Book Review: Outriders (#1) by Jay Posey
Four Stars
“No matter how far into space humanity got, it would never be far enough to escape its own nature.”
Excellent military science fiction. Better than average space opera; better than Tom Clancy; almost as good as John Scalzi. These characters–good, bad and other–have souls. Mission Impossible meets Starship Troopers but with a soul. Almost five stars.
“He couldn’t remember a time that he’d ever been glad he ignored his gut.”
Introspective main character who is often confused and conflicted without the teen angst most war story heroes wallow in. Thoughtful, three-dimensional characters on all sides. Great depth of story and storytelling with an economy of words. Feels more real than most space operas, especially than Star Trek or Star Wars fantasies.
“Hard to trust people who say they don’t want to start a war when everyone’s acting like they do.”
Death proofing raises many technical and ethical issues (see also John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War), not the least of which is how the resurrected self gets a current impression of the personality. They should only have captured up to the start of each mission.
“He’d given his life for his country and they’d been kind enough to give it back.”
Major spoilers follow, though I’ve tried to not be explicit (because I know my niece will read on anyway). If you think you might read this book, read no farther. Seriously. Oh, and don’t read other reviews or the blurb. Get the book and read it for yourself. Discovery is half the fun.
“Information is only part of the problem; usually we have too much of it.”
Quibbles. 1. well-explained–even plausible–instantaneous interplanetary communications, but no explanation of faster-then-light travel. How else could they make a round trip from Earth to Mars in less than a week? 2. You don’t think she’s dead dead do you? (Jon, I told you to stop reading.)
“Eventually you came to expect that everything was a trick.”
Assembling cast for series subtle enough not to interfere with this story. Excellent denouement, with plenty of hooks to the next story
“Do the good you can.”
As a Matter of Fancy 