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The "golden brat" Reinhard von Lohengramm, a military prodigy and admiral of the Galactic Empire, has ambitions beyond protecting the borders or even defeating the empire's enemies. He seeks to overthrow the old order and become a truly absolute—yet benevolent—dictator. His rival, the humble Yang Wen-li of the Free Planets Alliance, wishes to preserve democracy even if he must sacrifice his political ideals to defeat the empire. Their political and military battles play out over a galactic chessboard in an epic saga fifteen centuries in the making! None
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1982
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3318 people want to read
About the author
Yoshiki Tanaka
595 books145 followersYoshiki Tanaka (田中 芳樹 Tanaka Yoshiki) is a Japanese novelist. He was born in Kumamoto Prefecture and took his doctorate degree in Japanese Language and Literature in the Graduate School of Gakushūin University in Tokyo.
His major works include the fantasy novel series Arslan Senki, also known as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and the sci-fi space opera novel series entitled Ginga Eiyū Densetsu, also known as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, both of which were adapted as anime and manga. His fantasy works also include the novel series Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings that was also adapted as anime.
Tanaka is an avid fan of Chinese history and wrote some novels set in China. He also published two arranged-translations of Chinese literature: "Sui Tang Yanyi" ("Stories of Sui and Tang Dynasties") and "Shuo Yue Quan Zhuan" ("Telling the Complete Biography of Yue Fei") as "Gakuhi-den" ("The Story of Yue Fei"). He is also familiar with Persian history, which Arslan Senki is based on.
His major works include the fantasy novel series Arslan Senki, also known as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and the sci-fi space opera novel series entitled Ginga Eiyū Densetsu, also known as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, both of which were adapted as anime and manga. His fantasy works also include the novel series Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings that was also adapted as anime.
Tanaka is an avid fan of Chinese history and wrote some novels set in China. He also published two arranged-translations of Chinese literature: "Sui Tang Yanyi" ("Stories of Sui and Tang Dynasties") and "Shuo Yue Quan Zhuan" ("Telling the Complete Biography of Yue Fei") as "Gakuhi-den" ("The Story of Yue Fei"). He is also familiar with Persian history, which Arslan Senki is based on.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 247 reviews
March 25, 2016
Alright, there's no getting around it: I'm going to be honest and admit that I don't think I would have enjoyed this book as much without the stellar narration of Tim Gerard Reynolds. I was introduced to TGR through his work in reading Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy, which fully convinced me that I will listen to just about anything this man reads. He could read me the dictionary and I'd still be there. There's something about his voice and the way he delivers his narration that completely captivates me.
And this book is no exception. In fact, the very reason I chose audio over print or digital was because I saw that Tim Gerard Reynolds was going to be the reader.
While I went into this novel because of a book club in which I participate, I was already vaguely aware of Legend of the Galactic Heroes prior to picking up Dawn. As a fan of both anime and science-fiction, I had heard Heroes brought up many a time as a kind of "hallmark series" for science-fiction anime lovers from many fans and reviewers of the genre. It's been adapted for anime, manga, PC games, and even a stage play -- let's just say that Galactic Heroes has gotten around since Dawn's initial publication in 1982.
Now it has finally been translated into English for non-Japanese readers like myself to consume, and I have a feeling my star-rating would be at least one star lower had I chosen a different consumption format (i.e. print or digital over audio). I did enjoy the book, don't get me wrong, but there are some things that definitely irked me while listening.
The writing style is very "cut and dry" with the kind of "this happened and then this happened and then this happened"-style that detaches me from the reading experience. This particular style is something I've noticed more in science fiction than any other genre I've read, so perhaps it comes with the territory. That being said, I think the style actually does a disservice to the various battle sequences that Tanaka peppers throughout the novel. I didn't feel any serious excitement or tension going into them because the language wasn't sumptuous or evocative; it wasn't sucking me in as much as it should. Again, with Reynolds' narration, which buoyed it up just enough to pique my interest, the different accents and voices of the characters helped to keep me involved. But the book should not be dependent upon its narrator, no matter how good he/she is.
As for the characters...meh? Like the writing style, they're fairly straightforward with little more to them than what we get within their initial introductions. I found this lack of growth frustrating. Yes, I am aware this is a 10-book series, but there should still be small-scale character development, especially within the first novel. There is also the problem of the two protagonists, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen Li, never physically interacting. A game of "cat and mouse" is all well and good, but you do need to have your characters in the same room at some point. I was practically begging for these two to speak, to give me some sense of why I should be invested in their rivalry.
Furthermore, what this book really needed to do was give me a reason to care about the Free Planets Alliance. I mean, I get it: never-ending war between them and the Galactic Empire because of differences in ideology, but...why am I supposed to care? I found all of the characters of the Empire far more interesting, probably because Lohengramm -- although criminally underused in this book, which seemed to focus far more on Yang -- was a more dynamic character than his counterpart.
On the whole, this would normally be a 3-star book: yeah, it's fine, but I don't think it's anything to call home about due to an overly-dry writing style and characters that go effectually nowhere. But Tim Gerard Reynolds' narration shines in the face of these challenges. He adopted a plethora of accents for the myriad of side-characters, manipulated his pacing and pitch throughout the battle sequences, and brought life to what was otherwise a "meh" kind of story.
Would I read the sequels? Only if Reynolds is back to narrate.
And this book is no exception. In fact, the very reason I chose audio over print or digital was because I saw that Tim Gerard Reynolds was going to be the reader.
While I went into this novel because of a book club in which I participate, I was already vaguely aware of Legend of the Galactic Heroes prior to picking up Dawn. As a fan of both anime and science-fiction, I had heard Heroes brought up many a time as a kind of "hallmark series" for science-fiction anime lovers from many fans and reviewers of the genre. It's been adapted for anime, manga, PC games, and even a stage play -- let's just say that Galactic Heroes has gotten around since Dawn's initial publication in 1982.
Now it has finally been translated into English for non-Japanese readers like myself to consume, and I have a feeling my star-rating would be at least one star lower had I chosen a different consumption format (i.e. print or digital over audio). I did enjoy the book, don't get me wrong, but there are some things that definitely irked me while listening.
The writing style is very "cut and dry" with the kind of "this happened and then this happened and then this happened"-style that detaches me from the reading experience. This particular style is something I've noticed more in science fiction than any other genre I've read, so perhaps it comes with the territory. That being said, I think the style actually does a disservice to the various battle sequences that Tanaka peppers throughout the novel. I didn't feel any serious excitement or tension going into them because the language wasn't sumptuous or evocative; it wasn't sucking me in as much as it should. Again, with Reynolds' narration, which buoyed it up just enough to pique my interest, the different accents and voices of the characters helped to keep me involved. But the book should not be dependent upon its narrator, no matter how good he/she is.
As for the characters...meh? Like the writing style, they're fairly straightforward with little more to them than what we get within their initial introductions. I found this lack of growth frustrating. Yes, I am aware this is a 10-book series, but there should still be small-scale character development, especially within the first novel. There is also the problem of the two protagonists, Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen Li, never physically interacting. A game of "cat and mouse" is all well and good, but you do need to have your characters in the same room at some point. I was practically begging for these two to speak, to give me some sense of why I should be invested in their rivalry.
Furthermore, what this book really needed to do was give me a reason to care about the Free Planets Alliance. I mean, I get it: never-ending war between them and the Galactic Empire because of differences in ideology, but...why am I supposed to care? I found all of the characters of the Empire far more interesting, probably because Lohengramm -- although criminally underused in this book, which seemed to focus far more on Yang -- was a more dynamic character than his counterpart.
On the whole, this would normally be a 3-star book: yeah, it's fine, but I don't think it's anything to call home about due to an overly-dry writing style and characters that go effectually nowhere. But Tim Gerard Reynolds' narration shines in the face of these challenges. He adopted a plethora of accents for the myriad of side-characters, manipulated his pacing and pitch throughout the battle sequences, and brought life to what was otherwise a "meh" kind of story.
Would I read the sequels? Only if Reynolds is back to narrate.
June 14, 2022
3.5 Stars
This is the promising start of a space opera series. I don't feel I can properly assess this one until I get further in. The story is a bit tropey, but it's the kind of classic narrative. I tend to prefer. I'm finding the characters a bit flat so I hope they are fleshed out in the later books.
This is the promising start of a space opera series. I don't feel I can properly assess this one until I get further in. The story is a bit tropey, but it's the kind of classic narrative. I tend to prefer. I'm finding the characters a bit flat so I hope they are fleshed out in the later books.
June 5, 2017
I am probably one of the few people who read this book without seeing a single episode of the famous anime that it inspired. From what I have heard about the anime, it is superior to this flat, dated book.
At first I was unsure if the basic and clumsy writing was solely the translator's fault or if the source material was just written that way, but as I got further into the story it became more and more clear Tanaka is not a skilled writer. It felt like I was reading a dumbed down David Weber novel (note to Daniel Huddleston, throwing in a big word does not make your translating sound better), and Tanaka constantly commits the crime of telling instead of showing. I have no idea what one of the ships in the imperial or republic navies looks like, and pretty much all I know about the main characters is their hair and eye color. That whole introduction explaining the politics and history of this story made me go "uuuugh" then near the end when he did it again I nearly threw my kindle at the wall. Sci-fi literature moved past that shit 50 years ago. There are also a few pieces of dialogue and patronizing exposition I need to share:
In chapter 9, Reinhard had lambasted on of his commanders for failing in battle, but he later felt bad about it so he told Kircheis:
Not even 5 lines later:
I also mentioned that the book is super dated. I am not just talking about the simple writing and concepts, which make it feel like I am reading some basic 50's pulp, but the story definitely has some problematic female characters. Like the sister of Reinhard, Annerose, who has no agency and just serves as a motivation for the main characters. OH and she also had a great line that perfectly sums up where all the women are in this book (hint, not in the battles):
I feel like the other people reviewing this are incredibly biased because of their love for the show and cannot look at this book objectively. Because objectively it is pretty crappy. I will not be wasting my time on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th book in this series.
Edit: made a correction to one sentence.
At first I was unsure if the basic and clumsy writing was solely the translator's fault or if the source material was just written that way, but as I got further into the story it became more and more clear Tanaka is not a skilled writer. It felt like I was reading a dumbed down David Weber novel (note to Daniel Huddleston, throwing in a big word does not make your translating sound better), and Tanaka constantly commits the crime of telling instead of showing. I have no idea what one of the ships in the imperial or republic navies looks like, and pretty much all I know about the main characters is their hair and eye color. That whole introduction explaining the politics and history of this story made me go "uuuugh" then near the end when he did it again I nearly threw my kindle at the wall. Sci-fi literature moved past that shit 50 years ago. There are also a few pieces of dialogue and patronizing exposition I need to share:
In chapter 9, Reinhard had lambasted on of his commanders for failing in battle, but he later felt bad about it so he told Kircheis:
"Could you relay that to him for me?"
"No, that won't do" (ok good that is all you need to say)
At Kircheis's prompt refusal, Reinhard acknowledged what he was getting at and nodded.
"That's true. It will be meaningless unless I tell him myself." (ugh)
If Kircheis were to pass along word of Reinhard's intent to forgive, Wittenfeld--having been reprimanded by Reinhard--would likely continue to hold a grudge against him, while feeling gratitude towards Kircheis. Human psychology was like that (NO SHIT!?!) For that reason, Reinhard's indulgence would ultimately have had no meaning, which was why Kircheis had refused. (kill me)
Not even 5 lines later:
"Kircheis?"
"Yes, Lord Reinhard?"
"... Do you believe I can seize this universe and make it my own?" (That was a line for the ages)
Siegfried Kircheis looked straight back into his dear friend's ice-blue eyes.
"To whom but Lord Reinhard could such a wish be granted?" (I feel like he is being sarcastic)
I also mentioned that the book is super dated. I am not just talking about the simple writing and concepts, which make it feel like I am reading some basic 50's pulp, but the story definitely has some problematic female characters. Like the sister of Reinhard, Annerose, who has no agency and just serves as a motivation for the main characters. OH and she also had a great line that perfectly sums up where all the women are in this book (hint, not in the battles):
"Every once in a while, someone will tell me the kitchen is no place for a countess, but no matter what they say, I enjoy it so much I just can't help myself." (Said no countess ever)
I feel like the other people reviewing this are incredibly biased because of their love for the show and cannot look at this book objectively. Because objectively it is pretty crappy. I will not be wasting my time on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th book in this series.
Edit: made a correction to one sentence.
March 30, 2017
This is fun!
About 30 years ago, 10 books were published in Japan which took the Prussian Wars and put them into a futuristic space. Since Japan has to milk every cow until it starves to death an anime and several movies were made from the books (with a new movie and anime coming soon). The anime itself is a bit famous in certain places - about 110 episodes with a running time of more than 48 hours, an epic space-saga, source of good memes:
We have two warring empires in space, the democratic Free Planets Alliance (shortened as Alliance) and the despotic Galactic Empire (shortened Empire). Both groups aren't black & white: the Alliance is led by war mongers looking to secure votes in order to advance their political careers by military gains, the Empire started out as eugenics-supporting space Nazis but has settled down as a more benevolent kingdom, led by an aged and stagnant elite.
The two main characters are young military leaders who clash twice in this book, but they're set up to be constant rivals in the remaining nine books. There's Reinhard von Lohengramm for the Empire, Yang Wen-Li for the Alliance. These names work like uniforms: the Empire is full of fun Wagner space Nazi names like Oskar von Reuenthal, even their ships are named Walküren, the Alliance has a hodge-podge of Chinese, Japanese, German, English, Greek names with their ships mostly named after Greek mythology. This "trick" makes it possible to follow possibly confusing space-battles easily, you immediately know who is on what side.
