The Lotus Eaters: N/A [Mass Market Paperback]

The Lotus Eaters (2010) is the third SF novel in the Carrera series, following Carnifex. In the previous volume, Carrera captured the High Admiral and the Marchioness of Amnesty during a raid on the Salafi Ikhwan. Then he lured the Ikhwan into a trap and killed all the terrorists. He acquired nineteen nuclear weapons and used one on Hajar, the capital of Yithrab, but diverted the blame to the Ikhwan.

In this novel, Carrera was born on Terra Nova as Patrick Hennessey. After his wife and their children were killed in the attack on First Landing in Columbia, he took the name of her family . He is now Duque of the Legio el Cid, a mercenary force based in Balboa, his former wife's country.

Lourdes Carrera is Patrick's second wife. She had been his administrative assistant, but gradually became his lover and then married him.

Hamilcar Carrera is the oldest child of Patrick and Lourdes. Ham has been declared by the Pashtun to be the return of Iskander -- Alexander the Great -- and an Avatar of God. He is ten years old.

Raul Parilla is a former general officer in the Balboan army and is now the democratically elected President of Balboa. He is a friend of Carrera and a cofounder of the Legio el Cid.

Xavier Jimenez is a former major in the Balboan army and is now the Legate commanding the 4th Legion. Jimenez has long been a friend of Carrera and helped establish the Legio el Cid.

Omar Fernandez is the Intelligence Chief for the Legions. He lost his wife and daughter to the terrorists and has little mercy for them. He has been in the Legio since its conception.

John McNamara is the Sergeant Major General of the Legio el Cid. Mac is married to Artemesia, Jimenez's niece.

Marguerite Wallenstein is a Class Two citizen of Terra and Captain of the UNPF flagship. After the capture of the High Admiral, she gained temporary command of the Fleet.

Janier is a Gallic general officer, commanding the Tauran Union Security Force in Balboa. His troops control the Balboa Transitway.

In this story, Carrera is very withdrawn from his family and friends. He is much better than a year ago after the end of the war against the Salafi Ikhwan, but he still feels guilty about the actions he took to defeat the terrorists. He can't bear to touch Lourdes with his bloody hands.

Lourdes wonders what she can do to help her husband with his sense of guilt. She knows from his nightmare that he ordered the nuke to be set off in Hajar. She has done what she can to keep his subordinates from bothering him in his recovery, even to the point of threatening them with a submachine gun.

Hamilcar wakes in the night and goes to visit his father. Patrick is sitting on a balcony watching a storm at sea. Both like storms and Ham just keeps him company. They discuss the storm and a yacht in the ocean waves.

Jimenez is desperate to bring Carrera back into command of the Legio. Affairs have not gone well with him gone. He decides to make another visit to Casa Linda.

Jimenez brings McNamara into the conspiracy to talk to Carrera. Mac asks his wife to visit Lourdes. Then they hide the submachine gun. Mac grabs a bottle and two glasses and they visit the balcony.

Carrera knows why they have come. He has been feeling guilty about abandoning the Legio for so long. So he has been thinking about what he should do.

They call a meeting of every available trooper, from officers down to junior noncoms. The crowd overfills the Furiocentro Convention Center. First the troops flock to Carrera to welcome him back. Then Carrera provides them an overview of his plans.

General Janier learns of the meeting after it starts. He chews out his intelligence officer for not informing him sooner. But the staff officer had only found out that morning and the general has been busy since then. They do have informants within the meeting.

Carrera also establishes a Senate to overseer his plans. He is tired of carrying the sole responsibility for his actions. Now the Senate can provide the policies and he will only be responsible for carrying out operations.

Fernandez has a discussion with his UN captives. The ship where they are imprisoned is a loose end and Fernandez plans to sink it at sea. He is wondering whether to take off his prisoners. Naturally, they don't want to stay onboard in chains.

Hamilcar is sent to Pashtia to protect him from the enemies of the Legio and to learn more about command. He demonstrates his leadership abilities in the mountains before reaching Pashtia. He appears to have learned a lot from his father, but now he learns more about commanding on his own.

