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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book has been one of the darlings of the military SF community. That's not generally my thing, but once in a while I enjoy it, so I picked this one up out of curiosity.
The book does not detail large scale battles. All combat is from the squad perspective. I didn't mind this, and keeping things a bit more small and personal was a plus.
The book's main character, James Shelley, has a knack for feeling when things are going to go bad. His squadmate calls them "King David" moments, referring to the whole chosen/protected by God thing. During the course of the book, Shelley begins to suspect that his precognitions are neither chance nor psychic ability, but an AI that lives all through the information system which has decided for reasons of its own to protect him. He calls this entity "The Red".
It's hard to say too much about the book without massive spoilers. The pace is somewhat uneven. Shelley is wounded in the first part of the book, and a good deal of the middle slows down as he learns to use an artificial leg.
The technology of the book is just beyond today. Soldiers have skullcaps that hook them into a network that allows them perception of their greater surroundings and communication with distant support staff. Drones, called "angels", follow squads to give squad leaders more information and perpective. Artificial limbs are at a whole different level, and IT is a bit beyond what we've got. The uses of technology by the military make sense and are smartly done. The book naturally reminded me of "The Forever War" and "Starship Troopers". This work takes the military seriously and doesn't seem to want to make a greater statement about how we use war as a tool, except in the early parts. It isn't really gung-ho or jingoistic either. It seems to really just want to tell a story, and what it wants to examine is our use and dependence on technology and the positive and negative ramifications of that.
While I enjoyed the book, it felt extremely episodic. While the battle scenes were fine, part of me felt like they were there to satisfy commercial needs as opposed to being integral to the story. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequel or not.
The book does not detail large scale battles. All combat is from the squad perspective. I didn't mind this, and keeping things a bit more small and personal was a plus.
The book's main character, James Shelley, has a knack for feeling when things are going to go bad. His squadmate calls them "King David" moments, referring to the whole chosen/protected by God thing. During the course of the book, Shelley begins to suspect that his precognitions are neither chance nor psychic ability, but an AI that lives all through the information system which has decided for reasons of its own to protect him. He calls this entity "The Red".
It's hard to say too much about the book without massive spoilers. The pace is somewhat uneven. Shelley is wounded in the first part of the book, and a good deal of the middle slows down as he learns to use an artificial leg.
The technology of the book is just beyond today. Soldiers have skullcaps that hook them into a network that allows them perception of their greater surroundings and communication with distant support staff. Drones, called "angels", follow squads to give squad leaders more information and perpective. Artificial limbs are at a whole different level, and IT is a bit beyond what we've got. The uses of technology by the military make sense and are smartly done. The book naturally reminded me of "The Forever War" and "Starship Troopers". This work takes the military seriously and doesn't seem to want to make a greater statement about how we use war as a tool, except in the early parts. It isn't really gung-ho or jingoistic either. It seems to really just want to tell a story, and what it wants to examine is our use and dependence on technology and the positive and negative ramifications of that.
While I enjoyed the book, it felt extremely episodic. While the battle scenes were fine, part of me felt like they were there to satisfy commercial needs as opposed to being integral to the story. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequel or not.
[Note: This review was originally published at AudioBook Reviewer, http://audiobookreviewer.com/reviews/red-first-light-red-trilogy-book-1-linda-nagata/]
Linda Nagata’s The Red: First Light is a superb military sci-fi thriller, and, for the most part, the narration from Kevin T. Collins does a darn fine job pulling the listener into the story and alongside Lieutenant James Shelley.
Right from the get-go, listeners are put into the elite armored squadron commanded by Shelley as they prepare to suit up in their mechanized uniforms, the squad connected via cerebral implants referred to as the overlay. Shelley and his team are in the African Sahel to maintain the peace as a secularist reformer rises to power. When their base comes under aerial assault, though, they realize — too late — that their peacekeeping efforts are for naught. Shelley, however, has a sort of sixth sense that has earned him the nickname King David from his comrades, who joke that he is able to receive the word of God. The truth, though, is a different story entirely and one that is both consistently captivating and increasingly frightening the more we learn about it.
