Planetside by Michael Mammay
(Planetside, Book 1)
Released: July 31, 2018 | Genre: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Space Opera
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A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…
War heroes aren’t usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it’s something big—and he’s not being told the whole story. A high councilor’s son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there’s no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command.
The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won’t come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover. The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive…
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While stationed at Kandahar, Mammay noticed the unusual command structure there: Army, Special Operations, Air Force, and Medical Command all operating in the same environment without actually being subordinate to one another. He wrote down a one-page idea imagining what would happen if those organizations were run by people with bigger egos and competing agendas. That eventually became Cappa Base, the space station where much of Planetside takes place.
REVIEW
⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆ ☆
A review of military science fiction in general. 😩
(While this isn’t strictly a review of Planetside, much of what I’m about to say definitely applies. I’ve noticed this trend for years, but Planetside is where it really stood out.)
Here’s the problem: 99% of military sci-fi is boring. Not outright bad, just formulaic. It hides behind layers of lore and endless jargon instead of delivering substance.
To the point: it’s a lot of talking.
Endless conversations full of military-speak about what’s happening, who’s doing what, what needs to be done, why it matters, what the next step is, and what will happen if it isn’t done.
On paper, that sounds fine. Those are all the ingredients you need for a compelling story. But when the entire book is just that, talking about strategy, politics, and procedures, it gets old fast. Instead of living through the action, you’re stuck watching characters debate military hierarchy and corporate-like bureaucracy (see also: my review of Starship Troopers). As intriguing as some of those ideas are, I constantly find myself wanting them to just stop. Stop talking about some random attack, or the consequences thereof, or the danger of what’s to come, and let me actually see these events unfold.
It’s mostly my fault for always expecting more. I admit, I like being in the thick of the action. But all too often, it feels like I’m watching it from a General’s point of view (you know, kinda like those giant maps they have in war rooms with action figures they push around with sticks? It’s like watching one of those).
And that’s a shame, because, as a result, some of the best sci-fi out there are ones that are not military-based. I still love the concepts behind military sci-fi, and I’ll probably keep reading it, but more often than not, the execution just doesn’t live up to its potential.
