duane@anasazi.UUCP (Duane Morse) (10/16/85)
The jacket reads: "The Eternal Emperor ruled countless worlds across the galaxy. Vast armies and huge fleets awaited his command. But when he needed a "little" job done right, he turned to Mantis Team and its small band of militant problem solvers. Just then the Emperor needed to pacify the Wolf Words, the planets of an insignificant cluster that had raised space piracy to a low art. And Mantis Team could use all the men it needed -- as long as it needed no more than two." The story has essentially three episodes and is similar to the "war" stories written by Pournelle with some Dorsai thrown in. The jacket description is accurate as far as it goes, but the book mainly follows one character around. Sten is the leader of the Mantis team involved in the exploits. He is a sympathetic character, realistic, but not callous. The Emperor who directs the action doesn't get much attention in the book, but what he gets is just right. The Emperor is doing his best to keep things running smoothly, but he also wants to have some fun. He uses Mantis Team to do corrective surgery rather than involving fleets of spacecraft and armies of soldiers. The book is mainly action and adventure, and it has some interesting characters. Occasionally the storyline jumps a bit, and the first "episode" in the book is a little short and doesn't seem to have all that much to do with the other ones. But keep reading. I enjoyed the book and give it 2.5 stars (good). -- Duane Morse ...!noao!terak!anasazi!duane (602) 870-3330
Shiffman@GODZILLA.SCH.Symbolics.COM (10/25/85)
From: Hank Shiffman <Shiffman@GODZILLA.SCH.Symbolics.COM>
Date: 16 Oct 85 15:45:32 GMT
From: anasazi!duane@topaz.rutgers.edu (Duane Morse)
The book is mainly action and adventure, and it has some interesting
characters. Occasionally the storyline jumps a bit, and the first
"episode" in the book is a little short and doesn't seem to have all
that much to do with the other ones. But keep reading.
This is a sequel to the book Sten, which gives the origin of the major
characters. It's as much fun as Wolf Worlds.