Over the course of more than thirteen hours of audio, we join Shelley for a series of missions and a harrowing period of recovery after being severely injured early in the narrative. What follows, then, is a search for the truth behind his King David messages and his team’s efforts to halts homegrown terrorists working to incite revolution and tear Texas away from the Union.
The Red is a seriously dark bit of work, and more than a few scenes caught me off guard. Nagata’s first-person narrative manages to shock with sudden flashes of violence and terrific insights into the her characters. Shelley himself is a bit of conundrum – formerly an anti-war protester, he now serves the military to avoid jail time for past crimes, only to find himself increasingly loyal to the military and those who serve beneath him. The large question that looms is whether or not this is a natural growth for his character, or the result of whatever may be messing with his brain and repeatedly warning him of danger. How much of his decision and actions are truly his own? And how long can he rely on the King David insights to keep him and his soldiers safe?
I refuse to give away much more than this, but please be aware that we’re only scratching the surface of the book’s plotting. There’s a great sense of breadth to the events here, and plenty of fantastic military action sequences. The upgrades these soldiers sport is really fantastic, and the augmentations provided by the military make sense in a beautifully cynical and bureaucratic way. Operating at the behest of mega-rich defense contractors, and beneath their constant and subtle warnings of reprisal if ignored, Nagata’s story brings to the forefront Dwight Eisenhower’s warning against the military-industrial complex and their threat to democracy. This aspect makes her story feel all the more timely rather than a far-flung future scenario.
As narrator, Collins handles the material suitably well. Any criticisms I have toward his work here are very, very small, but I will say that it took me a little bit of time to adjust to his inflections and airy tones when narrating dialogue from the female characters. I also didn’t really care for his use of “spoken” shouts during some of the more-intense action scenes that requires characters to be yelling back and forth or attempting to command attention. I would have preferred to just have an actual shout with some pure energy and raw acting talent behind it. But again, these are rather mild complaints and did not take away from the overall listening experience. Throughout it all, the audio quality maintains a level consistency and solid production values, with the narration coming through crisp, clear, and well delivered.
Bottom line: Linda Nagata just earned herself a new fan with this book! I loved it and am now eagerly anticipating the chance to either read or listen to the next two books in this trilogy.
Linda Nagata’s The Red: First Light is a superb military sci-fi thriller, and, for the most part, the narration from Kevin T. Collins does a darn fine job pulling the listener into the story and alongside Lieutenant James Shelley.
Right from the get-go, listeners are put into the elite armored squadron commanded by Shelley as they prepare to suit up in their mechanized uniforms, the squad connected via cerebral implants referred to as the overlay. Shelley and his team are in the African Sahel to maintain the peace as a secularist reformer rises to power. When their base comes under aerial assault, though, they realize — too late — that their peacekeeping efforts are for naught. Shelley, however, has a sort of sixth sense that has earned him the nickname King David from his comrades, who joke that he is able to receive the word of God. The truth, though, is a different story entirely and one that is both consistently captivating and increasingly frightening the more we learn about it.
Over the course of more than thirteen hours of audio, we join Shelley for a series of missions and a harrowing period of recovery after being severely injured early in the narrative. What follows, then, is a search for the truth behind his King David messages and his team’s efforts to halts homegrown terrorists working to incite revolution and tear Texas away from the Union.
The Red is a seriously dark bit of work, and more than a few scenes caught me off guard. Nagata’s first-person narrative manages to shock with sudden flashes of violence and terrific insights into the her characters. Shelley himself is a bit of conundrum – formerly an anti-war protester, he now serves the military to avoid jail time for past crimes, only to find himself increasingly loyal to the military and those who serve beneath him. The large question that looms is whether or not this is a natural growth for his character, or the result of whatever may be messing with his brain and repeatedly warning him of danger. How much of his decision and actions are truly his own? And how long can he rely on the King David insights to keep him and his soldiers safe?