Von Lohengramm is an arrogant military genius who wants to take over the whole Empire, Wen-Li is a military history nerd who constantly wants to go home but is kept on by people who need his skills. They're both not really hero material: Von Lohengramm is ruthless towards civilians, Wen-Li is passive and too naive, it's up to the reader who to "root" [1] for.
There's a streak in Japanese popular culture that I have no name for but from which this book clearly draws a lot of inspiration - let's call it "I love it when a plan comes together", stories that focus on smart minds coming up with long-drawn detailed plans anticipating the enemy's actions by judging the enemy's minds, and then seeing what happens when these plans hit reality. You can see this streak in historical novels (personal favorite: Eiji Yoshikawa's Taiko), but it continues in Japanese media to this day (a recent example is Death Note).
Will I read the other 9 books? The second book is slated to be released in July 2016, the third in November, with the rest to come based on how much money the first three make. I'd love for that to work out, it's certainly a bold move to go and commission a translation of 3 out of 10 books with a total of more than 3000 pages for fans of an obscure TV show, but in the age of ebooks it's possible to secure a niche in the "long tail" of available media. The ebook is just $11 on the Australian Amazon - that's the price of one beer in Perth.
Not recommended for: people looking for Game of Thrones in space, I don't think it's going to be that, there's not enough blood, sex & diarrhea for that to happen. People looking for intricate characters, past the two main guys there's not much.
Recommended for: Hannibal from the A-Team, fans of large-scale space SF.
[1] Australian slang joke: "What is the Australian animal that most resembles the Australian male? The wombat, because he eats, roots, and leaves." ba dum tss!
About 30 years ago, 10 books were published in Japan which took the Prussian Wars and put them into a futuristic space. Since Japan has to milk every cow until it starves to death an anime and several movies were made from the books (with a new movie and anime coming soon). The anime itself is a bit famous in certain places - about 110 episodes with a running time of more than 48 hours, an epic space-saga, source of good memes:
We have two warring empires in space, the democratic Free Planets Alliance (shortened as Alliance) and the despotic Galactic Empire (shortened Empire). Both groups aren't black & white: the Alliance is led by war mongers looking to secure votes in order to advance their political careers by military gains, the Empire started out as eugenics-supporting space Nazis but has settled down as a more benevolent kingdom, led by an aged and stagnant elite.
The two main characters are young military leaders who clash twice in this book, but they're set up to be constant rivals in the remaining nine books. There's Reinhard von Lohengramm for the Empire, Yang Wen-Li for the Alliance. These names work like uniforms: the Empire is full of fun Wagner space Nazi names like Oskar von Reuenthal, even their ships are named Walküren, the Alliance has a hodge-podge of Chinese, Japanese, German, English, Greek names with their ships mostly named after Greek mythology. This "trick" makes it possible to follow possibly confusing space-battles easily, you immediately know who is on what side.
Von Lohengramm is an arrogant military genius who wants to take over the whole Empire, Wen-Li is a military history nerd who constantly wants to go home but is kept on by people who need his skills. They're both not really hero material: Von Lohengramm is ruthless towards civilians, Wen-Li is passive and too naive, it's up to the reader who to "root" [1] for.
There's a streak in Japanese popular culture that I have no name for but from which this book clearly draws a lot of inspiration - let's call it "I love it when a plan comes together", stories that focus on smart minds coming up with long-drawn detailed plans anticipating the enemy's actions by judging the enemy's minds, and then seeing what happens when these plans hit reality. You can see this streak in historical novels (personal favorite: Eiji Yoshikawa's Taiko), but it continues in Japanese media to this day (a recent example is Death Note).
Will I read the other 9 books? The second book is slated to be released in July 2016, the third in November, with the rest to come based on how much money the first three make. I'd love for that to work out, it's certainly a bold move to go and commission a translation of 3 out of 10 books with a total of more than 3000 pages for fans of an obscure TV show, but in the age of ebooks it's possible to secure a niche in the "long tail" of available media. The ebook is just $11 on the Australian Amazon - that's the price of one beer in Perth.
Not recommended for: people looking for Game of Thrones in space, I don't think it's going to be that, there's not enough blood, sex & diarrhea for that to happen. People looking for intricate characters, past the two main guys there's not much.
Recommended for: Hannibal from the A-Team, fans of large-scale space SF.
[1] Australian slang joke: "What is the Australian animal that most resembles the Australian male? The wombat, because he eats, roots, and leaves." ba dum tss!
April 3, 2016
Oh boy.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a lengthy series of Japanese space opera novels dating back to the early '80s, which in turn spawned a multimedia franchise of animation, manga and video games. The west is mostly familiar with the 110-episode animated series, which was unofficially translated into English by fans.
It tells the story of a galactic conflict between two superpowers: the Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy modeled after 19th-century Prussia that's rotting from the inside out, and the Free Planets Alliance, a nominal democracy that's losing sight of its democratic values.
I'm a huge fan of the animated series. I watched the whole thing several times. I consider it to be space opera at its finest. As such I've wished for years that I could read the novels, which were never available in English until now.
It's hard for me to review Volume 1: Dawn as a result. I already intimately know the story, not only of this book but of all the books after it as well, which biases me in favor of the story but also reduces my enjoyment of the book, which I'll never get to fully appreciate "for the first time". It also sets my expectations very high, potentially setting me up for disappointment. As a result I don't have much confidence in the objectiveness of my review. I'm going to try anyways.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a great story.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Volume 1: Dawn is not a great book.
The story is presented in a somewhat terse fashion, with simple prose and simple character interactions. This surprised me somewhat, because I'm used to books having great amounts of detail that television adaptations leave out. That's not the case at all, here. There's barely anything at all in the book that didn't make it into the anime, and the anime actually goes into more details than the book does in numerous cases, showing a good deal of insight into the characters that's lacking here. As a result, the book felt thin to me, figuratively.
It's thin literally as well. I wouldn't have minded an extra 100-200 pages to put me into the shoes of the characters, with more and richer dialog.
The characters, well-developed after a 110-episode anime, leave something to be desired after reading this novel. The story has a very large cast, and the first novel by itself just isn't big enough to develop them all properly. Many (but not all) of them are downright paper-thin in this telling of the story.
Yang Wen-li. Oh, how I adore Yang Wen-li. The reluctant, intellectual, lovable historian-turned-soldier defines the entire Legend of the Galactic Heroes story for me. His literal and also verbal defense of the principles of democratic rule are one of the main things that made the series smart. We don't get to see much of that in this book, but it's there.
Dusty Attenborough, who's part of the anime from the beginning, is not present in this book at all! That's not a fault, but it threw me for a loop. Apparently he appears in book 2.
I never cared so much for the Imperial characters to begin with, and my opinion hasn't changed much. Reinhard, Kircheis, Oberstein and Wittenfeld ("Bittenfeld" in the anime) are all pretty much the same.
Mittermeier and Reuentahl are much less developed here, with almost no dialog or screen time at all.
I had read criticism of Tanaka's portrayal of women before, which had struck me as unfair after seeing the anime, but I strongly agree with after reading the first novel.
Annerose was a fairly awful character in the anime to begin with. She has no agency and her thoughts and feelings are limited to her love for Reinhard and Kircheis. She's supposed to be one of the main female characters but she serves no purpose except to motivate Reinhard and Kircheis.
Jessica Edwards, on the other hand, was a much stronger character in the anime. Not so much in the book. She gets far less screen time; almost none at all really. Her role is basically the same, but the book only devotes a few paragraphs to her outburst before Trunicht, whereas the anime develops her both before and after and turns it into a much more meaningful and courageous act.
Frederica Greenhill is the same. In the anime, she was portrayed as Yang's highly-competent adjutant, complementing Yang, who probably couldn't get by without her. In this book, she's just an aide who brings him food and tea.
Maybe I'm letting my knowledge of what happens next in the story distort my perspective here. It could be that the characters I love just don't get fleshed out until later. I dearly hope so.
Right now, I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. In my opinion this book is just plain inferior to the story told in the anime. I never thought I'd say something like that about any adaptation from a book, but it's true. The anime is richer and more detailed, with better character development.
The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars ("liked it") instead of 2 stars ("it was ok") is that I know there's a great story and characters here, fighting to get out, and I can't figure out to what extent my knowledge of the anime is helping or hindering my appreciation. I'm hoping the next book redeems the story for me.
Edited down to two stars after more reflection.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a lengthy series of Japanese space opera novels dating back to the early '80s, which in turn spawned a multimedia franchise of animation, manga and video games. The west is mostly familiar with the 110-episode animated series, which was unofficially translated into English by fans.
It tells the story of a galactic conflict between two superpowers: the Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy modeled after 19th-century Prussia that's rotting from the inside out, and the Free Planets Alliance, a nominal democracy that's losing sight of its democratic values.
I'm a huge fan of the animated series. I watched the whole thing several times. I consider it to be space opera at its finest. As such I've wished for years that I could read the novels, which were never available in English until now.
It's hard for me to review Volume 1: Dawn as a result. I already intimately know the story, not only of this book but of all the books after it as well, which biases me in favor of the story but also reduces my enjoyment of the book, which I'll never get to fully appreciate "for the first time". It also sets my expectations very high, potentially setting me up for disappointment. As a result I don't have much confidence in the objectiveness of my review. I'm going to try anyways.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a great story.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes Volume 1: Dawn is not a great book.
The story is presented in a somewhat terse fashion, with simple prose and simple character interactions. This surprised me somewhat, because I'm used to books having great amounts of detail that television adaptations leave out. That's not the case at all, here. There's barely anything at all in the book that didn't make it into the anime, and the anime actually goes into more details than the book does in numerous cases, showing a good deal of insight into the characters that's lacking here. As a result, the book felt thin to me, figuratively.
It's thin literally as well. I wouldn't have minded an extra 100-200 pages to put me into the shoes of the characters, with more and richer dialog.
The characters, well-developed after a 110-episode anime, leave something to be desired after reading this novel. The story has a very large cast, and the first novel by itself just isn't big enough to develop them all properly. Many (but not all) of them are downright paper-thin in this telling of the story.
Yang Wen-li. Oh, how I adore Yang Wen-li. The reluctant, intellectual, lovable historian-turned-soldier defines the entire Legend of the Galactic Heroes story for me. His literal and also verbal defense of the principles of democratic rule are one of the main things that made the series smart. We don't get to see much of that in this book, but it's there.
Dusty Attenborough, who's part of the anime from the beginning, is not present in this book at all! That's not a fault, but it threw me for a loop. Apparently he appears in book 2.
I never cared so much for the Imperial characters to begin with, and my opinion hasn't changed much. Reinhard, Kircheis, Oberstein and Wittenfeld ("Bittenfeld" in the anime) are all pretty much the same.
Mittermeier and Reuentahl are much less developed here, with almost no dialog or screen time at all.
I had read criticism of Tanaka's portrayal of women before, which had struck me as unfair after seeing the anime, but I strongly agree with after reading the first novel.
Annerose was a fairly awful character in the anime to begin with. She has no agency and her thoughts and feelings are limited to her love for Reinhard and Kircheis. She's supposed to be one of the main female characters but she serves no purpose except to motivate Reinhard and Kircheis.
Jessica Edwards, on the other hand, was a much stronger character in the anime. Not so much in the book. She gets far less screen time; almost none at all really. Her role is basically the same, but the book only devotes a few paragraphs to her outburst before Trunicht, whereas the anime develops her both before and after and turns it into a much more meaningful and courageous act.
Frederica Greenhill is the same. In the anime, she was portrayed as Yang's highly-competent adjutant, complementing Yang, who probably couldn't get by without her. In this book, she's just an aide who brings him food and tea.
Maybe I'm letting my knowledge of what happens next in the story distort my perspective here. It could be that the characters I love just don't get fleshed out until later. I dearly hope so.
Right now, I'm thoroughly underwhelmed. In my opinion this book is just plain inferior to the story told in the anime. I never thought I'd say something like that about any adaptation from a book, but it's true. The anime is richer and more detailed, with better character development.
Edited down to two stars after more reflection.
Read
July 7, 2019More fun than I anticipated!
April 19, 2018
Final rating: 4.75/5 stars
I have read a lot of books, and i remember only one that i could quote all day long - and it was Every Day. Now i add another one to the collection of amazing quotes: "Dawn" from LOGH series.
Ofc, it has it's issues, but this is also a very, very old book and it's the first in the series, but mostly, it's a masterpiece.
Now here is a thing - Before reading this I had no previous idea of what this story was about - because i never watched legendary anime (ONA) that aired a long time ago and that was a must for sci fi lovers. I went in blind and was not disappointed (along the way i started following the new adaptation that is currently airing).
So what is it about?
In the future, mankind strived and expanded to space, abandoning Earth in the progress and becoming Galactic Empire. But - due to fact that it's reign was veeeeeeery similar to a certain country's reign from world war in our history, where the emperor, Rudolf I, decided to root out everyone with "faulty" genes, including even his own children, thus lowering humanity's population by millions (around ~300.000.000). In the meantime, another group of people rebelled, managed to escape, formed an alliance and eventually came to be The Free Planets Alliance. And finally, there is Phezzan, the only planet that is free of their control.
So what's happening? The fact that Galactic Empire and Free Planets Alliance are at war for 150 years and nothing has changed ever since.
