Everyone's a WarCriminal: the Mil-SciFi Thread

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Everyone's a WarCriminal: the Mil-SciFi Thread

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

I read the first ten or so Honor Harrington books when I was younger and the political implications weren't so apparent to me and thought they were 'okay'. I couldn't go back to them now.

I think of all the MilSF I've ever read (which isn't much, honestly) the Rogue Squadron books were actually some of my favourites, particularly the last two or three that actually focus on Wraith Squadron, who were a quite charming band of gently caress-ups.
Oh, and inasmuch as they're "sci-fi about the military" (though they don't really meet the thread's criteria) the Phule's Company series by Robert Asprin.

The_White_Crane fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Jun 26, 2019

# ¿ Jun 26, 2019 15:34

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 00:03

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

Has anyone else read the Nicholas Seafort books, Midshipman's Hope et al.?

I loved the first book, and found the later ones got successively less engaging.

The big problem for me was that Seafort oscillated wildly back and forth between "Alas, I have broken my oath and am thus irreparably damned to hell!" and "Alas, my oath which I cannot break binds me to a course of action I find more horrible than you can imagine!"

And I always felt that after the first time he damned himself forever to the eternal torments of Satan's fire, he should probably have just gone with his conscience in future dilemmas, rather than whining about how he can't possibly break his solemn vow, and thus had no choice but to send all those civilians to the gallows (or whatever his latest Hard Choice For Hard Men was).

# ¿ Jul 1, 2019 10:42

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

Kchama posted:

Hard Choice For Hard Men is one of the things I hate the most. And of course, it's always Correct And Moral to do the Hard Choice, so why is it actually a Hard Choice?

I will say that Feintuch does a pretty good job of not falling into the latter trap.
Seafort makes a bunch of his Hard Choices with great reluctance because of his stupid obsession with not breaking his (oft-broken) word, and while they sometimes turn out to be better than the alternative, I don't think it's ever really portrayed as being moral. And it leaves him severely emotionally hosed up, as well.
He ends up being publically lauded as a hero, but personally traumatised, and the series as a whole comes across to me as being to some extent a critique of the idea that Hard Men are all implacable heroes whose willingness to make the Hard Choice is a fundamentally good thing.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2019 10:17

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

feedmegin posted:

UN troops have included American troops, my dude. It's not like there's a separate UN army, whatever the black helicopter militia types might think.

code:

UNATCO HANDBOOK: Appendix A

Origins of UNATCO

In recent years the swelling tide of international terrorism coupled with
enmity between states, wildly varying laws, and an anachronistic devotion to
arbitrary borders has resulted in the decreasing effectiveness of local law
enforcement.  To resolve the problem, a neutral agency was required to
enforce international law in an impartial manner around the world.

UNATCO was formed with just such a mission in mind, an organization that could
transcend national boundaries and provide security for all nations that
subscribe to its charter.  Founded with the principles of the United Nations
as its cornerstone, UNATCO is FAIR, JUST, and protects the individual
liberties of all the citizens of the world.

The criminal thrives on anonymity, but soon there will be no place for them
to hide.  Victory over terrorism is the prize for our VIGILANCE.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2019 13:40

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

C.M. Kruger posted:

Bolo Shovelware, leader of the revolutionary cyber-army known as the Reapers.

Ah yes, "reapers". :turianass:

We have dismissed that claim.

Edit, content:
Has anyone else read the Star Risk series by Chris Bunch?
I thought they were pretty good (not great) pulpy mil-sci adventures.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2019 09:45

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

NoNostalgia4Grover posted:

Flashman books are 30% decently researched-for-their-time character studies of historical figures/flashpoint events of the 19th/early 20th century, 30% Flashman being unwillingly self-inserted into those flashpoint events and giving his smug-entitled take on things, and 40% Flashman loving anything that's female (willing or unwilling) anytime/anywhere possible and then suffering the consequences of trying to gently caress anything that's female anytime/anywhere.

So, uh probably a perfect honey-pot thread for identifying sex creeps or sex creep defenders.

The_White_Crane posted:

I gave the Flashman books a hard pass right after I came across the phrase "I had seldom found it necessary to rape a woman" in chapter 1 of book 1.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2019 13:32

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

Larry Parrish posted:

Theres a lot of books in Mechanical Failure's style and I hate them all tbh. Obviously somebody thinks they're funny because they keep getting written, but I cant stand it

They read like someone tried to turn a TV sketch show into a novel, and that humor often only barely lands even with the help of some goofy overacting. In book form I find it grating.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2019 14:49

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 00:03

The_White_Crane: May 10, 2008

jng2058 posted:

Oddly, you never get a syphilitic madman obsessed with personal projects at the expense of the realm, who tend to outnumber the capable, well-meaning, smart monarchs like a thousand to one in real life⁴.

Of course not, in the Far Future we've eradicated syphilis.
They have neoChlamydia.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2019 13:51

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