By Blood Alone

Rating:
Summary: Mutiny in the Legion ranks gives peace a bad name
Review: Another generation, another galactic crisis. By Blood Alone follows in the chronological footsteps of William C. Dietz's Legion of the Damned and The Final Battle, each of which is focused (to a lessening degree) on a futuristic Legion and its army of once-human cyborgs. The action here takes place a generation after the end of the second war against the Hudathans, an alien enemy who seeks to destroy all life it comes into contact with. As is so often the case, an extended period of peace does more harm than good. On Earth, military cutbacks have dumped many Legionnaires out onto the streets, inspiring dissent and dissatisfaction among the ancestors of the great defenders of Earth and the Confederacy of Sentient Beings as a whole. This sets the stage for a mutiny that gives birth to a new and quite rotten form of imperialism on earth. Worst of all, the conflict pits legionnaire against legionnaire. Bill Booley III, whose grandfather and father played pivotal roles in defeating the Hudathan menace, finds himself smack dab in the middle of a mess. For starters, his honorable refusal to fudge the facts in a military trial of a prominent governor's son lands him a new assignment at the worst and most undisciplined Legion post in the galaxy: Djibouti in Africa. When the mutiny takes place and all legionnaires must take sides, Booley must organize his much-berated men and women (and cyborgs) into a respectable fighting force capable of at least defending their position from inevitable attack.

The novel is not without several strengths. The author's deft use of the conquered Hudathans in an unexpected manner definitely scores points in my book. His utilization of "geekheads" and hackers to get the word out on the true realities of earth's new government also plays well in the context of the story. However, while By Blood Alone actually ended up being a better novel than I expected early on, it is plagued with several problems. The characterization is somewhat weak over all, as these characters never come vividly to life; a number of actions are frankly hard to buy into; and too much happens outside the scope of the pages themselves. The actions of earth's new rulers border on the ludicrous, the reluctance of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings to react in any way to the dire events taking place on the planet of its most erstwhile defenders seems contrived, and - perhaps most of all - the elaborate plot involving several planetary leaders is not easy to embrace or give credence to. Several turning points in the drama come about outside the scope of the pages, and that is truly bothersome. You spend a number of chapters wondering how the author is going to deal with a certain issue, and then you are told the issue has been dealt with and the story quickly moves along to something else.

Then there are the characters; several are strong and heroic, but few stand out. My biggest complaint concerns the women of this futuristic universe. All of Dietz's prominent female characters (and this furthers a trend noted in previous books), no matter how important militarily, politically, or scientifically, seem to be part sex objects and part sexual predators. The entrance of any formidable female into a scene is constantly muddied with descriptions of men's physical reaction to what they are seeing and, as often as not, the female's thoughts on possible relations with the men she meets. There is little romance in the love that sometimes develops between a man and a woman, but Dietz always takes it upon himself to describe a couple of naughty excursions by two relative strangers (usually of mixed ancestry and heritage). Such interludes seem to serve no purpose other than to "sex up" a military science fiction plot quite capable of standing on its own too feet. As each Legion novel comes and goes, a growing sense of character shallowness takes more and more away from the reading experience.

Readers should note that, unlike Legion of the Damned and The Final Battle, the conclusion of this particular novel is rather open-ended, setting the stage for the events chronicled in the next book in the series (By Force of Arms). The introduction of two new civilizations, the Thraki and the Sheen, doesn't fit in well with the story of the mutiny on Earth, but it sets the stage for what is to come later. By Blood Alone is a stimulating read filled with enough action to keep one's attention throughout, but it leaves too much unexplained and thereby fails to impress itself upon the reader's mind. What is categorized as a battle for Earth seems, in the end, more like a squabble. In my opinion, this book represents a slightly disappointing effort by an author capable of taking the genre to vast new heights.

Rating:
Summary: Mutiny in the Legion ranks gives peace a bad name
Review: Another generation, another galactic crisis. By Blood Alone follows in the chronological footsteps of William C. Dietz's Legion of the Damned and The Final Battle, each of which is focused (to a lessening degree) on a futuristic Legion and its army of once-human cyborgs. The action here takes place a generation after the end of the second war against the Hudathans, an alien enemy who seeks to destroy all life it comes into contact with. As is so often the case, an extended period of peace does more harm than good. On Earth, military cutbacks have dumped many Legionnaires out onto the streets, inspiring dissent and dissatisfaction among the ancestors of the great defenders of Earth and the Confederacy of Sentient Beings as a whole. This sets the stage for a mutiny that gives birth to a new and quite rotten form of imperialism on earth. Worst of all, the conflict pits legionnaire against legionnaire. Bill Booley III, whose grandfather and father played pivotal roles in defeating the Hudathan menace, finds himself smack dab in the middle of a mess. For starters, his honorable refusal to fudge the facts in a military trial of a prominent governor's son lands him a new assignment at the worst and most undisciplined Legion post in the galaxy: Djibouti in Africa. When the mutiny takes place and all legionnaires must take sides, Booley must organize his much-berated men and women (and cyborgs) into a respectable fighting force capable of at least defending their position from inevitable attack.

The novel is not without several strengths. The author's deft use of the conquered Hudathans in an unexpected manner definitely scores points in my book. His utilization of "geekheads" and hackers to get the word out on the true realities of earth's new government also plays well in the context of the story. However, while By Blood Alone actually ended up being a better novel than I expected early on, it is plagued with several problems. The characterization is somewhat weak over all, as these characters never come vividly to life; a number of actions are frankly hard to buy into; and too much happens outside the scope of the pages themselves. The actions of earth's new rulers border on the ludicrous, the reluctance of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings to react in any way to the dire events taking place on the planet of its most erstwhile defenders seems contrived, and - perhaps most of all - the elaborate plot involving several planetary leaders is not easy to embrace or give credence to. Several turning points in the drama come about outside the scope of the pages, and that is truly bothersome. You spend a number of chapters wondering how the author is going to deal with a certain issue, and then you are told the issue has been dealt with and the story quickly moves along to something else.