Except... the fact that Annerose von Muller was chosen to be wife of the current emperor, which didn't sit well with her brother - Reinhard. Now his goal is to progress in military and get enough power in politics to free his sister, all the while getting very into the war itself. Which is hard ofc, as poeple scorn him for 1) being too young to progress this far in the world, aka 20 years old and 2) the fact that emperor's wife is his sister 3) that all his achievements so far had been just luck and nothing else.
Well. They are wrong.
On the other side, in the Free Planets Alliance, there is also a commodore (29 y.o.) Yang Wen-li, who just wanted to study history, found out he was dead broke with the death of his father, and figured out he can only study history if he went to military... which he succeeded in until he beat the academy's best student in simulation and drew attention on himself. Guess where that got him? Higher up in the military. (Which is okay by him as more money = more history books).
Anyway, the fact is that our also to-young-to-be-commodore Yang is also underestimated and never asked for opinion when he is usually 90% right is a dooming factor for Alliance and winning factor for Reinhard.
This book follows three big battles and happenings in between:
1.) Battle of Astarte - for the control of the region
2) Battle for Iserlohn Fortress - Alliance's plan to occupy the impregnable fortress between Alliance and Empire and finally
3) Battle of Amritsar - a huge gamble attack
Ofc, there are many more characters in this but for now it focused mostly on Yang, his adopted son Julian and on the empire's side: Reinhard and his best (and childhood friend) Kircheis.
I could talk so much about every single one of them, but sadly I do not have patience for it, so I will put it all under thesis:
Yang Wen Li (29):
-hates military, hates command
-sarcastic - to the point he will do it in the middle of mourning meeting
-brutally honest
-dork
-lover of history, which is why his strategies are actually good
-lazy
-would rather retreat than lose his men (in orderly fashion)
-very kind and actually a good parent
-can be shaken up
-feels a lot of guilt for losing and when someone under his command dies
Julian Mintz - Yang's adopted son:
-actual ace in school, very intelligent
-dork too
-takes care of house (because he is a neat freak and that's what he did first when he moved in)
-loves Yang and idolizes him
-happily adopted orphan
Frederica Greenhill
-has amazing memory
-she wanted to serve along with Yang, got her wish come true
-Yang's advisor
-capable
-lovely
-i love her okay
Alexander Cazelnes
-Yang's friend
-made Yang adopt Julian
-ships Yang with Frederica
-is actually a dork
Walter von Schönkopf
-defected with his family from Empire to Alliance
-has a major role in one of the battles
-honoooooooooooooor
-is awesome
Reinhard von Lohengramm
-loves his sister... a lot
-loves his best friend... a lot
-hates almost everyone else (mostly emperor)
-is a genious
-no one takes him seriously because he is 20 years old, lol, they are severely underestimating him
-he wants to die in battle, preferably glouriously
-has really big ambitions
-if you are loyal to him, he's gonna reward you nicely
-is generally interesting
Siegfried Kircheis
-the best friend, loves both Reinhard and Annerose
-would do ANYTHING for them
-dork
-is a bit scared of how whenever Reinhard advances, he's taken higher up too
-honest and pure
-always on guard when someone tries to fish information
Paul von Oberstein
-would have been killed if he was alive in the era of Rudolf, due to fact that he has bad eyes and now had them replaced for artificial ones
-tired of your shit
-tired of everyone's shit
-almost on par with Yang and Reinhard as he can guess what they are both thinking
-doesn't want to die because some idiot doesn't listen for reason and doesn't retreat when they should
Annerose von Grünewald
-Reinhard's sister
-history would have been quite different had she not been born
-her role may be small, but does she have impact on the overall story - yes!
Etc, etc. There is a lot of characters here, but in this book the focus was on Julian, Yang, Reinhard and Kircheis and Oberstein. Which was satisfying for now.
Pretty great strategies and battles, great quotes, loveable characters and very good worldbuilding, of which the most of the settings are based on history.
Don;t be alarmed, it's not all so serious. There is plenty of breaks and funny stuff between the characters when they are not in the middle of war and dying.
"There’s nothing easier than advocating for peace with words.”
There is one thing, thought Yang. Hiding in a safe place and advocating for war.
I have read a lot of books, and i remember only one that i could quote all day long - and it was Every Day. Now i add another one to the collection of amazing quotes: "Dawn" from LOGH series.
Ofc, it has it's issues, but this is also a very, very old book and it's the first in the series, but mostly, it's a masterpiece.
Now here is a thing - Before reading this I had no previous idea of what this story was about - because i never watched legendary anime (ONA) that aired a long time ago and that was a must for sci fi lovers. I went in blind and was not disappointed (along the way i started following the new adaptation that is currently airing).
So what is it about?
STORY:
In the future, mankind strived and expanded to space, abandoning Earth in the progress and becoming Galactic Empire. But - due to fact that it's reign was veeeeeeery similar to a certain country's reign from world war in our history, where the emperor, Rudolf I, decided to root out everyone with "faulty" genes, including even his own children, thus lowering humanity's population by millions (around ~300.000.000). In the meantime, another group of people rebelled, managed to escape, formed an alliance and eventually came to be The Free Planets Alliance. And finally, there is Phezzan, the only planet that is free of their control.
So what's happening? The fact that Galactic Empire and Free Planets Alliance are at war for 150 years and nothing has changed ever since.
Except... the fact that Annerose von Muller was chosen to be wife of the current emperor, which didn't sit well with her brother - Reinhard. Now his goal is to progress in military and get enough power in politics to free his sister, all the while getting very into the war itself. Which is hard ofc, as poeple scorn him for 1) being too young to progress this far in the world, aka 20 years old and 2) the fact that emperor's wife is his sister 3) that all his achievements so far had been just luck and nothing else.
Well. They are wrong.
On the other side, in the Free Planets Alliance, there is also a commodore (29 y.o.) Yang Wen-li, who just wanted to study history, found out he was dead broke with the death of his father, and figured out he can only study history if he went to military... which he succeeded in until he beat the academy's best student in simulation and drew attention on himself. Guess where that got him? Higher up in the military. (Which is okay by him as more money = more history books).
Anyway, the fact is that our also to-young-to-be-commodore Yang is also underestimated and never asked for opinion when he is usually 90% right is a dooming factor for Alliance and winning factor for Reinhard.
This book follows three big battles and happenings in between:
1.) Battle of Astarte - for the control of the region
2) Battle for Iserlohn Fortress - Alliance's plan to occupy the impregnable fortress between Alliance and Empire and finally
3) Battle of Amritsar - a huge gamble attack
Ofc, there are many more characters in this but for now it focused mostly on Yang, his adopted son Julian and on the empire's side: Reinhard and his best (and childhood friend) Kircheis.
I could talk so much about every single one of them, but sadly I do not have patience for it, so I will put it all under thesis:
THE FREE PLANETS ALLIANCE:
Yang Wen Li (29):
When a foolish general got a million allies killed, a great general killed a million enemies. That was the only difference, and if viewed from the standpoint of absolute pacifism—the kind that said, “I will not kill, even if it means being killed myself”—there was no difference between the two. Both were mass murderers.
-hates military, hates command
-sarcastic - to the point he will do it in the middle of mourning meeting
-brutally honest
-dork
-lover of history, which is why his strategies are actually good
-lazy
-would rather retreat than lose his men (in orderly fashion)
-very kind and actually a good parent
-can be shaken up
-feels a lot of guilt for losing and when someone under his command dies
Julian Mintz - Yang's adopted son:
-actual ace in school, very intelligent
-dork too
-takes care of house (because he is a neat freak and that's what he did first when he moved in)
-loves Yang and idolizes him
-happily adopted orphan
Frederica Greenhill
-has amazing memory
-she wanted to serve along with Yang, got her wish come true
-Yang's advisor
-capable
-lovely
-i love her okay
Alexander Cazelnes
-Yang's friend
-made Yang adopt Julian
-ships Yang with Frederica
-is actually a dork
Walter von Schönkopf
-defected with his family from Empire to Alliance
-has a major role in one of the battles
-honoooooooooooooor
-is awesome
THE GALACTIC EMPIRE
Reinhard von Lohengramm
“Look at them, Kircheis,” Reinhard would whisper. Whenever he saw such nobles, his voice filled with an intense hatred and scorn. “They didn’t get to be where they are today through any effort of their own … They inherited their authority and fortune from their fathers only by reason of blood, and they aren’t even ashamed of it. The universe does not exist to be dominated by such people.”
-loves his sister... a lot
-loves his best friend... a lot
-hates almost everyone else (mostly emperor)
-is a genious
-no one takes him seriously because he is 20 years old, lol, they are severely underestimating him
-he wants to die in battle, preferably glouriously
-has really big ambitions
-if you are loyal to him, he's gonna reward you nicely
-is generally interesting
Siegfried Kircheis
Kircheis relayed Reinhard’s order to the communications officer, who responded with a slight, quizzical tilt of the head. Kircheis returned a pleasant smile. “Like you, Officer … I’m in no hurry to fight such a tough opponent again. Better to have easy wins than run into enemies we have to praise.”
-the best friend, loves both Reinhard and Annerose
-would do ANYTHING for them
-dork
-is a bit scared of how whenever Reinhard advances, he's taken higher up too
-honest and pure
-always on guard when someone tries to fish information
Paul von Oberstein
“The Galactic Empire—by which I mean the Goldenbaum Dynasty—must be destroyed. If it were possible, I would destroy it with my own hands. However, I lack the acumen, the power. What I can do is assist in the rise of a new conqueror, that’s all. I’m speaking of you, Your Excellency: Imperial Marshal Reinhard von Lohengramm.”
-would have been killed if he was alive in the era of Rudolf, due to fact that he has bad eyes and now had them replaced for artificial ones
-tired of your shit
-tired of everyone's shit
-almost on par with Yang and Reinhard as he can guess what they are both thinking
-doesn't want to die because some idiot doesn't listen for reason and doesn't retreat when they should
Annerose von Grünewald
-Reinhard's sister
-history would have been quite different had she not been born
-her role may be small, but does she have impact on the overall story - yes!
Etc, etc. There is a lot of characters here, but in this book the focus was on Julian, Yang, Reinhard and Kircheis and Oberstein. Which was satisfying for now.
OVERALL:
Pretty great strategies and battles, great quotes, loveable characters and very good worldbuilding, of which the most of the settings are based on history.
A jowly middle-aged officer shouted at Yang, “Officer, why aren’t you standing?!” He was wearing commodore’s insignia, same as Yang.
Shifting his gaze, Yang quietly answered. “This is a free country. I ought to be free to not stand up when I don’t want to. I’m just exercising that freedom.”
“Well then, why don’t you want to stand up?”
“Exercising my freedom not to answer.”
Don;t be alarmed, it's not all so serious. There is plenty of breaks and funny stuff between the characters when they are not in the middle of war and dying.
“What’s the matter, Julian? You don’t like walking?”
Perhaps his voice was just a little sharp from his residual displeasure.
“No, it isn’t that.”
“Well then, why aren’t you coming?”
“That’s … the wrong direction.”
Yang turned on his heel without a word. As long as a space fleet commander doesn’t get the fleet’s heading wrong, there’s nothing to worry about. He considered saying that, or something similarly unsporting, then decided against it. Truth be told, his confidence even failed him on that point from time to time. That was why Yang prized the precision-tuned fleet management of Vice Commander Fischer so highly.
February 24, 2018
So I was on Audible.com browsing for something to listen to at work this week, and I saw this book on sale for $4.95 and was like, cheap sci-fi, sweet, I am there. Holy crap, this is like one of the best space operas I've ever read (or listened to). I did a little looking around on the internet about the series, and found that it is often called the Star Wars of Japan, and it is very easy to see why. A huge civil war on a galactic scale, full of political intrigues, both military and civil, massive space battles spanning across light years. The author takes the time to explain his military tactics and why they do or do not work and in a way that it doesn't feel like he's lecturing or infodumping. I am in love.
The story follows two young military prodigies on opposite sides of the war, each with his own goals, as they rise through the ranks to positions of power through their tactical genius. It's not particualtly deep in the character department, but I still quite enjoyed it. Although, one thing you should probably know going in is that this book was written in the early 1980s, and as such it is very much a product of its time when dealing with its female characters. There are maybe three or four women in the entire book that actually have speaking parts, and none of them have more than 3 or 4 lines each through the entire thing. The author is also very clearly not interested in portraying women in any role other than the old wife, homemaker, mother, etc, and shows not an ounce of shame in marginalizing them. They're not treated with blatant disrespect, as authors like Terry Goodkind or Patrick Rothfuss would, mostly they're just completely absent. It's one of those stories where the men are men, and the women stayed home so the men can be men type things.
The English translation is pretty decent, which is not an easy thing to pull off. Japanese is a language that relies heavily on subtext and cultural history to make sense, and many of their jokes are puns and word plays that just do not translate at all. The translator did an excellent job of conveying the meaning of the subtext in the original Japanese in a way that it flows smoothly and gets the idea across without feeling like he's trying to cram it in like you might see in anime. And speaking of anime, I've also learned that there is an anime series based on these books. I may have to check that out.
All in all I loved the book, and I definitely plan on reading more of the series.
The story follows two young military prodigies on opposite sides of the war, each with his own goals, as they rise through the ranks to positions of power through their tactical genius. It's not particualtly deep in the character department, but I still quite enjoyed it. Although, one thing you should probably know going in is that this book was written in the early 1980s, and as such it is very much a product of its time when dealing with its female characters. There are maybe three or four women in the entire book that actually have speaking parts, and none of them have more than 3 or 4 lines each through the entire thing. The author is also very clearly not interested in portraying women in any role other than the old wife, homemaker, mother, etc, and shows not an ounce of shame in marginalizing them. They're not treated with blatant disrespect, as authors like Terry Goodkind or Patrick Rothfuss would, mostly they're just completely absent. It's one of those stories where the men are men, and the women stayed home so the men can be men type things.
