| Title | : | The Final Battle (Legion, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 044100217X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780441002177 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 388 |
| Publication | : | First published July 1, 1995 |
The Hudathans are on a rampage. They have created their own corps of cyborgs using copycat technology and psychotic candidates. They have refitted their hardware. Reloaded their weapons. Refueled their insanity. And targeted the heart of the Confederacy, once and for all.
The Legion will be there to greet them.
It is time for ...
The Final Battle
The Final Battle (Legion, #2) Reviews
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I had a long review of this 99% done, and accidentally closed the window without saving....sigh.
Anyway, I read the first of this series sometime in the 90s. I liked it. I always meant to get back to the series, but there are so many books already waiting to be read on my shelves (you know how demanding those books can be. Sometimes I'd wake up and they'd be looming over me where they'd crept up to the bed in the night...) Ummm-humm, as I was saying... I'd just read a military science fiction by an author I like. Unfortunately this novel was, disappointing. So, as a sort of pallet cleanser I thought I'd get a different military science fiction.
I didn't say it was logical.
I got this (the second book in the series) from Audible. It's an excellent read. I go 4 stars because I can't go 4.5 and while I think the book is excellent I can't quite rate it with the books I rate as the best...but it close.
There were in the story a few (very few) points where my interest wandered (navel academy hijinks/trouble, interaction with some of the sentient species of the Confederacy...and you know, these members or the military have far more active inter-service sex lives than I remember). Anyway...good book and recommended.
The first in this series introduces us to the universe in which the book takes place. Humankind has gone out from the Earth and "we" ("we" meaning humans of course. If you are not human please don't feel left out as I had no way of knowing anyone other than humans would be reading the review) have come in contact with many other sentient species and "we" are part of the Confederacy of Sentient Species.
Sadly all the species we meet/met weren't all that friendly. The Hudathans are a very warlike species (sort of like "us" in that way...huh). They have in their society no concept of pity, mercy or empathy and in fact see these as weaknesses. Their cultural understanding is that ANY, that's ANY other sentient species is a threat and must be wiped out.
This book picks up where the first left off. Things are still...tricky. The Hudathans still don't like us all that much, or any of the other sentient species.
Bad Hudathans, bad.
Of course the Hudathans go back war with the Confederation of Sentient Species...and you know all the species aren't very warlike. This means that a couple of species tend to do the bulk of the fighting, hummm. Oh well.
This series is titled The Legion of the Damned. This comes from (as you know if you read the first book (
Legion of the Damned) the cyborgs that play a central part in the military. The military called the "legion" is/are descendants of the Foreign Legion. The cyborgs started out as condemned criminals who were given the choice. You become a cyborg by having your brain installed in a cyborg body...or you can die. Guess which way a lot of people went? Of course since there's been am ongoing war (that seemed to end with the last book, only didn't) there have been a lot on "new" "accidental" cyborgs... get the picture?
As I said this is an excellent read and I recommend it. You like military science fiction, you like space opera, you like interspecies romance, you like robots, androids and cyborgs....try this! No, really, try it...
By the way..inside joke here. One of the characters in the book is named "Crowbuck", but every time the reader said the name I thought, "Crowbot"...how many remember Crowbot? -
I can't be blamed for thinking that the second book in the series, with a title like "The Final Battle", would have even more action than the first book, which had a LOT of action. But, unfortunately this book feels more like a slow burn than a blaze of battle, which is a shame when so many big ideas are introduced that should have elevated the first book's war into an epic story. It just doesn't work those ideas to their full potential, and the result is a decent if rather disappointing sequel.
One of the most curious choices is having the book take place 20 years after the first. For one thing, there are very few characters returning from the first part, and most are so old now that they have very little to contribute to the battles and the story as a whole. The aliens fare better, since one of them (Poseen-Ka) has a large lifespan so he is still a competent warrior and leader; and the other (Booly Jr.) is the half-human half-Naa offspring of the main characters from the first, all grown-up into an officer, and he is the focus of most of the story. But that makes me wonder, is HE the reason for the two-decade time skip? Just to be able to watch his story, at the cost of the stories of all the other characters from the first?
