Homefall

The Last Legion #4

by Chris Bunch

With their enemies temporarily subdued in the volatile Cumbre star system, the isolate Last Legion embarks on a perilous mission to find out what has happened to the Confederation, the human government that controls a thousand star systems. Original.

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

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Christopher R. "Chris" Bunch was an American science fiction, fantasy and television writer, who wrote and co-wrote about thirty novels.

Born in Fresno, California, he collaborated with Allan Cole on a series of books involving a hero named Sten in a galactic empire. (Cole married Bunch's sister, Kathryn.) He served in Vietnam as a patrol leader. He also wrote for Rolling Stone and was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes. He died in his hometown of Ilwaco, Washington, after a long battle with a lung ailment.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read, but it leaves you waiting for the next installment, which Bunch never finished. After securing peace at home, the legion decides the next step involves finding out what happened to the confederation. Our two main protagonists come up with a doozy idea-- outfit a mining starship as a circus and start travelling! One of our leads grew up in a circus family, so he knows the deal. First, they have to put a troupe together; they get several acts from fellow soldiers and such, but they decide they need more.

So, they pack up the ship, stuff it with weapons like a Q-ship, load up the 'marines', and head out! At first, they find nothing but dead worlds, but eventually come to a circus world. Just like Sarasota in Florida, carnies and such like to have a place to their own. They take on several acts, including elephants, horses, etc., and once again hit the road...

Rather than military science fiction, Bunch takes us on an adventure here, and each planet they find with people tells part of the story behind the confederacy's meltdown. Overall, a rather gloomy book, or perhaps melancholy. Lots of references to the fall of Rome, and yeah, the decline perhaps of the USA. The dialogue and pacing pull this along, but a rather bittersweet ending to the Legion books. 3 stars!!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised to like this book as much as I did. The first three books were just okay and I thought #4 would have a hard time meeting even that low bar. Especially with so much up front preparing for the mission to Centrum. But once the troupe got going, it was a pretty decent and fun story. The action was up to snuff but the repartee was also up to snuff. Nothing especially compelling about the series but if you like military scifi, you'll find some enjoyment here. 3 Stars

[Soho_Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I approached "Homefall", the fourth and final part of Chris Bunch's "The Last Legion" series with a slight feeling of trepidation. Over the previous three books, the Legion has been in the kind of action you would expect an army defending a remote planet vulnerable to attack to be in. In all cases, the books have been thoroughly enjoyable fast paced action novels.

However, the end of "Stormforce", the third in the trilogy, didn't exactly build "Homefall" up to be as exciting. I approached this book thinking that they would be veering away from war and into the political side of the galaxy. I wasn't really looking forward to this, as when Bunch dipped a toe into the waters of Musth politics in "Firemask", it took the edge and the pace off the novel. I was worried that the same thing would happen here, but I was swiftly proved wrong.

For a long time, the Cumbre system has been isolated from the Confederation, supposedly the centre of the galaxy and the people who run everything. With no obvious immediate effects to Cumbre, they send a party to see if they can get to the Confederation's main world of Centrum to see why there has been no contact in nearly a decade. I expected that they would get to Centrum and it would all be about politics and it would be rather dull.

There were a couple of things I hadn't counted on and it's wonderful that Chris Bunch can twist things and keep them interesting after several books of the series. The first was the method they chose to go to Centrum; Jaansma uses his experience as part of a circus family to hire on performers and train some of the Legion to perform and they travel as a circus ship. Not only does this allow for some moments of comedy, but it also means there is a huge amount of interaction between characters, from the new circus people to the old established characters. Bunch's strength all along has been making the Legion seem like ordinary guys with a tough job and he does the same here.

The other thing I hadn't expected is for the book to be so much about the journey. I thought they would get to Centrum quiet early on and be involved in the political side of things, but the book is more about the journey than the destination. With the journey being so much fun and with the circus not always being made completely welcome on some of the worlds they stop on, Bunch is able to play to his other main strength and keep the action coming and the pace high.

If there is one downside to "Homefall", it's that there is rather a lot of sexual activity going on. This isn't a complete surprise, as I felt the same with "The Last Legion", the first in the series, but I did find it a little unnecessary. Although it was great to see a long standing character who hasn't had much luck in that area finally get a turn. The ending was a little weak as without a further book to drop hints towards seemed a little aimless and the book petered out, although there was a slightly weak effort at tying everything up. Still, after a series this good, maybe Bunch didn't really want it to end.

Strangely, if you're not an existing fan of the series, it matters less here than with the previous couple in the series. Bunch has always written as a series, with one book leading on from another with no explanation and he does so here. However, with such a different approach and so many new characters, you can pick up this book more easily as a newcomer, although it does occasionally refer to past events you wouldn't be familiar with.

In what has been an exciting series, this has been my favourite of all, as it combines all that is best about "The Last Legion" series and adds in the extra excitement and comedy of the circus. Having become used to Bunch's style of writing and the series itself, I thought I knew what to expect, but ended up with even more. Any series than can continue to excite the reader four books in is worthy of praise. "Homefall", as with the whole series, isn't classic literature, but it's certainly wonderful entertainment and definitely worth a read.

