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Title: Freehold by Michael Z. Williamson ISBN: 0-7434-7179-2 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (16 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Freehold -- Wow
Comment: Mike Williamson does war and politics. Moreover, he does them well.
FREEHOLD is fast-paced, with details of politics, everyday interactions and combat that read well. The combat scenes are fast, with the attention to small details that makes them realistic. The politics are idealistic, as are the politics of most novels. Mr. Williamson's grasp of political treachery is good. His villians are villians, heroes are heroes, soldiers are soldiers - on both sides.
In summation, if you like fast-paced novels of war and political betrayal, you'll love this one.
Rating: 5
Summary: Future Nebula Nomination?
Comment: Freehold was a great read, crossing new boundaries in science fiction. Because of the length at 660 pages, I almost put the book back on the store shelve... The book came highly recommended, so decide to give it go. From start to finish it was well worth the read. Glad I didn't put it back on the shelve...
Rating: 4
Summary: Admiration for a Good First Work
Comment: Buy this book if you like Military fiction or Libertarian philosophy, worked out in an unflinching and sometimes blunt way.
It's an excellent tract on Libertarianism carried out to a logical extreme, and a **** RIPPING GOOD ADVENTURE/WAR YARN ****. The infantry fighting and guerrilla warfare are just as credible as anything I've ever heard from a Viet-vet or any other military people who've ever described fighting in my hearing. The desperation and fear and occasional sense of unreality are all immediate, full-color, up close and personal, brutally direct.
The pre-war sequences are pleasantly entertaining, with a bit of set-piece background thrown in to educate the reader about the realities of life in a genuinely Libertarian society, as the author conceives them. In this, too, Mike reminds me of Heinlein -- just enough background to provide color for the piece, not enough to overwhelm or even seriously impede the plot. He has a good touch for this.
I had trouble in one or two places sympathizing with protagonist Kendra -- I couldn't get a read on what she was _feeling_ as she had certain _thoughts_ -- but the rest of the time she was completely real. That needs more consistency, but it's still better than three-quarters of the stuff I read.
I think this is a good first work, and in fact the rigorous working-out of the effects of theories does remind me quite a bit of early Heinlein (sorry, Mike). It hangs together nicely, and all the major plot threads are tied off in believable ways. It's not for the under-13 crowd, as it handles adult subjects in adult ways, without flinching or Bowdlerizing; both sex and violence are dealt with in the book, in ways that seem integral to the plot.
The thing that I find most likable about the book is that neither the hero nor any of her comrades are glamorized. The only thing I found even slightly unrealistic about the plot was the survival of all three members of the central trio throughout the war ... I guess someone hinted to Mike that you can't kill off major characters in mass-market any more, if indeed you ever could. I've also got some issues with his concept of how such a political system would work, but my point here is that his _people_ are believable as actors within the system.
I recommend it if you're tired of reading books of Glorious War, and if believable people are more important to you than sweetness-and-light characterization. It's a good book, and I look for more from this writer.
--Phil
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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: There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo ISBN: 0743471644 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Course of Empire by Eric Flint, K. D. Wentworth ISBN: 0743471547 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Far Side of the Stars by David Drake ISBN: 074347158X Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Crown Of Slaves by David Weber, Eric Flint ISBN: 0743471482 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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