wombat_socho

wombat_socho replied:

I see the difference between the two of them [HRC, posited as The President, NP who the President was actually based on] as one of degree rather than type, but whatever. It really doesn't affect the plot.

I didn't notice you actually addressed the plot (mostly sections 2 and 3) of the book... You know, the recreation of Xenophon's march to the sea in Part 2, and then the cleanup back home in Part 3?

The MSM has credibility? Seriously, though, I hardly even noticed that subplot existed because it was of a piece with the way most troops (including, obviously, Ringo) feel about the media.

Yes, the MSM does have credibility. No, not with the folks who have been there and done that. What you missed was "Bandit Six" leveraging his earlier success on his march to the sea to anticipate and thoroughly discredit the MSM reporting of his mission to retake Detroit.

That was significant.

...if this was something he wrote just to get it out of his system, then maybe it would have been better off buried. Or left to simmer until the characters were better developed, maybe.

Novels written effectively on the first person tend to be less generous to the supporting characters in terms of their development, since we don't get to see through their eyes. Nature of the beast.

I'm not going to tell you you're a moron for liking the book. If you enjoyed it, then good for you. I did this review since people on my f-list know I'm fond of JR's Posleen War novels (with one glaring exception), might reasonably think I'd have an opinion on this non-Posleen War novel, and there it is.

Understood. I didn't much care for "Cally's War" either...