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Slanted Jack (2008)

by Mark L. Van Name(Favorite Author)

3.89 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1416555498 (ISBN13: 9781416555490)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

Baen

series

Jon & Lobo

review 1: I give this story high marks. I think I mentally rate it a tiny bit lower than the first one. The pacing might have been a little slower and the violence may be a little less. It is so rewarding to read a "action story" with very few deaths. I would consider this military fiction, but Jon tries extremely hard to keep deaths to a minimum. I appreciate the sentiment, and I think it is hard to accomplish in fiction and real life. But, as Jon says, "Just because you are able to do something, does not mean you should do it."There are a raft of new characters in this story to interact with Jon and Lobo. Slanted Jack, Manu, Maggie, the group leader, black marketeer, EC bureaucrat and bodyguards. None of the characters visit from the first book except in mentions or by proxy. Aga... morein a child is at risk and needs to be rescued. In fact I am looking for a word for the plot device, because Manu is the fulcrum on which all the action of the book is moved, but he is not present in the flesh in most scenes of the book.I enjoyed the ride of the action with minimal killing, can you say luge, A luge is a racing sled with the rider lying on their back. I admire the writing of Jon's experience with the device. As in the first book, machines can talk to jon and he can talk to them. Lobo is just as obnoxious as in the first book. His dialog bugged me at first, but then I realized I have real live friends who talk like that. Lobo is proud of his weapons and military hardware and wants to use it constantly. It is a constant theme that Jon has to continually reign in the violent tendencies of Lobo, I guess it is understandable, because Lobo is an inanimate flying combat carrier machine.The book almost had romance in it. I would say it came as close to having romance, without having romance as you could in a story. There are cons going on, twists, deceptions on just about every page. I guess the theme of this book is that you can't trust anyone, not even the people who tell you they are using you in a con.This leads to a discussion of plot predictability in genre fiction. This story followed the conventions of optimistic science fiction action stories. So many of the action resolutions and plot twists were predicable. I enjoyed how some of the storylines followed directions I expected. Some people who criticize predicable genre plot formulas forget there is a reason genre plot formulas are used. It is a delicate balance to give genre fans enough of predicable stories without going overboard with formula. I even think fans of a genre are willing to put up with more use of formula than non-fans. In this case the author used just enough genre formula for me.This book is great for fans of military science fiction who can handle low levels of violence.
review 2: A very enjoyable book full of Ocean's Eleven-style hijinks. This one doesn't have the military elements that the first book had, instead focusing on the complex triple con Jon devises to protect a little boy; there are a few action scenes but most of it is planning and implementing the con. I'm a bit ambivalent about the Maggie plot. It made sense in the end but there was never enough going on to warrant the kind of connection Jon seemed to feel for her. But that was very minor. Overall it was a great ride. less

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