Ghost Fleet Review

Mini-review #18

This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like. 

Back in June and July this year, there was suddenly a wave of reviews and some press coverage for the novels Ghost Fleet and Tin Men. Both involve near future extrapolations of current military technology and they are scifi-ish technothrillers.  I will say that both novels use future tech in a way that puts a great deal of military SF to shame as they are more advanced in concept than some other writing.  I went onto the waiting list at my public library to get this book as I don't buy hardcover fiction and the ebook was awful expensive.  So 2 months later, I can now review it!

Ghost Fleet in particular is very good at the showing the implications of future tech and the battlespaces in which it operates.  I really liked it and it sure didn't hurt that it had a good story behind it as well.  Some reviewers have compared it to Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising for the 21st century so far and I would pretty much agree with them.

The basis of the book is about a Pearl Harbor 2.0 event for the Americans, who are attacked by China this time (since they're the new Soviets since the end of the Cold War).  The Chinese and American perspectives are nicely done and the conflict rages across the Pacific on the surface, in the air, on the ground in Hawaii, and even in space.  The American technological advantage in this case works against them as their electronics have component manufactured in China and have been compromised (this was something that was used in David Gerrold's novel, The War Against the Chtorr decades ago).  A bit of space war against US military satellites, and extensive cyber warfare neutralizes American military power for awhile.

One littoral combat ship escapes from Pearl Harbor and the XO, Jamie Simmons, becomes captain the USS Zumwalt from the Ghost Fleet of mothballed ships in California.  The Zumwalt is outfitted as a railgun ship, but everything is experimental on board.  So there is plenty of surface action and plenty of engineering work to do below decks (where's Scotty when you need him?).  Anyways, without giving any more away, the book is a great read.

Does it have a cast of characters listing?
Nope.  But there are Russian spies, plenty of admirals on both side of the Pacific, eccentric billionaires who want to help the war effort, hackers, and of course, the crew of the Zumwalt.  Jamie Simmons is a man who is conflicted, but learns to become a great captain with the help of his father, who is also assigned to his ship. The two start with a bad relationship that develops in other directions over the course of the novel, adding some good elements to the story.

What is the scope / scale of the story?
Ship to ship action, fleet actions with plenty of missiles in the air, naval bombardment, guerrilla action in Hawaii, and even a murder mystery plot all spice things up.  There are some good sections set in space and I'll just leave it at that.

Does it have likeable characters?
You care about a number of the characters, but I found myself liking the Chinese lady engineer on the Zumwalt, Jamie's father, and all of the named Russian characters.  The Chinese Generals and Admirals were pretty flat characters, but they move the story along.

Does it have an entertaining story line?
Very entertaining.  I finished the book in one long read.  There are multiple groups of characters and they all get some good screen time so to speak.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Wow, this one is a no brainer.  I think the authors nailed a pretty good vision of the future high-tech battlefield and all of its implications.  It is very well done and plausible.  China's reason for war is that is needs room to grow and it needs to remove the American obstacle.  The politics were fairly good, but it seems like all of Americas allies abandon her when she needs help the most (Fortress America mentality) and I'm not sure that would really happen since they were the victim of a massive surprise attack. The conflict doesn't go nuclear either, but that would make for a short book.

What cool bonus features are there?
Little tiny lobster recon / multi-role bots.  Extensive use of drones of all sizes.  Railguns that work. Old tech vs new tech.  Old retired veterans showing young pup sailors how to do their jobs right even if they have all that cool knowledge for the new tech systems and use "Viz" the next gen Google Glass. Plenty of scary mind manipulation and common use of stims for soldiers too.  The F-35 showing that it works when its systems aren't compromised (I don't like the plane much myself, but boy has it been getting bad press these days).

More Military SF Reviews

Review of Tin Men by Christoper Golden

Mini-review #17

This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like. 

This book was a pretty enjoyable read, but it almost threw me off at the start.  The premise of the novel has America being the global peacekeeper in the near future because of they have the Remote Infantry Corps, a war winning technology that no one else has.  These Remote Infantry Corps ("Tin Men") are armies of remotely operated humanoid robots (human sized) that are extremely strong, extremely tough, and are faster and more dexterous than an actual human.   An American operator basically controls the robot as their surrogate body (like they were in it - aka the Avatar movie) from a base in Germany to any point in the world.  This whole peacekeeping aspect (which is a good thing in many ways) and American dominance via tech almost made me stop reading (it was pretty high handed), but it is an integral part of the story in making the Tin Men hated by many enemies around the globe.  As the story progresses, something terrible disrupts the entire world and you see the soldiers as human beings and really hope they get out of their fix as they are trapped operating the robots.  I recommend this book as a good read.

Does it have a cast of characters listing?
No.  It basically operates at a platoon level with three sets of protagonists.  One being the soldiers originally in the Middle East, another being the President of the United States and this protection detail, and the base troops for the Tin Men in Germany. 

What is the scope / scale of the story?
Street level combat with squads and platoons within wider battles around the globe.  A murky, unknown force is behind the disruption of the world.

Does it have likeable characters?
PFC Danny Kelso is the main protagonist and you like the guy and quite likable.  I like the fact that there are male and female soldiers in the field and you really want them to find a way out of their situation.

Does it have an entertaining story line?
Yes.  The story line moves quickly and shifts between the multiple groups of characters.  There are good survival, journey, and political sub-plots to the book.  Having some civilians mixed into the Tin Men as they journey across a devastated world was a good touch.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Hmmm, this one is tough one.  The tech is internally consistent in the book and it works for the story - I enjoyed the story even if I didn't think the tech was plausible.  I'd have to say the plausibility is a no, based on the level of tech that would exist to support the Tin Men (it is near future).  SPOILER WARNING : **** The plausibility of transferring a consciousness to an artificial brain via a high speed satellite link is a big no. ****  The robots are also extremely tough.  Something humanoid size wouldn't be resistant to .50 or grenade launchers to the level they are in the book, but they are feared because of this.

