Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing blend of political commentary and science fiction
Review: A worldwide economic collapse has made freedom less important than security, and Marxism is back in response. Earth is now the Red Planet, and only an asteroid with unusual properties might save a changed world in this intriguing blend of political commentary and science fiction. Are the aliens capitalists?
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best work.
Review: An interesting diversion in the endless universes of the Probability Broach, El Neil is humorous, and certainly does wear his idiology on his sleeve. I have read the first two books of this triad, and I must admit that while the ideas are interesting, the story is rather...dull.Sorry, Mr. Smith, I gotta say what I think. I believe that the third book was originally dropped not because it was "too radical", but because the books weren't selling. I intend to purchase this book, first because I do wish to know how it all turns out, but also for completeness. My original copy of The War Dove and The Galatin Divergence are lonely. Every OTHER L. Neil Smith book that I've read I have enjoyed very much. Hopefully, the third triad of Forge will redeem the first two.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat weak; definitely misleading
Review: As an LNS fan, I was looking forward to this. I was very disappointed to find out that this was two other books (Contact/Commune/Converse/Conflict) plus a third to fill out the trilogy. I couldn't find anything (I looked afterwards) mentioning that 2/3 of this was reprinted material. No copyright, no notice, nothing. (There were some trivial edits to the first two books, but nothing substantial) So, I consider the third book to be the only ("non-policy") thing reviewable. It's a bit weak. Yes, it's got the (LNS's) standard individualism rants and humor, but it just smells like someone went back the well one too many times. Makes me want to go reread Prob. Broach again to get the taste out of my mouth.
Rating:
Summary: FORGE IS COMPLETE AT LAST!
Review: Finally! After years of waiting, we get to learn how this story turns out. Originally to be published as a trilogy, the fianl book was cancelled by the publisher for being too radical! L. Neil Smith does his usual fine job of blending outlandish aliens, humor and political philosophy to produce a cracking good read. A fun adventure story which takes a few well-aimed shots at some of the sacred cows of today. This one is pure pleasure!
Rating:
Summary: At last it is complete!
Review: Forge of the Elders was originally divided into three books. For reasons entirely beyond me, the third book was never published and I was left wondering how it ended. Finally, they are together between two covers! Mr. Smith's books (and this one in particular!) are always entertaining and enlightnening; they frequently send me into bouts of delighted laughter. This book has been a joy to read and I can't wait for his next one.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! The Whole Story?
Review: I acquired the first two books of the trilogy (published separately) after a long search. After I had finished the second book, I was very annoyed that I had been left hanging. I even e-mailed L. Neil himself and asked about the third novel. I was very pleasantly surprised when he told me that he had just signed a deal to publish the entire trilogy as a single volume.
It was a long wait, but it was worth it. The third volume presented a number of interesting twists and ideas. The ending was satisfying but left plenty of room for sequels (To L. Neil, if you read this, hint.. hint.)
Rating: 
Summary: waste of money and time
Review: i bought this book thinking it would be funny or amusing - sci-fi comedy or whatever. how disappointing to find that it's not at all funny. it's just bad - and, alas, not the kind of bad that ends up being funny despite itself. unfortunately, the book is nothing but page after interminable page of excruciatingly naive libertarian sophistry, of a kind that even a junior high-school student would be embarrassed to own up to. what little story-line there is is nothing but a flimsy excuse for wooden characters to smugly agree with each other's simplistic and ill-informed opinions. every event that "happens" in the book is just an excuse for the characters to lecture each other - and as soon as the lecture is over, the situation or problem is immediately resolved and they move on to the next event. i've kept on reading it, waiting for the punch line...but two thirds of the way into the book (in the middle of some mind-bogglingly stupid ideological "discussion" about archaeologists causing the downfall of American freedom and civilisation) i've finally given up all hope that there is going to be one. this guy actually means what he writes - he believes in the simplistic black & white tripe that his characters utter. i wasted my money on this book. oh well, i can learn from my mistakes and will know not to buy anything by this author in future.
Rating:
Summary: El Neil's Best
Review: I first discovered Smith over a decade ago when I picked up Bretta Martyn in a used bookstore. Since then I've made a point of buying his books when I came across them. Until now my favorite has been The Probability Broach, a parallel world where government is all but dead and libertarianism has prevailed over collectivism. I think Smith has outdone himself with The Forge of the Elders, its got a lot of the same feel as TPB with a little Robert Anton Wilson(of Illuminatus fame) mixed in. Smith's books are full of politics but its not C-Span, he talks about the big issues individual liberty vs collective security etc The kind of ideas that start wars and topple governments. Libertarians will love The Forge, but Smith weaves his ideas into the plot so even non-libs can enjoy it. Smith doesn't beat you over the head with his ideas like Ayn Rands infamous 40 page polemic in the middle of Atlas Shrugged. Bottom line Smith has inherited Robert Heinlein's mantle of making SF with a freedom theme popular to the mainstream. And as we are now beginning to realize todays SF is tomorrows reality.
Rating:
Summary: L. Neil is slipping
Review: I have been reading L. Neil Smith since his first novel _Probability Broach_ came out many years ago. I LIKE pro-freedom SF&F and I used to be very active with the Libertarian Party -- so, I am no leftist or statist critic. While I agree with the politics being advanced by this novel, the story just does not hold up. There are just too many odd beings doing too many unexplained things and it is extremely difficult to care what happens to any of them. In fact, I gave up on it and moved on to other books -- which is rare for me, as I usually slog through everything but the worst drivel and Smith does not write drivel. Of course, Smith has tried the alien-viewpoint novel before. His series with intelligent crabs (_Her Majestys Bucketeers_ etc) was at least well-written, and, despite the wierdness of having the main characters being a species we normally think of as food, it was easy to identify with the protagonists. Alas, FORGE is full of the same sort of weird acquatic lifeforms -- but Smith has not given us enough to make the leap from their alien-ness to our shared sentience, from their other-ness to our joint people-hood. This one suffers from "Victor Koman disease" -- making the assumption that the reader will find a Soviet-style dictatorship interesting enough to keep reading even when nothing much is happening and the characters are unlikeable. I wanted to like this one, as Smith's previous Prometheus winners and nominees were all worthwhile. Speaking of the Prometheus Awards, the WORST book I ever read (all the way through) was _CLD_ by Victor Koman, who wasted everyone's time by spending hundreds of pages building up to a climax and then throwing it away with an ending of "Maybe." I literally threw the book across the room when I got to that and I will never buy another book by him. Unless Smith gets back to the cleanly-plotted, humans-who-love-freedom stories that he used to write, I may have to put him on that same "Don't Buy" list. If this one shows up in paperback at a used book store and if you are an L. Neil Smith collector or fan, get it. Otherwise, I recommend you let it pass.
Rating:
Summary: L. Neil Smith for President!
Review: I started with Lever Action, his first (and only I believe) non-fiction book. Lever Action led me to his science fiction works. Now I can read Heinlein or Smith when I need some intelligent fun.
peace joe silvestri
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