1300 years after the Martian Revolution, mankind has developed interstellar travel and colonized surrounding star systems. Back on Earth, however, those who were left behind live squalid, superstitious lives. A new story from me, it takes place in an updated version of the Greenies/A Perfect World universe.
Size: 1988 KB (363,643 words)
Genre: Science Fiction
Sex Contents: Minimal Sex
Tags: Science Fiction, Space
Review by Steve Ogden [other reviews by Steve Ogden]
Reviewed:
Since the mid-fifteenth century the notion of "Just War" and thus "War Crimes" has been a marginal issue on the fringes of philosophy. After WWII the issue came to the fore with the trials at Nuremburg and the many, less publicised, trials of people further down the chain of command which often ended in death sentences. If you want to look at this further then the investigation and trial and execution of those involved in the aftermath of the "Great Escape" (Stalag Luft iii) is worth looking at.
This is a brilliant story that fully embraces the key questions, is obeying orders a sufficient excuse to do evil? What do you do when you decide that obeying orders is not personally, morally, acceptable?
As is my wont I am not going to precis the story, that's what reading it is for, however I will say that it is multi-layered, complex in part, although easy to follow, and addresses a wide number of issues which are still relevant to way we live our lives today even though the story is set in the future.
Whilst it is part of the Greenies universe you do not have to have read those stories for it to make sense, you can read it as a standalone story. I am aware that Al is editing parts of it to ensure that it is fully consistent with the Universe he created. I understand why he is doing this but reading the unedited version I didn't see any inconsistancies that jarred.
To conclude, there are a few superb writers here, Al Steiner is up amongst a very select group of the best of them. This is a superb story that deserves to be read slowly and thought about carefully. If you want stroke then move on, if you want top quality writing and storytelling then this is one you should read.
