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Terms of Enlistment
(Frontlines #1)
by
The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you're restricted to two thousand calories of badly flavored soy every day:
You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can ...more
You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can ...more
Kindle Edition, 347 pages
Published
May 8th 2013
by 47North
(first published March 14th 2013)
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Start your review of Terms of Enlistment (Frontlines #1)

Well, while I made it past the point where my reading pal (my husband) quit Terms of Enlistment (36% on Kindle, compared to his 24%), I'm also giving up the ghost on this book.
Terms of Enlistment isn't a terrible book. Which is, in and of itself, a sticking point. If it were a better book, or if it were a more hilariously bad book, I'd probably be more inclined to stick with it. But it's not good enough to keep my interest and it's not bad enough to trigger my train-wreck syndrome. What it is, ...more
Terms of Enlistment isn't a terrible book. Which is, in and of itself, a sticking point. If it were a better book, or if it were a more hilariously bad book, I'd probably be more inclined to stick with it. But it's not good enough to keep my interest and it's not bad enough to trigger my train-wreck syndrome. What it is, ...more

Okay...wow. This one may just go onto my favorites shelf...brain candy...mind junk-food at it's finest. I wish I could get hold of every military science fiction fan here and say, "don't miss this one".
This book was recommended to me a good while back and it looked good. I ordered it from Amazon...but since I bought it, I had to move all the library books I had waiting to be read ahead of it. See they had to be returned. So last night I finally started it (even though it's been on my "currently ...more
This book was recommended to me a good while back and it looked good. I ordered it from Amazon...but since I bought it, I had to move all the library books I had waiting to be read ahead of it. See they had to be returned. So last night I finally started it (even though it's been on my "currently ...more

Surprisingly awesome, clearly-written, endlessly fascinating mil-sf, where it's not enough when just one or two things go wrong and things seem completely out of control, but where the entire population of humanity has to suffer right along with you.
Was anyone so bright-eyed and innocent before signing up? Alas, I'm reminded of the shiny adaptation of Starship Troopers when I started getting into this book, and then it seemed to take a turn for the right-wing worst when the fighting against the ...more
Was anyone so bright-eyed and innocent before signing up? Alas, I'm reminded of the shiny adaptation of Starship Troopers when I started getting into this book, and then it seemed to take a turn for the right-wing worst when the fighting against the ...more

Andrew Grayson is a "welfare rat" living in a Public Residence Cluster (PRC) which is one of several vast slums in the North American Commonwealth (NAC). The NAC is in an endless cold war with the Sino-Russian Alliance (SRA), and the pressure of the endless expansion of new terraforming projects means that times are tough and acronyms rule the Earth.
Ok, acronyms don't rule the Earth. But this is military SF. That means military-grade weaponized acronyms. You have been warned (YHBW).
Anyway, Grays ...more
Ok, acronyms don't rule the Earth. But this is military SF. That means military-grade weaponized acronyms. You have been warned (YHBW).
Anyway, Grays ...more

This book really had potential with the premise of someone escaping poverty through military service; if there had been any real character development.
It was as if every time the main character could have been faced with some adversity to overcome, the author just whisked it away without any challenge. Get into the highly competitive military? No problem, just go to the enlistment center. Basic training can drop any enlistee at the drop of the hat? Push over drill instructors and the protagonist ...more
It was as if every time the main character could have been faced with some adversity to overcome, the author just whisked it away without any challenge. Get into the highly competitive military? No problem, just go to the enlistment center. Basic training can drop any enlistee at the drop of the hat? Push over drill instructors and the protagonist ...more

This is another one of those books that I had somehow picked up. I really have no idea how it wound up in my kindle's slush pile of unread books. (To be fair, I have a bit of an Amazon problem). Regardless, I picked it up. I was in the mood for something else. From the cover it looked like another 'ships of the line in space' type of book emphasizing desperate ship-to-ship battles in the cold depths of space. I was wrong. Dead wrong. And expectations were well exceeded.
Terms of Enlistment follow ...more
Terms of Enlistment follow ...more

I very nearly didn't finish this book. Around page 100 I faltered. Fifty or so pages on things began to improve, and the story became bearable, if not particularly exciting.
In so many ways, this book is a repackaged Starship Troopers; the story follows a recruit through basic training, and eventually (quite eventually!) into space and a war with some very bug-like aliens. However, Heinlein's fifty-six year old novel is a landmark, innovative for its time and infused with Heinlein's political vie ...more
In so many ways, this book is a repackaged Starship Troopers; the story follows a recruit through basic training, and eventually (quite eventually!) into space and a war with some very bug-like aliens. However, Heinlein's fifty-six year old novel is a landmark, innovative for its time and infused with Heinlein's political vie ...more

