Had trouble getting into three of the stories, but I found "Teach Your Children Well" to be charming and dark and kind all at once, and "Escape Hatch" was just a good fun read.anthology ebook owned ...more1 Marina FontaineAuthor 9 books49

An anthology of five military sci-fi novellas, this book gives a reader an excellent sense of the variety of authors and styles currently available to both fans of the genre and those still waiting to discover it for themselves. The authors are so different, however, that it is nearly impossible to review this publication as a whole; therefore, I will provide a short review of each entry and assign star ratings accordingly.

Remains of the Dead (A Star Tigers Story) by Michael A. Stackpole.
The story grabbed me from the start with it unusual and richly imagined world populated by fully developed characters. The idea of humans, living as second class citizens in a world not of their own, but still retaining the best of the human qualities and wishing to prove their worth, both as individuals and as a race, is incredibly appealing and gets fair and thoughtful treatment. The action, once it gets going, is exciting and full of surprises, and in the end we are left wanting to spend more time in the world and read more about what follows the events of the story. 4 Stars

And Not to Yield by Sarah A. Hoyt
This novella takes place in Hoyt’s Darkship/Earth Revolution universe and is a ten-years-later sequel to A Few Good Men. As a fan of the original, I approached the sequel with a mix of excitement and trepidation, both eager to catch up with the characters I love and fearful that the short-form story would not live up to the original. I did find myself not only completely satisfied, but with a newfound respect for the author for her ability to both stay true to the characters and acknowledge the passage of time. Other than that, the story is very typical Hoyt: emotionally charged, with tightly written action scenes, occasional philosophical side trips and a dry sense of humor. 5 Stars

Goliath by Doug Dandridge
The most traditional military sci-fi story in the anthology, Goliath starts boldly with several pages of infodump before moving on to action, an equivalent of having Star Wars- opening credits roll on and on for minutes on end. In the final analysis, though, it might have paid off because the story proper jumps right into an alien encounter and the tension does not let up until the final scene. This particular story has the highest action-to-character-development ratio in the anthology and so would probably appeal to a different kind of reader than the rest. 4 Stars

Teach Your Children Well (An Unincorporated War story) by Eytan and Dani Kollin
This was, in all honesty, the story I enjoyed the least, not because it was necessarily badly written but because in my opinion it did not lend itself well to short form storytelling. There is at once too much and not enough information for the reader about the world, and switches between backstory and present time make it harder to get attached to the characters and follow the many plot twists. The idea of the society with no/minimal self-ownership is intriguing, but it gets pushed aside to explore more traditional themes with only limited success. The action scenes are well done and the story did hold my attention throughout, but it could have been much better. 3 Stars

Escape Hatch by Kevin J. Anderson

This one is a piece of pure, unadulterated delight, from the first attention-grabbing scene to the exceptionally satisfying resolution. The reader can see the “what” of the big twist miles (or rather sea leagues) away, but it’s the “how” that matters. This is a perfect demonstration of my point that many writers should stop focusing so much on being original/clever and just write solid stories with memorable characters. And that, kids, is how it’s done. Even though the story is self-contained, it will ly send you scurrying to the bookstore/website of your choice for more of this author’s works. Just make sure you have enough money on your card because, oh man, is he prolific. 5 Stars

And so we got two 5 Stars, two 4 Stars and one 3 Stars, which my trusty calculator is averaging to 4.1. Thus, 4 Stars for the anthology as a whole. Strongly recommended.
fantasy-scifi1 An EyeYii3,634 62

1 Remains of the Dead
- Michael A. Stackpole 1* hard names
Njatta super-alien won't interfere, but planet ghost looks her. Firefly feels alive flying in space. He has respect for planet spirits from his native heritage. Everyone talks.
2 And Not to Yield
- Sarah A. Hoyt 3* loyalty punished
Lucius tells about leaving to find missing Nate, and court martial on false charges.
3 Goliath
- Doug Dandridge 4* sad, uncertain
After small spaceship hides, giant alien warship destroys other defenders.
4 Teach Your Children Well
- Dani, Eytan Kollin 4* ReRd sad, "hope"
Absentee dad Thomas helps Sally train as soldier to survive. Gem's comes later.
5 Escape Hatch
- Kevin J. Anderson 5* scary, funny
Admiral losing attack, trades bodies with Navy volunteer, to keep up fight against alien slugs combining into giant tentacles.

Typos
1 p 90 showed IS shown
3 p 71 personal IS personnel
4 p 43 principal IS principle
p 67 rest of IS the rest of
p 68 Why didn't IS , why didn't
p 98 a nervous a nervous smile
IS a nervous smile
to die IS die
5 p 70 enhance IS enhancedfan scifi Krista D.Author 61 books300 Read

I'm not sure if I was just in the wrong mood, or if these just weren't my style of MilSF. They weren't bad stories at all, but I couldn't get into them. Still, I think it's worth it for folks to give a try if in the mood to try out some MilSF, especially if you've not read these authors before. James647 11

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