What cool bonus features are there?
The whole concept of remotely operated infantry robots is pretty cool.  Since combat is always about getting down and dirty, this is a nice extrapolation from our current drone operators. 

More Military SF Reviews

Review of Armored (A powered armor anthology)

Mini-review #15

This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.

This is a review of Armored, an anthology of stories about powered armour, which is not to be confused with the older military SF book Armor.  I happen to have both the Kindle version of it and the paperback.  Baen Books has their own sales site which sells ebooks without DRM, which is nice.  John Joseph Adams has assembled a nice assortment of 23 short stories that range anywhere from steam punk to gritty miltary SF.  There's even a zombie type story in here too, but pretty much skimmed that as I don't like zombie / undead type stories of any kind other than the original Dracula.  Some of the stories I really liked were Hell's Half Acre, Jungle Walkers, Power Armor: A Love Story, Field Test, and Trauma Pod.  It was a nice mix of stories from direct engagements, a bit of horror, to a spy/romance plot.

Worth a read for the fan of powered armour or military SF.

Does it have a cast of characters listing?

Nope.  But there are tons of characters as there are 23 different stories.  The suits themselves are characters in a few of them!

What is the scope / scale of the story?

Varies, but mainly it is small unit, or commando raid type missions.  Nothing too epic, but these are short stories.

Does it have likeable characters?

There are quite a few memorable characters that range from Frost a Drone operator to a tough Gunnery Sergeant named Schaeffer.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?

Many interesting storylines.  Stories range from historical steampunk to far future in a variety of settings.  If you like powered armour, you will be entertained.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?

The stories hold together pretty good.  No complaints.

Armor Book Review of a Miltary SF Classic

Mini-review #14

This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like. 

Armor is an old book published in 1984 by John Steakley.  I looked around for a Kindle edition, but no dice, and ended up buying a paperback.  I had heard that this book was a military SF classic, but I'd probably disagree with that statement after reading it.  It isn't a bad book, but it was definitely not what I was expecting to read after the first 25% of the book.  The story is divided into 4 arcs of which the first 25% is the "classic military SF with power armour (like in the title).  This is where all the buzz is from about the book.

In the initial story arc, our hero, Felix, is assigned to being a scout on his first mission on Banshee, a hellhole of a planet, where humanity is fighting a war against the Ants for some reason that I wasn't sure about.  His life as a scout is supposed to be short, but he prevails against all odds as he has a weird psychological part of his mind called the Engine that keeps him fighting and alive.

The combat is close and vicious and the humans quickly find themselves in a desperate situation.  The powered armour (Canadian spelling of armor) is pretty impressive, but so are the thousands upon thousands of 3 metre high bugs armed with blasters.  Pretty gripping combat scenes, good use of powered armour, and the read went by pretty quickly.

The story then changes to very interesting alien prison break, space pirates enter the story, and rest of the story takes place at a research station on a colony world at the fringe of human space.  It was a jarring story shift as it didn't seem like it connected with what I had just read.  Needless to say these story threads all tie together with a suit of powered armour as the glue.  Nice touch.

If you run across this book it is worth a read just for the first arc.

Does it have a cast of characters listing?
Not really.  There are many characters, but they stay under a half dozen or so in each story arc, so it is trackable.

What is the scope / scale of the story?
The battles are often fought personally by Felix.  The larger battlefield picture is at the division level, but you don't see much of it.  The situation  on Banshee starts bad and just gets worse.  It is a very personal tale around Felix and then our space pirate.

Does it have likeable characters?
Can't say I liked any of the characters other than the female scout that helps Felix out initially.  Everyone seems to be portrayed as broken goods to some extent.  The protagonist himself at the beginning is kind of an amnesiac to boot and very fatalistic.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Really liked the first part, and slogged throught the rest of it.  I'm not sure if this novel would get the same amount of popularity in todays very competitive military SF marketplace.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
The novel is really not about military organization, planning, or tactics.  You have no idea why Banshee is an important military objective.  The operation planners must have been idiots as their intel is abysmal and military bureaucracy is just out of touch with reality in this case.  Could be a good anti-war  theme and the story is really about how Felix and the grunts deal both mentally and physically with their situation.

What cool bonus features are there?
The  powered battlesuits are cool, with Starship Trooperesque weaponry. The suits have blasters, bomb dispensers, and are capable of amazing feats of strength and agility.  There are some discrpencies with the suits thought.  Despite being nuclear powered, they need recharging.  The nuclear aspect is actually a key plot point too.

The troops deploy to the surface by running into a teleporter field. Very nifty.

Nemesis. A Review of a Western Kaiju (Monster) Novel.

Mini-review #13
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  

Not exactly a military SF book, but the military does show up!  Nemesis is a recent novel by Jeremy Robinson, the author of the Chess Team technothriller/thriller novels.  This novel is his homage to the giant monster destroying the countryside phenomena made popular by the Japanese Kaiju (monster) movies like Godzilla.  There have always been giant monster movies and such over here (Cloverfield anyone?), but not so many books, so I was pretty interested to see what he wrote.

No spoilers ahead.  The book starts with an unexpected discovery in Alaska by the military.  A man is murdered and I almost stopped reading at that point in chapter 1.  I wasn't too impressed by the opening and was wondering how the rest of the book was going to stack up with sub plots after this.  Anyhow, I kept reading and the story did pick up.  This is a giant monster story intertwined with some illegal genetics research, really bad black ops types, and a nasty villain.  It does have the reading flavour of the typical technothriller / action novel, especially in the last two thirds of the book, and you'll like the military scenes too.  The monster itself is pretty imaginative and it is definitely not your black and white monster as it "Nemesis" has it's own character.

Mr. Robinson has written a pretty fun story, and while the ending is kind of typical of "Western" monster and horror movies, it was a fun ride.  If you like monster stories or even technothrillers, give this one a read.


Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
Nope.  There are really two main characters with Jon Hudson of the Department of Homeland Security and Sheriff Collins, a real tough lady who can do hand to hand and use a machinegun.  There are plenty of other characters, but nothing that will confuse you.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
The scope of the story really focuses on the two main character and the monster.  The monster scenes with the characters are well done and bring an element of interaction to the monster epic you don't usually get.  The monster grows and the more military elements are drawn in.  The response by the military is kind of disorganized though and plenty of losses ensue.

