Hey Jared,
As you’ll recall I emailed and asked for a review copy of this, so I’m both excited and nervous about this review. Even more so since the book is pretty much amazing.
Title: The Last Good Man
Author: Linda Nagata
Genre: Science Fiction, Military Scifi
Audience: Adult
ROTS Setting: CU, Modern/Near-Future,
Synopsis: Army veteran True Brighton left the service when the development of robotic helicopters made her training as a pilot obsolete. Now she works at Requisite Operations, a private military company established by friend and former Special Ops soldier Lincoln Han. ReqOp has embraced the new technologies. Robotics, big data, and artificial intelligence are all tools used to augment the skills of veteran warfighters-for-hire. But the tragedy of war is still measured in human casualties, and when True makes a chance discovery during a rescue mission, old wounds are ripped open. She’s left questioning what she knows of the past, and resolves to pursue the truth, whatever the cost.
Recommendation: Highly recommended! For mature readers. Moderate violence.
A copy of this book was provided by the author for the purpose of obtaining a review.
True Brighton is this badass Army veteran who can storm buildings and rock reading glasses……not at the same time of course. Her age and maturity are refreshing when compared to the very young main characters I’m used to. However all that history and experience comes with a cost and, while she doesn’t have “regrets” per say, there are scars that never truly heal. A soldier, wife and mother. Those three things make up the core of her character and each has made sacrifices for the other two. It’s this realistic balance to her character that brings her to life……and way badass. She might be one of my top characters of all time actually. And that name is just pure awesome.
The setting and whole feel of the book wasn’t as gritty as I was expecting. Almost blue collar in comparison to similar books I’ve read. This fit the book very well and provided a unique experience. The level of technology was also nice and we get to see a realistic possible future where robotics and AI are changing the nature of war. Everything highlights those changes and it’s very consistent, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
My only gripe is that the beginning was a little slow for me. It built the world very well, but I found I was a touch bored up until the initial mission starts. That’s it. After that it fell into the classic cycle of hurry up and wait, with bursts of information or action followed by exquisitely frustrating lulls before repeating. These lulls are echoed by the characters and you share in their experience.
When it comes to plot, it was very good and built really well. Everything had a natural feel to it and I felt it developed pretty organically so nothing felt forced or fake. I’m not going to go into details because I would probably just end up repeating the synopsis……..and it would do it better.
In summary, I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a unique experience in all the right ways and I definitely recommend this book. Not much left to say, so go out there and get it! Feast your eyes on the awesome.
Robert
Author BioLinda Nagata is a Nebula and Locus-award-winning writer best known for her high-tech science fiction including the Red trilogy, a series of near-future military thrillers. The first book in the trilogy, The Red: First Light, was a Nebula and John W. Campbell Memorial-award finalist, and named as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2015. Book 3, Going Dark, was a runner-up for the Campbell Memorial award. Her newest novel is the very near-future thriller, The Last Good Man. Linda has lived most of her life in Hawaii, where she’s been a writer, a mom, a programmer of database-driven websites, and lately, an independent publisher. She lives with her husband in their long-time home on the island of Maui.
Links- Linda Nagata’s Official Website