Jul 10, 2014
David
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Grunts with Navy pilot girfriends, space marines fighting Kaiju
Marko Kloos is another one of those self-published SF authors who found an unexpected following, hence my discovering this book as an Audible deal of the day. It was, while not epic or on the level of one of the better works of Heinlein or Pournelle or another big-name military SF author, a nice treat.
Terms of Enlistment shows its very obvious Heinlein influences right away - Andrew Grayson is not exactly Johnny Rico, being a slum-dweller who joins the military for three squares and a shot at an ...more
Terms of Enlistment shows its very obvious Heinlein influences right away - Andrew Grayson is not exactly Johnny Rico, being a slum-dweller who joins the military for three squares and a shot at an ...more

This isn't a bad book. It reads well, sets a fast pace, tells an interesting If totally familiar story. It's not breaking any new ground, harking back as far as Heinlein's Starship Troopers.
In some future where where humanity has spread out across a couple of dozen stars, Andrew Grayson sees joining the military as a way out of the poverty-stricken ghetto. The Army is fighting wars abroad and civil unrest at home (a dystopian North American alliance), and out in space it's fighting the Chinese f ...more
In some future where where humanity has spread out across a couple of dozen stars, Andrew Grayson sees joining the military as a way out of the poverty-stricken ghetto. The Army is fighting wars abroad and civil unrest at home (a dystopian North American alliance), and out in space it's fighting the Chinese f ...more

"I am Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir". Do you maggots understand that?"
"Sir, yes Sir."
Like Full Metal Jacket this book had two parts to it.
Part one was Andrew Grayson going to Army boot camp, which was a walk in the park, then on to real action. An embassy evac, this time the helicopters didn't crash in the desert(Iran), and a scene from Black Hawk Down.
Par ...more
"Sir, yes Sir."
Like Full Metal Jacket this book had two parts to it.
Part one was Andrew Grayson going to Army boot camp, which was a walk in the park, then on to real action. An embassy evac, this time the helicopters didn't crash in the desert(Iran), and a scene from Black Hawk Down.
Par ...more

Ahoy there mateys! I bought this book back on 11/26/18 when I saw that the Kindle price had dropped to $1.99. I have been hearing good things about this series and so thought I would give it a shot. And turns out that I really enjoyed book one!
This book is a military sci-fi set in the year 2108. America is a commonwealth where the poor live in massive welfare cities where violence is the norm. Moving up in society is basically impossible. Andrew Grayson is one of the welfare rats who can’t help ...more
This book is a military sci-fi set in the year 2108. America is a commonwealth where the poor live in massive welfare cities where violence is the norm. Moving up in society is basically impossible. Andrew Grayson is one of the welfare rats who can’t help ...more

Terms of Enlistment offers a pretty depressing vision of the future, where most of the people on a vastly overpopulated earth are herded into massive welfare project housing and are forced to live on subsistence rations. The only way out for these "welfare rats" (aside from winning the lottery for off-planet colonization) is to join the military, which is then deployed against the very neighborhoods they grew up in, in order to keep the population in line.
Kloos is a very talented writer, a gifte ...more
Kloos is a very talented writer, a gifte ...more

This had been recced to me as good self-published mil-SF in the vein of Starship Troopers, and since I can always use a good military-SF Bildungsroman, I decided to pick this up. Hey, it was cheap. Much like Heinlein, it is compulsively readable; I opened the file intending to read the first couple chapters, and then the next time I looked up it was 4 am and I was halfway through. Yeah. Unfortunately, it also shares one of (for me) the flaws of Heinlein, which is that it's very good at taking yo
...more

Executive Summary: A good, but not great start to this series. I liked it enough to continue on.
Audiobook: Luke Daniels is a fantastic narrator as always, however I tend to associate him with lighter/fun type stories, so it took a bit to get used to him narrating a military sci-fi/more serious story.
Full Review
I picked this one up on a daily deal. I'm not a huge military fiction fan, but I like space opera and I was hoping to get some of that here.
Since those were my expectations coming in, ...more
Audiobook: Luke Daniels is a fantastic narrator as always, however I tend to associate him with lighter/fun type stories, so it took a bit to get used to him narrating a military sci-fi/more serious story.
Full Review
I picked this one up on a daily deal. I'm not a huge military fiction fan, but I like space opera and I was hoping to get some of that here.
Since those were my expectations coming in, ...more

If you enjoy the subgenre of military SF in which a loser enlists and makes his way into a career, this one is for you. Engagingly written, super fast paced, sympathetic characters, and believable military, right down to the cadences and the cursing. I meant to read a chapter or two before bed, and ended up reading half the night.

