Customer Reviews

Lost Regiment 08 Men At War

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must Say I agree with the popular opinion about this series. That it was one of the best ideas put down on paper. I don't think that this is the end of the series at all. Down to the sea left of at a point that was screaming of a follow up book. As for me I am eagerly awaiting another installment into this wonderfull series. The idea itself is unique I think when it was first concieved. I remember reading about it in his first book at that time there was nothing else like it out there. I am seeing a lot more books that are starting to branch out into the same field. "1632" mainly that is looking to be another really great series that I think readers that liked this series would like that one.

This is absolutely the best alternate history series that I have ever read- you not only end up caring about the characters, but you want become part of the action. When they say that this series "reads like a bullet" they are not exagerating. Any author that can get me to zip through five or six hundred pages in two or three days is doing something right.

There are scenes that you remember for years- compared with many books these days that you can't remember after a few months.... The idea of Union Soldiers transplanted to an alien world and taking an oath to carry on Mr. Lincoln's war until an entire enslaved planet is free still chokes me up. There are scenes like a brigade strength force forced to form a giant square on an open plain and fighting to the last man (while singing the Battle Hymm of the Republic) that you don't forget. Or a Republic airship sweeping down to rescue Hans and his Zulu and Chin comrades from worse than certain death....powerful images. As for the villians,well, the "Moon Feast" is my definition for evil.

Oh yes, it is also comforting to think that the real life 35th Maine and 44th New York didn't simply dround like rats, but went on to unite Russians, Romans, Chinese, Vikings, Zulus, etc. under the flag of the Republic....

My only real criticism is that if you have any experience in industry and engineering then the speed at which the Yankees manage to industrialise a pre-industrial society (and go into mass production) will drive you nuts!

By the way, this isn't the final book of the series. _Down to the Sea_ brings the Battle of Midway to Keane and the Republic. With any luck Forstchen will bring us even more....

Let me tell you this is one of the, if not the best series, I've ever read. It's fast paced, hard hitting, accurate account of a take no prisoners, no holds bared, battle for survial just blew me away. The advances through the stages of both technilogical and tatical warfare of 75 or more year squeezed into less than 15 years is consice and beleivable. I'm somewhat of a war buff and this series is like a dream come true. On top of that he left the door wide open to continue the series without missing a beat. The Uplift Wars, The Foundation series, or even the Armour series lacks its simplisity and strength. I may not have the greatest grammer in the world, but I know what I like and this series I loved.

I have read the entire saga for the second time from book one to book eight. For little more than a week I left Earth and went to Forstchen's world to live his characters' agonies and triumphs, to worry about the Republic, the Rus, the Roum, the Chin, even the Cartha and, yes, the Tugars, with Muzta leading them as best as he could. But, most of all, I went back to see the Yankees once more transforming a planet like stranded messengers of the best that the human race has to offer. "Men of War" is the end of this saga and I was elated and sad. the Republic wins, but it's not a smashing victory: this one, like all the other ones, will be obtained paying for it with thousands of lives, making terrible mistakes, letting friends die to win hours that may prove to be crucial. Forstchen, a master story-teller, weaves his tapestry from different angles to achieve a rational conclusion, but one that leaves several doors open, including that of more sequels.

Jurak, the troubled, almost noble leader of the Bantag, is back, bringing with him all the revulsion at a segment of his race gone barbarian, and feeling, apparently, all the guilt that a mamber of the hordes needs to feel at what has been done for thousands of years in that world. Keane is back, too. Not in top form (and one doubts he will ever be in top form again, given the ghosts he had to face in order to lead once more), but even at 80% Keane is better than most. A nice touch is the mention --almost literal-- of a poem by Keats, in page 11, that goes "I know that I shall meet my fate/ somewhere among the clouds above;/ those I fight I do not hate/ those I guard I do not love..." (The poem is "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death"), but in this case it is Jurak who remembers such a poem from his own homeworld.

A dear character will be lost at the beginning of the book, another at the end. "Men of War" has an air of closure that, although not total, seems to invite a continuation in the less immediate future. The problems with the names will continue, as well. This does not bother me very much, but I think it requires more attention. Father Casmar becomes Casmir, and Marcus Licinius Graca is mentioned now as Crassus, which does not make much sense. I have already mentioned the Jamul/Jurak problem. These are details, but they might distract readers from the better parts of the books.

"The Lost Regiment" comes to an end. Or does it? I'm not clairvoyant. I have inside information, so, cheer up: we will see more of the Republic yet. "Men of War" is the end of a story, not the end of "the" story. Happy reading.

I loved the concept and initial books of this series. It was great story telling. Couldn't wait for the next one. However, as time went on and the series was nearing the end, the character development got weaker, the story telling became abbreviated.

I feel 'ripped off' with Men of War. I just had a sense that the author just wanted to finish the series quickly. Hawthorne gets religion and you really don't know why. Keane gets banished and you don't read another word about him until the end when he comes back. Not a single new interesting character. So on, so on, so on. This doesn't hold a candle to Rally Cry or Fateful Lightening. Slam, bang and give me my check!

I gave it 3 stars only because of the earlier work, some words about characters that I liked and the concept has been interesting. Very Disappointing.

