Rich Man's War by Elliott Kay (3.5 stars)

 

A good sequel, but not as strong as the first. I felt fairly constantly disappointed that Tanner didn't immediately get all the privileges and seniority he deserved, but it feels pretty realistic. He instead has to work inside the military machine as a regular enlisted, but with the heavy target of being famous painted on his chest. Characterization in this series is pretty strong and realisitc for military SF.

The training to become a military policeman was somewhat tedious, and felt like an obvious setup for him to be able to one day take down rogue captain Casey. I honestly would have preferred to see Casey killed off than this big hero-vs-villian comic book setup.

The cynicism about war remains:

“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”

There's another giant battle, but it requires even more suspension of disbelief than the first die-hard version. Good enough to read the next one, but not amazing.

3.5 stars.