I refuse to give away much more than this, but please be aware that we’re only scratching the surface of the book’s plotting. There’s a great sense of breadth to the events here, and plenty of fantastic military action sequences. The upgrades these soldiers sport is really fantastic, and the augmentations provided by the military make sense in a beautifully cynical and bureaucratic way. Operating at the behest of mega-rich defense contractors, and beneath their constant and subtle warnings of reprisal if ignored, Nagata’s story brings to the forefront Dwight Eisenhower’s warning against the military-industrial complex and their threat to democracy. This aspect makes her story feel all the more timely rather than a far-flung future scenario.
As narrator, Collins handles the material suitably well. Any criticisms I have toward his work here are very, very small, but I will say that it took me a little bit of time to adjust to his inflections and airy tones when narrating dialogue from the female characters. I also didn’t really care for his use of “spoken” shouts during some of the more-intense action scenes that requires characters to be yelling back and forth or attempting to command attention. I would have preferred to just have an actual shout with some pure energy and raw acting talent behind it. But again, these are rather mild complaints and did not take away from the overall listening experience. Throughout it all, the audio quality maintains a level consistency and solid production values, with the narration coming through crisp, clear, and well delivered.
Bottom line: Linda Nagata just earned herself a new fan with this book! I loved it and am now eagerly anticipating the chance to either read or listen to the next two books in this trilogy.
I've read a bit of "military science fiction" as the genre's been, er... genred. Most of it really isn't very good. You could probably guess by the solid row of stars next to this text that I didn't feel that way about the Red trilogy.
It's good, it's really good. It's a set of questions about our increasingly connected future (the one where we're all paranoid that our waffle makers are secretly judging us) and it's played as an adventure.
There is quite a lot of fighting and blowing things up, though it's believable enough to a layperson such as me who has never even worn an exoskeleton for anything more than the daily commute.
Mostly, it's a relief to read something decent in terms of modern military SF.
It's good, it's really good. It's a set of questions about our increasingly connected future (the one where we're all paranoid that our waffle makers are secretly judging us) and it's played as an adventure.
There is quite a lot of fighting and blowing things up, though it's believable enough to a layperson such as me who has never even worn an exoskeleton for anything more than the daily commute.
Mostly, it's a relief to read something decent in terms of modern military SF.
Very readable, a page turner most of the way through--but the ending felt off. I skimmed the last quarter of the book. Maybe it was the episodic nature of the book--the final episode felt more like a coda than a resolution.
3.5 stars. Some very awkward and clumsy passages, but it does raise good, original questions in this highly-networked world we live in
A good bit of near future military sci-fi. Lots of cool concepts and realistic situations, not superhero-like protagonists.
Looking forward to more in the series.
Looking forward to more in the series.
I generally have a low opinion of the MIL-SF sub-genre. Most of it is just science fiction, military porn. This story was actually surprisingly good MIL-SF-Pr0n.
Writing was good. Dialog, descriptive and action prose were all well above standard. Even the soft-core, sexy bits were good. Nagata is a proficient author.
Plot was a bit too linear to be truly absorbing. Although, its momentum was well sustained.
Characters were well-within the parameters of the trope. I can't help but compare this to [b:Starship Troopers|17214|Starship Troopers|Robert A. Heinlein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406457252s/17214.jpg|2534973]. The Shelly character is the anti-Rico.
If I do have a complaint, the author does not accurately capture Army kulture. I've spent time in the company of soldiers, sailors and marines. I doubt the author has.
Serving members of the military like many closed societies have their own argot. Its noticeably absent from the story.
For example, the author's characters are too genteel in their speech. The highly valued enlisted class's creativity with profanity or the use of profanity as punctuation is noticeably absent from the book's dialog. In the real world, even the serving women can be fluent with and regularly profane.
