Dalmas set out to write what seems to be a philosophy book masquerading as military science fiction. In practice, The Regiment is the love child of [b:Starship Troopers|17214|Starship Troopers|Robert A. Heinlein|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348024291s/17214.jpg|2534973] and [b:Utopia|18414|Utopia|Thomas More|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348970806s/18414.jpg|2798280].

I bought this book on the strength of its reviews, and was looking forward to a good read. For me, it didn't materialize. The writing was bad enough that it continually jarred me out of the impressive world that Dalmas built for his characters; something that I normally really appreciate. I'm ambiguous about the military aspect of science fiction, but the philosophy part of the book was utopian at best, awkwardly implausible at worst, and left my brain yelling "COME ON !@#%^" every 10 minutes - the T'swa have a smug answer for everything.

I made it to page 140 before I decided that my time would be better spent elsewhere, and don't intend to revisit. This book definitely has an audience (idealistic military sci-fi buffs), as evinced by its numerous glowing reviews; although I'd suggest reading both of the books in the first paragraph before reading this one alone. ( )

The start of the first book seemed amusing, who doesn't love a training montage? - but I quickly became uncomfortable with the heavy hammers pounding morals at my head. War is good. Some people are warriors by nature, and denying them the role of killing people will lead to trouble in society. War is a great lark. Hurrah!
The characters are cardboard, the philosophy objectionable and the world building tedious. I gave up halfway through the third book in this omnibus, I couldn't even muster the interest to find out what happens in the end. ( )

Sample Chapters: http://webscriptions.net/chapters/0743488237/0743488237.htm