Fitzpatrick's War

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first book... Not an excellent book
Review: "Fitzpatrick's War," the first novel by Theodore Judson, bodes well for a stellar career in the field of writing and literary commendation. However, as engrossing as the tale is-with regards to that, please see either the book jacket or the description listed by Amazon-, I can't give it the highest possible ranking.

To that point, and with that in mind, here are the highs and lows (at least from my perspective):

Some Highs:
* Perfectly detailed and on-tap nuevo-Edwardian perspective by the protagonist (Bruce)
* Amazingly humorous 'footnotes' throughout the book
* Vivid portrayal of Bruce of Charlotte
* Solid and realistic, but too infrequent, character dialogue

Some Lows:
* Numerous points throughout the book had multi-page long paragraphs. At least in my case, I found myself "parsing" where the paragraphs could've either been abridged or terminated (and followed by another).
* Overly long buildup to the actual war (in comparison to time spent on the war and thereafter)
* (While only 1 chapter, oxymoronically,) The hideously long and overly precise (77 charges anyone?) detailing of the War
* Unnecessary interlude of the Universal Railroad chapter
* 'The events of Chapter 19'

Make no bones about it, this is a good, original story. It has spot on caricatures not against, imho, conservatism (as railed against in other reviews here on amazon) but, rather, the general costs of war and decadence that success in war often brings to societies; greed of/for power/money and the irony of off-shoring (or undercutting).

Of all these, however, the most prevalent theme is the importance of love of family-- both immediate and extended.

That theme can not be told enough.

Rating:
Summary: Timely message in an anti-intellectual climate
Review: Commoner Robert Bruce is picked by the son of the Consul, Lord Isaac Prophet Fitzpatrick, to join the august group Fitzpatrick calls his Basileis. After having his father killed, Fitzpatrick takes over consulship and launches a war on the rest of the world. A few million 'Yukons,' descendents of the primative farmers who survived the breakdown of western civilization, seem completely inadequate to the role of world conquerers, but Fitzpatrick has the help of satellite-based communications, biological weapons, and soldiers like Robert Bruce. Tens of millions of deaths later, Fitzpatrick is a new Alexander--standing alone in the world, but wondering who is really his friend.

Author Theodore Judson tells the story of Fitzpatrick, and Bruce's actions and moral ambivalence, in the style of an old man's account, complete with pseudo-scholarly footnotes by an editor who believes everything Bruce says about the sainted Fitzpatrick must be a lie. Bruce's wife is a charming character, adding another note of humor to what could have been a heavy-handed story.

The near-future world Judson describes, with a militaristic and hopelessly conservative anglo-descended society dominating the world through force, makes for interesting reading--and represents an interesting speculation of current political trends. The strong links between Fitzgerald and the equally mad Alexander--whose armies conquered the civilized world centuries earlier--make the story more interesting still.

The detailed battle scene, where Bruce and the Yukon army slaughtered millions of Chinese soldiers, went on a bit, hammering home Judson's message.

In our current age where conservative and anti-intellectual values join with military force, Judson's story contains an important message. This is a truly impressive accomplishment for a newcomer to the SF stage.


Rating:
Summary: Lucky Find
Review: I actually picked this one up by accident - i was looking for space opera and thought this was, considering it takes place in the 25th century. Unfortunatly i failed to find what i was looking for. Fortunatly what i found was this.

I was going to say something long and informative, i doubt i'd do it justice. I'll say one thing: it's beautifully written. The air of an annotated memoir is so well done that, sometimes, after reading it for a few hours you might look up from the pages and be mildly surprised to find yourself not in a Yukon homestead.

Awesome book.

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic of Future History
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading "Fitzpatrick's War" by an unknown and unfamiliar author. What I discovered was a book that drew me into a frighteningly plausible and fascinating alternative future. It reminded me of when I first read "A Canticle for Leibowitz". If this isn't at least a Hugo nominee for Best Novel I would be very surprised.

Rating:
Summary: An Absolute Masterpiece
Review: I will leave a summary of the plot to other, more capable, reviewers. Suffice to say I have not found a more thought provoking or entertaining work of alternative history since Stirling's Draka series. Brilliant!