Does it have likeable characters?
Jon is a likeable, down to earth character, who basically runs a teeny little X-files type operation.  Lots of eccentric supporting characters due to the nature of the homeland security unit they work for.  Many poor smucks dying, getting eaten, and getting squished.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.The story starts slow, but the action picks up after the first quarter of the book.  The action grows as the monster grows.  The story integrates the characters well into the narrative which could have been lost as the monster could have taken over the story completely.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
I liked the story as a fun monster crushes city kind of story.  The biology is pretty amazing, probably not very likely, especially with the growth rates, monster abilities, and such, but you forgive these things as it is a monster movie in written form.  The military response is a little poor, but even my favourite giant robot movie like Pacific Rim had these WTF moments.  Still a fun read though.

• A-10 Warthog engaging with 30mm gun vulcan that fires depleted uranium rounds that should have punch clean through the beasty in the early stages.
• AMRAAM missiles are really air to air weapons and not for punching through armoured hides even if they have a 60 lb explosive warhead.  Hey, they used the same mistake in the Independence Day movie and I liked that too!
• Tomahawk missiles seemed underpowered.
• F-22s closing in tight to use guns.  Are you kidding me!  But it looks cool.
• Apache gunships do not use mini-guns/vulcans.  They have 25 mm chain guns and don't need to come closer than a kilometre or two to engage you with cannon or Hellfire anti-tank missiles.

What cool bonus features are there?
The monster is cool.  Just read it to find out more.

Review of the Star Carrier Series - Earth Strike, Center of Gravity, Singularity, and Deep Space

Mini-review #12
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  

Star Carrier is a well written series of space navy books by Ian Douglas who is actually William H. Keith.  The author has already written a few trilogies and has a list of writing credits a mile long so you know the guy has honed his craft.  People have described this series by relating it to Battlestar Galactica as there is a STAR CARRIER (wow, that was a shocker).  I would say that is where the similarities start and end myself as I liked this a heck of a lot more than the new Battlestar.  Earth and its colonies are under attack by multiple alien races working for the Sh'daar and is losing the war.  Colony after colony is being stripped away from us and Earth is the next target. The politicians and HQ hesitate on the next best move, but one man, Admiral Alexander Koenig, decides to take the fight to the aliens before they can mass and destroy us. 

The story focuses on the Admiral and one of the fighter pilots Trevor Gray.  You get the action from the fighter cockpit and from the bridge of the carrier so there is plenty of variety to read about.  Both of the characters develop over time and each has their own personal demons to overcome.

The stories move along fairly quickly and are good action reading.  The author does tend to go into explaining the tech a little too much and the battles with the capital ships tend to flow the same way.  A few naval battles have a strike fleet do a high speed flyby of an enemy fleet at near lightspeed and hammer them.  Basically an AI controlled drive by shooting with big railguns and other heavy weaponry.  The battles are well done, but tend to be standard with a few extra surprise moves.  I'll talk more about the fighters later on in the review and they are probably my favourite part of the series.

I highly recommend this series for anyone who likes reading about well thought out space combat and likes cheering on the human underdog.  And it is priced reasonably on the Kindle.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  There are really two main characters, with maybe a half a dozen key supporting characters.  Action tends to center around the carrier America and its crew.  Fighter pilots tend to die a fair bit, but so do the capital ships with their nameless crew of hundreds.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
I'd say the story is epic in scope with a fleet on a desperate mission within a larger galactic context.  There are many mysteries to the Sh'daar.  The naval engagements are between fleets of 50 to 100 ships with hundreds of fighters involved.

Does it have likeable characters?
Admiral Koenig is a brilliant strategist who needs to deal with both aliens and the idiotic government back on Earth.  The man is very likeable as a leader.  Gray is the outsider in Naval aviation.  He come from a primitive fringe in the US that rejects nanotech implants and big government.  A practical man, he puts up with constant ribbing from his squadron mates, and still saves the day.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes. It is pretty much one long thrill ride with breathers to do character development, political subterfuge, and world building.  It is a long campaign to save the Earth from aliens and itself.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
This was well done.  The setup for the story and the politics on Earth sounded real and not far fetched.  There is the main Confederation faction on Earth that also has dissent as it was really formed out of expedience and not a full desire by the various nation states to integrate.  By book 4 you will know what I mean.  The aliens are pretty cool with everything from gas bags to tentacled critters that are not humanoid and don't think like we do.  The tech is nicely done and the use of nanotech magic is consistently and usefully applied.  In fact, the Sh'daar are fighting us as they are worried about continual human development of  GRIN (Genetic, Robotic, Information, and Nano processes) that might enable us to have a Technological Singularity Event and transcend to something more powerful.

If there are any criticisms to level it would be with the chain of command and the aliens.  It seems like the politicians and naval admirals are idiots on Earth and the aliens are too predictable in their strategy.  This applies to all the books.

What cool bonus features are there?
The big ships are mushroom like in shape with big armoured domes of ice at the bow for fuel and protection.  The star fighters are very cool as they are pushed / pulled by micro-singularities to enable massive accelerations / decelerations in the tens of thousands of Gs.  They are made out of a nanomatrix hull that can change configuration for high speed, attack, and even atmospheric combat.  Nanotech implants in the pilots allow them to control many systems by touch and a thought.  I like the term "thought-clicking."

Ships fight at very high speeds and the tactics employed reflect this (e.g. shooting sand as a weapon). There are railguns, nuclear missiles, particle beams, kinetic gatling guns, and all types of energy weapons.

