Insurrection (Starfire, #1) By David Weber

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In the end, the only political systems that seem to work are those based on freedom. The Inner World leaders of the Terran Federation seem to have forgotten this simple truth. After fighting the Khanate—with the Fringe Worlds to supply the raw material and the fighting men—the Inner Worlds found it hard to give up the powers they had seized during the war. So they decided not to—rather than allow the rapidly expanding Fringe Worlds representation in the Federation, they are inviting the Khanate in, to keep the colonial upstarts in their place. The Fringers have only one answer to that: Insurrection (Starfire, #1)

Don't get me wrong, I love pretty much anything Weber writes and can re-read them any number of times, but a couple of plot elements in this book made it very hard to swallow. From my review on amazon:

I liked it, overall. I tend to get annoyed when there are plot holes that are not explained or require complete idiocy on someone's part. The ones (related) that irritated me were wrt the two Republican attacks on Zephrain. In the first one, the Republic has found a brand-new warp point closed at the Zephrain end. This means they can put a whole fleet in, bypassing the Gateway warp point defenses. Do they do that? Nah, instead they make a conventional attack at the Gateway, to draw Trevayne's mobile forces there with the intent of attacking them from behind with a massive fighter strike from the 5 cloaked carriers that sneaked in via the new warp point. They are detected by a wildly unlikely chance and destroyed by Trevayne's monitors, dooming the attack. That never made any sense to me - why not sneak your entire fleet in the back door, and have the carriers sneak up on the mobile force in planetary orbit, launching a surprise attack while they have their shields and drives down? The OWPs at the Gateway are meaningless, and the remaining mobile forces (guarding the Gateway warp point) are not adequate to retake the planet. Even more annoying though, is that *somehow* the Rim forces discovered the location of the closed warp point, so they could mine it, and etc. This is the ONLY way they had any chance of stopping the second attack, which was massive (my recollection is that 20+ Republican SDs and a good half dozen carriers were destroyed or crippled penetrating the defenses there.) There is no plausible way the Rim discovers this warp point without a major, major screw-up on the part of the Republic. Without both of those fiascos, the Republic seizes Zephrain, and the rest of the book never happens. Fooey... Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History Two things make insurrection great.
1) The mechanics of the Starfire universe.
2) People come into conflict because they have conflicting goals and values, but are still equally respectable and honorable.

The key detail of the Starfire universe is that fixed warp points connect star systems. Most occupied systems have 1 or 2 warp points. By structuring the map in this way, it creates defensible choke points. All other travel is sub-light. This adds a twist to Military Sci Fi. It adds a chain of communication, and chain of supply to the equation in a way that much Sci Fi neglects.

There are focus characters on two of the 3 sides in this conflict. These characters get roughly equal treatment. None of them are angels or demons. There is alot of moral ambiguity.

These things combine to make an incredible book. One of the most memorable I've ever read. One that I will return to in the future. One that I will use as a yardstick to judge all other Science Fiction I read. Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History Mawkish, melodramatic, MIL-SF, space opera riffing on WWII Pacific War naval combat, The American Revolution and Civil War. I suppose that makes it a: MIL-SF, political thriller?

I read this book years ago when I was a callow youth. I remembered it fondly for its C. S. Forester-esque, guns, drums, powder smoke and bugles style. Now, being considerably better read it reminds me more of Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War a historical thriller, written about 20-years earlier than this book.

This wasn’t a bad story MIL-SF story, as hard as it is to write good MIL-SF. As a space opera it also wasn’t too bad. For example, it was actually a good example of the Hyperspace Lanes, men and women heroes stepping-up to meet the mighty hour and ships launched out into the louring dark tropes.

However, the purple prose was laughable. I listened to this book. I couldn’t tell if there were strings of multisyllabic words, run-on sentences, and blocks of unyielding text like in A Memory Called Empire, but the descriptions were just chock-full, of overly embellished language. It was as Homer-esque as the wine dark sea. The overall effect was mawkish and melodramatic.

The story had a the cast of thousands. There were six or eight POVs phasing in and out of the narrative over a six year duration. All the protagonists (men and women)were noble warriors and honorable. In addition, there was a host of minor NPCs. The authors were fond of the technique of giving them first and last names to thicken their cardboard nature. Many NPCs were red shirts sacrificed to the carnage of space war.