Fantastic military sci-fi series! This first book brought back lots of memories of basic training. : )

I've not been doing a great job keeping up with reviews lately. Life, ya know?
So I'm keeping this short and real.
This was a lot of fun to read/listen to, and a big factor in my enjoyment was the fact that it totally reminded me of Starship Troopers (the movie, not the book--I own the book but I've never read it) and I LOVE Starship Troopers. I rarely re-read or re-watch anything. It's just not in my nature to be sentimental in regards to things like that. But of course there are exceptions. Th ...more
So I'm keeping this short and real.
This was a lot of fun to read/listen to, and a big factor in my enjoyment was the fact that it totally reminded me of Starship Troopers (the movie, not the book--I own the book but I've never read it) and I LOVE Starship Troopers. I rarely re-read or re-watch anything. It's just not in my nature to be sentimental in regards to things like that. But of course there are exceptions. Th ...more

Sep 07, 2015
Silvana
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
all military sci-fi fans
Recommended to Silvana by:
Rockettalk podcast
Dear Marko,
First of all, welcome to the list of my favorite authors. Here, have a drink. If your next books are as good as the first one, you can even join the likes of Martin and Corey in the elite section (I totally just made that up).
Anywho, thanks for writing such a page-turning book with lots of great actions. I see some Heinlein influence and noticed lots of references to both military history (Shughart and the drop ship thing, very Mogadishu) and also other sci-fi books (Shrike ships!).
M ...more
First of all, welcome to the list of my favorite authors. Here, have a drink. If your next books are as good as the first one, you can even join the likes of Martin and Corey in the elite section (I totally just made that up).
Anywho, thanks for writing such a page-turning book with lots of great actions. I see some Heinlein influence and noticed lots of references to both military history (Shughart and the drop ship thing, very Mogadishu) and also other sci-fi books (Shrike ships!).
M ...more

4.5 Stars
Phenomenal start to a series I can’t wait to read more of. Despite being a massive fantasy fan since I was a kid, until this book I had never read any science fiction of any kind. This book was my first exposure to the genre and it was a great first experience.
In the year 2108, Andrew Grayson is a welfare rat living in the overcrowded warren of the Boston residence complex, living in a sterile apartment surrounded by millions of other identical apartments, all stuffed with people. To e ...more
Phenomenal start to a series I can’t wait to read more of. Despite being a massive fantasy fan since I was a kid, until this book I had never read any science fiction of any kind. This book was my first exposure to the genre and it was a great first experience.
In the year 2108, Andrew Grayson is a welfare rat living in the overcrowded warren of the Boston residence complex, living in a sterile apartment surrounded by millions of other identical apartments, all stuffed with people. To e ...more

I enjoyed this book a great deal. I have to say that it pays homage quite heavily to Aliens, the movie, but this in no way stops me appreciating it as its own independent piece of work.
Its neatly put together and slanted heavily towards the next installment which I am sure is being written as I write this.
Five could possibly be a tiny bit to high a score, but for me four is just to low to be completely fair.
The military descriptions and terminology are executed in a very confident manor, that ...more
Its neatly put together and slanted heavily towards the next installment which I am sure is being written as I write this.
Five could possibly be a tiny bit to high a score, but for me four is just to low to be completely fair.
The military descriptions and terminology are executed in a very confident manor, that ...more

Pretty decent start to a series. Andrew Grayson lives in government housing, basically slums and is looking for a way out. He receives a coveted spot in the armed forces and sees it as his way out. We go through the requisite basic training and while every trainee wants a shot at becoming a pilot or at least a space marine, Grayson ends up assigned to the army which means he stays on earth and quells uprisings around the globe.
The basic training section moves a bit slowly but the action picks up ...more
The basic training section moves a bit slowly but the action picks up ...more