Finally, the three points I list below are not criticisms of this series, but are issues with most space combat SF.  Kudos to the author for describing the tech so well that I actually thought about these things.  The tech is sufficiently advanced in this series that I wonder:

1. Why aren't the micro-singularities used as weapons (had a similar beef with the impenetrable drive fields in the Honor Harrington books).  Nothing stops a singularity missile that can rip through a capital ship's shields and armour and it's cheap. 
2. Combat is sufficiently deadly that I wonder why large crews are still required for anything, and is even a single human pilot required to die in a star fighter when the AI and nanotech is so sophisticated.  They can assemble a starfighter in a supply ship in half a day and can nanofacture food and anything else (people?).
3. How do you protect a planet from enemies who can hurtle projectiles at you at near lightspeed?  Big catastrophic, ecosystem ending event occurs next.  Stealth the big rocks and shoot thousands and thousands of them.  Who needs specialized bombardment ships to do this from orbit or even ship to ship combat?

Ender's Game Review

Mini-review #11
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  

Ender's Game is a classic military SF novel by Orson Scott Card that was first published in 1985.  This novel won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards! It is the first of a series of novels set in the same universe involving a Ender Wiggin.  Ender is a genetically engineered / bred child who is taken from his parents at a young age to attend Battle School.  Here, the International Forces (I.F.) are trying to create the best miltary leader that humanity has ever had.  Why are they doing this?  Humanity has been attacked twice by the Buggers who are an insectoid alien race and almost wiped out.  The Buggers are numerous,quick on the attack, and able to adapt to human tactics with great ease.  The people of Earth need the best military leader ever to take on the bugs.

Much of the book is about the childhood development of Ender along with his two siblings.  Ender is the only one who makes it into the orbital station where the Battle School is.  Here he needs to prove himself and grow to be able to lead the best of the best in military minds.  The kids are organized into military platoons to learn zero-g combat and work in 3 D space versus 2D, and learn tactics and strategy.  Ender is also a very empathetic character who really doesn't want to hurt anyone, but his abilities are lethal when pushed, so his trainers push him hard.

This is a great character driven story.  You can empathize with Ender and the other kids who are losing their childhood to fight the greatest war ever.  Well written and a good read.  I also wanted to read this boof before I saw the movie and I'm glad I did.  I also am glad I wrote the first 10 chapters of Exocrisis Blue: Neo-Ace (which happens at a mecha academy) before I read this as I wouldn't want to crib from it.  For some reason I've had the paperback for more than 15 years but never read it!  About time I guess.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  There are maybe half a dozen core characters.  Story is tightly woven.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Mainly about Ender and his squad or platoon.  Later it is about platoon on platoon training.  At the end - I did talk about the greatest war ever in space right? 

Does it have likeable characters?
You do like Private Andy and a few of his friends, but man, what a bunch of SOBs for squad mates and the NCOs suck.  While they provide good leadership in combat, you do not want this military life, as it seems to be run by bullies if you survive combat.  This is gutter trash in the army, the types that don't win the hearts and minds of the enemy in counter insurgency.  I do wonder if this "traditional" military culture would shift in the future with a more automated army.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  Much of the story is about the story of Ender and how he grows over a few years.  He makes friends and loses them.  He trains hard and is pushed beyond his limits by the instructors.  He grows in confidence, leadership, and other military abilities and it isn't just an easy slog for him.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
The story holds together very well and I'd be interested to see what the novella was like.  No complaints here.  The Battle School is pretty cool.  In 1985 there is no Internet and the nets are used in the story.  There are crude PCs and computer games in 1985, but the story uses personal desks that must be kind of like Note book computers and very advanced simulation games.  3D holographic war games and displays  too.  Warsaw Pact exists in the novel, but that was before the complete destruction of it in real life.

What cool bonus features are there?
Zero G infantry combat.  Lots of floating, pushing off, and shooting.  Well described battles let you visualize the action.  Very cool disintegrator type weaponry, FTL ansible communications.
 

C.R.O.W. Review (sci fi infantry combat)

Mini-review #10
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  

C.R.O.W. (Combat Replacement of War) by Phillip Richards is a pretty gritty future infantry combat novel.  This novel follows a green recruit named Andrew Moralee who has just been assigned as a replacement in the Dropship Infantry.  The Dropship Infantry  are like the Marines or paratroopers  where they are more elite units that are the pointy tip of the spear in any operation.  Andy joins his unit and faces very severe hazing, so much so, that you wonder if the poor guy is going to crack.  Eventually, he is saved by the start of a new military campaign to seize back the planet of New Earth from the Chinese who betrayed their European allies by taking the planet from them.  The battles that follow include trench and tunnel warfare (tunnel warfare seems to be in these days - see Germline too) and show planetary assaults from orbit.

Flickr / bdu_defence_images_uk

I believe the novel was written by an infantry veteran in the British Army and he has the hard core details nailed down really well.  The military jargon, slang, and terminology are of the United Kingdom and the European Union  point of view.

I would recommend this book for a read if you are looking for some heavy infantry action in a science fiction setting.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  There are a few core characters, but war is brutal and the cast changes over the course of the first campaign.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Mainly squad and platoon level, but it flips through company and higher level operations to secure beach heads and consolidate gains made. 

Does it have likeable characters?
You do like Private Andy and a few of his friends, but man, what a bunch of SOBs for squad mates and the NCOs suck.  While they provide good leadership in combat, you do not want this military life, as it seems to be run by bullies if you survive combat.  This is gutter trash in the army, the types that don't win the hearts and minds of the enemy in counter insurgency.  I do wonder if this "traditional" military culture would shift in the future with a more automated army.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  You slog through pages of adjustment to the platoon with Andy, where his life is hell, but the combat that comes later is gritty and fast paced.  There is plenty of variety in the operations from above to below ground, and building clearing.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
The internal plausibility is good.  The author has set out to tell a gritty infantry story set in the future and it works with plenty of realistic details.  However, the technological innovation seen in the story has not changed infantry operations as the soldiers behave like current infantry with better gear.  Things like smart grenades and ammo, autonomous air and land drones, extremely integrated electronic battlefield operations do seem to get downplayed.  Oh yeah, the Chinese use highly integrated systems, but they can be hacked to be used against them - too much Battlestar here.  Casualties are very high in the story and units take 50+% casualties and are reformed into new combat effective units.  This is something I wondered about, but the narrative for the events was good.  Orbital bombardment effectiveness seems more limited than I would expect - firing high velocity projectiles from orbit if you're overhead should make you rule the battlefield and break up any formation or armour attack. 