Then there are the characters; several are strong and heroic, but few stand out. My biggest complaint concerns the women of this futuristic universe. All of Dietz's prominent female characters (and this furthers a trend noted in previous books), no matter how important militarily, politically, or scientifically, seem to be part sex objects and part sexual predators. The entrance of any formidable female into a scene is constantly muddied with descriptions of men's physical reaction to what they are seeing and, as often as not, the female's thoughts on possible relations with the men she meets. There is little romance in the love that sometimes develops between a man and a woman, but Dietz always takes it upon himself to describe a couple of naughty excursions by two relative strangers (usually of mixed ancestry and heritage). Such interludes seem to serve no purpose other than to "sex up" a military science fiction plot quite capable of standing on its own too feet. As each Legion novel comes and goes, a growing sense of character shallowness takes more and more away from the reading experience.

Readers should note that, unlike Legion of the Damned and The Final Battle, the conclusion of this particular novel is rather open-ended, setting the stage for the events chronicled in the next book in the series (By Force of Arms). The introduction of two new civilizations, the Thraki and the Sheen, doesn't fit in well with the story of the mutiny on Earth, but it sets the stage for what is to come later. By Blood Alone is a stimulating read filled with enough action to keep one's attention throughout, but it leaves too much unexplained and thereby fails to impress itself upon the reader's mind. What is categorized as a battle for Earth seems, in the end, more like a squabble. In my opinion, this book represents a slightly disappointing effort by an author capable of taking the genre to vast new heights.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book.....
Review: By blood Alone is a very intresting addidtion to the "legion" seris of books. Its about honor, glory and all those great military ideals that are sometimes lacking in todays world powers. If you liked legion of the damned you will most probably like this book also... I can't see why you wouldn't. I can't wait for the next...

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book.....
Review: By blood Alone is a very intresting addidtion to the "legion" seris of books. Its about honor, glory and all those great military ideals that are sometimes lacking in todays world powers. If you liked legion of the damned you will most probably like this book also... I can't see why you wouldn't. I can't wait for the next...

Rating:
Summary: A fair book which is technically lacking
Review: Dietz writes a fairly interesting story, but his command of scientific and technical issues is sorely lacking. He shows an inability to extrapolate technological advances into improvements in weaponry. If you wish to see well done speculations on future weaponry, read any of David Drake's military sci fi. Also his characters are none too deep, and the villains are simply two dimensional. However the action is good, and the plot is fairly interesting. Not a bad read, but nothing special.

Rating:
Summary: Military sci-fi at its best
Review: I have been a big fan of Dietz for along time ( my first sci-fi was a Dietz) and this book did not dissapoint me. The Book takes place some years after the end of the the final battle and his about how the legion has gone bad from lack of activity. Its well balanced and is extremly fast to read and I cant wait for By force Alone to arrive. So if you are a Dietz fan then u should bau this book right now but if you have never read his other Legion books I would recomment that you read them first but it is not nessecery to enjoy this book cause it takes place 30 some years later

Rating:
Summary: Military sci-fi at its best
Review: I have been a big fan of Dietz for along time ( my first sci-fi was a Dietz) and this book did not dissapoint me. The Book takes place some years after the end of the the final battle and his about how the legion has gone bad from lack of activity. Its well balanced and is extremly fast to read and I cant wait for By force Alone to arrive. So if you are a Dietz fan then u should bau this book right now but if you have never read his other Legion books I would recomment that you read them first but it is not nessecery to enjoy this book cause it takes place 30 some years later

Rating:
Summary: A fair book which is technically lacking
Review: If you want to know the future of NATO and how the military forces can rot itself into complete inertness and stuporific uselessness in times of peace and plenty then this is the novel for the ages! Mr. Dietz expertly commands his field of fire by easily demonstrating how compromise and political in-fighting among normally venal people can blossom into several nests of fully evil characters along with the resultant emerging popular societal customs that steadily weaken our moral fiber as humans. This novel is right-up-there with Koontz's seminal "Dark Rivers of the Heart." See how an otherwise free and enlightened government/league of nations can quickly curdle into a stinking facist regime in our modern world, and easily within one solar year. Horrid, yet instructively fascinating! Read all about it, indeed, before "they" take it off the shelves!

Rating:
Summary: By Blood Alone is a clever metaphor in its own right alone!
Review: If you want to know the future of NATO and how the military forces can rot itself into complete inertness and stuporific uselessness in times of peace and plenty then this is the novel for the ages! Mr. Dietz expertly commands his field of fire by easily demonstrating how compromise and political in-fighting among normally venal people can blossom into several nests of fully evil characters along with the resultant emerging popular societal customs that steadily weaken our moral fiber as humans. This novel is right-up-there with Koontz's seminal "Dark Rivers of the Heart." See how an otherwise free and enlightened government/league of nations can quickly curdle into a stinking facist regime in our modern world, and easily within one solar year. Horrid, yet instructively fascinating! Read all about it, indeed, before "they" take it off the shelves!

Rating:
Summary: Nice continuation for the series ....
Review: This book won't make much sense unless you have read the previous installments in the series.

Even though (most) of the characters are separated from previous events by a generation, the story relies heavily on past events and will make much more sense if it read in series.

I enjoyed this book (and its predecessors). Nothing particularly
outstanding in the realm of military sf, but a solid contribution.