The English translation is pretty decent, which is not an easy thing to pull off. Japanese is a language that relies heavily on subtext and cultural history to make sense, and many of their jokes are puns and word plays that just do not translate at all. The translator did an excellent job of conveying the meaning of the subtext in the original Japanese in a way that it flows smoothly and gets the idea across without feeling like he's trying to cram it in like you might see in anime. And speaking of anime, I've also learned that there is an anime series based on these books. I may have to check that out.
All in all I loved the book, and I definitely plan on reading more of the series.
March 3, 2020
I, like virtually all westerners, found out about this book from the unrivaled anime that is adapted from it and the rest of the series. This is a shame, because if the rest of the books follow the anime as closely as this one has, it will be one of the best Science Fiction series I have ever read.
It is a combination of two of my favorite genres, melded seamlessly. It is a Space Opera Science Fiction novel, written in the style of a 19th century epic. Imagine Star Wars written in the style and with the character depth and development of War and Peace but on a scale infinitely larger than both.
Two governments, one a dictatorship known as the Galactic Empire, and the other a democratic republic, the Free Planets Alliance. The differences in these two, and the corruption that plagues both makes this something of a study of the differing and similar aspects of a dictatorship and democracy.
While it is a vast sweeping epic, covering a war between these two interstellar entities. The focus is on two main characters. Yang Wen-li, a pacifist by nature, driven to military service by poverty and a strategic genius unrivaled in his military, and Reinhard von Lohengramm, a impoverished noble risen in the ranks through his own sheer genius, ambition, and desire for vengeance on the ruling class.
The focus is undoubtedly on Yang and Reinhard, but there's a vast cast of characters. In true Victorian fashion, each character, no matter how short their focus time, feels well fleshed out and developed.
This is a very intellectually dense novel, exploring subjects from war to politics to economics, but it is worked in naturally to the fast paced plot of war and deception. The battles are on an incredible scale, tens of thousands of ships, millions of soldiers, and the tactics are clever yet accessible to the reader.
I should say that I consider the anime to be not only the greatest anime I've seen, but the greatest TV show I've seen. There was very little chance that I wouldn't adore this book, and it is every bit as great as the anime. The animators really did an excellent job of adapting this novel, and I hope the rest of the series is also on par with the wonderful anime!
It is a combination of two of my favorite genres, melded seamlessly. It is a Space Opera Science Fiction novel, written in the style of a 19th century epic. Imagine Star Wars written in the style and with the character depth and development of War and Peace but on a scale infinitely larger than both.
Two governments, one a dictatorship known as the Galactic Empire, and the other a democratic republic, the Free Planets Alliance. The differences in these two, and the corruption that plagues both makes this something of a study of the differing and similar aspects of a dictatorship and democracy.
While it is a vast sweeping epic, covering a war between these two interstellar entities. The focus is on two main characters. Yang Wen-li, a pacifist by nature, driven to military service by poverty and a strategic genius unrivaled in his military, and Reinhard von Lohengramm, a impoverished noble risen in the ranks through his own sheer genius, ambition, and desire for vengeance on the ruling class.
The focus is undoubtedly on Yang and Reinhard, but there's a vast cast of characters. In true Victorian fashion, each character, no matter how short their focus time, feels well fleshed out and developed.
This is a very intellectually dense novel, exploring subjects from war to politics to economics, but it is worked in naturally to the fast paced plot of war and deception. The battles are on an incredible scale, tens of thousands of ships, millions of soldiers, and the tactics are clever yet accessible to the reader.
I should say that I consider the anime to be not only the greatest anime I've seen, but the greatest TV show I've seen. There was very little chance that I wouldn't adore this book, and it is every bit as great as the anime. The animators really did an excellent job of adapting this novel, and I hope the rest of the series is also on par with the wonderful anime!
April 8, 2016
This is basically a 'What If Star Wars was about Politics and Strategy' novel.
The writing is a hit or miss (especially if we consider it was originally written in Japanese and during 1982), so if you don't like the first pages just quit!
Strongly recommended for lovers of Military Sci-Fi.
The writing is a hit or miss (especially if we consider it was originally written in Japanese and during 1982), so if you don't like the first pages just quit!
Strongly recommended for lovers of Military Sci-Fi.
October 10, 2016
Mankind has spread out through space, but there's still war, conflicts involving thousands of ships and millions of lives. On one side is the Galactic Empire, an oppressive
regime that is milding in its old age. On the other, is the Free Planets Alliance, which has good intentions but often hampered by bureaucracy and the political machinations of those elected to power. Each side has one genius general, but they must work with what they're given.
This is apparently a rather famous Japanese SF military SF series, in no small part due to the fact that there's an anime adaptation. However, I should point out that I've never seen that adaptation, and it plays no role in my own perceptions.
It starts off a little rough, with a long exposition section detailing the history of the Empire and the forces that rose to oppose it. So long that for a while I thought the whole book was going to be like that, just a bizarre recounting of how things developed with little actual character interaction. Thankfully, after that it settles down and starts jumping back and forth between characters on the two sides (and more, who aren't direct allied with either). It's still not great at this point... many of the characters feel flat or are written as one of the few people with any intelligence at all, but it's okay, and I could get into the storyline. It does tend to focus a little too much on the specific battles and the strategic decisions that led up to and eventually win or lose the battle. The bad decisions usually caused by other people who don't listen to the advice of the geniuses until too late. Still, it was entertaining enough that I didn't feel bored.
However, it's not as good as I wanted, and there are a number of reasons for this. One is that this is apparently an attempt to "retell" the Prussian Wars in a SF setting. Now, I know little about those wars, but the very idea of trying to cast land or sea-based combat into space leads to some complications. Like, for example, forcing the audiece to accept that there's a very narrow region of space, one that can be easily defended, that ships have to pass through in order to get from one Empire to the other. Maybe with certain types space travel (like like if all travel is done through wormhole nexuses) that idea can be made to work, but here it just felt handwaved and forced. Also, the books don't really have a lot of roles for female characters... this may also be a function of when and where the books were written, but it just seems singularly bizarre to me when I read a book set in the future and the most significant female character in the progress, pro-freedom side's military's sole job seems to be preparing tea for the general. There are a few other characters outside of the military, but most of them have uninspiring roles like a politician who presses for a foolish military advance out of a desire to win an election, or a woman who's taken to be the Emperor's wife which motivates some of the other men who know her to advance until they can eventually do something.
Those blind spot aside, it does have a few interesting things to say about the political side of conflict, and some of the comments feel startlingly relevant to today's conflicts (like leaders blithely assuming that when they take over a planet run by the Empire they will be greeted as liberators even if their takeover destroys the infrastructure already keeping them safe and more or less healthy and fed).
All in all, I didn't hate it, I didn't particularly like it, it was just okay. It doesn't end with much of a conclusion, because it's only volume 1 in a long series, but I doubt I'll continue with any more of it unless I happened to get it in a bundle of ebooks, like I got this one.
regime that is milding in its old age. On the other, is the Free Planets Alliance, which has good intentions but often hampered by bureaucracy and the political machinations of those elected to power. Each side has one genius general, but they must work with what they're given.
This is apparently a rather famous Japanese SF military SF series, in no small part due to the fact that there's an anime adaptation. However, I should point out that I've never seen that adaptation, and it plays no role in my own perceptions.
It starts off a little rough, with a long exposition section detailing the history of the Empire and the forces that rose to oppose it. So long that for a while I thought the whole book was going to be like that, just a bizarre recounting of how things developed with little actual character interaction. Thankfully, after that it settles down and starts jumping back and forth between characters on the two sides (and more, who aren't direct allied with either). It's still not great at this point... many of the characters feel flat or are written as one of the few people with any intelligence at all, but it's okay, and I could get into the storyline. It does tend to focus a little too much on the specific battles and the strategic decisions that led up to and eventually win or lose the battle. The bad decisions usually caused by other people who don't listen to the advice of the geniuses until too late. Still, it was entertaining enough that I didn't feel bored.
However, it's not as good as I wanted, and there are a number of reasons for this. One is that this is apparently an attempt to "retell" the Prussian Wars in a SF setting. Now, I know little about those wars, but the very idea of trying to cast land or sea-based combat into space leads to some complications. Like, for example, forcing the audiece to accept that there's a very narrow region of space, one that can be easily defended, that ships have to pass through in order to get from one Empire to the other. Maybe with certain types space travel (like like if all travel is done through wormhole nexuses) that idea can be made to work, but here it just felt handwaved and forced. Also, the books don't really have a lot of roles for female characters... this may also be a function of when and where the books were written, but it just seems singularly bizarre to me when I read a book set in the future and the most significant female character in the progress, pro-freedom side's military's sole job seems to be preparing tea for the general. There are a few other characters outside of the military, but most of them have uninspiring roles like a politician who presses for a foolish military advance out of a desire to win an election, or a woman who's taken to be the Emperor's wife which motivates some of the other men who know her to advance until they can eventually do something.
Those blind spot aside, it does have a few interesting things to say about the political side of conflict, and some of the comments feel startlingly relevant to today's conflicts (like leaders blithely assuming that when they take over a planet run by the Empire they will be greeted as liberators even if their takeover destroys the infrastructure already keeping them safe and more or less healthy and fed).
All in all, I didn't hate it, I didn't particularly like it, it was just okay. It doesn't end with much of a conclusion, because it's only volume 1 in a long series, but I doubt I'll continue with any more of it unless I happened to get it in a bundle of ebooks, like I got this one.
March 13, 2016
Man.
I grew up as the occasional anime viewer. I was a dork, but not a superdork, basically. About two years ago now a friend of mine recommended this series to me. Not only did he recommend it, but he insisted on me watching it. So I did. I'm not sure that even he knew the profound impact that it would have on me.
Fast forward to now and the novels that the series was based off of are finally being translated into English and released to the public. When I found that out I purchased this and devoured it as quickly as I could. I've been immersed in contemporary science fiction for the past two years now and I've mostly found myself in the land of malaise more than being excited about what's out there. Reading this was just a reminder of what great science fiction can really do to a reader.
While I'm already intimately aware of the story, characters and lore of LoGH, reading the novel was a treat. The narrative style and point of views featured throughout the novel added depth and interest to one of the deepest, most interesting series that I can think of. Since this was a translation it's difficult to really hyper-analyze the prose itself, although it was punchy and kept the tone that fans will recognize from the show. That means that the narrator keeps a rather dry, historical perspective on events, but when it shifts to the point of view of the characters everything felt weighty and substantive.
The way that this series handles a rather objective view or humanity, society, governmental systems and the whole concept of "good" or "bad" is really without peer. Yes, it's a series about war, but it shows both sides and endears the reader/viewer to characters on both sides of the story, instead of looking to say who is bad and good. The whole thing works because of just how strong these characters are, too.
This isn't an overly-complicated piece of literature when it comes to language or science, which tends to be what trends heavily for science fiction these days, but the story and the characters are just so marvelously done that it's impossible not to recommend this book. If somehow you haven't seen the series (which doesn't seem like a stretch), I implore you to check out this book.
I grew up as the occasional anime viewer. I was a dork, but not a superdork, basically. About two years ago now a friend of mine recommended this series to me. Not only did he recommend it, but he insisted on me watching it. So I did. I'm not sure that even he knew the profound impact that it would have on me.
Fast forward to now and the novels that the series was based off of are finally being translated into English and released to the public. When I found that out I purchased this and devoured it as quickly as I could. I've been immersed in contemporary science fiction for the past two years now and I've mostly found myself in the land of malaise more than being excited about what's out there. Reading this was just a reminder of what great science fiction can really do to a reader.
While I'm already intimately aware of the story, characters and lore of LoGH, reading the novel was a treat. The narrative style and point of views featured throughout the novel added depth and interest to one of the deepest, most interesting series that I can think of. Since this was a translation it's difficult to really hyper-analyze the prose itself, although it was punchy and kept the tone that fans will recognize from the show. That means that the narrator keeps a rather dry, historical perspective on events, but when it shifts to the point of view of the characters everything felt weighty and substantive.
The way that this series handles a rather objective view or humanity, society, governmental systems and the whole concept of "good" or "bad" is really without peer. Yes, it's a series about war, but it shows both sides and endears the reader/viewer to characters on both sides of the story, instead of looking to say who is bad and good. The whole thing works because of just how strong these characters are, too.
This isn't an overly-complicated piece of literature when it comes to language or science, which tends to be what trends heavily for science fiction these days, but the story and the characters are just so marvelously done that it's impossible not to recommend this book. If somehow you haven't seen the series (which doesn't seem like a stretch), I implore you to check out this book.
November 5, 2017
his tactics and fleet maneuvers ,has more in common with WW2 tank battle than space fleet action
August 10, 2016
Review also published here
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes signifies a major failure of the publishing world. It is an overwhelming shame that volume one, Dawn , was waiting for a total of 34 years(!) to be officially released in english, translated from the japanese original. The series itself spans ten main novels plus side stories and tie-ins, won awards back in the 80s and received multiple media adaptations, from anime to games. There is even a new anime adaptation scheduled for 2017 - which I am eager to see for myself.
This series is big and exciting if volume one is anything to go by, and I sincerely hope that Haikasoru will see the whole series released in the west at long last. It is looking good, with the first three books scheduled for 2016 already.
