20 March 2012

By Blood Alone by William C. Dietz

I'm not sure if I posted about Mr. Dietz before, but if I haven't, then you are in for an introduction. = )  Dietz is one of my favorite authors and introduced me to the world of not only The Legion of the Damn but Military Sci-Fi Novels in general.  So, I owe much to Mr. Dietz.  With that said, for the topic/book at hand--By Blood Alone.  I must say that it is no surprised that I loved this book.  Dietz stuck to his usual formula within these novels and wrote a fast-paced but human story surrounding characters that are strong yet vulnerable at the same time.  Dietz also continues to do something that is not often seen.  He thoroughly introduces a character and then kills them off, usually as a casualty of war.  This method conveys the realities of war.  Soldiers and civilians alike lose people that they know and love.

This novel begins with the Legion hurting bad.  Their funding has been slashed and as a result once-soldiers are left unemployed, broke, and disgruntle.  Pair this with an ambitious Governor with her eyes on the presidency, a sentient race who is looking for home planets to house its population which is about to grow to astronomical proportions, and a world of clones looking for some unknown advantage, and you have the makings of an overthrow of a legitimate government in order to further those goals.  Oh, but did I mention that not all of the Legion is ready to jump ship?  This just adds the extra spice of compatriots battling one-time fellow soldiers.

I won't give anything good away.  Just know that once the above scuffle is solved, the book ends with a new threat laying just over the horizon from not one but two new sentient (?) beings.  If you haven't checked out any Dietz novels and you love SciFi, Fantasy, Military novels, what the hell are you thinking?!  Get to it solider! = p

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