Rating:
Summary: Nothing short of brilliant!
Review: I won't rehash the story... if you are reading this, you have seen enough of that already from other reviewers. What I will tell you, is that Judson has given us a "future history" unlike any most of us have ever seen.

The scope of the story is wide without being to wide to take it all in. The characters are developed well enough to see the things that drive them. The descriptions of wholesale slaughter in battle are done well enough to make you nearly feel as if you were there, without getting wrapped up in techno-war speak or gratuitous desriptions.

The main characters, of Fitz, Buck, Hood, and Robert are well done, and I hope that Judson will again, someday give us a glimpse into the world of the Yukon Confederacy.

Full marks!


Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: The book has a very interesting premise for a post-apocolyptic world. That's where the good parts of the book end. It's written in a quasi biographical style with endless footnotes to other "books" of the period. This style was old by the end of the first chapter. There are better ways to include background information in my opinion. The other problem is all the political underpinnings in the writing. If I want politics, I'll read the paper or watch the news. I would love to see him rewrite it as an actual fiction book instead of a fictional biographical political commentary.

Rating:
Summary: Rich, deep characters PLUS a rousing, profound story!
Review: The plot's ambitious enough to carry a book by itself while the world Judson creates is intriguing enough to carry a weak plot and thin stock characters along just fine, but Judson goes beyond that with a mix of so deftly developed and conceived characters that it'd be a fine book in a completely banal setting with little plot at all, so achieving all 3 elements so competently when we'd settle for 1-2 makes for a riveting read. It's sort of a Victorian British Lancers on the Frontier meets David Brin's The Postman blended with Keith Robert's Pavane, Leigh Brackett's The Long Tomorrow, Tom Clancy's Bear & the Dragon...it's a book rich in conscience, reflection, wisdom, domestic bliss, intrigue, vivid imagery, and combat engineering... This is a book you'll remember a very long time and upon rereading years later continue to find new lessons and observations. It's even that rare Sci-Fi/Military action novel that I think many women would enjoy as the female characters are well-drawn and critical to the stories.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: this book is immensely readable, if only real historical memoirs were as well written. as other reviewers have mentioned this is a book of speculative fiction that focuses on the common born robert bruce and his efforts on behalf of the isaac fitzpatrick's will for world domination. the world the characters live in, and the world that the author hints at immediately preceding that of the yukon is fascinating. i for one wouldn't mind seeing an additional "history book" that details the years of bartholomew iz and the war between the united states and the yukon armies. the characters are all well rounded and believable i again wouldn't mind seeing a few of their "memoirs" surface.

while reading the book, one can't but help see certain similarities to current world events. whether intentional or coincidental the book had the disquieting habit of intruding on reality ala 1984, which of course made it all the more interesting.

if i had a single complaint it would be the annotation. it was extremely clever and provided some very interesting information. however its inclusion was billed as giving the reader pause as to who was correct in the re-telling of events, robert bruce or the established and recognized history. as others have mentioned here, these footnotes serve more to satirize the pomposity of historical experts who know better and the history is written by the winners. the notes in fact were so over the top in their denouncement of robert's story and over such insignificant things, that they do more to support robert than call in to doubt his validity. this is a very minor complaint however and i suspect more to do with the publishing company than the author.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding pace, interesting characters, a good read.
Review: This tale of psuedo history is one of the most interesting tales of fiction to come along since Harryy Turtledove's alternate histories. This is a character driven tale told from the perspective of a classmate of Ftizgerald. Love and war and the author's unstated contention that the two are mutually exclusive, are the major themes in the book. This is the story of a post apocalyptic world that has not changed that much, after a few centuries to rebuild, the world moves on as before but with no electricity. We first meet the story's main character, Robert, a boy from a small village that has distiguished himself in a border war with Mexico and won appointment to the military academy; as he first meets Fitzgerald...the current consul's son and the future consul that will conquer the world. The characters are well fleshed out and the overall world story is explained in small bits throughout the book. The author's comic prodding of academic credulity and hidebound traditions is a wonderful counterpoint -- these asides are related as historian's footnotes on nearly every page. Overall, a wonderful reading experience for fans of science fiction, history or anyone else.