Book Review: War By Other Means
The Fall of the Censor continues
I have oft described The Fall of the Censor as Honor Harrington takes out a galaxy spanning empire straight out of 1984 (early Honor Harrington, when it was one storyline instead of four spin-off series).
The last book, Trouble in My Day. saw series hero Marcus Landry reproduce the Anabasis, only with a space fleet. I didn’t review the book because I found the pacing off, and it threw me out of the book pretty hard. You might want to try it despite that, if only because that might be more of a problem with the reader than with the book.
The Story
Wynny Landry, of the recently liberated planet of Corwynt, has found herself ambassador for her planet. Her mission is to hammer out treaties with the other worlds liberated from the tyrannical Censor—and to offload a lot of missiles Corwynt built a few books earlier.
Wynny finds herself in the middle of a half-dozen worlds enduring the growing pains of freedom. Without the Censor, one world breaks out into tribal warfare. Another world pays the price for the economic problems of another. Instead of negotiating some trade deals, Wynny finds herself investigating cold cases and fresh murders, as well as negotiate for hostages.
Of course, the Censor isn’t being entirely idle. Despite a stalemate in forces, they have their own plans for defeating the rebels.
Once again, Karl Gallagher shows us the way to have a space opera without having be needlessly convoluted, with vivid characters, complex problems, and smart solutions.
And surprisingly, multiple problems can solve each other. Heh. Especially when they’re two problems that have been building throughout the book, and threatening to turn into a series-long problem. But it had a novel solution, proposed by an unexpected corner.
At the end of the day, it’s nice to have a character-based military sci-fi epic where not every problem is resolved through missile counts and tonnage.
The Characters
I will admit, War By Other Means is surprisingly character driven—even the space battles. Each character is distinct and vivid, be they the dozen ambassadors Wynny must work with, to the six distinct cultures she has to negotiate around.
And then there’s always that one prick… Anyway, he’s neither here nor there. That was also an interesting solution. Again, character based.
The World
The universe of the Censor novels are so well developed, built over time, each character and society is its own character within the novel. It’s interesting watching Wynny translate cultural cues for those around her, because she’s been busy dealing with all of these various and sundry planets.
Would I say that these worlds are Tolkien deep? No. But they certainly have as much depth as David Weber’s Graysons, and certainly more variety than the Honorverse.
Also, this has a more realistic navy, with more realistic problems. Like shore leave. Let’s just say that this navy has some elements have have less in common with Horatio Hornblower, and more in common with the world of Richard Sharpe.
Politics
If you work really hard at it, and quint one eye, you can see some allegories to modern politics. But you have to put more effort into it than is sensible.
Content Warning
Not really… there is mention of rape in the novel, but it’s never shown. There is discussion of slavery—against, not shown. If there was a language issue in the book, it didn’t stand out (and most places have their own distinct cussing that doesn’t translate).
Who is it for?
This is for fans of David Weber who wished he didn’t belabor the Honorverse. Heck, I’d say this was more for fans of the John Ringo of the Posleen Wars, or March Upcountry.
Why buy it?
It is a great series with solid character, innovative problems, and even more innovative solutions.