Surprisingly f****ing awesome novel! Best military sci-fi since Enders Game & Old Man's War. Picked it up from Amazon on a whim just to add more items to my order and get the free shipping. When it arrived I read it on my back porch under the stars from cover-to-cover in one sitting. Ordered the other 5 paperbacks from Amazon right then & there. And qualified for more free shipping. Ya
...more

"Of all the metroplexes in the country, Detroit is the worst."
I'm going to have a problem with a book when I find a sentence like that in it. Why is it always Detroit? Hasn't Detroit suffered enough? Hundreds of years in the future, Detroit STILL is the poorest, most violent city in North America? Why can't the shitty metroplex be Winnipeg? Or Saint Louis? Or Houston?
Despite having pissed off this girl from the D, the book did have some redeeming qualities. As others have mentioned, the action s ...more
I'm going to have a problem with a book when I find a sentence like that in it. Why is it always Detroit? Hasn't Detroit suffered enough? Hundreds of years in the future, Detroit STILL is the poorest, most violent city in North America? Why can't the shitty metroplex be Winnipeg? Or Saint Louis? Or Houston?
Despite having pissed off this girl from the D, the book did have some redeeming qualities. As others have mentioned, the action s ...more

I really, really enjoyed this one.
Andrew Grayson is eighteen years old, living in public housing with his mom, and eating the reconstituted protein that is food aid in this future. He wants out, and the only real option is enlistment in armed forces of the North American Confederacy. Five years of service will get him five years of banked pay at the end of it, and might get him a shot at a berth on a ship to an offworld colony. So he signs up.
He wants one of the space services, Navy or Marines, ...more
Andrew Grayson is eighteen years old, living in public housing with his mom, and eating the reconstituted protein that is food aid in this future. He wants out, and the only real option is enlistment in armed forces of the North American Confederacy. Five years of service will get him five years of banked pay at the end of it, and might get him a shot at a berth on a ship to an offworld colony. So he signs up.
He wants one of the space services, Navy or Marines, ...more

Sometimes I was a bit hesitant about whether I liked this book or not but in the end I have to say that I liked it. It is the first in a series so I guess a lot depends on how the series develops but for now I think would say that it is a good start.
The book centers around Andrew Grayson who is a so called “welfare rat”. It seems that it is a popular concept today, that people will resort to live off government handouts, among authors writing about dystopian futures. I guess it is an easy conclu ...more
The book centers around Andrew Grayson who is a so called “welfare rat”. It seems that it is a popular concept today, that people will resort to live off government handouts, among authors writing about dystopian futures. I guess it is an easy conclu ...more

I quit at the 24% mark. Not a lot had happened up through that point. The protagonist, Andrew, went through basic training and received his assignment. Prior to enlisting, he lived in a Boston area Public Residence Cluster, which seems to be a futuristic version of the projects. Other than that, it’s just an expository dump of military life in 2108 North America. There is no sense of what actual life is like, what the government is up to, or who the enemy is. There’s just nothing…except things t
...more

Surprisingly good Space Marine type military Sci-Fi. I enjoyed it very much. Had many of the hallmarks I enjoy from books like John Scalzi's Old Man's War (luckily Kloos is a MUCH better writer), and John Ringo. Likable characters, some decent humour, interesting aliens. Good military Sci-Fi with a peppering of social commentary. I'm already hunting down the sequel.
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Action/Adventure ...: April 2019 Space Action Adventure Group Read Part II: Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos *Spoilers* | 6 | 12 | Apr 11, 2019 11:06AM | |
Hoyt's Huns: Terms of Enlistment -- May 2017 -- spoilers allowed | 5 | 10 | May 10, 2017 11:25PM | |
Hoyt's Huns: Terms of Enlistment -- May 2017 -- no spoilers | 6 | 9 | May 04, 2017 08:36AM | |
The Not a Book Cl...: TOE: Section 3: Chapters 16-24 (Full Spoilers) | 9 | 13 | Oct 12, 2016 04:25PM | |
The Not a Book Cl...: TOE: Section 2: Chapters 10-15 | 8 | 7 | Oct 11, 2016 06:22AM | |
The Not a Book Cl...: TOE: Section 1: Chapters 1-9 | 7 | 9 | Oct 11, 2016 06:22AM | |
The Not a Book Cl...: TOE: General Discussion (No Spoilers) | 9 | 13 | Oct 06, 2016 03:00AM |
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