It's not often that I find a book that keeps me up at night until I'm just too tired to understand what I'm reading anymore. I've never found an eight book series that kept me that engrosed throughout the entire series, until now that is! William R. Forstchen's "Lost Regiment" series ends as powerfully as it began. Forstchen continues to blend solid interesting characters together with military tactics, strategy and LOGISTICS in a fashion that captivates the imagination and engages the spirit.

I have thouroughly enjoyed the entire series, and this book is as good as the rest. I wish it wasn't the last. I would like to see Mr. Fortschen explore some of the loose ends like what happens to the Tugars (my favorite of the hoards). Anyway, you will enjoy this book.

Over ten years have passed since Andrew Keane's Union regiment was marooned on a world far from our Solar System by alien technology. During that time, again and again the Lost Regiment has had to engage in battle after bloody battle with the hordes to defend their freedom and that of the Republic which they helped bring into being on that world at unspeakable cost. Now everything they fought and died for may have been in vain. Humanity is weary beyond bearing from relentless warfare with the alien natives of this world, and the hordes have broken the Republic's will to fight. Andrew Keane has resigned his commission over declaration of a peace parley between the Republic and the hordes. He and his remaining veterans begin a clandestine campaign taking the Lost Regiment into the very heart of the Bantag realm to destroy the Bantag's ability to make war on humanity. But it is left to Sergeant Major Hans Schuder to strike freedom's final -- and mortal -- blow against the enemy, and bring both sides kneeling together in the dust of an alien world, confronting a tragedy that will ultimately end the war between them and bring peace with honor to them both. Once more William R. Forstchen brings to life one of the most beautifully realized alien worlds in science fiction. As always, his characters, as rich and complex as any of us in the real world, reveal unexpected abysses and soaring heights within the soul and spirit, both human and otherwise. Mirrors to each other, the aliens and the human beings in this magnificent series show us how low we can fall -- and how unexpectedly we can be redeemed. William Forstchen has the gift of enabling us to experience the universe through alien eyes so well that we are unexpectedly appalled to find what evils "we," his aliens, have perpetrated -- and humbled and exalted to discover what heights "we," both alien and human, can attain. Throughout this enthralling novel I found myself wishing that it and the series of which it is the triumphant capstone would never end. At its wonderfully satisfying close, I wonder now what this supremely gifted author will do next. It'll be more than worth the wait to find out.

Okay, forget my lame review title. Anyway, after a rather disappointing Band of Brothers, I dove into Men of War hoping for far better. And that's just what I got. It's nice to see some more political tensions after Mikhail in book #2. There was some great action, some great quiet moments (especially most of the main characters posing for a Dageurrotype-- God, I hope I spelled that right!) and some good dialogue. The battles actually made sense in this book, unlike the muddled skirmishes in book #7. One of the highlights, I think, is Jurak's sudden change toward the end of the book; That makes ya feel nice. But... yes, there is a but... But there were a few things I didn't greatly care for in Men of War, but only a few! I didn't like the way Marcus ended up, the guy deserves more respect than a blurb in one paragraph. And where was Muzta? After what happened during the Battle of Hispania, you'd think he's come in to help the Republic against the Bantag and Merki. Speaking of Merki, I did like the return of that rat Tamuka. Andrew, unfortunately, was largely ignored here, most of the action centering around Hans. This makes me wonder just who the real main character of the series (or at least the last four books) really was. There were also a great many plot holes, but that didn't really matter. The book had a stunning ending, and it proved to be one of the best novels in the series. And now it's over... Well, it was fun while it lasted.

<The following review applies to the entire Lost Regiment series> I have already written online reviews of Turtledove's "Colonization" series and Flint's "1632". I loved them. I also loved Stirling's "Nantucket" books. However, I would not give any of them five stars. Why not? I was saving that honor for this series. Forstchen's "Lost Regiment" books (this one plus seven previous volumes) are, quite simply, the best Historical SF on the market. Turtledove, Stirling, and Flint all write excellent novels, but none of them can quite match the plotting, action, characters, and pure emotional power of this series. The story (in my mind) is the stuff of legend. A transport ship full of civil-war Yankees (one regiment of infantry and one artillery battery) is mysteriously teleported to a strange new world, a world in which a master race of aliens has reduced humanity (over the millenia, many other groups of people, including Republican Romans and medieval Russians, have also found themselves transported to this world) to the level of cattle, to be devoured at whim. Now it's time for those bastards to start worrying. The Yanks' rifles and cannon are more powerful than any other weapons in the world (although it is implied that the aliens were once a star-faring civilization, they have long ago been reduced to the technology and tactics of Mongol horse-archers), capable of mowing down massive numbers of local warriors. Still, the aliens have them vastly outnumbered. But the Yankees have a much more powerful weapon on hand: the American way. Heartened by the newfangled notions of freedom and democracy, the local humans are ready to take a stand. The Americans, who use their technological know-how to create a modern industrial society, give them a fighting chance. But it will not be such and easy fight, for the aliens learn quickly... The conflict lasts eight books, and never gets boring. This series has it all: terrific battle scenes, excellent characters (I don't think I've ever become so attached to any group of protagonists), dirty politics, brilliant technological innovations, blood-drenched horror (the aliens commit some of the most imaginative attrocities I've ever read about...), heart-rending tragedy, touching romance, and the invincible power of freedom. One thing is always clear: terror and oppression are no match for justice and liberty.