The pacing feels odd for several reasons. First, Booly Jr.'s ascension in the ranks of the military is dramatically fast, going from graduating from cadet to commanding practically the whole legion by the end. Some of his actions logically prompt promotions, but other times it's just because of time skips of unclear lengths. It feels like the pacing itself is forced in order to see Booly Jr.'s entire career! And it's as jarring as it sounds.
Another reason for the odd pacing is the introduction of a bunch of new characters to fill the vacuum of all the ones missing from the first (most of which you HAVE to presume are dead? Like, where the hell are all the legionnaires we met apart from Booly Sr.? Dead, retired, working desk jobs, who knows!). Having new characters is fine of course, but the issue is that many of their character arcs are either fragmentary (since the time jumps between scenes and chapters are extreme thus leaving huge gaps in their stories) or utterly dropped midway through, like the case of the clone world characters.
The idea of a whole world run by a society of clones is a fascinating one, and at the beginning it's well explored. But then... they are entirely inconsequential to the war? When what was being teased was that their allegiance would be the determining factor of the whole war? What happened!
The war does seem to be the focus of the book, but... there's way less "war" than in the first. Unlike the myriad action scenes in the first that delineate the war there, in here the battle scenes are sparse and short. That's not to say there's not good, they are entertaining. But they don't share the scale of the battles in the first, even though this is supposed to be, again, "The Final Battle". The few battles we see are pretty straightforward, down to the tactical maneuvers. Full frontal conflicts between two sides, one clearly more powerful than the other, with the obvious expected victory for the superior force (mostly). This story is indeed "the final battle" for the conflict started in the first, but it just doesn't feel like the proper climactic confrontation that started in the first. It just abruptly and conveniently... ends. Pretty disappointing to say the least.
The idea of the Hudathans developing their own cyborgs is another great idea here. The way they start it off is chilling and fascinating. But then... it's just the one unit doing what I would have already expected regular Hudathan warriors to do in battle. I just didn't feel the same rapport, the same awe as i did watching the Trooper IIs in action in the last book.
And where the hell are the Legion cyborgs?? It feels like they went from the main dramatic force in the first to background dressing here! The fact I remember a single Trooper II faffing about, at most, is kind of sad. They were the heart and soul of the first book, and I sang praises about them, but they're just barely here anymore.
Another fine idea is that of the Trooper IIIs, each of which are not just one but a collective of animal-esque machines working as a unit led by the human cyborg leader. The problem with this one is that they are introduced very close to the end, which means that we have to get acquainted with an entirely new group of characters on the go, and once we are, the war is over already! What a waste.
Also, I talked about the significant amounts of sex in the first book, and how it seemed a proper aspect of the story and its characters. I could say the same for the second book. But at the same time... everyone here is HORNY. Like, so many of the characters are just horny. Some have sex whenever they get the chance, and others are often obsessed with sex. Like I said, it's fine for humans to want sex, and in another book it would seem out of place or annoying, but not here. Just from being familiar with the first book, it's fitting, if a bit funny to say the least.
So while it's not a bad book, this second part feels like a waste of great ideas, and an inferior execution of the first book's elements. As a sequel of such a great first book, it's adequate, but very disappointing for a series with such potential. I am still looking forward to the following books, but I'm expecting the series to stick much closer to the first's spirit if it's gonna keep me properly hooked. -
I enjoyed reading The Legion of the Damned, and though it had its problems, I looked forward to reading the second book in the series. I was never able to find it in local bookstores though, and my wife ordered it for my 32nd birthday.
Summary
Nearly twenty years after the alien beings known as the Hudathans were defeated at the Battle of Algeron and the human imperial government collapsed, the Hudathan prisoners, including War Leader Poseen-Ka, are kept on Worber’s World. The planet’s surface was destroyed during the previous war, and now kept under constant surveillance by an armored space station controlled by Poseen-Ka’s previous prisoner, General Natalie Norwood.
Meanwhile, on Earth, William Booly Jr., the son of the deserter Booly from the first book and a half-breed of human and Naa parents, is graduating from the academy to take his place in the Legion, which is what the French Foreign Legion has evolved into over hundreds of years of numerous governments.
