Wow. Now that was exactly my cup of tea. A military SF action-adventure with just a smidgen of politics thrown in to give it flavor and make you really root for the protagonists.
Michael Z. Williamson’s Better to Beg Forgiveness… is about a group of contractors (PC term for mercenaries… not that liberals care much for political correctness when it comes to military types) hired to protect a newly appointed president on a planet that’s basically a whole third-world hell-hole. Apparently, it’s dystopian future where all of earth (including America) is under U.N. control (the Secretary General seems to be the person with the most power on earth), and the contractors’ job is made worse by the love-hate relationship with the military sent there to quell things but often see themselves as rivals to the mercenaries. When the mercenaries have success and President Bishwanath ends up more of a independent figure than the U.N. would like, the corrupt nannyish government decides to declare Bishwanath to be dead and start over with a new president. Stuck without support, their contract from the Bureau of State canceled, and the government’s attitude towards the contractors a very Kos-esque “Screw ’em”, they decide to go rogue and and fine some way to protect the very much alive Bishwanath when rivaled by both the planet’s mobs and the U.N.’s near limitless resources.
Despite how big a roll contractors play in today’s world, I don’t think most people know much about them. When most people hear “mercenary” they think of people who will do anything for money, when in fact I believe companies like Blackwater (in the novel, the company is called Ripple Creek) only ever contract to the U.S. and are composed pretty much entirely of former U.S. military. Thus I found it quite fascinating to see a story told from their perspective, as they are very much entrenched in military hierarchy and sense of honor while not as hampered by its bureaucracy (which is made many times worse by the politicians in this future scenario). When it comes down to it, they take pride in what they do and money is only as big a part of it as anyone else’s job, and thus the decision as to what to do next when they see a good man being thrown to the sharks is an easy one.
Williamson makes writing a novel look hard, because there are tons of detail put into everything the contractors do in both the planning and operations to protect the president. It appeared very realistic, and while the protagonists deal with seemingly impossible odds, they always get out of it through skill and foresight instead of any deus ex machina sweeping in to save them. This wasn’t as preachy politics-wise (and certainly not as dark) as The Weapon as Williamson’s libertarian utopia Grainne plays a much smaller (but crucial) role, but there’s certainly enough political overtones that I don’t think a liberal is going to enjoy it much (though I doubt they’re a very large segment of military SF readers). It’s mainly all action, and quite enjoyable in that.
If I had any criticism it’s that of the six contractors, at least one never stood out enough for me to get a good visual of him. Also, the use of names obviously based off of contemporaries was a little too cutesy for my taste. That was used mainly, though, for characters who were mentioned only in passing except for a politician based off of Michael Moore who was the closest to straight out villain in the novel (most of the conflict is with military men who are just trying to do their best while hampered by politics).
I give it four and half stars out of five. I highly recommend it and think any ronin should really enjoy it. In the least, it’s some great escapism to see some people try and take charge in a big political and military mess. Though the release date is technically the sixth, Amazon has the hardcover available now. Here’s the first nine chapters as a sample, and I’m sure you can get an electronic version through Baen. I like their philosophy of assuming their customers aren’t thieves and selling the electronic versions without copy protection. They even usually make an RTF available so you can edit the story if you want to add more pirates and ninjas.
My amazon order has shipped and I’m waiting for this book with even less patience then my wife does when she is waiting for her lobster. 🙂
I just finished the book Ghost by John Ringo…
Found it in the SciFi section at B&N but it really belongs in the Thriller section. I guess it was there because Ringo’s other works (which I’ve read a lot of) are there too. Ghost is basically the story of an ex-SEAL and his part in the GWoT. To me it would be the perfect GWoT wet dream but unfortunately the protagonist has some demons that I find rather disturbing. In specific he’s a sexual sadistic and a good part of the book is focused on his escapades. Besides that it’s very good, though. It’s the first book in a series of (so far) four.
If military SF is more your thing Ringo’s Posleen War series is a good one. There’s about seven books in that series so far, I’m on the third.
My order’s about to ship too, on Amazon UK… for once we get the book same date as everyone else!
So far there are 5 books in Ghost series. And hey, “Ghost”, at least the ARC of it, came with a warning that it was mighty different stuff.
Also good: Tom Kratman(n?)’s Carrea Series, 2 books out so far (I consider ARC to be out) third should be in a few month’s or so. Pretty much the same general narrative but with more crispy muslim.
Go to Amazon and order a copy of Gordon R. Dickson’s
Dorsai! Similar plot probably better written
So how do I get ya to read my new one?
Hey #2,
I’ve read them all and you are in for a treat! I got all weepy during “Watch on the Rhine”. “Green Eyes” gave me goosebumps. Not quite as hot on the Callie oriented stories though. Ringo has become one of my favorites.
Sorry, that’s “Yellow Eyes” in the last post.
Read the first few chapters at Baen of “Better” and ordered the book from Borders. Have read all of the books mentioned above and agree with the other commentators. Just finished Tom Kratman’s “Carnifex.” Carrera has a serious attitude problem. Nuking a city to take out a man’s family to upset him before you kill him?
Frank, with all of the other praise of Ringo, I have to add a recommendation for Road to Damascus. It’s a VERY pointed condemnation of those who would demonize the military and those who actually do the work in our society (in this case, farmers). As TBinSTL said about Watch on the Rhine, it actually made me tear up, and I had to put the book down and catch my breath a couple of times – Ringo is a very, intense writer.
From a political perspective, he highlights the foolishness of lowering everyone to the level of the lowest common denominator in the interest of “fairness of outcome,” and presents in good measure the sheer destructive power of weaponry used against civilians, as when a powerful war machine is used to put down real (and imagined) riots. In other words, it nicely shows where you end up when you take the liberal position to its logical conclusions.
I also recommend David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. It starts out with On Basilisk Station, and at Baen’s $3.99 price, Baen is acting like the crack dealer who sells you the first rock for a buck. The whole series is a great read, and there are enough volumes to keep you from jonesing too badly when you get to the end of any one of ’em. I can’t recommend them highly enough. I have yet to read anything by Weber that wasn’t a good read (even his older stuff is fun, if not quite so well polished). He spins a great yarn, and you don’t have to put up with any PC crap out of him.
I actually did read Dorsai about 20 years back, but I don’t recall enough of it for it to have influenced Forgiveness. I can assure you the plots are entirely different, however.
I’ve read Better to Beg Forgiveness and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Mr. Williamson writes tightly, paces things well, describes action well. Not much more to ask of a writer, IMO.
Now a question for several of the previous posters: Other than the Baen logotype on the spine of the books, what does Mr. Ringo have to do with Better to Beg Forgiveness?