What cool bonus features are there?
Very powerful battlefield drones are used (run from the saucer!).  The infantry use electromagnetic rifles, really smart missile launchers (you fire, they figure out what to hit it seems), and dropship tanks that accompany the dropships from orbit.  Well described infantry kit and equipment that adds a very nice depth to the story.

The Forever War Review

Mini-review #9
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is an old military classic, much like Heinlein's Starship Troopers.  Both of these novels feature not just military action, but serious social commentary.  In the Forever War, the novel is is an anti-war novel in many respects as it addresses topics such as the alienation of soldiers who have returned from war, conscription, the dehumanizing military machine, and even questions the reasons for engaging in warfare.  Haldeman served during the Vietnam War and it is widely believed that this science fiction novel's themes reflect upon his wartime experiences.

Flickr / procsilas

I read this novel years ago and it deeply engaged me on multiple levels.  It is a very well written story that is a Nebula award winner too!  There is good action, plenty of deep science fiction elements, and great characters.  The hero, William Mandella, is a conscript sent out to fight against the Taurans who apparently attacked human colony ships.  There is some brutal training on Earth then out on a moon of Pluto.  Many casualties ensue between the hostile environments and the use of live weapons.

Later on, they engage in ground combat.  At first it is very one sided, but later on the Terrans are outmatched by superior alien weaponry.  The war is fought in real time, but transportation happens at relativistic speeds so centuries of time pass between battles.  The novel chronicles the problems that the batch of soldiers have in adjusting to "future shock" when society changes on them so they are outcasts that don't fit in.  You really have to feel for them.

This is a good read.  Rumour has it that Heinlein even said it was the best futuristic military SF he had read.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Mainly platoon, company, and battalion level within a much larger campaign over many worlds and vast stretches of time.

Does it have likeable characters?
Very much so.  Characters seem real and caught up in changes beyond their control.  Over the centuries of war they remain static - like remnants of the present caught in the far future and unable to cope with massive societal change.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  It is a long war story over many campaigns.  Our hero becomes a veteran by skill and accident over time.  Like I said before, a good story.  You do wonder how it will turn out at the end.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Very good. It is well thought out. I like the future society building element a great deal.

What cool bonus features are there?
Time dilation effects as you travel near light speed and the many implications that it causes.  Leapfrogging technology as the war continues. Battlesuits, laser rifles, death in hostile terrain or by enemy fire, limb and organ regeneration, cloning all in the proper place.

Review of Mecha Corps - A Novel of the Armor Wars

Mini-review #8
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.
 
When I was publishing my own stories for Exocrisis I went browsing through the Amazon bookstore to see what other mecha fiction had been published.  One of the ones that popped up quickly was Mecha Corps: A Novel of the Armor Wars by Brett Patton.    Mecha Corps does a great deal of future world building and introduces the very powerful and amazing biomechs that are piloted by the Union against all enemies.

By Leondz / Flickr

The story is about  Matt Lowell who has qualified to join the elite Mecha Corp as a mecha pilot.  He arrives on Earth to begin his training and things take off from there.  There isn't much of a boot camp, but there is a brutal qualification to become a pilot. Pilots "mesh" with their mechas by plugging in and becoming integrated with them for sensation and control.  You can feel pain as a pilot when your incredibly tough, armoured body is hit.  Meshing itself isn't easy and has its own dangers as you get high on it from the sensations of incredible power.  The mechas are very agile with the ability to merge with other devices to fly or even other mecha to enhance their abilities.  Weapons capability seems to be extremely powerful as they can fight battleships in space and heavy armour on the ground.

The main enemy of the Union is the Corsairs, an elusive faction that preys on Union worlds.  They don't have biomecha, but they have plenty of other weapons.  Matt was orphaned by a Corsair raid and he has dedicated his life to killing a particular Corsair to avenge his father's death.  A new type of mecha called demons are introduced later and they become a central pivot for both character and plot development later.  This relatively recent book now has a sequel which doesn't seem to be available as an ebook at the time of writing for Canadians (go figure with these publishers).

This book is a good read for mecha fans as it is entertaining, but not deep on military tactics.  If you like the super robot genre you'll like it even more, but you might not like it so much if you're into serious military SF.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Small unit operations, but there are are some epic battles with swarms of ships and mechas involved.

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes and no.  Matt is a character who has some unusual genetic modifications as he seems to be an unnaturally gifted mecha pilot (this is a pretty standard trope in Japanese mecha).  He is primarily driven by revenge and basically goes berserk at one point with the mesh high.  Of course he gets another chance.  I can't say I like this character as he felt stock to me and he does dumb things and gets away with it again and again.  Like another novel I read, I found the female love interest (something that doesn't seem to develop much despite a meshing of minds) more interesting.  Also has a mad scientist type character called Dr. Roth, the inventor of the biomecha.  I'm still wondering what motivates him, something that the sequel might answer.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  There is plenty of action.  Story line develops nicely as the Corsairs step up their raids on the Union.  Nice climactic battle.  Plenty of plot twists based on the protagonist's past.  Some of the twists and character development didn't seem to work quite right as they just seemed kind of forced to me.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Yes. The world building is pretty good and contained to the displacement drive ships, the decayed remnants of Old Earth, and some cool set piece locations.   The mecha are well described and almost too powerful, but you can kill them with battleship or tons of firepower.  Mechas have a destructive contact fusion attack, an anti-matter zap gun, swarming missile attacks, etc.  The demon mechas later are extremely powerful, but this just means you have to ramp up the opposition.  Kind of reminds me of the super robot genre of anime and manga (I note Evangelion in the author's bio).  All of the cadet pilots become mecha captains without any real military training other than on piloting mechas, but Luke Skywalker becomes a rebel leader without any training either so it must be okay :) 

What cool bonus features are there?
Gigantic displacement drive ships to jump between the stars.  These ships carry powerful battleships and cruisers inside them (the battlerider concept from Traveller).  Demon mechas - the ultimate mecha that isn't anime?  Meshing to control the mechas is pretty cool too, but the addictive nature of it seems to be understated. There are some neat story locations to enjoy but I can't give those away.

