Carnifex

In this second episode of the story of the Legio Del Cid, the Balboan mercenaries are engaged in an analog of Afghanistan. This book tells the story of that fight along with a corresponding military-political fight that the Legion has against an analog of the French (many red-blooded Yanks harbor a distate for what they perceive as Frog Whoopsies--pass the Liberty, I mean French, Fries) and an analog of the Chinese Communists.

Kratman chooses the enemies of the Legion well. Most of them are guaranteed to raise the hackles of both the Right and Center in American politics. In addition to the French and Chinese, he tackles the excesses of the UN and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and the kind of thoughtless one-worldism they seem to advocate.

He makes some really good points about NGOs--including charities and various moralistic organizations. Particularly apt are his points regarding the fundamental lack of accountability that NGOs and the UN have.

However, some aspects of the perspective advocated in the book are frankly annoying. Granting the fact that storytelling often forces you to sketch a monolithic and one-dimensional enemy, it is really annoying to be categorized in the same group as the knee-jerk progressives who presume that the United States is at the root cause of every long-festering international political problem. You see, there is a category of individuals out there, such as the nearly forgotten Kennedy (JFK) Democrats, who might support issues such as the reality of global warming and other so called "progressive" social agendas, but who would generally consider themselves "Hawks" on defense.

In many ways, Kratman's approach to constructing villains reminds me of the approach Ayn Rand used in her development of antagonists: make them the nastiest card board cut outs that you can in order to make your political points as strongly as you can.

In making his points about the UN, NGOs, and torture, Kratman uses his cardboard cutouts effectively, and he makes a point that many seem to have overlooked: see what a dedicated military man can do without having to deal without that inconvenient civilian control. This is where many dedicated centrists have to agree to disagree with Kratman.

The victory that Kratman's protagonist wins in Pashtia (Afghanistan) actually, inadvertently, serves to emphasize the importance of civilian control of the military. The conclusion of the book is both horrific and necessary, and it is satisfying to see the defeat of the UN analog and the destruction of the Bin Laden analog, but the horrific nature of the ending retribution would cause most to state, unequivocally, that this is not something they want done in their name.

The same is true of the torture that is used to gather information in the book. While torture is a complex subject that seems prone to sloganeering on both sides, doing it as a direct and regular policy is not something that can or should be supported. Are there circumstances in which it is necessary? That is really hard to tell and there may be aspects to that question which may be unanswerable. Should we avoid using it at almost all costs? Yes. What are the circumstances in which it should be used? That is where the really difficult moral work really begins. Does the regular use of torture put our captured soldiers more at risk? Pretty likely. Should this be something that stays our hand? Absolutely.

The idea of Kratman's increasingly unstable hero getting control of nukes, as he does at the end of the story, also serves to emphasize the importance of civilian control of the military.

It might be fun to have a beer with Kratman and argue these issues. In the meantime, I look forward to the next episode of this series.

As readers of my Old Jarhead Blog know, my personal reading is focused on history, politics and economics, professional on management and healthcare. But sometimes I need a break, and nothing is better for that than one of Tom Kratman's military science fiction novels. Of course, Kratman is not entirely a "break" from reading about politics or the military, but he is enthralling. "Carnifex" is a sequel to "A Desert Called Peace," and like all good sequels, it can stand on its own. But if you haven't read "Desert," you'll be doing yourself a favor if you read it first. Kratman is a retired Army LtCol, and one would expect his mastery of the feel of close infantry combat to be good. But in this book, he shows equal understanding of war at sea and in the air. His detailed plotting and fully believable characters will hold you through this long novel, full of the twists and turns of a global conflict on several fronts. It is the Earth and all our problems, including the "War on Terror," set on a distant planet, centuries in the future. But the "War on Terror" (or perhaps better the "War against Salafist Jihadism") on Nova Terra is being fought by some men who are as ruthless as hard as the terrorists in defense of family and freedom, despite the hand-wringing of the usual collection of progressives. This is the third Kratman novel I've read. The first was "Caliphate," which I also recommend, about the war here after a terror nuke strike on the US. I have others waiting for when the non-fiction pile shows a little light--or the brain needs a change of pace. One is surprised that he can turn out novels so rapidly, at such a high quality of writing. After reading his books, rich with his philosophy of leadership, this old Marine would have been proud to sever under Kratman's command. Whether I would have measured up to his standards is another question, beyond knowing at this stage of my life. Lastly, the Author's Afterword in "Carnifex" is a bonus, and worth alone what you will pay for the book. Send it to your Congresscritter.

