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Title: JANISSARIES by Pournelle ISBN: 0-671-87709-7 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 (10 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Unweird, believable science fiction.
Comment: Facing almost certain death at the hands of Cuban military forces in the civil war in Angola, Captain Rick Galloway and his small band of mercenaries are suddenly given the opportunity for life -- by the intervention of a alien spaceship. Rick and his band eventually end up on the planet Tran where they discover the reason for their rescue. When I read this book on its first publication in the 1970's, it was great. I recently obtained a new copy and find it's still a great science fiction story, well worth the $5 or $6 monetary outlay and two or three evening investment in time. If you like unweird, believable (within obvious parameters) science fiction you'll probably like Janissaries. P.S. I discovered Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven as writers in their classic end of the world tale, Lucifer's Hammer. Forget about Armegedden and Deep Impact! Lucifer's Hammer was one of the first comet hits world stories and is still one of the best.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Surprising Classic
Comment: The original issue did far better than expected. Apparently, while both Pournelle and his publisher hoped for the best when it came out, the reception was superb.
Thence came the demand for a sequel and later, after that, for the next one. In the mid 1980s, Pournelle was asked about this at a Los Angeles SF Convention, and he replied "Soon". Indeed, the third volume was soon published. But, like any good author who knows how to write well and milk a successful series, dangling threads were left. It is from these that other reviewers here have asked for a fourth volume.
It has now been 15 years since the 3rd volume! Frustrating. Sadly, it appears that Pournelle's productivity has fallen in recent years. Still, we can only hope... And also hope for a reissue, maybe in hardcover, of THIS first volume. As you may recall, the first publication was in an extra large paperback format, with illustrations. It has been sufficiently long that perhaps now a hardcover with the lovely drawings might be justified.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, but not great
Comment: A group of soldiers is brought to a primitive planet, Tran, populated by humans by an alien race called the Shalnuksis, that are part of an interstellar confederacy. The population on Tran consists of the descendants of humans brought to the planet by the the Shalnuksis every 600 years at least since 1000 BC. Humans are part of the Confederacy as slave soldiers and administrators, bred for loyalty. Earth is used by the Confederacy as a source of strains of wild humans to crossbreed with their Janissaries. The story is about the fate of the soldiers, fighting against and with the local humans, working against a deadline, and of course for the survival of the human race, on and off planet.
The greatest flaw however is as only too frequently that the story is far too short. But I guess that's why there are the sequels.
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Title: Storms of Victory (Janissaries III) by Jerry E. Pournelle, Roland Green ISBN: 0441382991 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: March, 1988 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
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Title: Janissaries: Clan and Crown by Jerry Pournelle, Roland Green ISBN: 0441382940 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: December, 1982 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Ring of Fire by Eric Flint ISBN: 074347175X Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Star Corps : Book One of The Legacy Trilogy by Ian Douglas ISBN: 0380818248 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: The Tyrant (The Raj Whitehall Series, Book 8) by Eric Flint, James P. Baen, James Baen ISBN: 0743471504 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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