As somebody who only saw glimpses of the anime adaptation at best, I can tell you that this is a cracking read with more depth and character than many modern SciFi works. None of the trappings of modern japanese light novels are present here, so leave your prejudices in the drawer when it comes to the heavily trope-laden stuff you see nowadays.
This is a scifi story with large-scale space battles (with thousands of battleships on either side, usually), intriguing characters, strong politics and exploration of human history, fascism, patriotism, philosophy and more. It is the full package of what I enjoy about science fiction.
I previously said in my review of The Emperor Expects that I'm not usually fond of space battles. Well, of course I would pick this book up next, not fully realizing just how many of those I would get! However, as large as they are described, I felt that every battle was firmly anchored around the overall strategies and generals, their reactions to the enemy and also their follies. Rather than lasers, pew-pew, it was all the more about fleet formations, tactical maneuvering, attempts to outwit the opponent.
It was also commenting a whole lot on the selfishness of the higher echelon and political leaders who would gamble with the lives of soldiers and their families back home, all for the sake of maintaining their own power, or increasing it. There are strong threads of anti-war messages in Dawn , and plenty of examples of extremist factions, short-sighted management and how a democratic civilization can go wrong.
When the book opened up with a prologue outlining humanity's growth and decline over the course of centuries, including the rise of a galactic empire established by what are essentially space Nazis, I was hooked. Most of them even have german names and still use german terminology in the book's present day. It isn't trying to hide its influences by any means, but then, it didn't need to in my opinion; The messages it was trying to send were amplified quite a bit this way.
On the other hand we have a galactic alliance of free planets, which, as it turns out, lost its ideals and is on the route of becoming no better than the empire it seeks to free the galaxy from. It depicts the precarious balance society has to maintain to not end up like the very evil it seeks to overthrow. Throughout the novel, the alliance became more and more openly abhorrent to me. The sheer hypocrisy of it all made it clear that neither of the two opposing sides in this conflict can hold much of a higher ground, and both have their share of relatable characters.
The protagonists of these two nations are the "Golden Brat" Reinhard von Lohengramm, supported by his childhood friend Sigfried Kircheis (which translates to Churchice. Had it been Kirscheis, with an added s, it would have been yummy cherry ice cream, which I got reminded of every time... But I digress), as well as the alliance's magician admiral Yang Wen-li and his closest friends.
Both of these characters are charismatic in their own way, and go the whole mile from promotion to promotion.
They're two sides of the same coin; Where Reinhard is ambitious and often ruthless, Yang would like nothing more than to quit the navy and keep his subordinates safe. Where one uses warfare as a means to propell himself through the ranks, the other scoffs at the waste of lives. Yet both are masterful tacticians who draw on different sources of talent and strategic knowledge. Both despise the system they are caught up in. Both care deeply about their close ones, even though their attitudes are very different from one another.
They both present the different cultural backgrounds of empire and alliance in a way that made it all matter to me, as the reader. I could understand these characters, and being told about their childhood experiences helped that along nicely. There is a lot of clever writing involved, and their pasts mirror each other in a sense.
All these parallels and strong differences made their growing rivalry and clashes throughout the book tough. I rooted for both of them and their goals, while condemning neither. While it seems clear that Reinhard isn't as easy to like and trust as Yang, who does not seem to realize just how good a leadership figure he is, I found myself drawn to count von Lohengramm's natural charisma.
Adding the strong supporting cast to it all, from the war orphan Julian, who Yang took in at some point before the story began and rocks his household, over the generals and political figures, everything falls into place around the duo. I cannot wait to see where they are headed next.
Honestly, I cannot do more than condemn the circumstances that saw this novel only see its way into the english language now. Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol.1: Dawn is an underrated, often overlooked gem of international science fiction that can play with the big ones.
It is a political space opera of the best kind: Engaging, thought-provoking, relatable and with a good sense of humor and sarcasm where applicable.
I already preordered my copies of volumes two and three, and am prepared to go nuclear if the publisher decides to stop translating this series halfway through. Let us hope it will not come to that. The best way to achieve that would be to take my enthusiasm at face value and pick this book up: It is very well worth reading.
It would be a shame if you decided to let it pass you by.
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes signifies a major failure of the publishing world. It is an overwhelming shame that volume one, Dawn , was waiting for a total of 34 years(!) to be officially released in english, translated from the japanese original. The series itself spans ten main novels plus side stories and tie-ins, won awards back in the 80s and received multiple media adaptations, from anime to games. There is even a new anime adaptation scheduled for 2017 - which I am eager to see for myself.
This series is big and exciting if volume one is anything to go by, and I sincerely hope that Haikasoru will see the whole series released in the west at long last. It is looking good, with the first three books scheduled for 2016 already.
As somebody who only saw glimpses of the anime adaptation at best, I can tell you that this is a cracking read with more depth and character than many modern SciFi works. None of the trappings of modern japanese light novels are present here, so leave your prejudices in the drawer when it comes to the heavily trope-laden stuff you see nowadays.
This is a scifi story with large-scale space battles (with thousands of battleships on either side, usually), intriguing characters, strong politics and exploration of human history, fascism, patriotism, philosophy and more. It is the full package of what I enjoy about science fiction.
I previously said in my review of The Emperor Expects that I'm not usually fond of space battles. Well, of course I would pick this book up next, not fully realizing just how many of those I would get! However, as large as they are described, I felt that every battle was firmly anchored around the overall strategies and generals, their reactions to the enemy and also their follies. Rather than lasers, pew-pew, it was all the more about fleet formations, tactical maneuvering, attempts to outwit the opponent.
It was also commenting a whole lot on the selfishness of the higher echelon and political leaders who would gamble with the lives of soldiers and their families back home, all for the sake of maintaining their own power, or increasing it. There are strong threads of anti-war messages in Dawn , and plenty of examples of extremist factions, short-sighted management and how a democratic civilization can go wrong.
When the book opened up with a prologue outlining humanity's growth and decline over the course of centuries, including the rise of a galactic empire established by what are essentially space Nazis, I was hooked. Most of them even have german names and still use german terminology in the book's present day. It isn't trying to hide its influences by any means, but then, it didn't need to in my opinion; The messages it was trying to send were amplified quite a bit this way.
On the other hand we have a galactic alliance of free planets, which, as it turns out, lost its ideals and is on the route of becoming no better than the empire it seeks to free the galaxy from. It depicts the precarious balance society has to maintain to not end up like the very evil it seeks to overthrow. Throughout the novel, the alliance became more and more openly abhorrent to me. The sheer hypocrisy of it all made it clear that neither of the two opposing sides in this conflict can hold much of a higher ground, and both have their share of relatable characters.
The protagonists of these two nations are the "Golden Brat" Reinhard von Lohengramm, supported by his childhood friend Sigfried Kircheis (which translates to Churchice. Had it been Kirscheis, with an added s, it would have been yummy cherry ice cream, which I got reminded of every time... But I digress), as well as the alliance's magician admiral Yang Wen-li and his closest friends.
Both of these characters are charismatic in their own way, and go the whole mile from promotion to promotion.
They're two sides of the same coin; Where Reinhard is ambitious and often ruthless, Yang would like nothing more than to quit the navy and keep his subordinates safe. Where one uses warfare as a means to propell himself through the ranks, the other scoffs at the waste of lives. Yet both are masterful tacticians who draw on different sources of talent and strategic knowledge. Both despise the system they are caught up in. Both care deeply about their close ones, even though their attitudes are very different from one another.
They both present the different cultural backgrounds of empire and alliance in a way that made it all matter to me, as the reader. I could understand these characters, and being told about their childhood experiences helped that along nicely. There is a lot of clever writing involved, and their pasts mirror each other in a sense.
All these parallels and strong differences made their growing rivalry and clashes throughout the book tough. I rooted for both of them and their goals, while condemning neither. While it seems clear that Reinhard isn't as easy to like and trust as Yang, who does not seem to realize just how good a leadership figure he is, I found myself drawn to count von Lohengramm's natural charisma.
Adding the strong supporting cast to it all, from the war orphan Julian, who Yang took in at some point before the story began and rocks his household, over the generals and political figures, everything falls into place around the duo. I cannot wait to see where they are headed next.
Honestly, I cannot do more than condemn the circumstances that saw this novel only see its way into the english language now. Legend of the Galactic Heroes Vol.1: Dawn is an underrated, often overlooked gem of international science fiction that can play with the big ones.
It is a political space opera of the best kind: Engaging, thought-provoking, relatable and with a good sense of humor and sarcasm where applicable.
I already preordered my copies of volumes two and three, and am prepared to go nuclear if the publisher decides to stop translating this series halfway through. Let us hope it will not come to that. The best way to achieve that would be to take my enthusiasm at face value and pick this book up: It is very well worth reading.
It would be a shame if you decided to let it pass you by.
March 14, 2017
{A Public Space}
[Enter Inquisitive Stranger; You close a book.]
STRANGER, I: Oh my, did you just finish that book?
YOU: Oh, hello. Yes, I did, actually.
STRANGER, I: Legend of the Galactic Heroes? So, is this a YA thing?
YOU: Ah, well the title is a bit misleading. It's translated quite literally from the Japanese and sounds dumb in English. I'd rather just call it Dawn.
STRANGER, I: Not really about what you'd rather do, is it? It's in giant letters on the cover.
YOU: I try to pretend otherwise. But trust me, it's good sci-fi.
STRANGER, I: Oh really? So are there a number of characters on competing sides who the reader can empathize with?
YOU: Totally!
STRANGER, I: Cool, like who?
YOU: Well there's this guy named Yang Wen-li. He's really humble but also a war hero/strategic genius but also a committed democrat and conflicted pacifist but also good friend and father. I really relate to him.
STRANGER, I: Okay, who else?
YOU: Right. I mean. The other guy is kind of a fascist. He's cool about it and he likes his friends, but like, pretty fascisty.
STRANGER, I: The other guy? Are there only two characters?
YOU: I mean, technically, yes. They are mostly archetypes whose worth is determined by their opinions toward the two main characters and I forget all their names, but yeah, it's a fun cast.
STRANGER, I: Is this one of those things where people describe something as "fun" when they mean "not that fun"?
YOU: I mean, it's not really *about* the characters. You have to take it in context; think of how Tanaka was a young Japanese author in the late 70's, having grown up in the post-war but trapped geographically between states in the Cold War. He structured the story around the Prussian Wars, but it clearly mirrors the rise of fascist powers in World War II as well as the seemingly unending struggle between the Soviet Union and NATO. It's a plea for pacifism in a world where militancy destroys nations' souls!
STRANGER, I: Right, but isn't this about lasers and spaceships? Do you really think the audience is going to pick up on an anti-war message when, judging by the cover, the book is focused on huge battles and their delightful intricacies?
YOU: You sure are perceptive, stranger.
STRANGER, P: Thanks.
YOU: I can't disagree with anything you've said. And yet, it's still a really fun read. It isn't deep, but it is interesting to see it as a product of its time. Plus, the struggle to define a democracy in a world defined by nationalism, populism, lust for power, and external threats is always relevant. I can't dislike a book that's this much fun, even if the characters are more representative than realistic.
STRANGER, P: Very well!
[The Generous Stranger hands you a copy of Ambition (Legend of the Galactic Heroes #2).]
STRANGER, G: You are strapped into this roller coaster, and there's no getting off.
YOU: Oh, okay. I mean, these characters could still be fun for another volume.
STRANGER, G: You're still using that word? Also, there are eight more books after this one.
[As the Stranger fades into a sudden mist, You look into the middle distance, then rising, begin to trundle offstage]
YOU: It may have mainstream appeal because of its military narrative, but that belies the subtle contradictions embodied in its protagonist! It's a commentary, an important and timeless....
[Enter Inquisitive Stranger; You close a book.]
STRANGER, I: Oh my, did you just finish that book?
YOU: Oh, hello. Yes, I did, actually.
STRANGER, I: Legend of the Galactic Heroes? So, is this a YA thing?
YOU: Ah, well the title is a bit misleading. It's translated quite literally from the Japanese and sounds dumb in English. I'd rather just call it Dawn.
STRANGER, I: Not really about what you'd rather do, is it? It's in giant letters on the cover.
YOU: I try to pretend otherwise. But trust me, it's good sci-fi.
STRANGER, I: Oh really? So are there a number of characters on competing sides who the reader can empathize with?
YOU: Totally!
STRANGER, I: Cool, like who?
YOU: Well there's this guy named Yang Wen-li. He's really humble but also a war hero/strategic genius but also a committed democrat and conflicted pacifist but also good friend and father. I really relate to him.
STRANGER, I: Okay, who else?
YOU: Right. I mean. The other guy is kind of a fascist. He's cool about it and he likes his friends, but like, pretty fascisty.
STRANGER, I: The other guy? Are there only two characters?
YOU: I mean, technically, yes. They are mostly archetypes whose worth is determined by their opinions toward the two main characters and I forget all their names, but yeah, it's a fun cast.
STRANGER, I: Is this one of those things where people describe something as "fun" when they mean "not that fun"?
YOU: I mean, it's not really *about* the characters. You have to take it in context; think of how Tanaka was a young Japanese author in the late 70's, having grown up in the post-war but trapped geographically between states in the Cold War. He structured the story around the Prussian Wars, but it clearly mirrors the rise of fascist powers in World War II as well as the seemingly unending struggle between the Soviet Union and NATO. It's a plea for pacifism in a world where militancy destroys nations' souls!
STRANGER, I: Right, but isn't this about lasers and spaceships? Do you really think the audience is going to pick up on an anti-war message when, judging by the cover, the book is focused on huge battles and their delightful intricacies?
