Brothers in Arms

Usually I just rate books without writing a review. In this case I'm making an exception for this terrible, terrible excuse for a book.

If I could, I would sue the writer for emotional damages and time wasted. The writing style is far below par and if there is any worse anti-hero than Scott I have yet got to encounter him/her.

After about 100 pages I couldn't take it anymore and tossed the book away. Even if the rest of the book (and/or trilogy) would be nobel prize quality it just would not make up for the torture of reading this first part. Avoid at all costs, unless you're into self-infliction of psychological pain! Your brain will be very thankful.

I'd rather wear a pink tutu and let myself get bombarded with overripe tomatos for a show more whole day on some marketplace than read one more single word. show less

This book has quite a few elements that ought to render it fairly typical fare. The picked on "lower classes" turn out to be especially able to adapt to being soldiers, the soldiers are trained before a sneak attack when their training is accelerated and they're thrown into combat too soon and so on.

There are even aliens who make the training machines that make the soldiers superhuman. Literally.

There are some nice touches though - the training isn't infallible, the training to help offset PTSD is missed, disastrously so. The prejudice against the "gennyboy" leads to a mutiny and so forth.

I'd rate this higher, but it's told as a memoir - it makes moments like "I looked down and her K-bar was sticking out of my chest" rather less show more gripping than they should be, because you know he's going to survive, it's more a question of how. show less

Not for me. The really clumsy foreshadowing got to me after a while.

Not for me. The really clumsy foreshadowing got to me after a while.