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The Weapon
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The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson
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I never posted a review did I?Huge step up from Freehold in terms of writing. Much more engaging and evocative story.
I know comparisons to Starship Troopers for mil-sci-fi are cliche, so here I go! It is reminiscent of Starship Troopers, only grittier, darker, more intense. There are no aliens so we have only each other to kill. Starship Troopers is, in part, about what you gain when you become a soldier, and so is The Weapon. However the The Weapon goes beyond that, and looks at what it costs you as well, what you sacrifice.
I loved it. It's currently my favorite work in the subgenre (where I am, admittedly, not yet especially well read).
A quote from chapter 5:
Then we'd seceded from the UN, because we couldn't meet their "civil right" criteria, and had no intention of doing so. Their definition of civil rights was what the Roman Legions gave their subjects-the right to complain, pray, and do nothing. We defined freedom as the right to be stupid. If you aren't allowed to ruin your life because of the "greater good of the whole," you aren't really free, you're a cog. But I digress.