But the peace will not last long. The Hudathans have developed their own cybernetic warriors to challenge the Legion, and plans are underway to free Poseen-Ka from Worber’s World and begin a final battle to extinguish all non-Hudathan life from the galaxy...
OVERALL: 2.6
Dietz follows up an above-average book with... another above average book. The Final Battle is good science fiction, but not very good military science fiction since so much of the story is about the peripheral and background issues of the war.
A good example is the arguable primary protagonist, William Booly Jr. He is graduating from the Academy at the beginning, given an assignment on a semi-hostile world that seems to last a couple of weeks at the most, and is suddenly a seasoned veteran?
I guess part of my problem is that I always expected these books to focus more on the actual Legion of the Damned, the cyborgs who make of the Legion’s most elite troops. Unfortunately the first book has more about them than this one; here they are mostly window dressing.
I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that the final battle of the book was unpredictable, and I was almost expecting a really different turn that would have led off to an amazing series of books... but the author doesn’t follow it and takes the more predictable path instead.
Lastly, I will recommend Poseen-Ka any day of the week. He’s a magnificent villain, alien and yet able to relate to. I remember enjoying his scenes in the first book, and he does not disappoint in The Final Battle.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
Characters: 2
Except for the Hudathan antagonist, Poseen-Ka, everyone in the book felt like “paint-by-the-numbers”. Motivations and histories are provided, and it just didn’t take for me. The characters aren’t bad, they just aren’t anything special either.
All the females in the story seem to be particularly promiscuous, which feels corny and more of a “male fantasy”, where a girl can’t go twenty seconds without thinking about the opposite sex (or the same sex, in one character’s case).
Poseen-Ka, as in the first book, remains an incredible presence whenever he appears. One scene in the second half of the book, when he taunts a Hudathan bureaucrat by jokingly demanding which of his lieutenants are secretly human spies, was the final piece that completed the perfection of this character. I would read books about him alone (make no mistake, he is a bad guy, but he is the kind of villain that is wonderful to watch, like Cobra Commander).
Pace: 3
There were only a few times when the story really slowed down, and that is usually when an uninteresting character is dwelled upon.
Story: 3
There are some things here that should be interesting but aren’t; the entire storyline of the Hegemony (a human civilization based on clones) comes to mind. I think even Dietz grew bored with it, because the entire plot thread is kind of dropped before the book ends.
Cybernetic Hudathan troops seems like the obvious course to take in a sequel, but it is handled okay. They don’t really get enough “screen time”, given one of them is on the cover.
Where the writer really branches out and starts exploring new ground is with the new, improved Trooper III cyborgs utilized by the Legion. I didn’t see that coming, and it’s a brilliant way to upgrade the idea. Like the Hudathan cyborgs, the idea doesn’t get enough attention.
My biggest problem with the story is that a war begins and is mostly glossed over. Most of the narrative takes place in the preparation, political maneuvering and espionage, and personal issues of the characters. That’s all good, but at times it was easy to forget what was even threatening everybody...
Dialogue: 3
Most of the dialogue is good, though it tends to be contrived when it’s being spoken by a female (at least in my opinion). There are also some cases when characters are overly friendly for no reason (the author apparently wants them to be friends), etc. I realize that some people just hit it off sometimes, but it can be too... convenient.
Poseen-Ka, true to his character, always delivers great dialogue.
Style/Technical: 2
The writing is clear, even during large battles in space and on ground (which is no easy feat), but Dietz likes to jump around in the viewpoint character without so much as a break in the paragraph. One moment you are with Booly Jr., commanding his troops, and the next you’re in some other character. I don’t mind changing viewpoints, but not in the thick of the narrative. It’s like hitting a master “reset” button that drained the excitement out of me.
Also, several important characters are introduced nearly halfway through the book (or longer), including a legionnaire testing the new Trooper III systems, a spy, and a scientist who becomes a naval captain. I think if these people are important, they should have had some exposure earlier in the book.