YOU: You sure are perceptive, stranger.
STRANGER, P: Thanks.
YOU: I can't disagree with anything you've said. And yet, it's still a really fun read. It isn't deep, but it is interesting to see it as a product of its time. Plus, the struggle to define a democracy in a world defined by nationalism, populism, lust for power, and external threats is always relevant. I can't dislike a book that's this much fun, even if the characters are more representative than realistic.
STRANGER, P: Very well!
[The Generous Stranger hands you a copy of Ambition (Legend of the Galactic Heroes #2).]
STRANGER, G: You are strapped into this roller coaster, and there's no getting off.
YOU: Oh, okay. I mean, these characters could still be fun for another volume.
STRANGER, G: You're still using that word? Also, there are eight more books after this one.
[As the Stranger fades into a sudden mist, You look into the middle distance, then rising, begin to trundle offstage]
YOU: It may have mainstream appeal because of its military narrative, but that belies the subtle contradictions embodied in its protagonist! It's a commentary, an important and timeless....
April 1, 2016
Yoshiki Tanaka is one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. It is such a shame that he is not more widely read outside East Asia. He truly embodies what a writer shall strive for--using our words to influence and change the community and society around us.
The series has shaped (and educated) a whole generation of young men and women in Asia. The following is an anonymous comment on a internet forum from a Chinese high school boy, 'I have never got a chance to experience what true democracy is, but after reading the book, I know by my heart that even the most corrupted democracy is better than what the best despotism could ever be.'
The series has shaped (and educated) a whole generation of young men and women in Asia. The following is an anonymous comment on a internet forum from a Chinese high school boy, 'I have never got a chance to experience what true democracy is, but after reading the book, I know by my heart that even the most corrupted democracy is better than what the best despotism could ever be.'
November 22, 2016
It's bad and cheesy. The writing is clunky (I can't tell if it's the translator) and there are whole chapters that read like cliff notes or a history book with dry exposition. Characters are cartoonish, tension in the wholly predictable plot non-existant. What it's got going for it is how ridiculous it is.
The plot boils down to a bunch of plucky rebels from the democratic alliance fighting space Hitler leading the Fourth Reich. Surprisingly little SF in this story, it's mostly about military intrigue with a sprinkling of medieval style battles (except in space!). Honestly, it would translate seamlessly into a medieval fantasy setting without losing anything.
The plot boils down to a bunch of plucky rebels from the democratic alliance fighting space Hitler leading the Fourth Reich. Surprisingly little SF in this story, it's mostly about military intrigue with a sprinkling of medieval style battles (except in space!). Honestly, it would translate seamlessly into a medieval fantasy setting without losing anything.
April 28, 2017
عمل اسطوري ( الأنمي - أوفا ).
مو متحمس كثير للنسخة الجديدة من الأنمي
🗿
مو متحمس كثير للنسخة الجديدة من الأنمي
🗿
Want to read
October 27, 2015It's... It's finally happening.
It really is the end of days!
It really is the end of days!
August 22, 2025
English version below!
در واقع ۲/۵
این کتاب رو به پیشنهاد یکی از دوستان شروع کردم که خیلی خیلی ازش خوشش اومده بود.
البته امتیاز زیر ۴ش تو استوریگرف و ۱۰ جلدی بودنش موانع اصلی برای شروعش بودن!
ولی خب، بعد یه مدت گفتم جلد اولش که زیر ۳۰۰ صفحهست، میخونم اگه خوشم نیومد فوقش ادامه نمیدم دیگه! این شد که رفتم سراغش.
و نظرم جدا با دوستم و بچههای دیگهای که این کتاب رو خوندن متفاوت از آب دراومد 🫠 در حدی که بعد از خوندن مرورهاشون از این همه اختلاف نظر تعجب کردم (همیشه اینجاها به خودم یادآوری میکنم که: بابا حواست باشه سلیقهٔ آدما با هم فرق میکنه! ولی با این حال بازم متعجبم 😄).
من جدا بیشتر کتاب رو با یه حالت بیمیلی خوندم. برعکس دوستان، به نظرم خیلی از نکات جنگها منطقی نبود و یا درست و منطقی توضیح داده نشده بود. خیلی جاها اصلا تصور درستی از صحنهٔ جنگ نداشتم، خیلی جاها حس میکردم نویسنده باید یه نقشهای چیزی بهمون نشون میداد، خیلی از فناوریها به نظرم اصلا درست توضیح داده نشده بودن و...
یه سری افراد هم به شدت احمق نشون داده شده بودن، یعنی قضیه طوری بود که یه نفر بعد از نشستن سر دو تا کلاس نظامی که نه، با یه مقدار عقل سلیم متوجه میشد چقدر فلان موضوع احمقانهست ولی این دوستان متوجه نمیشدن 🙄
یعنی اینطور بگم حماقتشون مضحک بود و به نظرم اصلا در جریان داستان درست و منطقی درنیومده بود (بله همه جا آدم احمق پیدا میشه ولی باور کنید حماقت هم باید تو داستان بشینه و منطق داشته باشه، از یه حدی که بیشتر بشه و افراد بیشتری رو در بربگیره غیرقابلباور میشه).
همین قضیه باعث شد خوندن آخرای کتاب برام مثل شکنجه باشه، دلم میخواست زودتر تموم بشه و از اون طرف اصلا علاقهای به خوندنش نداشتم!
بحثهای اجتماعی و سیاسی کتاب هم به نظرم عمق چندانی نداشتن (باز برعکس نظر دوستان 🫠).
اگه فقط همین موارد بود بهش ۱ میدادم، ولی معدود صحنههای جالبی هم داشت. این صحنهها تقریبا به طور خاص محدود میشد به صحنههای ینگ ون-لی :) کلا این آدم از نظر من جالبترین شخصیت کتاب بود. صحنههایی که با خولین داشت و یا صحنههای بسیار محدودش با فدریکا شاید بگم تنها قسمتهایی از کتاب بودن که دوست داشتم و از خوندنشون لذت بردم.
ولی اینا اینقدر کم بودن که نمیتونستن برای من بیمزگی و بیمنطقی بقیهٔ کتاب رو جبران کنن و در نتیجه تقریبا از همون نیمهٔ کتاب تصمیم به رها کردن این مجموعه گرفتم.
و به خاطر این تصمیم رفتم توضیح جلدهای بعدی رو تو استوریگرف خوندم و اینطوری شدم: 😐
البته خب نمیشه با همین چند خط قضاوت کرد ولی اصلا از مسیری که نویسنده برای وقایع و شخصیتها در نظر گرفته بود خوشم نیومد...
با این حال بدم نمیآد یه خلاصهای از جلدهای بعد رو بخونم ببینم کار شخصیتها به کجا میکشه، مخصوصا خلاصهٔ جلد آخر آخر رو. ولی همینطوری که گشتم همچین چیزی تو نت نیافتم 🤔
2.5 stars
I started this book based on a friend’s recommendation—she really, really liked it.
But honestly, its sub-4 rating on StoryGraph and the fact that it’s a 10-volume series were major obstacles to starting it!
Still, after a while I thought, “The first volume is under 300 pages. I’ll read it, and if I don’t like it, I’ll just stop there.” So I gave it a shot.
And my opinion turned out to be quite different from my friend’s and others who’ve read it 🫠. I was genuinely surprised by how much our views diverged after reading their reviews (I always try to remind myself: “Hey, people have different tastes!” But even so, I’m still surprised 😄).
Honestly, I read most of the book with a sense of reluctance. Unlike my friends, I felt that many aspects of the battles weren’t logical or weren’t explained properly. In many parts, I couldn’t visualize the war scenes at all. I often felt the author should’ve shown us a map or something. Many of the technologies weren’t explained clearly either...
Moreover, some characters were portrayed as extremely stupid. Like, there were cases where someone after attending two basic military classes —or with just a bit of common sense—would immediately recognize as absurd. But these characters didn’t get it 🙄.
Let me put it this way: their stupidity was laughable, and I don’t think it fit in the story in a believable or logical way. Sure, dumb people exist everywhere, but even stupidity in a story needs to make sense. If it goes too far and affects too many characters, it becomes unbelievable.
This made finishing the book feel like torture—I just wanted it to end, and I had zero interest in continuing!
The book’s social and political discussions also felt pretty shallow to me (again, contrary to my friends’ opinions 🫠).
If it were just those issues, I’d have rated it a 1. But there were a few interesting scenes.
These were mostly limited to the ones involving Yang Wen-li :) Honestly, he was the most intriguing character in the book for me.
The scenes with Julian, and the very few with Frederica, were probably the only parts I genuinely enjoyed (My rating for these scenes is 4 out of 5).
But they were so few and far between that they couldn’t make up for the dullness and lack of logic in the rest of the book. So around the halfway point, I knew I was going to drop the series.
So after finishing this volume, I went and read summaries of the later ones on StoryGraph, and my reaction was: 😐
Of course, you can’t judge based on just a few lines, but I really didn’t like the direction the author took with the events and characters...
Still, I wouldn’t mind reading a summary of the later volumes just to see where the characters end up—especially the final volume. But from what I’ve searched online, I haven’t found anything like that 🤔
در واقع ۲/۵
این کتاب رو به پیشنهاد یکی از دوستان شروع کردم که خیلی خیلی ازش خوشش اومده بود.
البته امتیاز زیر ۴ش تو استوریگرف و ۱۰ جلدی بودنش موانع اصلی برای شروعش بودن!
ولی خب، بعد یه مدت گفتم جلد اولش که زیر ۳۰۰ صفحهست، میخونم اگه خوشم نیومد فوقش ادامه نمیدم دیگه! این شد که رفتم سراغش.
و نظرم جدا با دوستم و بچههای دیگهای که این کتاب رو خوندن متفاوت از آب دراومد 🫠 در حدی که بعد از خوندن مرورهاشون از این همه اختلاف نظر تعجب کردم (همیشه اینجاها به خودم یادآوری میکنم که: بابا حواست باشه سلیقهٔ آدما با هم فرق میکنه! ولی با این حال بازم متعجبم 😄).
من جدا بیشتر کتاب رو با یه حالت بیمیلی خوندم. برعکس دوستان، به نظرم خیلی از نکات جنگها منطقی نبود و یا درست و منطقی توضیح داده نشده بود. خیلی جاها اصلا تصور درستی از صحنهٔ جنگ نداشتم، خیلی جاها حس میکردم نویسنده باید یه نقشهای چیزی بهمون نشون میداد، خیلی از فناوریها به نظرم اصلا درست توضیح داده نشده بودن و...
یه سری افراد هم به شدت احمق نشون داده شده بودن، یعنی قضیه طوری بود که یه نفر بعد از نشستن سر دو تا کلاس نظامی که نه، با یه مقدار عقل سلیم متوجه میشد چقدر فلان موضوع احمقانهست ولی این دوستان متوجه نمیشدن 🙄
یعنی اینطور بگم حماقتشون مضحک بود و به نظرم اصلا در جریان داستان درست و منطقی درنیومده بود (بله همه جا آدم احمق پیدا میشه ولی باور کنید حماقت هم باید تو داستان بشینه و منطق داشته باشه، از یه حدی که بیشتر بشه و افراد بیشتری رو در بربگیره غیرقابلباور میشه).
همین قضیه باعث شد خوندن آخرای کتاب برام مثل شکنجه باشه، دلم میخواست زودتر تموم بشه و از اون طرف اصلا علاقهای به خوندنش نداشتم!
بحثهای اجتماعی و سیاسی کتاب هم به نظرم عمق چندانی نداشتن (باز برعکس نظر دوستان 🫠).
اگه فقط همین موارد بود بهش ۱ میدادم، ولی معدود صحنههای جالبی هم داشت. این صحنهها تقریبا به طور خاص محدود میشد به صحنههای ینگ ون-لی :) کلا این آدم از نظر من جالبترین شخصیت کتاب بود. صحنههایی که با خولین داشت و یا صحنههای بسیار محدودش با فدریکا شاید بگم تنها قسمتهایی از کتاب بودن که دوست داشتم و از خوندنشون لذت بردم.
ولی اینا اینقدر کم بودن که نمیتونستن برای من بیمزگی و بیمنطقی بقیهٔ کتاب رو جبران کنن و در نتیجه تقریبا از همون نیمهٔ کتاب تصمیم به رها کردن این مجموعه گرفتم.
و به خاطر این تصمیم رفتم توضیح جلدهای بعدی رو تو استوریگرف خوندم و اینطوری شدم: 😐
البته خب نمیشه با همین چند خط قضاوت کرد ولی اصلا از مسیری که نویسنده برای وقایع و شخصیتها در نظر گرفته بود خوشم نیومد...
با این حال بدم نمیآد یه خلاصهای از جلدهای بعد رو بخونم ببینم کار شخصیتها به کجا میکشه، مخصوصا خلاصهٔ جلد آخر آخر رو. ولی همینطوری که گشتم همچین چیزی تو نت نیافتم 🤔
2.5 stars
I started this book based on a friend’s recommendation—she really, really liked it.
But honestly, its sub-4 rating on StoryGraph and the fact that it’s a 10-volume series were major obstacles to starting it!
Still, after a while I thought, “The first volume is under 300 pages. I’ll read it, and if I don’t like it, I’ll just stop there.” So I gave it a shot.
And my opinion turned out to be quite different from my friend’s and others who’ve read it 🫠. I was genuinely surprised by how much our views diverged after reading their reviews (I always try to remind myself: “Hey, people have different tastes!” But even so, I’m still surprised 😄).