Robert A. Hall
Author: The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
(All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans)

Even if you agree completely with Kratman's world view, this book doesn't deserve that many stars. To do so, it would need to be better-written and better-edited.

Let's break it down:

The characters are far too one-dimensional. This goes for the protagonist and every other character. His characters are little more than caricatures. Good guys are all virtuous, the women are either saints, deluded or evil, bad guys are all despicable.

The endless philosophizing gets in the way of the valuable stuff Mr. Kratman brings to the table, namely a compelling story and his insights on the nature of war and how to wage it.

A better writer wouldn't feel the need to shove everything down the reader's collective (yes, that's a pun) throats. Tell the story and let the reader make up his mind.

There's too much gratuitous (and repetitive) porn.

The history of Terra Nova reads like Earth history run through a search and replace routine to change the names. That's just sheer laziness on Mr. Kratman's part and really detracts from both the story and the political points he's constantly making.

Robert Heinlein would have told the same story in a much tighter fashion. Moreover, he knew exactly how to balance philosophy with storytelling. This is something Mr. Kratman could do well to emulate.

Col. Tom Kratman has written another winner. This is a vaugely camoflaged text book on how to run COIN operations to win, as well as a study of the laws of war and incidently how to run a revolution. It's also a cautionary tale on the direction that multinationalism is taking us down. It's not for the young, (fairly graphic sex and violence) and not for people who desperately believe that if we just would move out of the middle east and help the palistinians drive Isreal into the sea, oh and get rid of such outmoded concepts as nationalism, and patriotism, then we could all live in peace with our brother man and sing coumbija. On second thought, it's most definately for such folks, because the more of them that suffer from aneurisms and brain hemerages, or that have terminal coniption fits, the better off the rest of the world will be.

because of a conflict of interest. You'll find my name in the acknowledgements, as one of the people who helped Tom with writing it.

In the first volume of this series, [[ASIN:1416555927 A Desert Called Peace (Baen Science Fiction)]], Patricio Carrera, once known as Patrick Henessey, raised an army to take on the Islamic terrorists who murdered his family -- but that's not all he intended to do. Now Carrera intends to take over his adopted country of 'Balboa,'as the next step in a plan to remake Terra Nova, and ultimately Earth itself. And now, the govt.'s of his world are beginning to think that this 'crazy' mercenary is a very serious threat to every established power -- though they still have no idea just how serious a threat he is.

If you haven't read [[ASIN:1416555927 A Desert Called Peace (Baen Science Fiction)]], you probably don't want to read this, as that book and CARNIFEX are essentially halves of one very long novel. And if you didn't like A DESERT CALLED PEACE, you're very unlikely to enjoy this novel. Like it's predecessor, it's full of violence, intrigue, sex, philosophy, torture, politics, outrageous humor, and more violence.

But I have to say, I loved it. Highly recommended.

Another pretty good book. More action than background and training which I like. The author does seem to have a fascination with much younger and beautiful women falling for old grizzled zeroes (officers) and with fellatio by the same. This book brings a visceral ending to Carrera's, nee Hennessey, search for revenge on those responsible for the deaths of his first family. Using the excuse that turns out to be factual of a nuke in possession of the scum terrorists he launches an attack towards the end of the book that results not only the slaughter of many men, women, and children which I have no problem with that based on scenarios written in this book. But they end up capturing the High Admiral of the space fleet above and the Inspector General out from Earth. Crucifying the men, giving most of the surviving women and kids to the Pastun auxiliaries as slaves. Since the enemy does the same thing this is a fitting justice in my eyes. Out of all this Carera picks up several more nukes. What he will do with them remains to be seen. Also what will happen to the Inspector General and the High Admiral, nothing good I hope as they are very bad people

The author holds societies feet to the fire as he attempts to make you think.
He demonstrates a realistic and knowing picture of what may be as well as the root causes
of societal unrest and discord. Kratman ranks up there with Robert Heinlein and Michael Z Williamson
for heart stopping narratives and gut wrenching details.

Tom Kratman has created an excellent series that is a action/space drama which has the flavor of an alternate Earth history. He writes creatively and moves the story line along well. Given the length of the books you get value for your money and a good read as well. I would recommend this book to Action and Science Fiction readers.

Let's vote in Tom Kratman for the Republican nominee. With him as President, we wouldn't have a Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan problem...nor would we have our wimp and weaselly cabinet members in DC. And I'm sure he could fix a lot of our other problems, like employment etc etc.

(Somehow I suspect some of our liberal, left-wing'ers, criminals, politicians and other weirds might not vote for this).

The book keeps the same pace of the original and moves the storyline along well. Well done and worth the read.