Meanwhile, Captain Wallenstein receives orders to return to Earth. She appoints a temporary commander and then takes the Spirit of Peace back to Earth. She wonders if she will be returning to Terra Nova.

Her visit to Earth is not very encouraging. Rome is a playground of the First Class and a scene of human sacrifice and slavery. She has a frank discussion with the Secretary General and finds that he feels much the same way. She even gets his nephew to be her flagship captain (and spy).

This tale changes the objectives of the Legio el Cid to breaking the hold of the Tauran Union and the old government of Balboa. Carrera starts by fortifying Isla Real, the training base and current home of the Legio. Then he puts his staff to work expanding the Legio and developing new weapons.

This novel has numerous quotations from the factious publication Historia y Filosofia Moral. One is reminded of the classes in History and Moral Philosophy within Starship Troopers. One gets the sense that the author-- a combat veteran -- is not impressed by our current level of civil morality.

This volume prepares for the war. The next installment in this series -- The Amazon Legion -- will cover the war itself. Read and enjoy.

Highly recommended for Kratman fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of armed combat, strategic planning, and personal courage. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is A Desert Called Peace.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Tom Kratman is one of my favorite authors and this story comes from one of my favorite series. I've happily noticed that the Baen cover art has been progressively getting better and this is no exception. I don't want to say too much, I'd rather not ruin the plot. This entry features all the intensity of its predecessors. This time around the Legion is waging a drug war (the way it should be done) and preparing for war with the Tauron Union. Kratman does a superb job of giving readers multiple perspectives, good and evil.

Patricio Carrerra is possibly the ultimate anti-hero. Anyone who enjoys the vigilante justice of the Punisher or the Boondock Saints will be right at home reading this. Carrerra's hands are stained with the blood of a million people yet he retains his conscience. The level of revenge that Carrerra has achieved against his enemies is greater than any other story I can think of.

As far as politics go, if you have conservative beliefs like me you will have no trouble with the government that Carrerra sets up in Balboa and Kratman's views toward progressives. If you tend to lean more to the left this novel may be offensive to you (my advice is to either not read the book or suck it up).

My only complaint is the ending, if you've read Ringo's Eye of the Storm you understand how frustrating it can be to have such a set up for a major battle only to have to wait till the next book comes out.

When your biggest problem with a book is that you can't wait for the next one to be released you know the author is doing something right.

Others have recapped this story and the previous two in some detail, so there's no need for me to do that here.

Rather, I'd like to review the implications of History and Moral Philosophy. This is the course that young Juan Rico and everyone else is required to take in high school. One of its central theses is that political power may only may legitmately be entrusted to those who have demonstrated their willingness to support and defend the body politic - with their lives, if necessary. Only in such a way can individuals have shown true committment to the shared values and culture that make up a nation, and thus moral virtue. The history part comes in via the fact that such societies survive . . . and ones where the citizens don't care enough to defend them . . . don't.

Classically, there's Greece and Rome. Today, there's the European Union and the USA. Kratman fictionally interposes a third, Balboa. Through the three books (so far) he's evolved Balboan society from a corrupt third-world oligarchic dictatorship, to become much closer to the H&MP ideal. There's a huge range of 'shared universe' possibilities right there.

The really interesting question, to me, is this: given that this series is actually socio-political commentary on the the current state of the world, is it possible to see a real-life Balboa?

That question is quite important. Kratman's Caliphate and Mark Steyn's book America Alone, have both 'predicted' a Eurabia based on a combination of demographics and moral collapse in Europe. I don't like either future history, but I wouldn't put money on any other outcome. The only bulwark against a new Dark Ages then, is the moral philosophy of America (and possibly England, although again, I wouldn't put money on it).

As far as the story arc is concerned, I think this opens up many possibilities. Will the Anglians rebel against the Tauran Union? There were hints of that already. What of the internal divisions in the Federated States of Columbia? Can we see Santander joining Balboa? It seems to me that there's a host of stories here, possibly along 'shared universe' lines.

Finally, I'd like to see a non-fiction book: Kratman's History and Moral Philosophy. Jeepers, that would sure put the trixie amongst the moonbats!

Donna Kelly
(for the record, Canadian-English with a healthy sprinkling of American)

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