I noted there were very few black characters, but lots of Latinx and Asians. The story also contained several racial faux pas. “Oriental” was used to describe folks of “Asian” extraction, be they Japanese or Chinese. Although, in 1990, when written, that usage was changing. I did roll my eyes at the faux, interstellar, racial equality. Almost every Terran race made an appearance. An oriental [sic], female, naval officer calling her officer, Anglo, gal-pal a “round-eye”, shows they’re all one, big, happy, Terran family?

I also shook my head at the false feminism in the story. Making half the story’s POVs, strong, women was a too overt play for the Feminist Fantasy readership. These characters where boys with breasts. What distinguished them from the strong men, was the way they afterwards, expressed their grief over the carnage of the epic space battles. Weber eventually wrote himself a pension this way with the Honorverse.

If you’re a student of history, you’ll see how heavily the authors borrowed from the great naval battles of the Pacific during WWII. For example, there was a thinly disguised Battle of Midway climactic, epic, space battle. (All the space battles were epic.) Tech reminded me of a lift from Lensman series only with computers, lasers, and misunderstood cryptography. The space science (Hyperspace Lanes aside) inconvenient towards maintaining the WWII naval warfare paradigm were ignored. For example, space is vast, empty, cold and dark. A spaceship, especially a large one, is reflective and radiant at many wavelengths. Its observable from great distances, especially during deceleration (a bit of space flight physics ignored in the narrative). The stealthy attacks of the story would not be possible. In addition, the political aspects of the story were rather naïve. They were there to setup the epic space battles. It was a mashup of the American Revolution and the American Civil War—IN SPACE.

Thirty years ago, when written to satisfy the sf needs of MIL-SF nerds limping along on the Star Trek (Gen I) and Aliens franchises, this was likely haute, sf literature. Today, its eye-rollingly amusing. However, both authors leveraged this early work to go on feeding, clothing and housing themselves writing similar, if slightly better stories of the same ilk. Recommended for sf nerds who liked reading fiction based on age-of-sail, Royal Navy officer protagonists (in space) in series novels. Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History On the surface, the Terran Federation is a beacon of liberty, prosperity, and progress, as it has been for centuries during humanity's expansion out of Earth into the stars and through a series of brutal interstellar wars. However, beneath the surface, divisions are growing. For decades now the colonies of the Fringe have watched as their freedoms have been curtailed by a bloc of corporate interests in the Federation Assembly, as their representation has been reduced, preventing them from having a proper say in Federation policy and allowing the corporate worlds to continue keeping the Fringe worlds in economic serfdom. Then comes word that the corporates have forged an agreement for a political union with humanity's old enemies, the Orions, a union whose reapportionment of representation would see the Fringe's share in the Assembly shrink to virtually nothing, not to mention putting them at the mercy of the whims corporations and the Orions, with whom the Fringe shares a rather... unpleasant history. Things finally come to a head when the outspoken leader of the Fringe's bloc, Fionna MacTaggart is assassinated in cold blood and the Assembly doesn't so much as lift a finger to punish the culprits. Convinced that the Federation is irreparably broken, the Fringers do the only thing they can to secure their rights, they secede, so begins a vicious conflict for the future of humanity.

At its heart, Insurrection is roughly a retelling of the American Revolutionary War in space. There are, of course, significant differences, but it follows a similar basic concept particularly in the roots of the conflict: lack of representation and economic exploitation of colonies. That said, while the Federation starts the story as the unquestioned bad guys, the book quickly reorients as the people responsible for the conditions which started the war fall from power and afterwards, the book is pretty even-handed in its portrayal of the two factions. Likewise, the story is pure space opera and exhibits some of Weber's best writing in terms of space battles. I will say that most of the characters are pretty two-dimensional but given the scope of the political and military struggle that's the focus of the book (and the book's fairly small size) there's not that much time for character development. Overall, I just found this to be a really fun and fast read, while it's part of a longer series, the story is self-contained. I should also note that while this is set in the Starfire wargaming universe, I had no knowledge thereof going into this and didn't really feel the lack. Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History A good space opera novel where David Weber have not yet fallen into the never ending talk, talk, talk mode as he has in some of his later work. Sure there’s a bunch of political bullshitting in this one as well but it is sufficiently laced with real (space ship) action to make it bearable.

I would have liked for the big bad extra stupid main political bullshitter to get a bit more punishment that just to commit suicide but you cannot have everything I guess.

