Review: Fortress Beta City

Fortress Beta City by J.R. Handley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a 2-star review of a book I did not finish.

This is one of the hardest reviews that I have ever had to write. Book 1 in the series was also the author's debut novel. I gave it 4 stars and nominated him for this year's Campbell Award. It was that good.

All of the heart, all of the connections to the characters, all of the MILsf action are gone in this sequel.

In its place are the fascinating implications of an ever-shifting TO&E. That is a Table of Organization and Equipment for those non-military folks. It is a paper-pusher's dream. People get promoted at the drop of a hat and the TO&E gets updated. Gripping action! There are no events that show characters struggling to fill these new roles. There are no challenges that foster character growth. Paperwork gets updated and the next chapter is up.

Another factor is that all of the "action" occurs over a handful of days after the characters come out of a cryogenic deep sleep. They go from being popsicles to being promoted and in charge of "doing things" within a couple of days. That includes fixing a leaky underground living space for tens of thousands of Marines and then decontaminating it to eliminate a nasty bug that would kill some of their alien allies in the span of a couple hours.

I like the author. From what I read about him and have exchanged with him elsewhere, he seems like a nice guy.

But this book was a big step backward.

Unless you fancy the tale of office pogues in the headquarters company winning battles with papercuts. In which case read on!

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