Again, as with the whole series, this is a book that you would only really want to read the once, as it has neither the depth nor the intelligence to be worth reading again, despite this being in my mind the best of the four books that make up the "Last Legion" series.

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

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is nothing really wrong with the book, but I wasn't enthralled by the literal traveling circus as cover for a mission to Centrum, which is pretty much the whole book.

The ending is rather abrupt.

They get to Centrum, and stuff happens; then the protagonists head for home. *snaps fingers* Ok, they're back home, not even a sentence saying "The trip home was uneventful," and then there's a little over 1 page to close with. I was kind of expecting a debriefing scene, and maybe some more detail on plans for the future.

[Adam Cassar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot had a lot going on with very little accomplished. Also ended feeling like there was more to come.

Much preferred the first three books.

This just felt like a poor conclusion to the series.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Homefall was a great book and I am sad to have finished it because, since it was the fourth and final book in the Last Legion series, and a really great series that I have seriously enjoyed is now over. It’s a real pity. This book was quite different from the three preceding it in that the Legion is no longer having to defend Cumbre from attackers and rebels. Instead, Garvin and Njangu and the rest decide to finally go looking for the Confederation, the giant mystery hanging around the neck of each book. They’re part of the Confederation’s military machine, sent to Cumbre for duty, when all contact with the Confederation ended and no one has heard from or of it for a decade. No one knows what has happened. It seems to have literally disintegrated. Garvin decides to get a group together and disguise themselves as a circus troop going from system to system until they finally reach the home system of Centrum, hoping to find out the cause of the mystery and, if the Confederation is indeed dead, perhaps to jump start it back to life. Why a circus? Garvin comes from a long line of circus performers and in a dangerous universe, what better way to travel than as nonthreatening entertainers?

They get a massive ship, load it with a zillion weapons and a number of specialized fighters, about 150 soldiers, and then they go to a real circus planet to hire real circus people and animals. Which they do. And they practice. And then they hit the road, er skies. And the shit hits the fan. Every world the come to is freaking insane! Everyone tries to kill each other and kill them. There are insane plots, treacheries, dictators, paramilitary groups and private armies, with everyone enjoying watching the circus perform until they realize they can either make use of them and their equipment, etc., or until they realize they just want to kill them. In either case, the Legion comes under attack, has to fight back, and escapes, usually just barely. There’s one system that’s particularly evil and insane and I wasn’t sure at all how they were going to escape that particular trap. But they did. And found the home system. And what they found was not what they hoped for.

Since the first three books were about their wars with the rebels, the aliens, and their planetary neighbors and since they no longer had any enemies nearby, I thought this would be more of a political book, but I was wrong. This book was about the journey and it was all intrigue and action. Serious tension too. Very well written, great plot. My only complaint is the ending. The final chapter is a mere two pages, with them arriving back home and splitting up, going their separate ways. I was a little shocked, because there had been romances and relationships, bonds that were established, futures to be groomed, and it was all shot to hell in two pages. No one rode off into the sunset with the girl. Hell, the two best buds didn’t even end up going off together to do their own thing. Even they split up and went their separate ways, in the space of a few paragraphs, and that seemed really unlike their characters. Really unbelievable. I found the final chapter really hard to swallow and thought about downgrading the rating a star, but I enjoyed the book and the series so much overall, that I’m still giving it five stars. This book, unlike the previous two, could possibly be read as a stand alone book, but I would start with the first one and read the series in order. I think readers would get much more out of that. Best series ever? No. Really damn good? Damn straight! Definitely recommended.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourth book in the series. This time our favorite military unit is searching for what caused the Empire to disappear. They create a 'circus' (a literal one complete with the big top) to go undercover and visit various worlds and eventually the planet that is the home of the former empire's government. As the circus goes to various planets, the author weaves in observations about different types of governments, which isn't as much insightful as it is sad.

The ending was problematic, but it was still worth reading. Would you be better off just reading the first three books? Probably not.

Science fiction based story about new recruits in a fighting force at the end of an empire (both the geographic end of the empire and the 'time' or final curtain call end of an empire).

The whole series (there are four books) compares favorably to the William Henry Giles Kingston books, the Three Midshipmen thru the Three Admirals and the Brotherhood of War series by WEB Griffin.

Excellent reading, that keeps you engaged and you will not want to put it down. The story includes violence (it is a war book), and alien swear words (so they don't count).

[Gregoire · Rating 1 out of 5]

je suis du genre persévérant mais franchement je ne trouve rien de positif à dire sur cette série
C'est plutôt rare de ma part car je suis plutôt bon public en ce qui concerne la SF Militaire
soit je n'étais pas dans le bon état d'esprit pour ce type de lecture soit c'est franchement insipide
(mais pas complétement imbuvable quand même, je peux comprendre que certains y trouvent leur bonheur)

[Ted & Jackie Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish that there was more in the series.

I have been a fan of Chris Bunch from the Sten and Star Risk books. The Last Legion is as good as any of the works produced previously. Chris Bunch is missed by me. We need more writers of his standard.You

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

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