Finally, and this is really not the author’s fault... his action scenes are readable and enjoyable, but they lack the hard impact. It’s not just that I didn’t care much about the characters; his writing lacks the ability to really take me into the action and make me feel like I am in the middle of it. Maybe Robert E. Howard has spoiled me, and I know I can’t expect that from every author, but I thought the action scenes could have been better. -
William Dietz's The Final Battle is a sequel to The Legion of the Damned, and at first glance, it's not too bad. However, while I generally enjoyed the book, the more I think about it, the more nit picky I get. There are simply too many "issues" to ignore in the writing of this book.
First of all, the book picks up 20 years after the climax of the first book, the victory at the battle of Algeron by the humans led by the Legion (patterned after the French Foreign Legion, but staffed by dead people brought back to life as cyborg killing machines) over the alien Hudathans, who had invaded the human worlds with the intent on the destruction of the human race. We meet William Booly Jr, son of Legion deserter Booly from the first book and his Naa wife. Booly Jr is in the Legion now. We are reintroduced to Hudathan War Leader Poseen-Ka, a prisoner on Worber's World, along with his remaining army. He's about to be rescued and rearmed for another war with humanity. Overseeing Worber's World is General Natalie Norwood, a great character from the first novel. And this is where my first problem begins.
I never thought I'd say this, but there's too much gratuitous sex in this book. Yeah, you heard me. It was disappointing to discover early in the book Natalie masturbating to the scene of Hudathans on Worber's World suffering. That was just kind of sick and unnecessary. General Marianne Mosby is a certified sex fiend, and finds a way to seduce the leader of the Hegemony, a human-like race of clones living on three planets. The Hegemony takes up a lot of the first half of the book, as many of the clones want nothing to do with humanity and some are ready to take up with the Hudathans to defeat the humans. There's even an assassination attempt on the leader of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, what the former empire is now called. Another complaint. Dietz must have gotten bored with the Hegemony, because it's dropped permanently halfway through the novel, which is confusing considering how much of a role it played in the first half. What happened? Very odd.
Since the Hudathans were beaten by the Legion's cyborgs, they decide that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they murder their best academy graduates and transform them into cyborg killing machines to go head to head with the Legion. After Poseen-Ka (who's a great villain) is rescued and put back in charge of the new Hudathan fleet, he starts obliterating Confederacy planets once more and the Confederacy finds out about the new cyborgs -- so they start upgrading theirs, producing Trooper III cyborgs, which have external units to accompany the primary cyborg. It's an interesting concept and one left largely unwritten about in the book, another complaint I have. In fact, much of the book is about politics and logistics, and little is about actual FIGHTING (unlike the first book), so it's hard to even call this a straight military sci fi novel. Another disappointment. I would have liked to see cyborg against cyborg more than in the final few pages of the novel, which are somewhat anticlimactic.
Many of the characters we know and meet are killed in this book, including Norwood, so it's hard to become attached to many of the characters. They die. The Hudathans are eager to avenge their loss at Algeron, so that's where their primary attack takes place. And the Legion is ready, thanks to a spy. Still, there are thousands of Hudathan ships, outnumbering the Confederacy ships, and it's not until a secret "weapon" (which is totally foreseeable) is used that the Legion takes control of the battle and wins the second war, thus ending the book.
There are some slow times in the book and times when I wondered why passages were included, including a scene when Booly plays a Legion academy prank. It just doesn't seem important to the book. Maybe that's just me though. Booly is hooked up with a female Legionnaire toward the end of the book, thus setting up the author for another book in this series (which has at least nine books in it; I have three more to read). It seems a little too convenient. A little too contrived. But then, I guess the author has to make his money selling a series, doesn't he?
Don't get me wrong. It's an above average book, and at times, fairly enjoyable. It just could have been so much more, I think, and that's why I'm disappointed. So, three stars and a cautious recommendation.... -
William Dietz's The Final Battle is a sequel to The Legion of the Damned, and at first glance, it's not too bad. However, while I generally enjoyed the book, the more I think about it, the more nit picky I get. There are simply too many "issues" to ignore in the writing of this book.
