trouble with the Bugs on the Navy. Paraphrasing “If we had only negotiated, as the Bugs were eating us, maybe we wouldn’t be at war.”

Character I Most Identified With:
Love Demosthenes Waldeck who despite the influence of his politically powerful company is a great officer in Fifth Fleet and a loyal compatriot of Vanessa Murakuma.

The Feel:
War with your back against the wall, against an enemy who wants to eat you and who just keeps coming regardless of the amount of casualties you inflict upon him.

Favorite Scene:
When Daikyu sneaks a low emission probe through the area near the warp point leading to the Federation in an attempt to chart the dispositions of the Bugs and their preparations to jump off deeper into Fed space.

The Battle of Third Justin is very well done.

Operation: Pesthouse...the whole section. This novel goes from great science fiction to being a war novel in this chapter. The battle in Anderson Five, the wallering of Second Fleet, the fall of Antonov, the agony of the survivors. The horror of the discovery of the Harhanese. Intelligence species are cattle to the Bugs. Fight to win or be eaten.

The Battles in Centauri and Admiral MacGregor’s speech to stuff the guts back into her officers. Very well done.

Pacing:
Page turner.

Hmm Moments:
The Arachnids aka The Bugs are great villains.

Love the deeper insight into the Orions given by The Kliean Campaign where their worlds came under attack by The Bugs.

When Antonov faces the end in Anderson Five, I had to stop, close the book, and think about it for a minute. The character is very well written. I love it when a book gives you that thoughtful moment when you have to take a moment and appreciate the character and how it was written, effectively mourning the death of a fictional character.

Why isn’t there a screenplay?
Would make an incredible anime. Doubt there would be a stomach for the heavy military flavor of the series, it would be awesome, but I doubt it could be sold to one of the cable or broadcast networks.

Casting call:
Mila Kunis as Rear Admiral Vanessa Murakuma. Rena Sofer would make a good alternate for the role.

Max Von Sydow as Demosthenes Waldeck.

Agamemnon Waldeck should be portrayed by Christoph Waltz. He can portray the exact mix of smarmy and menace of power for powers sake and political leadership to make the character properly come alive.

Would love to see Lev Gorn play Ivan Antonov.
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Last Page Sound:
That’s awesome.

Author Assessment:
Love White and Weber’s work. Will always give either a look.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
real classic

Disposition of Book:
Keeper

Would recommend to:
everyone
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Military SF as its worst! This cliche-ridden, stock footage space battle full of stereotyped characters reads like it could have came out of the golden age (and I don't mean that as a compliment). ( )

This is a big book of space battles. That's all it is. No major plot or back plot. No real character development. No real politics, no religion. Just the Terran Alliance (humans and their several alien allies) against the Bugs, who are spider looking aliens who are suicidal killers who like to eat the people they capture on planets they conquer. This is just battle after battle after battle. It's okay at first, because they're fairly good, but then they get redundant. Fast. After all, how many times can you see hundreds of Alliance fighters fight Bug gunboats, all slaughtering each other by the hundreds, before you just go brain dead and fight the urge to yawn? Besides, the Alliance has virtually no ships, ever, and the Bugs have a zillion. And they're constantly getting slaughtered by the hundreds, but they just keep coming, over and over and over again. After awhile, it gets tiring to see the same old thing take place -- 40 Alliance ships, most of them small, against 150 Bug ships, most of them huge. The real kicker of this book is the Alliance gets its ass kicked in the end and they don't win. Instead, they hunker down to play defense for what will obviously be a sequel. Kind of annoying and besides, the authors have created such a one sided situation that I don't see how the Alliance can possibly win in the sequel no matter what they do. So it'll be the extinction of humanity and its allies. It's not bad writing, but it becomes boring fairly quickly, unless you like reading about the same types of space battles over and over again. If you do, you'll love it. Personally, not recommended. ( )

This is one of my favorite books. Great story telling. Still a good read. ( )