Old Man's War Review (great military SF)

Mini-review #7
This is a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.
 
The title Old Man's War, by John Scalzi, first attracted my attention to this book years ago.  I devoured this book and then the next two books as they are just GOOD, with great characters and good military SF.  It is a favourite of mine up there with Starship Troopers so it lives in hallowed company.  The followup novel to this is titled The Ghost Brigades (what a great name too!) and concluded with The Last Colony.

xm25   Flickr / peo_soldier

The story is about John Perry, a 75 year old man who joins the Colonial Defense Forces to protect humanities interplanetary colonies.  After you sign up you cannot ever return to Earth.  The novel even plays up this very interesting point with some conspiracy theory-ish fun.   
John gets a new body, gets shipped off to boot camp, and begins the life of a super soldier.  BUT - you really aren't a super soldier by galactic standards as humans are pretty wimpy and being a super soldier just evens the odds a bit.  It turns out that humanity is deeply embroiled in a massive stellar war and things are desperate.  John and his buddies are shipped off to their first battle, survive it and then they get involved in a major operation.  At this point, I'll let you find out more as the story rolls on with lots of momentum.

This series of books is a highly recommended read.


Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Small unit operations, battalion level ops within much larger campaigns.

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes.  I like John and a number of the other characters.  Even the spooky Ghost Brigade special forces have a face that introduce a major character who resembles John's beloved, but deceased wife of many years.  You really want to know what happens next with them. 

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  You are taken along for a great ride in learning about the universe off of Earth from the point of view of John who is learning for the first time about everything off of Earth.  Good boot camp scenes and scenes about becoming accustomed to their new bodies.  Great touch! Intricate, but not byzantine story, makes for interesting reading.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Yes. No problems with the story or universe filled with hostile aliens.  It is just fun with excellent world building and tense combat scenes.  Brain to brain transfers from an aging 75 year old body into a product improved human body that is stronger, better, faster, and tougher is a very nice touch.  

What cool bonus features are there?
Lots of cool tech from the engineered soldier bodies, BrainPal implants to access computers, the Ghost Brigades, skip drives, and orbital elevators - oooh, who doesn't like space elevators.

Review of A Soldier's Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why)

Mini-review #6
This is the sixth of a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.
 
Is prophetic military SF a genre?   Jean Johnson has written a pretty good military SF novel in A Soldier's Duty.  I'm actually working my way through the sequel right now (and finding it a slower read at the beginning), but the first book was fairly gripping all the way through.  After reading it I actually wondered what else Jean has written.  When I went through her catalog afterwards I found she writes paranormal romances and such, but this particular work isn't a romance and I'm glad I didn't know that beforehand as it is a good military SF story!

Flickr / Defence Images

Hundreds of years in the future, mankind has spread out to the stars.  Our heroine, Ia, is from a heavy gravity world which gives her strength benefits, but she also has the gift of precognition and can see different future world lines.  Unfortunately she has foreseen a great disaster happening that cannot be stopped unless she manipulates events in a particular manner.  In fact most of the possible futures are bad.  Kind of like the Foundation foreseeing the collapse of the empire with psychohistory.  So Ia joins the marines and needs to gather allies and gain influence to alter things.

The first novel basically establishes her character and she uses her abilities to rise in the ranks and successfully complete missions with impossible odds.  Precognition definitely helps out here in combat.  How not to get shot!  You would think that battles would be anticlimactic because of her abilities, but they are still entertaining even though some of the tension is gone sometimes.  If you are looking for something entertaining with a different spin on things this book is worth a read.


Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Small unit operations, raids.

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes.  Ia is pretty single-minded in her drive to save the galaxy.  Plenty of supporting characters and family members to boot.  You wonder who is going to live and become part of the cause.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes. There is enough hidden as to how Ia is going to succeed.  Obviously she can also fail, but can she pull off the rescue of the future?  I think it was written pretty good in this regard.  If people complain about predetermination, I'd disagree as most novels have heroes that succeed so that by itself is kind of like predetermination.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Yes. No problems with the story.  This is a long novel in a good way.  As a writer I'm jealous, I'm more terse.  In terms of the battles scenes I would only have my standard complaint which is that the soldiers hundreds of years from now are equipped with weaponry that is roughly at our current technology level (I'd guess it would look antiquated in 20 years).  In fact, weaponry, technology, and tactics should be radically different that far in the future.  Book series like the Kris Longknife books by Mike Shephard also have this same problem, but I'm still reading that series too. Even with this complaint it is okay as I'm in it for the story first.

What cool bonus features are there?
Hey, Ia, is a precog who will gain additional abilities.  Interesting world building about the source of her powers (influenced by the paranormal romance angle? But I liked it.)

Review of Germline (The Subterrene War)

Mini-review #5
This is the fifth of a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.

 Germline is the first of three novels in the Subterrene War universe by T.C. McCarthy.  I have to say the writer managed to capture a very gritty picture about future combat both underground and above ground.  The below ground war scenes were quite interesting as there is some pretty advanced tunneling technology where trench warfare is taken under the earth.  In addition, I really like the way he incorporated clones or the genetics into the story.  

Flickr / dee_gee

Most of the story is centered around Oscar Wendall, a report who sees going to the front lines as his ticket to success.  Instead, he becomes involved in a brutal war that changes him when it goes on and on, an everlasting battle over rare resources buried underground in Kazakhstan.  The USA uses genetics, female super soldiers, to fight the Russians who throw men away by the thousands it seems.  Why female super soldiers? - That is well explained too!  The genetics are also powerful disposable tools and the war seems to be one of attrition.  The series is centered around Oscar's relationship with these genetic soldiers, their goals and religion, how they have been programmed, and I found that this is kept my attention all the way through. This book was well worth reading.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Small unit and battalion level operations.  There is a grand campaign but it is more back story.