First of all, the book picks up 20 years after the climax of the first book, the victory at the battle of Algeron by the humans led by the Legion (patterned after the French Foreign Legion, but staffed by dead people brought back to life as cyborg soldiers over the alien Hudathans, who had invaded the human worlds with the intent on the destruction of the human race. We meet William Booly Jr, son of Legion deserter Booly from the first book and his Naa alien wife. Booly Jr is in the Legion now. We are reintroduced to Hudathan War Leader Poseen-Ka, a prisoner on Worber's World, along with his remaining army. He's about to be rescued and rearmed for another war with humanity. Overseeing Worber's World is General Natalie Norwood, a great character from the first novel. And this is where my first problem begins.
I never thought I'd say this, but there's too much gratuitous sex in this book. Yeah, you heard me. It was disappointing to discover early in the book Natalie masturbating to the scene of Hudathans on Worber's World suffering. That was just kind of sick and unnecessary. General Marianne Mosby is a certified sex fiend, and finds a way to seduce the leader of the Clone Hegemony, a human-like race of clones living on three planets. The Hegemony plot takes up a lot of the first half of the book, as many of the clones want nothing to do with humanity and some are ready to take up with the Hudathans to defeat the humans. There's even an assassination attempt on the leader of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, what the former Human empire is now called. Another complaint. Dietz must have gotten bored with the Clone Hegemony, because it's dropped permanently halfway through the novel, which is confusing considering how much of a role it played in the first half. What happened? It’s Very odd.
Since the Hudathans were beaten by the Legion's cyborgs, they decide that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they murder their best academy graduates and transform them into cyborg killing machines to go head to head with the Legion. After Poseen-Ka (who's a great villain) is rescued and put back in charge of the new Hudathan fleet, he starts obliterating Confederacy planets once more and the Confederacy finds out about the new cyborgs -- so they start upgrading theirs, producing Trooper III cyborgs, which have external units to accompany the primary cyborg. It's an interesting concept and one left largely unwritten about in the book, another complaint I have. In fact, much of the book is about politics and logistics, and little is about actual WAR (unlike the first book), so it's hard to even call this a straight military scifi novel. Another disappointment. I would have liked to see cyborg against cyborg more than in the final few pages of the novel, which are somewhat anticlimactic.
Many of the characters we know and meet are killed in this book, including Norwood, so it's hard to become attached to many of the characters. They die. The Hudathans are eager to avenge their loss at Algeron, so that's where their primary attack takes place. And the Legion is ready, thanks to a spy. Still, there are thousands of Hudathan ships, outnumbering the Confederacy ships, and it's not until a secret "weapon" (which is totally foreseeable) is used that the Legion takes control of the battle and wins the second war, thus ending the book.
There are some slow times in the book and times when I wondered why passages were included, including a scene when Booly plays a Legion academy prank. It just doesn't seem important to the book. Maybe that's just me though. Booly is hooked up with a female Legionnaire toward the end of the book, thus setting up the author for another book in this series (which has at least nine books in it; I have three more to read). It seems a little too convenient. A little too contrived. But then, I guess the author has to make his money selling a series, doesn't he?
Overall, Don't get me wrong. It's an above average sci-fi book, and at times, fairly enjoyable. It just could have been so much more, I think, and that's why I'm disappointed. So, three stars and a cautious recommendation.... -
In this military science fiction series, of which this is book two, we have the legendary Legionnaires as our protagonists.
Humanity had defeated the Hudathan fleet and taken prisoners. It seemed only poetic justice to place them on Worbers World which they had devastated. Now 20 years on, something is happening on Worbers World.
The Hudathans rise again and the War starts again. New technology on both sides presents challenges all around. Humanity has a secret weapon, but are unsure whether it can work.
Battles in space and on Algeron proceed at a fast pace.
Characters are fully developed, plots; and sub-plots flow as Dietz spins his tale.
Characters are well developed and the multiple minor story lines bubble along and eventually merge with the overall story.
Lots of good military battles, as well as political ones.
Dietz ranks right up there with Ian Douglas and Jack Campbell in military science fiction.
This is book two of a series which I know I am going to enjoy reading the rest.
