The Steel

The General #4

by S.M. Stirling, David Drake

For five years, the computer in Raj Whitehall's mind has been using him as its instrument to reunite the planet Bellevue as the first step in restoring technological civilization across the galaxy. Now, Raj's mission is to take on hordes of the Holy Federation and regain territories lost to the Civil Government for centuries. Civilization had been falling for a thousand years, since interstellar war isolated Bellevue from a universe in chaos. This was the last chance to reverse the fall. If Raj failed, the darkness could last fifteen thousand years.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Military Fiction, War, Fantasy, Adventure

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.

MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)

I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good siege action, and lots of diplomatic intrigue. The odd dog-based cavalry is in action again, this time helping to foil a siege. The ending campaign seemed a bit rushed, as if Stirling couldn't wait to get on to the next book of the series.

I'll continue my re-read, as it is still pretty good after all these years.

[Rob Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and fun muliatary scifi. It starts to get repetitive but then at the end everything makes sense

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An further enjoyable and fast military yarn.

[Roy Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I did get slightly lost but that may of been how and where I was reading it
But overall I have enjoyed the series and am looking forward to the next one

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite series. Alternative history of conquest.

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The human galactic federation is in ruins, and the worlds have devolved to various levels of barbarism. On the planet Bellevue, which is at about the early nineteenth century in development, a young officer named Raj Whitehall and his friend venture into the catacombs under the capital. There, they find an ancient battlecomputer named Center. With Center’s help, Raj must unite the planet and enable humanity to retake the stars. The story is at least somewhat based on that of the Byzatine general Belisarius.

The first seven novels are written by Drake and Stirling. The last one by Drake and Flint. David Drake writes very detailed outlines, while his collaborators write the actual text.

The first five novels are a set and deal with the conquest/unification of Bellevue. They are nowadays published in two volumes, known as Warlord and Conqueror:

* The Forge
* The Hammer
* The Anvil
* The Steel
* The Sword

After finishing the conquest of Bellevue, the personalities of Center and Raj are imbued in computers that are sent to other worlds with launched asteroids. Basically this scenario has infinite permutations as human worlds at various levels of development can be written about. The first of these follow-up novels is:

* The Chosen

It is a great singleton set on a world with early twentieth century technology. Finally there is the two volume story consisting of:

* The Reformer
* The Tyrant

Here, we take a serious step “back in time”, as the planet Hafardine is at about Roman Empire level in it’s technology. The Tyrant is rather different in style from the others due to being penned by Flint. However, his trademark dry humor meshes well with the overall thrust of the series.

This is great military SciFi, with excellent battlescenes and great characters, not to mention a dose of dry humor. Very highly recommended.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=145

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great series. It's mostly primitive battles, with little "science fiction," but it's an interesting world, with interesting characters. Each book ends with a bit of a political cliff hanger, and this one is not exception. But it doesn't take anything from the book itself, which is once again very good. Looking forward to more in the series.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Stirling is getting better at characterization.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read - well thought out action sequences and battles