Orphan's Alliance

Jason Wander #4

by Robert Buettner

The story of one man's life from enlistment to conflict on alien soil, Orphan's Alliance continues Robert Buettner's action-packed military science fiction series.

Jason's army defeated the slugs on Bren and now, fifteen years later, he finds himself once more commanding an invasion force. This time they must expel the Slugs from a small moon, where they decimated the human inhabitants.

And although Earth has finally begun to mobilise against the aggressors, a new and problematic faction has arisen. The totalitarian government of Tressel, a strategically-situated planet, is willing to defeat the Slugs at any cost - regardless of the human casualties.

Unfortunately for Jason, his godson, Jude, is attracted to Tressel's total-war policies. As the struggle continues, Jason is not only fighting for the survival of the human race, but for his relationship with the only family he has left.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Adventure, Space Opera, War

294 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2008

About the author

Robert Buettner’s best-selling debut novel, Orphanage, 2004 Quill Award nominee for Best SF/Fantasy/Horror novel, was called the Post-9/11 generation’s Starship Troopers and “one of the great works of modern military science fiction.” Orphanage has been adapted for film by Olatunde Osunsanmi (The Fourth Kind) for Davis Entertainment (Predator, I Robot, Eragon). Orphanage and other books in Robert’s Jason Wander series have been translated into Chinese, Czech, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Robert was a 2005 Quill nominee for Best New Writer.

In April, 2014 Baen Books released his eighth novel, Balance Point. A long-time Heinlein Society member, Robert wrote the Afterword for Baen’s recent re-issue of Heinlein’s Green Hills of Earth/Menace From Earth short story collection. His own first original short story, Sticks and Stones, appears in the 2012 anthology, Armored, edited by John Joseph Adams. Robert served as the author judge for the 2011 National Space Society Jim Baen Memorial short story writing contest.

Robert is a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and National Science Foundation Fellow in Paleontology. As attorney of record in more than three thousand cases, he practiced in the U.S. federal courts, before courts and administrative tribunals in no fewer than thirteen states, and in five foreign countries. Six, if you count Louisiana.

He lives in Georgia with his family and more bicycles than a grownup needs.

Visit him on the web at www.RobertBuettner.com.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth installment in the Jason Wander series felt like a place holder in the series more than anything else. We finished the last volume with the clans on Bren defeating the slugs there; we start here on another human occupied world that is engaged in civil war. Jason, acting as an advisor once again (with some help from Old Earth tech) ends the war there, but the peace that ensues is fragile to say the least. Meanwhile, the 'mousetrap' is discovered-- basically, a nexus of wormholes that allows humans to go to all 14 human planets in just one jump. While we know of the 14 planets, all seeded if you will by humans via the slugs 30,000 years ago, we learn little about them, with Buettner only really developing the one with the civil war (and Bren to an extent).

So, from the beginning, we know the slugs will take Mousetrap and humans will launch a counter-invasion; the bulk of the book is going from point A to B. Buettner delves into the politics of occupation and rebuilding on one planet, and politics on Earth as well. This volume dragged quite a bit compared to the others; while it was still a fun and fast read, I had to fight skimming it to get to the next and final volume. 3 slugs!

[Kevin Findley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, but I think this could have been reduced and then divvied up between the third novel and the next one. Buettner does give us some growth of Jason Wander, but he still waffles like an Eggo in some chapters. Worth your time and money.

Find it! Buy it! Read it!

[James Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. Great world building. I loved the sci fi and the battles.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure how I 'feel' about this book. Despite the short chapters and it being less than three hundred pages long, it still felt like it moved slow. Maybe that is because there is a lot that happens in this book. Jason and Co. bounce around a lot in this book; I suppose it was kind-of like the first book, but not really. The second and third books felt more focused than this one did, to be honest. The character development is so-so in this book; Jason still has his 'issues' with self-doubt and . . . not quite insecurity, but something pretty close to it. I do not remember Howard appearing enough in this book to make much of an impression, to be honest. Well, other than his usual "stupid-genius-doofus" self, I guess. I really do not like his character. Sergeant Major Ord is still around, which is great. I still love his character. I believe this book takes place a few years after the third book, so Jude is having to deal with his own sets of 'issues' resulting from his prior captivity in the third book which seems kind-of odd, as the Slugs are never reported as having tortured anybody for any reason, so I do not quite understand why Jude would be having 'issues' he with which he is struggling and a distance has been created between Jude and his godfather.

