Sage Fire Reviews

BOLO!

AI's:  Companions or Slaves?

Space Opera at its very best studies current social issues as well as asking the question of "What if...", raising emotional hopes, and dashing the villian to the ground in triumph.  David Weber has a history of creating charcters which come to life, and grab our emotions, taking the reader directly into the emotional state of the protagonist, be it human or Bolo. If you are prepared to be swept away into a future of conflict, then Bolo! is a great afternoon's reading.

Synopsis:

Posited as a five chapter excerpt from “A Brief Technical History of the Bolo” published by the new republic university press of 4029; this volume covers the outbreak to cessation of the Human – Melchorian war sometime around the turn of the 40th century. It is a study of slow decay, paranoia, treachery, bravery, and triumph. More pointedly, it poses the bio-ethical question, “is it morally right to have a citizen soldier who can not fully think for themselves?” As all great Science Fiction does since Homer posed the question of the lady and the lion, the question is left to the reader to decide.

All five chapters are stand alone studies, printed (in the real world and time) earlier, so the story follows not only the general course of the centuries long conflict, but the individual actions taken on a single planet. This anthology carries the reader from one far future to another in a single location, a rarity of preplanning and thought, a treat to young and old readers alike.

Impression:

Although this book has been out a while, many fans of Keith Lamar and David Weber will rejoice over the resumption of the Bolo series. Each tale is a great pulp read, grabbing the reader in their chair and refusing to let him or her put the book down until it is finished. Future Tech and Future War Gamers alike will relish this book for its concise underpinnings, while those of us who simply enjoy the hard core science fiction, wallow in the joy of the E. E. Doc Smith-esque romp this book brings back to our minds.

Mechanical minds becoming our companions instead of remaining our slaves is a concept long fought out among science fiction authors with many authors falling on each side of proverbial battle line. David Weber demonstrates both the reality and the anthropomorphism inherent in this discussion from the viewpoint of the largest, most complex fighting machine mankind will ever build. How can we, the reader, fail to struggle with the internal battle each behemoth must face, even if we come to a different conclusion?

By the end of the book, we the reader, may not have any answers to the larger ethical questions solved in our minds, but we are left with the after-taste of a fine aged cognac, smooth, striking, filling, and satisfying. If there are to be any mentions of missing dish from this book, it would be Baen's failure to include additional pen and ink sketches to go with each pulp story, to help the reader identify more fully with the Bolo of their choice.

RATING:  9 Campfires

Citations:

Although written as PG material, do to the sensitive nature of discussions about what war is and is not, the reviewer feels this book is best targeted for 17 and up. 

0 Flames for sexual content.

Author's credentials:

David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952. In his stories, he creates a consistent and rationally explained technology and society. Even when dealing with fantasy themes, the magical powers are treated like another technology with supporting rational laws and principles.

Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He challenges current gender roles in the military by assuming that a gender-neutral military service will exist in his futures, and by frequently placing female leading characters in what have previously been seen as traditionally male roles, he has explored the challenges faced by women in the military and politics.

His most popular and enduring character is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C. S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower. Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 13 novels and four shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2006.

MD Johnson is a mountain northwest regional -- freelance author, living in Payette, Idaho. His writing interests include poetry, romance, westerns, science fiction, travel, and history. His work has appeared in a diverse range of publications including True Romance and Ballyhoo Stories. He is currently republishing the 1935 western classic historical novel, “The Bitterroot Trail” as the anthologist.

If you have a book or an ARC, you would like Mr. Johnson to review, please address your questions to him at queries@pencraft.biz.