The tech is credible. I couldn't find any holes in it. There is a noticeable lack of gun-loving, firearms tech-talk that is common with soldiers.
For example, when the Colonel gives Shelly his pistol for the truck hijack, its only a pistol. What caliber was the pistol? Is it an ancient Beretta M9, or the newer Sig P320, or Glock 17 Gen4 (or 5?).
In general, I thought the story's near-future was a tad unimaginative. Its a very linear extrapolation from the now to the then. I would greatly have appreciated at least one, original black swan.
This is a good MIL-SF read. It lacks the authenticity to be really good. It was not written by someone who ever was or has very close association with a soldier, sailor or marine. However, its a solid story, with craftsmanship making it better than the great weight of rubbish MIL-SF cluttering book shelves out there.
It was somewhat of a disappointment, that the book cannot be read standalone.
I'll likely read the next in the series, [b:The Trials|22034827|The Trials|Linda Nagata|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1444344933s/22034827.jpg|41355909]. Although, not immediately.
Readers interested in stories on par with this, would enjoy reading [a:Karl Schroeder|19169|Karl Schroeder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1378361478p2/19169.jpg]'s, Crisis in Urlia and the earlier Crisis in Zefra.
Writing was good. Dialog, descriptive and action prose were all well above standard. Even the soft-core, sexy bits were good. Nagata is a proficient author.
Plot was a bit too linear to be truly absorbing. Although, its momentum was well sustained.
Characters were well-within the parameters of the trope. I can't help but compare this to [b:Starship Troopers|17214|Starship Troopers|Robert A. Heinlein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406457252s/17214.jpg|2534973]. The Shelly character is the anti-Rico.
If I do have a complaint, the author does not accurately capture Army kulture. I've spent time in the company of soldiers, sailors and marines. I doubt the author has.
Serving members of the military like many closed societies have their own argot. Its noticeably absent from the story.
For example, the author's characters are too genteel in their speech. The highly valued enlisted class's creativity with profanity or the use of profanity as punctuation is noticeably absent from the book's dialog. In the real world, even the serving women can be fluent with and regularly profane.
The tech is credible. I couldn't find any holes in it. There is a noticeable lack of gun-loving, firearms tech-talk that is common with soldiers.
For example, when the Colonel gives Shelly his pistol for the truck hijack, its only a pistol. What caliber was the pistol? Is it an ancient Beretta M9, or the newer Sig P320, or Glock 17 Gen4 (or 5?).
In general, I thought the story's near-future was a tad unimaginative. Its a very linear extrapolation from the now to the then. I would greatly have appreciated at least one, original black swan.
This is a good MIL-SF read. It lacks the authenticity to be really good. It was not written by someone who ever was or has very close association with a soldier, sailor or marine. However, its a solid story, with craftsmanship making it better than the great weight of rubbish MIL-SF cluttering book shelves out there.
It was somewhat of a disappointment, that the book cannot be read standalone.
I'll likely read the next in the series, [b:The Trials|22034827|The Trials|Linda Nagata|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1444344933s/22034827.jpg|41355909]. Although, not immediately.
Readers interested in stories on par with this, would enjoy reading [a:Karl Schroeder|19169|Karl Schroeder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1378361478p2/19169.jpg]'s, Crisis in Urlia and the earlier Crisis in Zefra.
Interesting, action packed, but
Check out my longer review on the library's blog: http://carnegiestout.blogspot.com/2016/07/staff-review-red-first-light-by-linda.html
Spoiler
girlfriend fridged. V disappointing.Check out my longer review on the library's blog: http://carnegiestout.blogspot.com/2016/07/staff-review-red-first-light-by-linda.html
Interesting near-future military SF, with a cynical but probably all-too-true view of the role of private armies and international business in modern and future warfare. Interesting characters, with interesting tech toys to play with. Looking forward to reading the 2nd installment, lined up on my Kindle already.