leeper@ahutb.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (04/08/85)
BIRDS OF PREY by David Drake
Baen, 1985, $7.95.
A book review by Mark R. Leeper
I've reviewed a number of books published by Bluejay Books of late.
This time I have switched to a competitor in publishing trade paperbacks,
Baen Books. David Drake is known for good military science fiction, I am
told (by a friend who liked his HAMMER'S SLAMMERS). BIRDS OF PREY is sort
of a change of pace for him.
Instead of setting his story in the future, Drake sets it in the
ancient past--"262 A.D.," the cover says, though I don't remember the date
coming up in the story. The cover also says, "Roman courage against alien
ferocity in a battle of the ages." Well, if you buy books for the blurbs,
you deserve your $7.95 back. While BIRDS OF PREY is undeniably science
fiction, that doesn't become really important to the plot until the last
forty pages or so. For the most part, this is just a straight-forward
historical novel. There is an encounter with an alien fairly early in the
book, and another character is actually from the future, but these things
don't affect the plot a whole lot in the first 80% of the book. The story
just follows the adventures of Aulus Perennius, agent of Rome.
As an adventure tale, pure and simple, the story really is not too bad,
though some of the "clever" escapes from enemies in the story are
predictable. The extended scenes of naval battles are quite good and have
the feel of being well-researched. The language, however, seems a little
less convincing. Romans keep using phrases like "the mission was scrubbed"
or "for shit's sake..." Of course, I don't think anyone remembers how
Romans swore, or doubts that they did, but the phrases used to swear, in
particular, seem several hundred years out of place.
As a science fiction novel, BIRDS OF PREY is somewhat less satisfying.
It is a 350-page novel with less science fiction content than you would find
in an average Dr. Who story. The presence of the aliens is not well
explained, and considering their technological superiority, they are much
too easily defeated.
I can recommend BIRDS OF PREY as a pleasant reading experience even if
it is rather inadequate as a science fiction story.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!ahutb!leeper