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes.  Oscar has an interesting journey of discovery and pulls out of the pits of despair.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  Combat, female super soldiers, drugs, and a war that doesn't end.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
The technology used includes electromagnetic assault rifles called Maxwells that fire thousands of rounds (where do I get one?), plasma cannon and artillery, supersonic drones, and it was nicely done.  Soldiers are suited up in battle armour but you half wonder why they wear it as it seems to not be resistant to most weapons. The world described is that of the battlefield and the writer does a good job of it.  Later on, the story expands out into the rest of the world and I don't think it works quite as well, but I'm reading the third novel now so it can't be that bad!

What cool bonus features are there? 
The genetics are cool and I found myself rooting for them.

Review of Standing Alone, a BattleTech Novel

Mini-review #4
This is the fourth of a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.

This is a novel by MJ Dougherty that appears to be influenced by the BattleTech / MechWarrior war games for mecha combat.  It is set in an alternate Earth of 2086 where nations and megacorporations battle it out to rule the planet.  I'm not a mech war gamer myself, but the novel is a pretty easy read as long as you know what a mech is.  I was looking for a medium length read with big robots that wasn't part of some massively large overarching story and this book delivered that experience.

Challenger Tank in Canada   Defence Images / Flickr

The hero, "Shotgun Mike," is a mercenary that has fallen on hard times after a mission in Southeast Asia went terribly wrong.  Back at home in the United Kingdom, he joints the Royalists who fight for British sovereignty after the country is invaded by the European Federation.  The Federation is basically run by big megacorporations and they've conquered half of Britain.

Only the Royal Navy keeps the northern part of Britain free from invasion, so a land war is being fought on a north south axis.  The Royalists are terribly outmatched by the invaders who have all the good mechs and resources.  However, they have put up a good fight with their few mechs, some factories to make more, and lots of volunteers (aka cannonfodder). 

There is plenty of mech vs. mech combat and guerrilla style combat against mechs which you can imagine really doesn't go too well for the guerrillas.  Big mechs with laser cannon, lots of rockets, and big guns duel in a big ballet of destruction.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
Starts small with a mech duel and ends up with plenty of small engagements within a master storyline. The princess is a hands-on type of leader so you get to see the story get set up first hand.

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes. The main character was okay, but I did like the princess who was leading the resistance.  There were engaging characters, but I found the more interesting ones tended to be the women pilots and bureaucrats.  Half of the male characters were villains or traitors and were not as interesting as they were just driven by greed or power.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.The story stays centered on Mike and all of missions he goes on.  There are training missions, spy missions, defence missions, and let's hijack a mech for fun too!

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Typical world building with different megacorporations running the show.  I'd have to say there was nothing too different, but the corporate culture thing doesn't particularly translate well to national government even for the bad guys.  The economics for this is not particularly good as these mechs are expensive and so is war, so what is the payoff from invasion for the shareholders?  Aren't corporations kind of risk adverse to this kind of thing?  Also, the hold the line scenario in Britain doesn't play too well with me as Saddam Hussein tried that in the Gulf War and he got majorly flanked by superior maneuver forces.  Mechs are a pretty superior maneuver force even on a narrow frontage like Britain.

What cool bonus features are there? 
There's mech factories, mechs of course, an aircraft carrier and a drunken princess.

The Lost Fleet (Beyond The Frontier) Invincible Review

Mini-review #3
This is the third of a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.

Wow, you can tell from the long title of the blog post that this is a long series of books by Jack Campell.  Invincible is the second book in the Beyond the Frontier story arc for this series and it continues to ratchet up the old suspense while providing the fleet level, spaceship engagements that the fans of this series love.  The Lost Fleet series was the primary story arc that played out in the first six books and I won't go into detail as I don't want to spoil it, but you have political intrigue, alien mysteries, a vast and powerful opposing force, and a very long running battle to return home.

In the original story arc, "Black Jack" Geary is revived from cryosleep to find a much changed world.  A century of warfare has passed since he was frozen.  There have been massive casualties in the long running war between the Alliance ("the good guys") and the corporate Syndics.   This has decimated the fleet officer corps and the fleets on both sides now operate with far simpler tactics.  Being a reluctant, legendary hero, with mastery of old school fleet tactics, he becomes the ranking fleet officer that leads the fleet back home in a long journey through enemy space.  Much like Xenophon and the March of the 10,000.  In the second story arc he has been sent out on a one way mission into alien space to find out more about the Enigmas.  Why?  I'll leave that up to you to find out as it is core to the second story arc.

This is a recommended read for folk who like military SF fleet actions. Nothing revolutionary here, but it is a well told story and an enjoyable read.  After 8 books I'm enjoying this series more than the Destroyermen series (review #1) as it doesn't shift multiple battlefronts and focuses on a single fleet.  I read this on a copy borrowed from the public library as the current ebook pricing scheme by the publishers is insane right now for a copy.  I will not pay more than the price of a paperback book for a work of ebook fiction - period.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.  But it has a cast of ships/squadrons listing!  I found the number characters manageable, but lost track of the ships.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
This series of books has a great deal of starship combat but on the fleet level.  Descriptions of combat are gritty with many explosions.  The sheer firepower involved in fleet actions means the battles are over relatively quickly, but there are several of them in each book.  

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes. Black Jack Geary, the fleet commander, develops mainly in the first few books, but he proves to have the mettle of legend.  The man fights his destiny to the end.  The romance angle doesn't really work for me, but it is a minor part of the story.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes. Many battles, searches for answers, scavenging for parts, supplies, and resources.  There are enough plot twists and surprises to keep it fresh.  In the current novel, Invincible, you meet aliens along with their tactics and ships.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Good world building for an alternate future after a century of non-stop attritional warfare between two large human space factions.  One is a confederation while the other is a megacorporation.  Most of the story happens in the fleet but enough happens to give an idea of what the bigger picture is.

What cool bonus features are there? 
Superbattleships.  More aliens than you can shake a stick at.  Feels like it is setting up for a big political finale when the fleet reaches home.

