The Man Who Never Missed

Rating:
Summary: One person can change the universe if they belive they can.
Review: Sometimes, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. So when you are touched by the finger of God, you gotta bring down the galactic government. The story of a man who becomes enlightened and sees a "wrongness" with the status quo. When a student is ready a teacher will appear, and in this case the teacher is Pen from The 97th Step. Emile Antoon Khadaji is the hero of this story and the hero's journey is never an easy one, especially when you single-handedly declare war on the Galactic Confederation.

Rating:
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure
Review: The Man Who Never Missed is an exciting and engrossing space adventure about a soldier who has an epiphany one day during battle, and as a result decides to take on an empire. He encounters various characters along the way who teach him valuable lessons, both physical and spiritual, preparing him for the day when he will take his fight to the forces of tyranny in the known galaxy.

This is a great novel for what it is - a mythic tale of a hero, how he was formed, and the beginnings of his battle against an unassailable (and of course evil) foe. If you're looking for characters who are "ordinary mortals" or for some philosophy deeper than "good must triumph over evil", you won't find it here. But the thoroughly enjoyable tale that Perry weaves made me look past these points.

Sure, TMWNM isn't a great piece of literature, but it's a helluva fun story. And in the end, don't you want to be entertained as much as enlightened?

Rating:
Summary: A Guilty Pleasure
Review: The Man Who Never Missed is an exciting and engrossing space adventure about a soldier who has an epiphany one day during battle, and as a result decides to take on an empire. He encounters various characters along the way who teach him valuable lessons, both physical and spiritual, preparing him for the day when he will take his fight to the forces of tyranny in the known galaxy.

This is a great novel for what it is - a mythic tale of a hero, how he was formed, and the beginnings of his battle against an unassailable (and of course evil) foe. If you're looking for characters who are "ordinary mortals" or for some philosophy deeper than "good must triumph over evil", you won't find it here. But the thoroughly enjoyable tale that Perry weaves made me look past these points.

Sure, TMWNM isn't a great piece of literature, but it's a helluva fun story. And in the end, don't you want to be entertained as much as enlightened?

Rating:
Summary: A Wasp in Their Ear
Review: The Man Who Never Missed is the first novel written in the Matador series. However, it is the second novel in the series by internal chronological sequence, following The 97th Step.

In this novel, Emile Antoon Khadaji is an former Confed veteran with six years combat experience when he finds himself in a bloodbath on Maro, where three-quarters of a million religious fanatic ran, walked and crept into the Confed fire zones and died. This traumatic event breaks his social conditioning and gives him an epiphany about violence. He runs into the oncoming mob, discarding his equipment as he goes, and later finds himself in a nearby town, where he meets Pen (see The 97th Step).

He realizes that the amount of violence used by the Confed is wrong and looks for a way to eliminate the strong-arm tactics. Pen teaches him how to control himself and Juete teaches him to see others as they are. On Bocca, he learns the nature of politics and military force as well as many other subjects. He wallows in learning for a while, but then moves on to gaining money as a power base.

On Greaves, he buys a bar and specializes in providing a good time to the troops. At night and in his spare time, he shoots select troopers with darts carrying Spasm, a convulsant that leaves the victims totally incapable of speech and movement for six months, but leaves the mind clear and undamaged. During these six months, he shoots 2388 of the 10,000 Confed troops, including the commanding officer.

When the Confed finally catches up to him, he is on record as being the one and only member of the Shamba Freedom Forces. This spooks the System Marshall and every single trooper that learns the tale. His fame and example spreads throughout the Confed.

This novel is a SF psyops story, focusing on the use of minimum force to achieve political objectives. Underlying this is a martial arts philosophy which teaches much the same lesson. When a political system degenerates into a self-perpetuating organization that preys on its own citizens, it only takes a small event to crystallize opposition to its existence. Witness the fall of the Soviet Union from the inside.

This story is much like Eric Frank Russell's Wasp, but with a more military approach and a different objective. In Wasp, the goal was to reduce the will to resist of the planetary population, but in this novel, the goal is to increase the will to resist of the planetary populations by breaking the reputation of Confed forces.

Recommended for all Perry fans and anyone who enjoys psyops stories in a SF setting.

