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Summary: Future-world struggle against alien corporate interests!
Review: 'Rats, Bats and Vats' blasts off in a future world forgotten by the rest of the known human universe, the heros, a mixed species cyber-adjusted strikeforce, find themselves inextricably trapped behind enemy lines between a corrupt 'colonial' regime and the forces of great evil. In this case, a hive of multi-morphed arthropod-like aliens. There's a lot of double dealing and the usual sort of 'corporate'shenanigans, combat action, with the obligatory sex, recipes, and romance, but with a real twist in the tail as it turns out regarding the latter!It's a classic story of "human colonist struggle against aliens" but with a difference. There are a number of sub-plots twisted into the general story as the main plot gallops along. The turns in the story are unexpected, the characters real, and the action fast. It's a good read, I thoroughly enjoyed it (and the authors sense of humour!). Didn't think much of the recipes though!
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Summary: Rats, Bats and Vats
Review: A great collaboration between two of Baen Publishing's better authors. Funny, well written and just a good solid read. Freer and Flint get better and better. Highly recommend to any SF fan.
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Summary: Great book; let me try to keep the review simple...
Review: A human colony is invaded and mankind, on taking the advice of another race of aliens, tries to use world-war one-like tactics, which fail totally. The human forces are full of soldiers made up from humans grown in vats (who are treated like second-class subjects), uplifted rats who act more like drunk soldiers out of Shakespeare's plays and bats with Irish accents who like to use bombs while singing songs. Lots of humor and combat. DON'T take it too seriously, just ENJOY.
Rating:
Summary: Great book; let me try to keep the review simple...
Review: A human colony is invaded and mankind, on taking the advice of another race of aliens, tries to use world-war one-like tactics, which fail totally. The human forces are full of soldiers made up from humans grown in vats (who are treated like second-class subjects), uplifted rats who act more like drunk soldiers out of Shakespeare's plays and bats with Irish accents who like to use bombs while singing songs. Lots of humor and combat. DON'T take it too seriously, just ENJOY.
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Summary: Combines tongue-in-cheek space opera and revolution
Review: Alien maggots have invaded the human-inhabited planet of Harmony and Reason (HAR), gradually overrunning the planet despite the efforts of the military--aided by cybernetically enhanced 'rats' and 'bats.' Another alien race sells humans military technology and advice, but that advice too-often seems either wrong or incomplete. At any rate, the humans are losing and the maggots have just snatched another significant chunk of territory, leaving a small group of soliders (one human along with small groups of rats and bats) behind the new expanded force field that prevents human counter-attack.
Together with his heavy-drinking rats and his revolutionary bats, human Chip Connolly must stay alive in the face of literally millions of maggot soldiers and workers. Worse, the hive's 'group mind' means that even if they kill everyone who sees them, the bugs always know where they are hiding.
Things only seem to get worse when Chip and the others have to rescue aristocratic Ginny Shaw, the heiress to the human colony's greatest fortune and her Korozhet tutor. The young woman at least has the virtue of being attractive (although Chip knows perfectly well what happens to vat-born clones who aspire above their stations and develop interests in shareholders) but the Korozhet is nothing but trouble--and only Chip seems bothered by this. Against the wishes of its generals, part of the human army watches the heroes as they attempt to survive but, as long as the force field remains intact, they are helpless to intervein. Even if they could, the humans have lost every battle they've fought.
Authors Eric Flint and Dave Freer combine in a light-hearted look at the military, space-opera, and revolution. The story maintains a perfect balance between tongue-in-cheek and solid adventure, involving the reader in the characters at the same time as it keeps us smiling. The plight of the cybernetic rats and bats, as well as that of the slave-like clone humans (vats) adds a very mild political message to the light-hearted novel.
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Summary: Fast-paced capers with a dash of spicy innuendo and a genero
Review: Dave Freer cooks up high explosive fun in RB&V. The humouris as wickedly sharp as the Solingen chef's knife wielded by thebook's 'don't-wannabe' hero, Chip Connolly. This has to be the mostsubversive 'military...' currently on the shelves, as Freer slices anddices the military 'mentality' in this rollicking adventure of humans,uplifted bats and cyber-implanted rats battling against the odds andcountless, planet-devouring maggots. (The rats get some of the bestlines.) The dedication of the book to the grunts of the world tellsyou exactly where this is coming from. I'd highly recommend this forall those who root for the underdog (or under-rat). Great fun. I waitFreer's next offering with anticipation. END
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Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: Don't like the cover, as it gives the wrong feel to the contents. This is not a ha-ha, funny book. This is a "life [stinks], don't it" book. I really enjoyed it and have read it twice. I suppose this falls under the heading of a guilty pleasure, but it was a lot of fun. Readers of military SF will like it, I think. Lots of action. *Not* for kids. Lots of sex-related content - mostly jokes - but I did not find it offensive as I do some such. This felt pretty real to me - like a grunt would really think in a similar situation.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable
Review: Don't like the cover, as it gives the wrong feel to the contents. This is not a ha-ha, funny book. This is a "life [stinks], don't it" book. I really enjoyed it and have read it twice. I suppose this falls under the heading of a guilty pleasure, but it was a lot of fun. Readers of military SF will like it, I think. Lots of action. *Not* for kids. Lots of sex-related content - mostly jokes - but I did not find it offensive as I do some such. This felt pretty real to me - like a grunt would really think in a similar situation.
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Summary: Great book, goofy title
Review: Excerpts from a note I wrote to Dave Freer: --I just finished reading Rats, Bats and Vats, and I wanted to tell you some things.
First, thank you.
Second, thank you.
Third...well, you get the idea.
I haven't enjoyed a story so much since Neal Barret Jr.'s Stress
Pattern. For some reason, it seems to be very difficult for folks to write books that are both engaging and humorous, but you pulled it off marvelously. And I very nearly didn't read it at all as I was somewhat put off by the title. It sounded as though it would be Macbeth's witches on acid, or something equally bizarre.-- Do you like good SF? Do you like a good chuckle with your story?
Then read this book.
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Summary: Just an all around 'Good Read'!
Review: I can't tell you how great it is to once again get a hold on the kind of solid, fast moving, witty, and well-plotted science fiction that got me sold on the genre to begin with. Freer and Flint are an exceptional combination. I hope they continue to collaborate for a long time to come!
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