(Larger Image)
|
The Last Legion
by Chris Bunch
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Roc (1999-04-01)
ISBN: 0451456866
EAN: 9780451456861
Dewey Decimal #: 813
Paperback: 352 pages
SKU: 9114
Condition: As New
Comments: Binding: Softcover. Condition: As New.
|
Editorial Reviews
|
Product Description
The time of the Human Confederation is coming to an end. The rule of the empire weakens daily as its forces stretch themselves beyond their limits to maintain peace and order. For the legionnaires far out in the Cumbre System, cut off from their homeworld, where survival takes precedence over politics. And when a revolution strikes up arms against them, they find they may be the last legion ever to fight in the Confederation's name.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Good thing they're not in Falkenberg's Legion
Rating  (3)
Date: 2007-01-01
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Mr. Bunch's book, The Last Legion, deals with a human space empire has reached a decedent stage, and like the Roman Empire has begun to fragment at the seams. As always, the lonely outposts far from the empire's capital are left to stand on their own or evolve to something new. In this case, Mr. Bunch takes us to a lonely stretch of space where some new recruits are being brought into the military, interestingly enough, into a legion. I say this because in reading this book I couldn't help but compare it to Jerry Pournelle's books dealing with Falkenberg's Legion (several of Mr. Pournelle's books deal with a similar situation). The similarities are there: young recruits that perform well, a world going thru an uprising from a suppressed population, and an empire crumbling from within. In this case though, Mr. Bunch focuses on the rebellion being a mixture of Vietnam and Iraq. Instead of the crisp professionals that Pournelle's Line Marines were, Mr. Bunch's Legionaries come across as a good old boy's club. Mr. Bunch's Legionaries (the line troops, not his force recon guys) stumble into ambushes and fall for whatever the insurgents want them to fall for. Once the Legionaries do achieve the big win (mainly due to their Force Recon), the fight turns to intercity terrorism that smacks of what you can read about happening in Baghdad. In a very predictable way, Mr. Bunch's main hero's lead the way in crushing the insurgent forces.
The bottom line on this book is that while entertaining, it was far from compelled to continue reading. The combat sequences were ok, Mr. Bunch had a major focus on sex, something that made the book seem more like something for the teen market rather than focusing on the political or military situation as Mr. Pournelle did. The story telling was mixed because there were to many points of view that weren't coherent, unlike Ms. Cherryh's novels where things are brought together from multiple viewpoints. Given this, The Last Legion is a three star book.
|
|
Eerie Similarities
Rating  (4)
Date: 2004-07-18
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is not the sort of book I would normally choose. I'm a bit of an anomally as I am a mature woman who always has loved sci/fi. But my favorite sci/fi authors didn't have new books out so I thought I'd branch out.I'm glad I did.This book is action packed the heroes are both truly heroic yet human.The descriptions of querilla style warfare ring true.Usually I skip battle scenes but his were absorbing. At one point I had to flip back to check the copyright date.He seems to have foreseen the type of terrorist and terrorist acts we are up against now.I don't want to give away any plot lines but the last part of the book is truly eerie. Oh, and the sex is fun.
|
|
Interesting plot
Rating (3)
Date: 2003-02-19
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book was ok. I liked the premise and the plot. But the characters were a little thin. I never really found much to identify with any of them. Also, the slang and culture in the book seemed to made up and forced. Because of this, it was hard to read at some points. I'll probably read the next one in the series, but if there isn't much improvement, I might stop there.
|
|
Bit of a let down
Rating  (2)
Date: 2002-09-09
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I loved the Sten series and I found the premise of this one interesting. But.....Sadly it seemed to lack everything that made the Sten series so good, perhaps the influence of Chris Cole was missed too much. Boring characters, confusing and dull adversaries and, in my case, a bored reader. I wont be bothering with the rest of the series....
|
|
Bunch's solo military SF debut
Rating (3)
Date: 2002-07-18
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I've been a massive fan of Chris Bunch (and his co-conspirator Allan Cole) since I got ahold of their fantastic 'Nam war tome, A Reckoning For Kings, back in 1988. I was surprised one year later to stumble across the now-famous Sten saga in 1989, and avidly read the entire Sten series as a result.The first thing I will say right off the bat is that Bunch w/o Cole is not as good as Bunch with Cole. The same can be said for Cole w/o Bunch, as I have read both authors' solo works. The collaborating minds of Bunch and Cole are capable of putting together some of the finest true-grit war stories I have ever read. By themselves, neither author has been able to capture me in quite the same fashion as when I first read the Sten books or A Reckoning For Kings. Having said this, Bunch's The Last Legion is a competent piece of military SF and a great start for what is obviously going to be an arced series. The arc itself has its highs and lows, but the first book is quite good in my opinion. Like other reviewers it was impossible for me to not be reminded of the Sten novels, but I think this is just Bunch's general style carrying over, not a knock on the plot, and I would recommend this book to any reader fond of military SF--regardless of whether they have read any Sten or not. Hard SF readers are sure to be distracted by some of the scientific faux pas that crop up in the book. Bunch seems to confuse solar systems with galaxies when discussing the scope of the Legion's parent government, the Confederation, while at the same time he employs a very generic Hyperspace drive that is never fully explained nor expounded upon. Both no-nos in the land of Hard SF nitpickers. But The Last Legion is a great entry-level SF book just the same. One that I would put in the Christmas stocking of any teenager or college student, especially if he or she was already hooked on a television or film SF franchise like Star Wars, Baylon 5, or Star Trek. Young SF readers are not born in a vacuum after all, and The Last Legion and its other companion books in the series would be an engaging break-out read for someone ready to graduate beyond media SF. Lord knows the Sten series was a huge break-out read for me, in the days when my entire SF diet was composed almost exclusively of Star Trek. Thanks to the Sten series I started reading other and different SF besides Star Trek, and pretty soon my tastes advanced and I was reading Card, Niven, Bear, Asimov, and other greats. In summary, The Last Legion is not perfect, and it is not the best I have seen from Bunch, but it is classic Bunch just the same and anything Bunch writes I will read.
|
|
|