A Boy and His Tank

The planet of New Kashubia is a ball of heavy metals in orbit about a pulsar that bakes the planet's surface with deadly radiation. The people are the poorest in the universe, having to import carbon, oxygen and even dirt. They live in tunnels drilled into the layer of gold because it is the LEAST dangerous metal to their health, giving birth is a crime and they go around naked because they can't afford clothes. You would think being inserted into a smart tank that will feed you, take care of you and allow you to do almost anything you want in virtual reality would be a good thing when compared to being sent to the hydroponic vats.And it was a good thing...till you and your tank had to face REAL combat.

New Kashubia is a planet of almost pure wealth. When its star went nova, the lighter elements were blown away leaving a complete planet of molten metal--which then cooled in neat layers. New Kashubia is a miner's delight, an industrialist's best dream, and the worst possible nightmare for any colonists unlucky enough to be sent there. With no oxygen, no hydrogen, no organic chemicals, essentially nothing to support life, the Kashubian population is condemned to slowly starve--while living in their gold-lined caves. When they discover that the industrialists left a vast array of military equipment, the Kashubians see a ray of hope--they can become mercenaries, exchanging their equipment and soldiers for the organics they require. Of course, without enough volunteers, it is tempting to resort to stripping the prisons--hence tank operator Mickolai. The warring clans of the former Yugoslavia form ideal targets for mercenaries. The Kashubians sell their services to all sides and prepare for a friendly time with plenty of shooting and no casualties. Unfortunately for their plans, the Serbians discover that the divisions they paid for are severely undermanned and take over the largely automated tanks themselves. As a result, the hoped-for cake walk turns into real battle. Author Leo Frankowski follows the tradition of Robert Heinlein more than that of David Drake with a personal adventure and coming of age story--yet he certainly doesn't neglect the battles. Frankowski's descriptions of the future tanks is a reasonable extrapolation from modern trends, which makes his story more compelling and interesting. I did think that Mickolai's relationship with Kasia went a little too easily and the romantic conflict between the tank, the boy, and the girl could have been more fully developed, but this is a small quibble. A BOY AND HIS TANK is fun light reading.

Best book in my collection I just hope there will be a sequel coming out soon. the ending leaves you wonting more and then you find out that your not going to get it. Can't ask for a better cover.

This is the first book I read of Leo's, and I enjoyed it for its action and technological bs. The technical advances were, well ... magnetic, shall we say?True the protagonist is decidedly one-sided to the point of jingoism, yet the enemy is truly despicable.In future episodes, of course, I expect to see corruption, even within the so-called pristine, elite good forces to occasional erupt. For even a supposedly benign military outfit will occasionally unwittingly harbor within its forces bombers, sadists, pedophiles, and murderers, something that David Drake adroitly pointed out in several of his SF-Military Action novels -- along with the subsequent penalty for the acting out of such warped drives by the perpetrators involved.Though Leo did mention that, among the so-called honest elite of physicists, he did, on a particular occasion, run into one scumbag, that subtlety should instead have been brought out in the body of his work, and not as a bitching aside when listing credits. I just wished he had added that level of sophistication to his story instead.

The book has some flaws, most notably that you don't have any idea until the end that the book might be the first of a series, (if it sells well). It's fun, lighthearted fare, and the author makes some serious points along the way about what might happen when reality and fantasy become indistinguishable. I found it well worth my time, and enjoyed myself along the way.