Be sure to check this series out, you will not be disappointed
Legion series
1.Legion Of The Damned (1993)
2.The Final Battle (1995)
3.By Blood Alone (1999)
4.By Force of Arms (2000)
5.For More Than Glory (2004)
6.For Those Who Fell (2005)
7.When All Seems Lost (2008)
8.When Duty Calls (2008)
9.A Fighting Chance (2011)
10.Andromeda's Fall (2012)
11.Andromeda's Choice (July 4, 2014)
12.Andromeda's War (2015) -
Been fairly busy lately, so reading time has suffered.
I've read this book before; it is one of my favorites in the series. Reading this book, I am always saddened by the death of General Norwood. I am also saddened that Booly Jr. and Warwick-Olson, despite their age difference, did not manage to remain together but had a passionate one night stand.
However, Booly Jr's and Olson's relationship is very much in line with what happens during war. You take love where you find it in a war, because far too many people die. Missing those chances to love (assuming there are no other, romantic entanglements) causes a lot of regret later, after that person is gone and opportunity lost.
I would like to see either Warwick-Olson or perhaps a child of hers appear in a later Legion of the Damned book. Same as I have been waiting for General Mosby's daughter to reappear in a Legion book.
This book mentions a tenuous relationship between Mosby and (then) President Marcus. In When All Seems Lost, one of the Alpha clones mentions Mosby's daughter, so I hope that the author intends bringing the character to life. -
As my comments from Legion of the Damned stated, I looked through my boyfriend's books, found this book and squirreled it away to begin reading the moment I finished the previous book. Again, Mr. Dietz did not disappoint in creating a vision of the future detailed enough to understand, but not so detailed that you would have a tendency to get bogged down in it.
By the time the first few chapters were past Mr. Dietz had shocked me several times, though perhaps regular science fiction readers might not have been so shocked, I found them to be good, or at least acceptable shocks. Acceptable because I knew the moment after my mind had gotten done with the, "no, you can't do that, that's not fair," that really there was no other way for the story to be continued if that character still lived, got away scot-free, or what have you. Mr. Dietz appreciates his characters, keeps you in touch with them, but doesn't have any compunction on cutting one out or down to size as the plot required. -
As my comments from Legion of the Damned stated, I looked through my boyfriend's books, found this book and squirreled it away to begin reading the moment I finished the previous book. Again, Mr. Dietz did not disappoint in creating a vision of the future detailed enough to understand, but not so detailed that you would have a tendency to get bogged down in it.
By the time the first few chapters were past Mr. Dietz had shocked me several times, though perhaps regular science fiction readers might not have been so shocked, I found them to be good, or at least acceptable shocks. Acceptable because I knew the moment after my mind had gotten done with the, "no, you can't do that, that's not fair," that really there was no other way for the story to be continued if that character still lived, got away scot-free, or what have you. Mr. Dietz appreciates his characters, keeps you in touch with them, but doesn't have any compunction on cutting one out or down to size as the plot required. -
Cyborgs and military sci-fi. What can I say, it does it for me.
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Published in 1995. As the follow up to Legion of the Damned it was adequate but not as full and rewarding as the first in the series.
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The next installment in the Legion series takes place a generation after the first. Once again, eclectic story lines with some good action. 3.5 stars
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I am currently reading the whole series (#5 now). I like it enough to keep going. I think they are fairly well done, in terms of military SciFi. There is nothing too deep, and personal scenes tend to come through like cheap romance drama, but fortunately, not a lot of those. Nothing deep here, just good reading.
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Dietz continues the adventures of the elite army of cyborg warriors known as The Legion. Defeated at the hands of the Legion, the alien Hudathans plan to use copycat technology to create their own corps of cyborgs and target the heart of the Confederacy.
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Second book leading into the main story arc of "The Legion of the Damned" series. In this one we draw the Hudathan wars to a close and continue to set the stage for the story that is the rest of the series. Not as good as the latter books, but still a worthwhile read.
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I love military sci-fi and I really ejoyed Dietz.
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Plenty of action as the Confederacy battles the resurgent Hudathans.
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Great military Science Fiction 7 more books to go. ( I am loving it.