Here is a quick summary/recap: This book starts off with Jason trying to help end a civil war on Tressen and nearly dies in the process. Then, it jumps around a bit, gives a brief history on how humanity has been able to reverse-engineer the Firewitch's engine so that humanity can now travel between the stars like the Slugs. Jason then has to return to Bren (which he visited in the third book) to help repair the breach between the three tribes and aid in any way possible the renegotiating of the treaty between Bren and Earth. THEN, it is discovered the Slugs have returned with a vengeance, Jason and Co. are investigated for obstructing 'justice' and an official investigation, and Jason nearly reaches first base with Mimi before Howard interrupts them. THEN then, humanity heads to a place called "Mousetrap" because of its 'location, location, location.' This particular system provides a 'central node' such that single jumps are required to pass from the Mousetrap system to other systems (such as Earth, Bren, Tressel, etc.) instead of the multiple jumps it usually takes. The humans begin modifying this ginormous asteroid to act as a human base and manufacturing facility for war materials; the Slugs attack and take it from the humans; the humans counterattack again, apparently nearly a year later, and end up retaking the valuable piece of real estate back from the Slugs. The book ends with Jason contemplating retiring before he reads an initial letter from Mimi, which then spurs him to get off his butt, stop feeling sorry for himself, and regain the land of the living as a three-star general.

It is an okay book; it felt really forced because of the so-many-different-strings going on in the story. There were multiple pieces to the narrative pie, as it were; so much that it almost seemed too much. I almost think he should have gone for a longer book with this one so he could have expanded upon some of the plot points better than he did. Much of this book felt rushed; like it was constantly jumping from one point to the next. It took away from enjoying the book. Also, despite it feeling 'rushed,' the book felt like it moved pretty slow. So, yeah, it was weird how it felt rushed and (almost) ponderous at the same time.

I do not know if any part of this book really stands out to me as 'something I liked' or having a specific part that I liked. I really could not believe the author killed off Munchkin. It seemed like a pretty raw deal to me, to be honest. I do not know if it was meant as 'cheap theatrics' to kill such an important character; I mean, I would be totally okay if Howard were to be killed off, as I really dislike his character and his refusal to share needed, necessary information in time to prevent needless deaths.

I did think the giant "scorpion" that attacked Aud Planck and Sergeant Major Erdec was pretty crazy! I remember wondering about whether or not a 'scorpion' would attack, and then one did, and I was shocked because there was no 'warning symbol' of a 'yellow worm' sticking out of the water. This particular 'scorpion's' tell-tale warning sign had been (apparently) deliberately removed so that nobody would know it was about to attack. Only the fact that Jude has such fast reaction times allowed General Planck to be rescued/saved. It was a pretty crazy moment in the book.

Unlike the prior three books, there really is not a lot of humor in this book. Oh, the scene involving Mimi where she and Jason nearly copulate amidst the Kodiak hover tanks in the underground garage before being interrupted by Howard was probably played for laughs, but I found the 'ruined moment' to be more annoying than funny. Howard is such an idiot in these books; I really do not see how he remains in his position (well, other than his 'lucky hunches' about the Slugs) for as long as he has. I feel like he has been the cause of many needless, unnecessary deaths in these books because of his refusal to share information in a timely fashion because he has made the decisions that somebody else (in command, like Jason) does not need to know all of the information available. Other than that one moment, I cannot remember any other moments I felt were 'played for laughs' or made me smile.

There was one point that made me smile, because of how it 'surprised' me. It was the end of the first chapter. Instead of the 'usual' "if I'd only known three years ago what I know now, things might have turned out differently!" spiel, it was "if only I'd known this four years ago . . . ", which made me smile. Stupid, I know, but it was a bit of a 'shock' to me because of what I was expecting. This book felt quite a bit more serious than the prior three books, and almost a little bit angrier; I am not sure why, but that is how it felt to me.

I did like that Mimi was the one to 'push' for a bit more in the 'relationship' between her and Jason. Jason would periodically mention how he felt about her, but the reader never really knew how Mimi felt about him. It has been interesting seeing how this 'quasi-relationship' has developed over time. Jason's relationship with "Pooh" took place over the nearly two years it took to travel from Earth to Ganymede in the first book, and she died while safely landing the troop transport on Ganymede. Mimi is introduced in the second book as the pilot who flies Jason back up to the Excalibur and chews him out after they land before he kinda puts her in her place with a simple comment. I honestly do not remember if she showed up in the third book or not, but she definitely had a bit more 'show-of-force' in this book, overall. So, yeah, each of these relationships has developed 'differently' for Jason, and each relationship has deeply affected him (especially Mimi, as he has thought about it and fantasized about it but never acted upon it). I think I will enjoy seeing how it all works out (plays out) in the fifth and final book of this first series (considering how important their relationship and subsequent marriage is for the second series of books).

