Northworld Trilogy [Northworld / Vengeance / Justice]

A tour de force - literally and figuratively.: This is another classic trilogy from David Drake, who forged "Hammers' Slammers" and also (with Steve Stirling, another fine wordsmith) gave us "The General" series. Drake is particularly adept and both using and acknowledging the sources of myth and legend while striding boldly outside what we used to think were the limitations and cliches of those genres.Nils Hansen is a tough, brutal man but no more so than is necessary to get the job done; and as in all of Drake's so-called military science fiction (which category does his work a descriptive disservice) here is a series hero who, like most people who work at 'the sharp end', understands all too well that - Nietzsche to the contrary - show more that which does not kill us does not make us stronger; it usually leaves us crippled in mind or in body and wired and plumbed with tubes and monitors and pain snaking around under the sheets. As Drake himself has said (and I have poorly paraphrased); if you choose to deploy men of violence then you owe it to them, yourself and the rest of society to not be ashamed, surprised or ignorant of the results. Not that Drake uses his books to expound philosophy; this is an excellent read on many levels. Drake tells strong stories strongly. And in a field where all too many authors over-indulge in the presentation of motivations and personal psychology to the detriment of action and passion, Drake is an outstanding craftsman of damn good books. show less

In a nutshell: Norse/Icelandic sagas set in space.

The slightly longer version: Sent by the Consensus to investigate an anomaly in space, Commissioner Nils Hansen finds himself taking an active role in the machinations of the gods on a set of planes where time means nothing, only duration.

These aren't warm and comfy stories, but then neither were the originals. Once you get accustomed to non-linear action, the plot unfolds neatly. And wonder of wonders, the ending, while maintaining a with your shield or on it feel, at least allows Hansen some brief comfort. Because the battle may be over, but the true war is yet to come....

Started reading this in February (2014); by June I was only 12 chapters into the first book of this trilogy. Thankfully, it was free from Amazon.com during a promo. It just doesn't make any sense. Too disjointed; I can't follow the plot or determine what the plot even is. I know David Drake is a well known Sci-Fi author, but this didn't grab me at all. Hopefully some of the other books of his I got during that same promo will be more to my liking.

It was a quick, entertaining read. I preferred the first book of the trilogy to the remainder. The highly sexual portrayal of the female characters makes the book a male fantasy but one can ignore that aspect of the books.

Northworld Trilogy
Author: David Drake
Publisher: Baen
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: 1990
Pgs: 791

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The inhuman Consensus rules the galaxy. A planetary survey team lead by Captain North has disappeared. The Consensus has sent 3 fleets to investigate the planet known as Northworld. All three have disappeared without a trace. No messages were returned. The fourth expedition consists of a single man, Commissioner Nils Hansen of Special Units. Spec Units are the heavily armed, SWAT, anti terror, anti crime, special combat force who have the authority to act to stop disturbances by any means necessary. And the Commissioner may be the best of the lot. What will he find on Northworld? Are there survivors of show more North’s survey team and the fleets? Or will he find their bodies and what caused it? Or will he find nothing? The Consensus is concerned. Hansen is on his own. On to Northworld, into the Matrix...war, peace, godhead?

Genre:
Crime fiction
Fiction
Science fiction
Space opera
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Favorite Character:
Hansen is the main character. He grows on you. And he’s a bad ass. He may be a bit marysueish, but overcomes it, mostly.

The Feel:
Book 1: Northworld has a triumphant spiel to it. But Book 2: Vengeance feels repetitive. It passes, but most of the setup up to chapters 16-17-18 has a lot of rehash to it.

Favorite Scene:
Hansen passed out after too much drink and someone sneaks into his chamber. And proceeds to take advantage of him. Only to have her father slamming his fist against the door demanding to be let in. And she slips away through the thatch...only to reappear beside her father outside the door when he opens it. ...only, she couldn’t have gotten around there that fast so...he’s left wondering who jumped his drunken bones in the darkness of his chamber.

The battles in the mecha-knight / mecha-viking armor. The Frekka campaign.

Hansen’s revenge tour against the forces of Ruby at the behest of North and his whatever his fellow “gods” are and because of what happened to the pacifists of Diamond. Helluva set of scenes when Hansen rolls through the Ruby control center going Schwarzenegger and Stallone on them. Great action sequence. All leading to Hansen’s being welcomed into the Godhead of Northworld, or whatever the hell they really are. But then, when see him next, he is wandering the lands near Peace Rock again. :/

The douche in the powered battlesuit, imagine a knights in Iron Man armor, lording it over the seemingly milquetoast retainers at Peace Rock and trying to bully Hansen...only to find Hansen opening his armor and beating him to death with a pewter mug.

When Ritter and Hansen penetrate the Matrix and go to the Plane of the Lomeri and encounter a Lomeri riding a dinosaur while trying to skewer them is a great scene.

Wow! What Sparrow the Smith did to King Hermann’s twins. Wow! And what is he doing with their bodies. Dark magic in the Matrix. Considering what Hermann had done to Sparrow, I thought his revenge, when it came, would be horrible, But Wow! And the way his revenge played into the climax of Book 2. Damn. Didn’t mark the connection between Hermann and the Knights of Solfygg. Good stuff. Horror.

The rail gun slug that was Starnes and Fortin’s trap for Hansen going all God-bullet, ripping through the multidimensional planes of Northworld and wreaking damage everywhere before putting paid to Starnes. Nice. the assault on Starnes’ Keep is well done.

Pacing:
The portions that are within Hansen’s focus flow well. The parts where we are drawn up into the realms above men slow down noticeably.

In Book 2, the flow is good. The parts where set dressing is taking place drag a bit.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Why would Hansen step into the forcefield barrier and expose himself like that when the Solbarth Gang was contained? Yes, he did get a positive results, but it just seems like it could just as easily have gone horribly wrong.

There are some mirrored characters across the timeframe of Books 1 and 2. Lot of repetition between the run ups in 1 and 2.

The first scene between Penny and Ritter is great. Very sexy. The 2nd scene where she visits him at his workshop feels forced in an effort to show him as driven by his work and her as driven by her passions. They don’t seem like the same characters, scene to scene, between 1 and 2. And the sex comes across like porny bad acting.

The Krita and Hansen lying on Unn’s burial mound 20-ish years after her death and kissing. Ugh.

What does this have to do with the “inhuman” Consensus? Are we to suppose that the “Gods” of Northworld are the Consensus plus 100,000 years? Shrug.

Hmm Moments:
The gathering of the Pantheon...hmmm...what the hell is going on on Northworld?

The mecha-knights living in a hovel is odd. Mecha-vikings? Pre-medieval Iron Man.

How many, in story, years passed between Book 1 and Book 2 of this trilogy? And has Hansen evolved...ascended...gone crazy? The sons of his companions are grown and in charge in the second book. So...18 to 25 years or so. And then, a century leap between Book 2 and Book 3.

Casting call:
I somehow connected Hansen in my head with Tom Cruise. Would love to see Tom Cruise as Hansen. Or maybe Keanu Reeves.

Michael Madsen as Warchief Tadeusz.
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Last Page Sound:
Long book. Long trilogy. Good story. Could’ve been shorter.

Author Assessment:
Case by case basis.

Editorial Assessment:
Could have been cut down some without losing anything.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
it’s alright

Disposition of Book:
e-Book

Would recommend to:
David Drake fans
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Something about it kept me reading almost the entire book within about 3 days.

I think I enjoyed the second novel the most.