Honestly, I read most of the book with a sense of reluctance. Unlike my friends, I felt that many aspects of the battles weren’t logical or weren’t explained properly. In many parts, I couldn’t visualize the war scenes at all. I often felt the author should’ve shown us a map or something. Many of the technologies weren’t explained clearly either...
Moreover, some characters were portrayed as extremely stupid. Like, there were cases where someone after attending two basic military classes —or with just a bit of common sense—would immediately recognize as absurd. But these characters didn’t get it 🙄.
Let me put it this way: their stupidity was laughable, and I don’t think it fit in the story in a believable or logical way. Sure, dumb people exist everywhere, but even stupidity in a story needs to make sense. If it goes too far and affects too many characters, it becomes unbelievable.
This made finishing the book feel like torture—I just wanted it to end, and I had zero interest in continuing!
The book’s social and political discussions also felt pretty shallow to me (again, contrary to my friends’ opinions 🫠).
If it were just those issues, I’d have rated it a 1. But there were a few interesting scenes.
These were mostly limited to the ones involving Yang Wen-li :) Honestly, he was the most intriguing character in the book for me.
The scenes with Julian, and the very few with Frederica, were probably the only parts I genuinely enjoyed (My rating for these scenes is 4 out of 5).
But they were so few and far between that they couldn’t make up for the dullness and lack of logic in the rest of the book. So around the halfway point, I knew I was going to drop the series.
So after finishing this volume, I went and read summaries of the later ones on StoryGraph, and my reaction was: 😐
Of course, you can’t judge based on just a few lines, but I really didn’t like the direction the author took with the events and characters...
Still, I wouldn’t mind reading a summary of the later volumes just to see where the characters end up—especially the final volume. But from what I’ve searched online, I haven’t found anything like that 🤔
November 29, 2017
"I've studied a little history. That's how I learned this: In human society, there are two main schools of thought. One says there are things that are more valuable than life, and the other says that nothing is more important. When people go to war, they use the former as an excuse, and when they stop fighting, they give the latter as the reason."
This little paragraph towards the end of this book sums it up nicely.
This is a story about how humanity can't stop being the way it is. This story starts so far into the future that humanity has left Earth (now a useless rock in space, devoid of all resources), consists of over 30 billion people and has developed so far technologically, that the only way forward was backwards aka they've re-instated the monarchy, completely with baroque looking palaces. It's a weird kind of mix, but it somehow works for the most part?
There are now two main fractions: The Empire with their emperor and nobles running everything and The Alliance, which prides itself for being a democracy.
Both are run by people who are either openly ambitious and warmongering or secretly corrupt.
Both are telling their people that everything they do is for some higher purpose, devine power or to liberate the people.
As a reader, I wasn't really surprised to see all of this happening on the Empire's side, but was surprised (in a positive way) that the Alliance wasn't all that different, after it got introduced as that underdog who just wants to be free. While it certainly wasn't nice to see, I thought it was very realistic that a growing group of people wouldn't stay idealistic for too long.
"But just as humans must eventually grow old and infirm, perhaps so, too, their nations must eventually grow corrupt and decadent."
We follow the lives of two characters - one for either side of the conflict. They couldn't be any more different if they tried. On the side of the Empire we have Reinhard von Lohengramm, who is driven not only by personal ambition, but also by hatred for the people he's supposed to serve. He's cold and calculating, but not cruel to everyone who is not his sister or his childhood friend Kircheis.
And on the side of the Alliance we have the genuinly kind Yang Wen-Li, who loathes being a soldier, but had no choice but to go down that path due to money problems. Since he keeps beating impossible odds, his wish to retire get rejected again and again.
Both of these men have only two things in common: Their tactical genius and their ability to inspire loyality in their subordinates.
They're both fascinating characters, even if Yang definitely is the more likeable and relatable of the two. I especially found his insights about human nature and war to be very interesting and very relevant right now.
"It's because of men like this that the war can't end. I've had enough. Enough of dealing with men like this."
There are of course other characters who get some focus. Some to just die a few pages later, but others you get the sense will stay around for a long time to scheme their way to the top. Curious to see what will become of them (I did watch the anime a long long time ago and remember the most memorable fates, but others I genuinly have no clue about).
So yes, the characters were fine to great. The world building was a bit wonky, but not distractingly so. The one big problem I had was that these characters are supposed to be genuises, but it wasn't believably written. There are writers who can create a genius character without being geniuses themselves by researching a lot or writing around it. Here the strategies seem all very obvious? I don't know if we're supposed to think that humanity forgot all about tactics beyond bigger = better or if the genius is supposed to be that they do that stuff with several million soldiers on the battlefield.
The other thing I had big issues with was the writing - or rather the translation. I can't really comment on the original, but do you know the feeling you sometimes get when reading a book not in its original language? How you can tell that it's a translation, because the flow doesn't feel natural? It was a major factor why I couldn't get into the story for almost 2/3 of the book. I probably would have given up, if I didn't have nostalgic feelings towards the anime and wanted to power through.
What makes a good translation is that if you didn't know it was one, you would never notice. Sadly, this was not one of those. There were some super interesting ideas and memorable moments, but most of the time I had to concentrate really hard to stay focused, so I wouldn't miss anything important.
"In battle, it was impossible to sacrifice no one. Yet at the same time, the effect of victory was lessened in inverse proportion to mounting losses. It was in finding the point that made both proportions compatible that tactics as a discipline found it's raison d'être."
Another facet of this is the fault of the original, though: The mangled German. Dear God, I was cringing so hard at points. I'm kind of resigned of seeing my first language being used in weird ways by anime/manga by now, but in this instance, it was just really... unfortunate.
It just doesn't work when you know that these names are supposed to be strong sounding, masculine and powerful but in reality there are either people running around being called things like "von Büro" (aka von "Office") or with names that kind of sorta vaguely sound German, but like someone run them through google translate a few times and then put a "von" in front of half of them.
In my opinion they cheapened the seriousness of the story a bit.
There were also few really odd moments, like the one guy who somehow managed to climb the hierarchy despite having an actual diagnosed disorder which makes it impossible for him to accept any kind of personal failure and own up to it ... or a space ship made out of ice ... or wrapping my head around the pure scales of the battles (you're really trying to tell me what just a few hundred people can control billions of civillians at all times?) etc that I thought didn't work.
(Also not a friend of having to wonder if the Empire is some sort of "If the Nazis won. In space." thing...)
I do wish I could have given this one more than three stars, but will continue to read this series (despite knowing that the next book will likely break my heart), simply because it did manage to grab me at the end and because of nostalgic feelings for the anime. Maybe it will find it's groove later.
This little paragraph towards the end of this book sums it up nicely.
This is a story about how humanity can't stop being the way it is. This story starts so far into the future that humanity has left Earth (now a useless rock in space, devoid of all resources), consists of over 30 billion people and has developed so far technologically, that the only way forward was backwards aka they've re-instated the monarchy, completely with baroque looking palaces. It's a weird kind of mix, but it somehow works for the most part?
There are now two main fractions: The Empire with their emperor and nobles running everything and The Alliance, which prides itself for being a democracy.
Both are run by people who are either openly ambitious and warmongering or secretly corrupt.
Both are telling their people that everything they do is for some higher purpose, devine power or to liberate the people.
As a reader, I wasn't really surprised to see all of this happening on the Empire's side, but was surprised (in a positive way) that the Alliance wasn't all that different, after it got introduced as that underdog who just wants to be free. While it certainly wasn't nice to see, I thought it was very realistic that a growing group of people wouldn't stay idealistic for too long.
"But just as humans must eventually grow old and infirm, perhaps so, too, their nations must eventually grow corrupt and decadent."
We follow the lives of two characters - one for either side of the conflict. They couldn't be any more different if they tried. On the side of the Empire we have Reinhard von Lohengramm, who is driven not only by personal ambition, but also by hatred for the people he's supposed to serve. He's cold and calculating, but not cruel to everyone who is not his sister or his childhood friend Kircheis.
And on the side of the Alliance we have the genuinly kind Yang Wen-Li, who loathes being a soldier, but had no choice but to go down that path due to money problems. Since he keeps beating impossible odds, his wish to retire get rejected again and again.
Both of these men have only two things in common: Their tactical genius and their ability to inspire loyality in their subordinates.
They're both fascinating characters, even if Yang definitely is the more likeable and relatable of the two. I especially found his insights about human nature and war to be very interesting and very relevant right now.
"It's because of men like this that the war can't end. I've had enough. Enough of dealing with men like this."
There are of course other characters who get some focus. Some to just die a few pages later, but others you get the sense will stay around for a long time to scheme their way to the top. Curious to see what will become of them (I did watch the anime a long long time ago and remember the most memorable fates, but others I genuinly have no clue about).
So yes, the characters were fine to great. The world building was a bit wonky, but not distractingly so. The one big problem I had was that these characters are supposed to be genuises, but it wasn't believably written. There are writers who can create a genius character without being geniuses themselves by researching a lot or writing around it. Here the strategies seem all very obvious? I don't know if we're supposed to think that humanity forgot all about tactics beyond bigger = better or if the genius is supposed to be that they do that stuff with several million soldiers on the battlefield.
The other thing I had big issues with was the writing - or rather the translation. I can't really comment on the original, but do you know the feeling you sometimes get when reading a book not in its original language? How you can tell that it's a translation, because the flow doesn't feel natural? It was a major factor why I couldn't get into the story for almost 2/3 of the book. I probably would have given up, if I didn't have nostalgic feelings towards the anime and wanted to power through.
What makes a good translation is that if you didn't know it was one, you would never notice. Sadly, this was not one of those. There were some super interesting ideas and memorable moments, but most of the time I had to concentrate really hard to stay focused, so I wouldn't miss anything important.
"In battle, it was impossible to sacrifice no one. Yet at the same time, the effect of victory was lessened in inverse proportion to mounting losses. It was in finding the point that made both proportions compatible that tactics as a discipline found it's raison d'être."
Another facet of this is the fault of the original, though: The mangled German. Dear God, I was cringing so hard at points. I'm kind of resigned of seeing my first language being used in weird ways by anime/manga by now, but in this instance, it was just really... unfortunate.
It just doesn't work when you know that these names are supposed to be strong sounding, masculine and powerful but in reality there are either people running around being called things like "von Büro" (aka von "Office") or with names that kind of sorta vaguely sound German, but like someone run them through google translate a few times and then put a "von" in front of half of them.
In my opinion they cheapened the seriousness of the story a bit.
There were also few really odd moments, like the one guy who somehow managed to climb the hierarchy despite having an actual diagnosed disorder which makes it impossible for him to accept any kind of personal failure and own up to it ... or a space ship made out of ice ... or wrapping my head around the pure scales of the battles (you're really trying to tell me what just a few hundred people can control billions of civillians at all times?) etc that I thought didn't work.
(Also not a friend of having to wonder if the Empire is some sort of "If the Nazis won. In space." thing...)
I do wish I could have given this one more than three stars, but will continue to read this series (despite knowing that the next book will likely break my heart), simply because it did manage to grab me at the end and because of nostalgic feelings for the anime. Maybe it will find it's groove later.
June 25, 2019
This is one of the strangest military science fiction books I've read - a subgenre that is by all accounts fairly predictable. It reads like an anime, and I thought this was the case well before I realized it was written by a Japanese author and translated into English. In short, I don't like anime/manga (or most Japanese fiction that I've ever digested), and this follows suit, but for rather different reasons.
The author is madly in love with names. Especially German names. The lists of officers and officials is long and outright tedious at several points in the book - especially where the characters are so minor that they're only named once - but boy do they have appropriately long-winded titles and characterizations. This weird quasi-national socialist Empire versus the democratic but equally corrupt Free Planets Alliance is one of the more basic settings I've ever read for sci-fi, but it's not bad.
The main characters on both sides are reasonably likable, and the author doesn't try to wage any kind of social or culture war with his prose, which is refreshing for this genre. Unfortunately, this is where the refreshments stop, and the frustration begins.
To be brief, this book is ridiculous. To sum up the author's approach to military actions, he seems to be enamored of historical settings, great battles and generals, and has good command of language...and a complete and utter lack of understanding of how battles are actually fought. He summarizes battles along the lines of "x thousand ships attacked x thousand ships and CRUSHED them!", often assuming near zero losses for the victor. Also, there is no Z axis. Also, every "brilliant tactic" is usually just a pincer movement. Also, anytime any naval officer shows any kind of minimal aptitude for leadership (and there are precious few), we have to pause the whole book so that individuals on both sides of the fighting can acknowledge his skill.
Yang, the book's great hero, has a command of tactics that seems roughly on par with an ensign fresh out of any officer's academy in modern 21st century earth, and the predictive skill to boot. I am very hopeful that most people who read this don't eat it up and hope it's quality military writing, because while it is mildly entertaining and not completely throw-away, it's one of the least expertly written "military" sci-fi's I've ever read. No more for me, thanks.
The author is madly in love with names. Especially German names. The lists of officers and officials is long and outright tedious at several points in the book - especially where the characters are so minor that they're only named once - but boy do they have appropriately long-winded titles and characterizations. This weird quasi-national socialist Empire versus the democratic but equally corrupt Free Planets Alliance is one of the more basic settings I've ever read for sci-fi, but it's not bad.
The main characters on both sides are reasonably likable, and the author doesn't try to wage any kind of social or culture war with his prose, which is refreshing for this genre. Unfortunately, this is where the refreshments stop, and the frustration begins.