Overall, I guess I liked it. I would rate it 2.7 - 2.9 stars, rounded up to three stars. While I did not like it or enjoy it as much as the prior three books, I am still glad I read it (and glad to see that Jason and Mimi were trying to test the waters to see how far their mutual attraction would take them). The cover of this book is pretty awesome, I have to admit. I may read it again and see if my mind changes at some point in the future, but, for now, book five beckons to me.

[J.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Price of War; The Price of Humanity

After establishing an uneasy alliance with other human colonies on earth like wars in the previous installment (ORPHAN'S JOURNEY), Jason Wander finds himself playing the role of diplomat and warrior, a balance the Wander has had difficulty (and great success) doing in the past. Using interstellar travel methods similar to wormholes, Wander planet hops to build strengthen Earth's alliance against the never ending confrontation with the Slug armada that always seems to be knocking at the doorstep, leading to a beautifully thought out and wonderfully executed battle.

Robert Buettner has created a world that is believable and has explored a new aspect of humanity in each installment of the Jason Wander series. In ORPHAN'S ALLIANCE he tackles the price of war and the alliances of humans with personal interests with a war that hinges loosely on one more battle.

Buettner brings the cast of characters back that readers have grown fond of including Ord, Jude, Munchkin, and Howard. ORPHAN'S ALLIANCE brings a whole new element to his series with some true feeling, hard hitting emotions to the characters and their actions. As in every war, death strikes close to home and the emotional responses are touching to say the least. There are few books that I have had a true emotional response to, and Buettner achieved this with me not once, but twice toward the end of the book. Negating the rest of the other profound achievements in this book, these two moments alone are worth the time invested in reading this book.

Highly recommended.

Good reading,

Plants and Books

For More Reviews, Visit My Blog

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding military science-fiction. The entire 5-book series was well written and I'm sad that's it's over. That's my measure of a well written book and series.

Yes, it's kind of far-fetched to have a 3-Star General running around a galaxy saving human kind from evil slugs. But, I guess it takes a 3-star General to save both humanity and the evil slugs who turn out not to be really evil after all. I would have killed them all in a heartbeat.

Star with the first book in the series and go with the main character a long way. You love every step of the journey.

[Jillian Cori lippert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is good and I'm already invested in the series. I don't know why, but this book didn't really grab me. It took me 11 days to read it, so obviously it wasn't a "can't put it down" book. I did start working from home, so wasn't reading at lunch but that's only about 20 min/day cut out. The next book is the last, so I will finish the series. I'm already looking forward to my next book after that, though.

[Mike Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but maybe getting a little tired

Ultimately the problem of any continuing series with a particular hero is that that hero ends are becoming more and more like superman, virtually unstoppable except for 1 flaw. The series is still good space opera. However it's good this is the last book for a while, Because it is become a little repetitive.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than book 3 but not as good as the first book. This one at least had more space battle stuff and less backwater planet stuff. The humor has lost some of it's magic for me in these books, I am not as entertained as I was by the first and second books. Hopefully the last book is similar to the first two. 3 out of 5 stars

[Thefirstidiot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally read Mar 2013

[Rogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, kind of the same as previous books, hopped around a bit and a fair bit of politiking in certain points. The rescue bit at the end was pretty fun though.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humans are discovered in exoplanets, and Jason Wander is sent as an emissary, even though that isn't his kind of work, and unite them against The Slugs.

[Graham Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again the author skips timing without telling the reader making it hard to follow the story!

[Brady McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got pretty good towards the end! Honestly, I would’ve taken like another 100 pages

[Soho_Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chris Bunch was the first to make the sci-fi space army genre his own, but Robert Buettner is certainly following close behind. Whilst I've always preferred Bunch's work over Buettner's, that by no means makes Buettner a bad writer and his work has always been enjoyable. Once again, Buettner has included much of what makes his work so much fun to read.

In "Orphan's Alliance", the fourth in the series, Jason Wander has finally had enough of trolling around the galaxy fighting mankind's old enemy, the Slugs. Having watched and helped the Tressen army win a war against the Iridians on one of Earth's new outposts, he's decided he wants to spend some more time on Earth with his godson, Jude. His superior officers have other plans, however, and whilst he gets the chance to be together with Jude, he has to do it out in deep space as they undertake the next mission together.

