Brothers in Arms

Rating:
Summary: Like "hero" books? Get this one!
Review: Very quick, easy read. My favorite storyline too - young punk kid with nothing to lose trying to find his place in the world. Comparable to Ender in Orson Scott Card's series. Real characters, and believable plot twist.

Rating:
Summary: Racinian enhancements
Review: Weaver does a bang-up job in introducing our hero and his allies. Technologies depicted in this novel pass muster when compared to similar novels I have read. I am drawn to the fact that StAndrew has a distaste for war, but Weaver threads some real life heroism into this character that makes the reader think about ideas such as "duty, honor and country" much as the protagonist does every time he is called upon to perform for his government. Weaver's writing style is easy and proved to be a fast read for me. It held my interest and threw me some curves. I would recommend this book for an avid sci-fi reader. If you don't enjoy this genre and are looking for something to occupy yourself..., this could be one of the books stacked on the back of the commode.

Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Military Tale
Review: Weaver masterfully blends the tried-and-true elements of both the military and science fiction genres to produce a tale that is as convincing as it is thought-provoking. For readers who enjoy this sub-genre of science fiction, this one rates right up there with The Forever War and Starship Troopers.

Rating:
Summary: What do you expect??
Review: What do you expect when you see a book that is obviously a product of a writing workshop type environment? If you said "not much", you won't be surprised with this book. This book has been built straight from the detritus of a thrice revised outline, it seems. The requisite inspiration and talent aside, this book breaks even the formulaic conventions of the most insipid SF hack by doing such things as imposing no limitations upon a character's personal resources (e.g. the protagonist never adapts to a situation but possesses the inherent ability to solve it instantly) and developing no authentic conflict, external or internal. This being patently true to the most casual of readers, nobody should be surprised to find the embarassingly obvious "hook" on the last page funny. I'll refrain from any comments on details as tthe other reviews bring up the most salient ones.... by the way, the reference to Heinlein's Starship Troopers in one of the other reviews is the vilest sort of slander.

Rating:
Summary: Military Sci-Fi with a twist
Review: While military sci-fi holds an interest in me, one of the main complaints I have is that none of the major characters have realistic motivations with which I can identify. Instead of the typical gung ho, pedal-to-the-metal hero, Scott St. Andrew is a young man with realistic doubts and fears. Although author Ben Weaver sets up an gripping struggle that forces a division of loyalties in colonies set in the 24th century, by far the most interesting battles are waged inside the mind of St. Andrew. Through an exciting chain of events, this young recruit goes through a metamorphosis to become a super-soldier who maintains the same character flaws which make him memorable. I can't tell any more without spoiling it, so I'll just leave it with this: READ IT! (you'll enjoy it!)

Rating:
Summary: ok writing, inadequate thought
Review: Why does this book sound familiar? Because it basically rehashes standard ingredients: youth from disadvantaged background+ training program+ weird biological fluke+ others recognize merit, all of which leads to something evidently (though the book doesn't go anywhere, it just stops, presumably in an attempt to encourage a demand for a sequel). The problem is that I don't want a sequel. Weaver hasn't given us a single character to care about. The central character is not nice, committed to anything that makes sense, or bright. He seems very, very young. And his logic stinks: he joins a school to get away from home, and then desperately seeks to go home again, to a home that is not poor, but middle class/professional, a loving father, and an apparently adequate environment. Subsidiary characters mostly exist to die messily. Why? And then the novel ends with pages of appendixes that are a clear indication that the author took himself far too seriously. Weaver, however, is best when self-deprecating, humorous, ironic, or lighthearted (though he's crude and abusive on the subject of parenthood). He loses track of that in this novel that lacks shape.