To be brief, this book is ridiculous. To sum up the author's approach to military actions, he seems to be enamored of historical settings, great battles and generals, and has good command of language...and a complete and utter lack of understanding of how battles are actually fought. He summarizes battles along the lines of "x thousand ships attacked x thousand ships and CRUSHED them!", often assuming near zero losses for the victor. Also, there is no Z axis. Also, every "brilliant tactic" is usually just a pincer movement. Also, anytime any naval officer shows any kind of minimal aptitude for leadership (and there are precious few), we have to pause the whole book so that individuals on both sides of the fighting can acknowledge his skill.
Yang, the book's great hero, has a command of tactics that seems roughly on par with an ensign fresh out of any officer's academy in modern 21st century earth, and the predictive skill to boot. I am very hopeful that most people who read this don't eat it up and hope it's quality military writing, because while it is mildly entertaining and not completely throw-away, it's one of the least expertly written "military" sci-fi's I've ever read. No more for me, thanks.
November 21, 2018
"There’s nothing easier than advocating for peace with words.”
There is one thing, thought Yang. Hiding in a safe place and advocating for war.
Tanaka re-imagines the bloody wars which plagued the European continent and much of the world with it, in the 19th-20th century. The action shifts to space, with all the major sci-fi paraphernalia at its display - FTL, photon torpedos, force fields, Dyson spheres, terraforming etc.
What's at the heart of this series, is not fancy sci.fi gadgetry listed before or alien visitations/wars, but the chess-like machinations of two ambitious young men at the helm of opposing forces - the cynic & strategist, Yang Wen Li and the cold, ambitious, brilliant Reinhard von Lohengramm, as they battle each other across light years and decades.
If you have read Old Man's War, or Red Rising then you can imagine perhaps the combination of war-weariness and cynicism in Yang or the Machiavellian ambition of Reinhard, played out on a galactic scale.
My Rating - 4/5
There is one thing, thought Yang. Hiding in a safe place and advocating for war.
Tanaka re-imagines the bloody wars which plagued the European continent and much of the world with it, in the 19th-20th century. The action shifts to space, with all the major sci-fi paraphernalia at its display - FTL, photon torpedos, force fields, Dyson spheres, terraforming etc.
What's at the heart of this series, is not fancy sci.fi gadgetry listed before or alien visitations/wars, but the chess-like machinations of two ambitious young men at the helm of opposing forces - the cynic & strategist, Yang Wen Li and the cold, ambitious, brilliant Reinhard von Lohengramm, as they battle each other across light years and decades.
If you have read Old Man's War, or Red Rising then you can imagine perhaps the combination of war-weariness and cynicism in Yang or the Machiavellian ambition of Reinhard, played out on a galactic scale.
My Rating - 4/5
March 30, 2017
There was a lot to like. I started reading expecting the overall style to be different from what I'm used to, since the author is Japanese - and I wasn't disappointed. Half the time when someone spoke, I got two versions: what the person thought, and then what he actually said out loud. (Ok, most of the time he just stayed quiet. Or maybe there'd be a description how he'd completely lose his temper; things like "he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow slightly", or "the curve on the corner of his mouth grew even more pronounced". :D )
The narrative structure was interesting as well - there were characters from every side of an armed conflict, most of them quite relatable, so I'd often ended up cheering for both sides in an encounter.
And then it ended horribly for all of them, because although competent, they had obstinate and dumb superior officers.
All in all, I really liked it and will definitely read the next one as well.
The narrative structure was interesting as well - there were characters from every side of an armed conflict, most of them quite relatable, so I'd often ended up cheering for both sides in an encounter.
And then it ended horribly for all of them, because although competent, they had obstinate and dumb superior officers.
All in all, I really liked it and will definitely read the next one as well.
March 28, 2016
This book had it all. One dimensional characters, military tactics equal to that of third graders and political maneuvering that requires no thought to follow or predict. Some parts were fun at the beginning, but the stupidity of the characters/plot ruined that fun. The book was terribly written and seemed to be aimed at a YA crowd even though it was packed in with the other science fiction books.
August 20, 2017
Terrible.
I weep for those who think this is good. Cartoon cutout characters. Bad dialog. Ridiculous plot. Read Walter Jon Williams Praxis books instead. Broadly similar concept except written by someone who can actually write.
I weep for those who think this is good. Cartoon cutout characters. Bad dialog. Ridiculous plot. Read Walter Jon Williams Praxis books instead. Broadly similar concept except written by someone who can actually write.
February 2, 2015
This is space opera made right. Simple as that.
September 2, 2020
It is quite an impressive beginning to the series!
This story is a saga about interstellar warfare mainly between two factions -- a democratic Free Planets Alliance (FPA) and a monarchical Galactic Empire (GE); with the focus on the journey of one or two main characters on either side.
From the FPA, we have Yang Wen-Li - an astute tactician whose interests lies in studying history and aims to achieve a sort of peace. From the GE we have Reinhard von Lohengramm, a highly ambitious and ruthless personality with dreams of making to Emperor, and his close childhood friend - Kircheis. The book focuses on their military exploits and the political intrigue surrounding them as they quickly rise in rank and prominence.
I had seen the anime version of the initial parts of the book. Overall, I feel you won't miss much even if you watch the anime version of the story - save for some lucid explanations of the motivations and actions of the various factions, which make things clearer.
The entire galactic society seems to be a caricatured human society - with exaggerated time-scales and the lack of the role of religion/culture in influencing factionalism. However, the ideals and ambitions of different factions are touched upon. For example, the FPA wants to "liberate" the people of the Empire and usher in the ideals of liberty and freedom. The political commentary is rather astute.
I read somewhere that this saga essentially translates the European wars of the 19th century into an interstellar setting - which makes it clear why the story is like that.
Character (4/5) : The personalities of the focus characters are explored. The roles that each of the characters are potentially going to play is rather well-defined and makes you expectant of how their relationships will change. For example, a tertiary character may act as the root of strife between Reinhard and his close friend.
Yang Wen-Li from the FPA, however, appears larger than life in his faction and it is clear that the author really likes him. Having some knowledge of history, he is able to relate the overall flow of modern warfare to that of warfare in history. His motivation for doing the things he does essentially boils down to two things :- his interest in surveying history and to bequeath a temporary peace spanning decades to future generations. He is of-course, not infallible, as he makes mistakes in predicting the decisions of his own government.
Setting (4/5) : The setting is the interstellar warfare between the two factions. The sci-fi stuff regarding the battleships, interstellar movement is believable enough.
There is a neutral zone - Phezzan - which secures it's sovereignty by being in a very strategic position, acting as a trade zone and flirting with both sides. There is also a build-up to how Phezzan is going to influence things in the future by unleashing some sort of a spiritual movement among the warring factions, with it's mythos based on the glory of old Earth.
Plot (4.5/5) : The author has been able to make me expectant of how he's going to conclude this warfare and the fate of the main characters. The story & the war moves along splendidly with each successive decision affecting the next.
Writing Style (4.5/5) : I have very little complaints regarding the writing style. The narrative is fluid, easy to follow, doesn't get bogged down by details of the sci-fi fluff (unlike Simmon's Hyperion Cantos) and gets to the crux of the conversations and intrigue.
Substance (3/5) : You'll find some astute political observations :- the way the nature of public is influenced with time and actions of those in power, an exploration of the nature and limitations of the bureaucracy & military in both the democratic and monarchical faction, and the intriguing way these power structures change towards the end of the book.
Total : 20/25
This story is a saga about interstellar warfare mainly between two factions -- a democratic Free Planets Alliance (FPA) and a monarchical Galactic Empire (GE); with the focus on the journey of one or two main characters on either side.
From the FPA, we have Yang Wen-Li - an astute tactician whose interests lies in studying history and aims to achieve a sort of peace. From the GE we have Reinhard von Lohengramm, a highly ambitious and ruthless personality with dreams of making to Emperor, and his close childhood friend - Kircheis. The book focuses on their military exploits and the political intrigue surrounding them as they quickly rise in rank and prominence.
I had seen the anime version of the initial parts of the book. Overall, I feel you won't miss much even if you watch the anime version of the story - save for some lucid explanations of the motivations and actions of the various factions, which make things clearer.
The entire galactic society seems to be a caricatured human society - with exaggerated time-scales and the lack of the role of religion/culture in influencing factionalism. However, the ideals and ambitions of different factions are touched upon. For example, the FPA wants to "liberate" the people of the Empire and usher in the ideals of liberty and freedom. The political commentary is rather astute.
I read somewhere that this saga essentially translates the European wars of the 19th century into an interstellar setting - which makes it clear why the story is like that.
Character (4/5) : The personalities of the focus characters are explored. The roles that each of the characters are potentially going to play is rather well-defined and makes you expectant of how their relationships will change. For example, a tertiary character may act as the root of strife between Reinhard and his close friend.
Yang Wen-Li from the FPA, however, appears larger than life in his faction and it is clear that the author really likes him. Having some knowledge of history, he is able to relate the overall flow of modern warfare to that of warfare in history. His motivation for doing the things he does essentially boils down to two things :- his interest in surveying history and to bequeath a temporary peace spanning decades to future generations. He is of-course, not infallible, as he makes mistakes in predicting the decisions of his own government.
Setting (4/5) : The setting is the interstellar warfare between the two factions. The sci-fi stuff regarding the battleships, interstellar movement is believable enough.
There is a neutral zone - Phezzan - which secures it's sovereignty by being in a very strategic position, acting as a trade zone and flirting with both sides. There is also a build-up to how Phezzan is going to influence things in the future by unleashing some sort of a spiritual movement among the warring factions, with it's mythos based on the glory of old Earth.
Plot (4.5/5) : The author has been able to make me expectant of how he's going to conclude this warfare and the fate of the main characters. The story & the war moves along splendidly with each successive decision affecting the next.
Writing Style (4.5/5) : I have very little complaints regarding the writing style. The narrative is fluid, easy to follow, doesn't get bogged down by details of the sci-fi fluff (unlike Simmon's Hyperion Cantos) and gets to the crux of the conversations and intrigue.
Substance (3/5) : You'll find some astute political observations :- the way the nature of public is influenced with time and actions of those in power, an exploration of the nature and limitations of the bureaucracy & military in both the democratic and monarchical faction, and the intriguing way these power structures change towards the end of the book.
Total : 20/25
June 15, 2024
Who the hell hired this guy to read this?! It was so laughable! Why hire a Brit to read with an American accent? His super weird "accent" was all over the place! First, he didn't even try, his "American accent" had British pronunciations. Then, he went for a strange 1940s American radio accent when it's suppose to be in the 3500s?! The Free Planets Alliance all have American accents, and a transatlantic accent, a cockney and a random French guy for some reason?! The Galactic Empire seems to be a mix of standard American and RP British Accents. My question is why? The anime English dub is all American accents, so why have this guy with the most BORING voice read this? They should have stuck to the anime or gone for a full cast.
This guy's BORING voice made the boring parts of this book even more boring: the prologue, the very creepy Dominion of Frezzan, and the super annoying politicians.
I needed more of hottest men in the Galaxy; Yang, Reinhard, Kircheis and my man Walter von Schenkopp and his badassness, The Rosenritter.
My boys the twin pillars of the Empire, Mittermeyer and Reuenthal were barely mentioned. And where the hell was my man DUSTY ATTENBOROUGH?! What the actual FORK?! Did I mention I HATE FORK? Can someone please stab Fork with a Fork? Please let it be Schenkopp?!
Shout out to Sidney for being the only black guy in the universe apparently!
This guy's BORING voice made the boring parts of this book even more boring: the prologue, the very creepy Dominion of Frezzan, and the super annoying politicians.
I needed more of hottest men in the Galaxy; Yang, Reinhard, Kircheis and my man Walter von Schenkopp and his badassness, The Rosenritter.
My boys the twin pillars of the Empire, Mittermeyer and Reuenthal were barely mentioned. And where the hell was my man DUSTY ATTENBOROUGH?! What the actual FORK?! Did I mention I HATE FORK? Can someone please stab Fork with a Fork? Please let it be Schenkopp?!
Shout out to Sidney for being the only black guy in the universe apparently!
August 24, 2025
My rating : 3.5 of 5 stars
I'm very torn by this book. On the one hand, it's an entertaining enough story, and by all accounts has a massive following both in Japan in its original Japanese, and throughout the world in translation. It's huge scale military sci-fi, and reading it, it was easy to imagine it as an anime, even though I've never seen any of the OVAs that came after. But...
I don't know if it's the translation, or the original text, but this one was so very, very dry and so very, very dispassionate. Whole catalogues of characters and matériel delivered like a historical report. Entire sections outlining the history of a given character or situation that read more like a grade school history text than a sci-fi narrative. It's things like this that make me regret not making more of an effort to learn how to read Japanese.
All of that said, I'm still going to persevere with this series. Even with the jarring style, I still enjoyed the first one enough to want to continue, and as a series of light novels, getting through each volume shouldn't be too difficult.
I'm very torn by this book. On the one hand, it's an entertaining enough story, and by all accounts has a massive following both in Japan in its original Japanese, and throughout the world in translation. It's huge scale military sci-fi, and reading it, it was easy to imagine it as an anime, even though I've never seen any of the OVAs that came after. But...
I don't know if it's the translation, or the original text, but this one was so very, very dry and so very, very dispassionate. Whole catalogues of characters and matériel delivered like a historical report. Entire sections outlining the history of a given character or situation that read more like a grade school history text than a sci-fi narrative. It's things like this that make me regret not making more of an effort to learn how to read Japanese.
All of that said, I'm still going to persevere with this series. Even with the jarring style, I still enjoyed the first one enough to want to continue, and as a series of light novels, getting through each volume shouldn't be too difficult.
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