In theory, it's a simple enough mission. They need to sort out the arguing that's going on between races on both Tressel and Bren. Both planets have been through wars, but they aren't finding peace much more peaceful. Bren is particularly important thanks to its production of Cavorite, which is vital as ship fuel and to help build the Mousetrap, a point of huge strategic importance for travelling between the galaxies Earth now controls.

Of course, nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Jude decides he likes the almost communist policies of the new Tressen leadership and stays behind, undoing all Jason's hopes that they would get to know each other better. Even more serious is when the excavation of Mousetrap unearths an ancient Slug homing beacon and Jason is once more at war with the Slugs.

"Orphan's Alliance" is a lot slower paced than others I've read in the Jason Wander series. At a point in his "Last Legion" series, Chris Bunch dipped into more political fighting than actual fighting and I felt that the action quotient of his writing suffered when this happened. The same is true here, as politics naturally moves at a slower pace than war and that made "Orphan's Alliance" a far slower read than some of the other books.

Fortunately, this isn't true of the whole book and there are some very exciting scenes. When Wander is involved with the wars on Tressen and Mousetrap, we get to see the best that Buettner has to offer. He writes incredibly vividly and you can almost see and hear the explosions of battle. Whilst the war on Tressen plays more to his strengths, being a war on the ground of the type he's used to putting Wander in the middle of, he writes the debris of war even more effectively in the air war around Mousetrap.

The one thing that has improved over the series is Wander's dealings with his colleagues. I criticised "Orphanage", the first in the series, for not showing us enough of the rare down time that Wander got to have. Here, there is much more of that and we get to share his enjoyment of catching up with old colleagues, who are now involved in other jobs rather than just the fighting. After all the political parts and the emotional family side of things, this acted as a welcome change of pace, allowing for some humour to sneak in and lighten the tone. I particularly enjoyed the image conjured by the thought of a pilot being able to parallel park a huge spaceship.

The one exception to this side of things was the romantic sub-plot between Wander and Rear Admiral Mimi Ozawa. It wasn't badly written and it seemed quite reasonable in terms of the character development, but it felt a little as if it had been used to fill in a couple of parts. This part of the story wasn't quite so well developed as the other parts of the story and it felt as if it was simply bits and pieces of a story rather than a sub-plot in its own right. The only time this part of the story really came to the fore was right at the end of the book and I felt it gave an overly saccharine end to the book which wasn't really in keeping with the tone of what had gone before and was the most disappointing aspect of this book for me.

"Orphans' Alliance" is another decent read and it was good to see a familiar character put into slightly unfamiliar territory and it was good to see him as a person more than a soldier. Unfortunately, in doing so, Buettner has had to sacrifice some of the more exciting aspects of his stories to make room for this and I think the balance wasn't quite as even as it could have been, or as I would have liked. This is certainly isn't the best book to be starting the series on as it's the weakest in the series I've read so far, but Buettner's eye for an idea and a story is such that even at his worst, you still get a fairly decent read, even if you would only read it the once.

This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth installment in the Jason Wander series. It is the story of a foot soldier who becomes a hero time and time again, while trying to save the human race. The book is strong enough that it can stand alone, but is better as part of the series. Jason must unite all the human clans that have been found scattered throughout the outworlds - some with great advancements in technology, some back in the ice age. Jason must find a way to unite clans on different planets that have been fighting for millennium, and unite them with different clans and cultures from other planets. Humankind must stand together or be eliminated from the universe. For the slugs are back and on the planet they have hit, they do not leave a single surviving human.

Buettner is fast becoming a master of the Military Science Fiction genre. His fan base expands with each new novel and with each, his followers find greater skill and craft with the pen.

Jason Wander finds himself on a rock, literally at an interstellar crossroads. He must prepare this as a base and command center to defend earth and the other human planets. Unfortunately, the enemy has been alerted to the position and Wander does not know how much time he has. He has to rush an already tricky preparation, for the battle is about to begin.

There are advantages and disadvantages to reading a series, especially by a newer author. The advantage is you get to re-encounter characters and places you know and appreciate. You find out more about these characters that are strong enough to draw you back again and again. The disadvantage is that when an author is only writing one series you see only one side of their skill, and you wonder a bit what else they could come up with and what wonderful places they could take you to in your mind. Buettner has now done a fourth book in the Jason Wander saga, at least one more is planned, and by this reader eagerly anticipated. Yet there is that nagging question: 'What else is there in his quill waiting to be unleashed?'