Starship Troopers Novel Review

Mini-review #2
This is the second of a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub.  I'm going to start with the stuff I have read in the past, and on the review list are The Lost Fleet series, Mecha Corps, Posleen War Series, Gear School, EVE Protomecha, Bolo, Starship Troopers, Old Man's War, and Germline. Now onto the review.   For the master list of reviews, click here.

The Starship Troopers novel by Robert Heinlein is a science fiction classic that is the grand father of powered armour troopers and wars against alien bugs.  There have been two great games based on the original concept (not the movies).  This novel is in a class by itself in the military SF genre.  Heinlein creates some great battle scenes with the mobile infantry starting with the initial battle scene that includes a drop from orbit.  It's a pretty amazing piece of work considering it was published in 1959.  Much of the tech used still looks good today.  Heinlein interjected a great deal of political commentary in this book that will offend some, but I think he crafted a great story even if I don't agree with everything he says.

Revoltech Starship Troopers Figure from Japan

This is a highly recommended read where everyone should find something they like if they like military SF.  The military tech he used has influenced scores of writers after him all the way up to HALO with the ODST drop troopers.  For the Japanese, his work has also been influential with the power armour that ranges from Bubblegum Crisis to Appleseed.  In fact, there have been some great figures manufactured with the book based armour.  Also the Starship Troopers board game by Avalon Hill that was released in the late 1970s was a awesome adaptation of the work.  All the military weaponry could actually be gamed in a consistent manner (I like the board game and have a tattered copy in the closet).

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
No.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
While the scope of a star system spanning war is described, the story is about a mobile infantry platoon(s) waging ware against the bugs on multiple worlds.  

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes.  You get to see Juan Rico mature from a young man in boot camp into a battle-tested trooper.  This war is tough and he pulls through.  

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Yes.  The battles are done well and the characters and story move along well even with the flashbacks to high school.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Good world building for an alternate future Earth where full citizenship is granted by service.  Bugs with their hive and brains are good too.  Military tech is believably described and the story is tight. 

What cool bonus features are there? 
Mobile infantry powered battle armour, hand flamers, and mini-nukes.  Bugs, lots of bugs and they're all being burned down.

The Destroyermen Series and Review of Iron Gray Sea

Mini-review #1
This is the first of a series of short reviews for military SF and mecha SF.  You will not see a review of something I don't like as it isn't worth writing about in that case, but I will tell you what works for me and what doesn't about the stories I did like.  When I was writing my Exocrisis Blue stories and trying to find places to post about it or reviews of other mecha SF I was unable to find any, so I'm creating my own hub.  I'm going to start with the stuff I have read in the past, and on the review list are The Lost Fleet series, Mecha Corps, Posleen War Series, Gear School, Bolo, Starship Troopers, Old Man's War, and Germline. Now onto the review.  For the master list of reviews, click here.

The Destroyermen book series is about a WWII American destroyer (USS Walker DD-163) that finds itself sucked into an alternate universe where they become involved with an intelligent lemur-like/cat species that is fighting an invasion of lizard-like creatures that treats everyone else as edible prey.  The author, Taylor Anderson, has made the USS Walker a high-tech wildcard in a bronze age world.

The series starts with some good naval duels in the early days of the Pacific War after the battle for the Philippines.  The fleeing USS Walker is sucked through a terrible trans-dimensional storm along with a Japanese cruiser.  The Japanese of course join the bad guys who are the man-eating Grik.  These Grik turn out to be smarter than the average savage lizard with weapons.  The crew of the Walker befriends the Lemurians and builds a grand alliance with them.  Many adventures follow to explore this strange new Earth with its wonderful set of very vicious beasts and mysterious landscapes.  Later on, new characters, races, and other humans are introduced into the story and the war against the Grik changes from a Southeast Asian conflict into more of a global conflict. 

When I first picked up "Into The Storm" (volume 1) I kind of thought this could be entertaining and it was.  The whole idea of an alien world with these lemur-like natives was actually done really well.  The story kind of grabs you and drags you along for the ride to see what happens next.  There was plenty of exploration of this new world and industry building to keep the old destroyer running for fuel and ammo.

In the latest book, "Iron Gray Sea" (volume 7)  the grand crusade against the Grik and other enemies continues.  The war has been pretty vast for the last 4 volumes so that you have many sub-stories going on.  This means that it takes many books to resolve events as there is a great deal of cutting back and forth.  Like many other epic books series, such as Harry Turtledove's World War books or the Wheel of Time, you will have an opinion on this that ranges from keep it coming to okay to this sucks.  My own opinion on this is closer to the lower end of okay as everything just drags out with the huge story, but he does have many interesting things happening.

So in the end, I recommend this very readable series that looks like it will run for some time to come.  I'm still reading the series, but due to the crazy pricing on ebooks (THAT SHOULD BE CHEAPER than the printed book), I'm using the public library to do so.  The first three books are also a fairly well contained story arc.

Does it have a cast of characters listing? 
Yes. This is good or bad depending on your preferences.

What is the scope / scale of the story? 
More intimate and small scale with the first books than it grows to become epic in size as the war spans the globe. This is a good and bad sign as the story keeps growing, but overall Taylor Anderson has done a good job with the number of characters and the ever-expanding story.

Does it have likeable characters?
Yes.  Many good leader types, tough guys, misfits, and just lovable characters (especially the little princess that is introduced later).  Good guys seem to be very flexible/modern in their thinking overall (women's rights and rights of other sentients comes to mind first), and the bad guys are not - until they have to up the ante against the good guys.

Does it have an entertaining storyline?
Good.  Very nasty enemies, fairly clear distinction between good and evil for the most part.  You can sink your teeth into the story and your enemies.

How is the internal consistency / plausibility?
Good. World building has been very good to excellent.  USS Walker is very fortunate to have all the skills to build a modern military industrial complex handy.

What cool bonus features are there? 
The Lemurians have giant wooden seagoing home ships that are the size of WWII aircraft carriers.  The destroyer versus cruiser scenario that eventually plays out is good. BIG Fish.