Rating:
Summary: A Wasp in Their Ear
Review: The Man Who Never Missed is the first novel written in the Matador series. However, it is the second novel in the series by internal chronological sequence, following The 97th Step.

In this novel, Emile Antoon Khadaji is an former Confed veteran with six years combat experience when he finds himself in a bloodbath on Maro, where three-quarters of a million religious fanatic ran, walked and crept into the Confed fire zones and died. This traumatic event breaks his social conditioning and gives him an epiphany about violence. He runs into the oncoming mob, discarding his equipment as he goes, and later finds himself in a nearby town, where he meets Pen (see The 97th Step).

He realizes that the amount of violence used by the Confed is wrong and looks for a way to eliminate the strong-arm tactics. Pen teaches him how to control himself and Juete teaches him to see others as they are. On Bocca, he learns the nature of politics and military force as well as many other subjects. He wallows in learning for a while, but then moves on to gaining money as a power base.

On Greaves, he buys a bar and specializes in providing a good time to the troops. At night and in his spare time, he shoots select troopers with darts carrying Spasm, a convulsant that leaves the victims totally incapable of speech and movement for six months, but leaves the mind clear and undamaged. During these six months, he shoots 2388 of the 10,000 Confed troops, including the commanding officer.

When the Confed finally catches up to him, he is on record as being the one and only member of the Shamba Freedom Forces. This spooks the System Marshall and every single trooper that learns the tale. His fame and example spreads throughout the Confed.

This novel is a SF psyops story, focusing on the use of minimum force to achieve political objectives. Underlying this is a martial arts philosophy which teaches much the same lesson. When a political system degenerates into a self-perpetuating organization that preys on its own citizens, it only takes a small event to crystallize opposition to its existence. Witness the fall of the Soviet Union from the inside.

This story is much like Eric Frank Russell's Wasp, but with a more military approach and a different objective. In Wasp, the goal was to reduce the will to resist of the planetary population, but in this novel, the goal is to increase the will to resist of the planetary populations by breaking the reputation of Confed forces.

Recommended for all Perry fans and anyone who enjoys psyops stories in a SF setting.

Rating:
Summary: Top Ten in Sci-Fi From the 80's!!
Review: The Man Who Never Missed is, hands down, one of the finest,entertaining and most original Science Fiction novels to come out of the Eighties. The plot is both action, military and spiritual all in one as the unique journey of the Hero unfolds and we bear witness to his growth and development from a shattered, spiritualy stricken soldier to a freedom fighter capable of challenging an empire. This story remains a benchmark for all military or martial fiction in the Science fiction genre. This is the first of 3 novels in the Matador Trilogy, The Man Who Never Missed is followed by Matadora and The Machiavelli Interface. Collect them. Read them. Enjoy them and may the Spirit of Adventure never leave you.

Rating:
Summary: Top Ten in Sci-Fi From the 80's!!
Review: The Man Who Never Missed is, hands down, one of the finest,entertaining and most original Science Fiction novels to come out of the Eighties. The plot is both action, military and spiritual all in one as the unique journey of the Hero unfolds and we bear witness to his growth and development from a shattered, spiritualy stricken soldier to a freedom fighter capable of challenging an empire. This story remains a benchmark for all military or martial fiction in the Science fiction genre. This is the first of 3 novels in the Matador Trilogy, The Man Who Never Missed is followed by Matadora and The Machiavelli Interface. Collect them. Read them. Enjoy them and may the Spirit of Adventure never leave you.

Rating:
Summary: The best ever "one vs. one million" book
Review: This book is amazing. I found myself making excuses to read it more than half the time I should have been doing homework. This book has somthing for everyone: romance, humor, and adventure. This book in my opinion rivals even Star Wars. Perry is definantly a force to be reckoned with

Rating:
Summary: If you want an exciting space novel this is it!
Review: This is a fabulous novel, and opens a great series (the matador series). While the book could never be considered "tough" reading, the story engulfs the reader, and leaves a satisfying taste in his mouth. Any sci-fi fan should read this.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: This is one of the best books I've read. The entire series is just incredible. I realy love this kind of action hero. He's a real superman type, but he has a great personality and is a real cool and interesting guy. Plus the universe he lives in is very interesting, and well developed, especialy once the rest of the books are read.