A book by Dave Grossman and Leo Frankowski
This has got to be the most disappointing book I have read in a long, long time. It is also the only book I can ever recall practically throwing down in disgust.
First, the good:
The basic concept is that interstellar travel is accomplished by going to 'Two-Space', in essence a two-dimensional version of the universe. Because for some reason (there are hints that it may have been created or modified long ago) high technology doesn't work, everything that travels between the stars has to be no better than Napoleonic to early Victorian technology. It's quite a neat concept.
Next, the bad:
Some of you may recognize Dave Grossman as the author of 'On Killing'. Unfortunately for The Two-Space War, it shows, and very much so. He will sprinkle little (and not-so-little) dissertations about the psychological and physiological mechanics of combat into his story. This has the effect of reducing the excitement of the fights, since these additions could practically be pulled out of a nonfiction book and are rather clinical.
Furthermore, our protagonist is a 'warrior poet' which means there's an absolutely absurd amount of poetry stuck into this book, often right in the middle of events. As someone who's never been fond of that I find it very irritating.
Finally there's some minor issues that simply don't make much sense, like why humans and other creatures can exist in Two-Space but genetically engineered creatures cannot. I can think of no logical explanation for this.
Finally, the ugly. And boy is it ugly:
This war glorifies the fighting man. To put it simply the soldier is basically the ultimate form of life and anyone who doesn't partake in martial pursuits to a greater or lesser extent is stupid, foolish, small-minded, decadent, foppish, petty and whatever other adjectives you care to use. They deliberately attempt to block our heroes if they have the ability and if not, they insult them.
To use a quote from the book, if this book had a motto, it would be 'Piss on Golf'.
Personally I find this absolutely repugnant. Perhaps its a side-effect of the fact that mister Grossman's life basically revolves around teaching cops and soldiers about the psychology and physiology of combat, but to me, a reader who has no real plans to ever indulge in martial pursuits this feels absolutely insulting.
To add to this, the book is disgusting pro-Victorian and anti-modern. The one time we meet a character who comes from Earth (which is by this time, the 27th century an extremely high-tech world) who has deliberately decided to spend time away from his society he is portrayed as incredibly vapid, small-minded and stupid. I exagerate not. The book basically is filled with anti-modern propaganda, as the characters seem to do just fine with Victorian mindsets and the benefits of modern technology are only used, I point out, for military purposes - training people in VR. (they visit the high-tech worlds for this) These worlds apparently are so stupid they can't even develop something better than the BAR and the Browning model 1911 pistol for production with limited tools. One figures that with several hundred years of political and philosophical development the nations spawned from Earth would be a little more 'modern' than Victorians, even if technologically they were limited. But of course the 'modern' world of Earth lost its 'empire' to the victorian world of Westerness.
This anti-modern sentiment is a permanent fixture of this book. You cannot get away from our author pounding his pulpet for any length of time and again as someone who is rather proud of what the modern world has actually accomplished (while acknowledging our failings) this is also extremely insulting.
The verdict:
I never actually completed this book. By about 3/4th of the way through I had gotten completely sick of it. It really is a shame because the book had a cool starting concept but wastes it with ham-handed philosophizing, weak and stereotypical character design and heavy doses of propaganda. If you're the type who laps up pro-military, anti-modernist propaganda then this book is for you. If you are not, then pass it by. I am very glad I got it from the library and didn't spend money on a copy.