This series will probably become classic in Military Science Fiction, and this book is one of the best in the set. The writing is fluid, the story gripping and well-balanced. Buettner is neither so fantastical that you suspend belief, but could see it as a possible future. His military insight and portrayal is tremendous. All in all, Orphan's Alliance is an excellent story to add to your bookshelf.

(First Published in Imprint 2009-01-16.)

[Trent Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this shall be my sci-fi summer... I discovered this 5 bk military sci-fi series last year. I rarely stick with any one genre for more than a week or two, thus it's taken me a year to finish the first 4 books. With that said, I've immediately started on book 5 and don't see me stopping my current sci-fi lust for the foreseeable future. Once I sate my appetite on hyper drives, alien enemies and starship dog-fights I might go back to a less frowned upon genre. But right now I'm reliving those awkward teen years. I haven't yet decided if I'll hide the covers of these book when I'm in public. I guess there's an advantage to your e-readers...

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

4th book in a generally strong military sci-fi series about a human/'slug' war where the protagonist is a 20-something Jason Wander who is promoted so quickly mostly due to everybody else's bad luck. The first three books were well-paced, while this one was just a bit clunky. Themes, characters, and plotlines weren't sufficiently developed and there a bit too much reliance on internal universe jargon where the author doesn't do a good job refreshing the reader about what the heck all these terms/characters are. Don't beat me over the head with it, but also don't expect I JUST put down the previous book.

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jason Wander, Ord, Jude, and Howard are once again in the thick of things. A system is discovered that has a large number of jump points very close to earth. A base called mousetrap is built to defend it from the slugs.

These books are focusing on the experiences of the military personnel. The larger story feels very light compared to something like the Honor Harrington books.

In this one there are about 200 pages of politics and lead up then it speeds up into the climactic space battle in the last 100 pages.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's rare I'll get this far into a series without cleansing the palate with something different between installments, but 4 books in and still gripped.

A large chunk of Alliance deals with the shady side of space war politics, and political drama tends to leave me pretty cold. It's some welcome world building though, and just when things are starting to feel a tad dry things escalate into the best outer space Galactica-style action adventure since that great climax to the second book. Straight onto the fifth and final book!

[aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great book! in this one jason and friends need to work together to form an alliance between the outerworlds that earth has recently found and helped save from the slug invaders. once an alliance is formed they need to work on a "fortress" at an area called the mousetrap. once it is created they will then need to protect it from the slugs. more tragedy and triumph occurs in this fourth installment of the wander series. read and enjoy!

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best book in the series so far. Jason plays less the hero and more the diplomatic general. You've got to throw some of your hardcore military "it would never work that way", but that's pretty much par for the course.

It's a lot of fun to read, a good page turner, and was worth going through the three previous books to get to. If you're into military sci-fi, this one is for you.

[Per Gunnar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book series started off real well with the first book which was pretty much great but then it just nosedived into endless political nonsens. Humanity fighting internal wars, political squabbling and nit-picking about goverment spending when humanity is most surely targeted for extermination. That's just plain nonsens and not fun reading.

[Zachary Wagoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly good read. Don't often see books in the first-person which is pretty interesting. I have read the previous books so I always enjoy seeing characters continuing from one adventure to the next. The main character does cry a little too much for me, but I already knew that from the previous books. Enjoy the enemy in these stories though, very interesting take of the "bad-guy aliens."

[Jaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this instalment of General Wander and his fight against the Slugs. I did find it a trifle rushed - especially with regards to the whole Mousetrap plot, but I can't get enough of this style of Science Fiction. Buettner does a great job in his descriptions of the Military and the way things are dealt with by the Logisticians.

Can't wait to get my hands on the final instalment!!!

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series entry but after a great Use of Weapons like beginning it got back to an enjoyable but run of the mill mil sf and I hope the series will end soon since I am slowly starting to lose interest in it.

[Dale (Aus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great finish to this series. I really enjoyed the books as they developed. I found the first hard to get into, but once past the normal bootcamp part of the book, the story kept me interested until the final book and the final pages.

[John (JP)]

Worth the wait. Buy the series or get the individual books from the library. I wish the Slugs had more of a personality, and that we knew the war from their perspective. Beyond that I enjoy the biography of Jason Wander.

[James Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

By moving the action away from the barbarian-gunwielders-riding-dinosaurs of Book 3 and out into space, the series becomes more reminiscent of the Honor Harrington style of space opera, but the change is a welcome one, imnsho, even if it doesn't restore it to quite the level of the first book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Orphan's Series is one of my favorite Military Science Fiction sagas, it contains great characters, stories, humor, and great action.

This book is a great continuation of the series, and is highly recommended.