For More Than Glory (Hardcover)

While several of the main characters from previous books retain an important place in this story, For More Than Glory is largely built around a refreshingly new cast of characters. Legion Second Lieutenant Antonio Santana emerges as the new hero on the block. His checkered past of disobeying certain direct orders of a certain superior officer in the previous war cost him a star and secured his posting on the interplanetary backwater of LaNor. This little planet soon takes on great significance, however, as a complicated planetary revolution threatens not only the lives of diplomats and legionnaires on the surface but also, albeit indirectly, the very solvency and future of the Confederacy itself.

An assortment of races has been incorporated into the Legion by this point, including the bug-like and always suspect Ramanthians and the once-hated Hudathans. No one trusts anyone else, and for good reason. On LaNor itself, the vain empress seeks to hold onto power in the face of two powerful threats, one by a revolutionary terrorist group and the other from a royal nephew who wants to guide LaNor into Confederation membership. The diplomatic teams serving on the planet find themselves increasingly in the cross-fire of conspiracies and dangers that reach far beyond LaNor's small region of space. Unbeknownst to their "allies," the Ramanthians are preparing for a new hatching of some five billion new citizens - to allow for this upcoming population explosion, they need dominion over additional planets and a means of transporting their hatchlings to them, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

This story proceeds very well indeed in describing the rapidly deteriorating conditions on LaNor. Santana is a wonderful character, a true and honest soldier trying to take care of his men and protect as many innocent lives as possible. Highly ambitious diplomat Christine Vanderveen complements Santana very well, as she is quite willing to exceed her diplomatic powers in order to get to the bottom of things and knows what to do with a gun in the heat of battle. Legion captain Seeba-Ka completely steals the show in my opinion, though. Until now, the Hudathans have appeared as bloodthirsty, hateful creatures, but Seeba-Ka boasts a well-developed, remarkably subtle sense of humor and an unprecedented commitment to the Legion.

A number of thrilling rescue missions take place, but the best action occurs when the Confederate forces and diplomats are faced with an extended siege of their section of town. The descriptions of military conflict are awe-inspiring, while the roller coaster of political intrigue takes the reader for a wild ride indeed. Surprisingly, it is the small section of the book featuring characters well-known to readers of this series that flounders. Legion General Booly is working on eliminating the small number of mutineers still roaming the Outer Rim, but the manner in which he goes about this really doesn't ring true to my ears. This subplot stood as a significant speed bump in the road of this reader's satisfaction.

The conclusion of this novel is somewhat open-ended, setting the stage for at least one more novel in the series - I don't have a problem with this, but those readers seeking to have all their answers provided in the pages of one book alone should be aware of this fact. I rarely bring up matters of an editing nature, but I also have to mention the fact that the hardcover edition is simply riddled with typos, missing letters, extra words, and other glaring mistakes. I do not blame the author; but it is an unfortunate truth that the extent of the problem in this regard does take a little something away from the reader's enjoyment of the novel - this is a real shame because For More Than Glory is by and large a very engaging, exciting work of military science fiction.

In the vicinity of Arbulla, the Confederacy infiltrated the Sheen fleet and disabled the Hoon. When the Thraki admiral refused to believe that the Sheen had been neutralized and attempted to launch "the twins", the Confederacy vaporized the ship carrying these weapons. Although the Thraki attacked the Sheen anyway, they encountered no resistance and finally accepted the situation after destroying some of the Sheen warships.

The Battle of Arballa, as the press called it, was followed by extensive negotiations that eventually included the Thraki as members of the Confederacy. The Hudathans had proved themselves as allies in battle, so their home world was opened to commerce with the Confederacy; individual Hudathans had taken a liking to the Legion and remained in service. The Clone Hegemony, however, had withdrawn all its soldiers from the Legion.

In this novel, Legion renegades from the mutiny have formed the Syndicate and are raiding commerce among the Rim Worlds. General Booly leads a raid on Syndicate Base 012 in search for the cruisers Ibutho and Guerrero. After fighting their way in, they discover that the warships had departed only a few hours before their attack.

On the planet Hive, the Ramanthian Senator Alway Orno returns to report to the Queen that he has negotiated successfully for the additional planets needed for the tricentennial hatching, but that he was unable to obtain the ships required to transport the five billion hatchlings to their new homes. When queried as to how such transportation would be provided, Orno stated that they would steal it.

On the planet Hudatha, Hasa-ba is installed as the third member of the Triad and accepts the acclaim of the populace. Unknown to the other Triad members, Hasa-ba is plotting with Orno to steal warships from the mothballed Sheen fleet.

On the planet LaNor, Legion Second Lieutenant Antonio Santana arrives on the tramp freighter Rim Queen. First he reports in to Captain Seeba-Ka, the Hudathan second-in-command, at the Legion barracks in the Foreign Legation compound adjacent to the Imperial City of Mys. Captain Seeba-Ka is fully aware of Santana's prior record and performs an attitude adjustment prior to covering his future duties. Then he informs Santana that his former superior, Hakk Batth, is commander of the Ramanthian detachment in the Foreign Legation.

This novel interweaves the four major plots noted above and numerous minor ones. The main story, however, is the most inconsequential in terms of galactic history. Based on the Boxer Rebellion, it involves a large scale rebellion against a corrupt, yet locally powerful empire ruled by a Dowager Empress. One of the tenets of this rebellion was the pollution of the local religion by foreign ideas and this leads to the slaughter of foreign missionaries and their local converts. The Foreign Legation comes under siege by both the rebels and the imperial troops.

The Boxer Rebellion is one of many smaller conflicts in American and European history. The rebels were numerous but usually poorly armed and trained. The imperials were also numerous and better trained than the rebels, but were not as determined and were not as well armed as the Westerners. The fighting was fierce and bloody, with heavy casualties among the rebels and imperials. The final outcome changed China forever.

This story is a striking portrayal of ordinary people in a crisis that demands more from them than they have ever given before. Even the veteran soldiers are staggered by the situation, despite their familiarity with war and bloody death. The garrison troops soon become veterans or casualties. The civilians quickly learn to strip away the nonessentials of life and to think like soldiers.

Highly recommended for Dietz fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of daring and courage in a SF setting.