Although it claims to be part of the “Starfire series” it’s a book which has a clear start and end. No cliffhangers. On the whole it’s a book well worth reading. Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History

To be perfectly honest I kind a got bored with this book and never finished it I only read a little more than halfway. It kept jumping from one character to another I really couldn't sympathize with very many of the characters. I felt like I was reading a history book rather than a science-fiction novel. I'm sure this book probably had a good ending it was just too difficult for me to get all the way to it. I only gave this book one star but not because of the quality of the writing which is actually pretty good but because of the quality of the storyline. I felt that it did not draw me in like most books do. I felt that the author was throwing too many details at me all at once jumping around plus I never give more than one star to a book I never finished. Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202... Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History Not much too this at all. Civil war breaks out between the Inner Worlds and the Fringe Worlds within the Federation. Some space battles happen, new weapons are developed, a final push through to reunite two separate groups, and then the book is over. Barely anything memorable at all. Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History Meh... :\

Aside from the final battle, I found this book to be extremely boring. It's one of those books you start reading as fast as you can so you'll finish it faster. This is a stark contrast to the previous books in the Starfire series.

What I liked: Both sides at war have honorable intentions, but are duty bound to kill their fellow humans. What I disliked: Pretty much everything else. The book is mostly about political conflicts and spends very little time in edge-of-the-seat action (much like most later Weber books, btw.)
Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History Insurrection
Author: David Weber and Steve White
Publisher: Baen Books
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: 1990
Pgs: 408

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The wars with the Khanate had shifted the balance of power. The Corporate Worlds used the Fringe and Rim Worlds to supply the raw material and the fighting men. Once the guns fell silent, the Corporate Worlds didn’t want to give back the power that they had amassed over the Fringers. They limited the governmental representation of the frontiers and the fringes with the assistance of the Heart Worlds. Forced by blood and to protect their homeworlds, the Fringers are going to take a stand.

Genre:
Fiction
Military
Science fiction
Space opera
War

Why this book:
Starfire. Love the game. Loved the books. This is a re-read for me.

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Favorite Character:
Ladislaw Skjorning of Beaufort is a great character. Well rounded. Fierce. 3 dimensional.

Least Favorite Character:


Character I Most Identified With:
Admiral / Governor General Trevayne. I understand his character. But he’s on the wrong side of this war having sided with the Federation out of duty despite what the government of the Federation did that triggered the eventual rebellion and the formation of the Republic, even with the huge manpain reason that the Republic gave him by their attack on the Galloway’s World shipyards and reservation.

The Feel:
Great science fiction.

Favorite Scene:
When Ladislaw challenges Oskar Dieter of New Zurich to a duel of honor after Dieter insults the leader of the Beaufort delegation at the Beaufort embassy/consulate. And Dieter shows his true colors and wusses out.

Fiona’s swan song tragedy is well done. As is Ladislaw’s challenge before the Chamber of Worlds when he tells them all that he knows it was an assassination plot orchestrated from that very chamber.

The scene where Ladislaw meets Dame Penelope MacTaggart, Fiona’s mother and leader of the MacTaggart Clan, at the spaceport on his return to Beaufort. It choked me up. Very well written.

When Rear Admiral Li Han stood down the pirates and destroyed them.

The Battle of Zapata is incredible military space opera sci fi.

Pacing:
The pace of this novel is great.

Casting call:
Ladislaw Skjorning would need to be a big guy to reflect his being from a high gravity world. Maybe Hafthor Julius Bjornsson. He was awesome as the Mountain on Game of Thrones. Not sure if he has the acting chops. Brando or Anthony Hopkins could invest Ladislaw with the necessary gravitas, but neither was a big enough man to do the character justice. Of course, one of them is dead and the other is too old for the role. Chris Hemsworth could do it.

Billy Bob Thornton as Oskar Dieter.

Admiral / Governor General Ian Trevayne would be great portrayed by Michael Fassbender.

Danny Trejo as Sergei Ortega.
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Last Page Sound:
That’s just good stuff.

Author Assessment:
I love David Weber and Steve White’s work in the Starfire series. David Weber is an awesome writer. He does military sci fi better than anyone.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic, real classic, real genre classic, really good book, glad I read it, it’s alright, meh!, why did I read this, not as good as I was lead to believe

Disposition of Book:
Paperback...keeper.

Would recommend to:
friends, family, kids, colleagues, everyone, genre fans, no one
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Errata:
The sublight space flight of this universe with the warp points/wormholes for extra system travel is a great gimmick.
Science Fiction Fantasy, Alternate History