Children No More, 4

The series continue to be very good, this particular book, however, feels a tad slower than previous ones. In addition, (not so welcome addition from my point of view), the style seemed to have changed a bit, there is now a parallel storyline of young Jon / old Jon. Personally, I prefer to focus on a single track instead of pausing and switching gears to a different storyline.

"Children No More" brings back characters from earlier books for a new adventure, this time on a planet riven by civil war. Brutal rebels conscript children into their efforts, drugging them with stimulants and turning them into juvenile killing machines. Alissa Lim, Jon's former comrade-in-arms, needs Jon and Lobo to help her liberate these young fanatics and give them a chance at a normal life as children, a chance Jon never had. Maggie Park, the woman Jon desperately wishes he could love, is back as the representative of the Children of Pinkelponker, a mysterious group of people descended from inhabitants of Jon's long-lost home world and Slanted Jack reprises his role as the consummate con-man. Sergeants Gustafson and Schmidt, on leave from the SAW, play significant roles, as well. The book is actually two stories in one volume, running parallel to the main story is something Van Name fans have wanted: Jon's back story. We discover how Jon went from a gentle giant with the mind of a small child into a more-than-normal teenager with the help of his sister, Jennie. We follow him through his subsequent banishment to the Dump, an island for misfit mutants. We get to know Benny, the boy who sacrificed his own life to save Jon's and learn why Jon was sent to Aggro, the prison satellite. We learn the book's title applies equally well to both stories. Mark Van Name is delivering a message in this book: it's his comment on the evils of forcing children to become soldiers long before their mind and bodies are prepared for the rigors and stresses of combat. We saw this in the Hitler Youth, barely one-tenth of whom made it to the end of World War II without being killed or wounded, in the children turned into weapons by the Viet Cong, in the lines of the Iran-Iraq war and still today in several strife-ridden nations on the African continent. Again, the book delivers this message on two levels: the children of Tunami, perverted by those who called themselves liberators, and Jon, turned into a young killer by Benny as a way to help the misfits escape their island prison. The book succeeds at its many tasks, thanks in no small part to Van Name's skill as a storyteller. "Children No More" is a worthy addition to the Jon and Lobo series.

Other reviews will give you a more detailed plot outline, so I will not do much of that here. This book will make a great deal more sense if you have read the previous books. I say that because there is implicit in the actions of several characters the knowledge of their characters which we learned about in the previous books. If you haven't read the earlier books, you will have to trust that Jon knows what he is doing. In any case, it is still a ripping good yarn as they used to say. In the previous book in the series, "Overthrowing Heaven", Jon helped Lobo to deal with something from Lobo's past. Now it is Jon's turn. Because one child must be saved, hundreds of others must also be helped. I expect that someday we may learn who that special child was, and how it was known he was where he was, but that is because I have read "Slanted Jack". How Jon became a warrior is revealed in great detail in this book. How an innocent (someone who would do not intentional harm) became the complex, conflicted warrior Jon of these novels is a different story from Ender's War, but just as intense. That's one part of the story, and it helps the reader understand why Jon not only comes to help the children, but why he stays when the combat mission is over and the really dangerous part begins. So it's actually two good yarns. How do you turn child-soldiers back into children? I think Mark Van Name has captured one point very clearly. Tell them, "It's not your fault!" How many times in less harrowing circumstances, do you hear about kids blaming themselves for their parent's divorce, or other traumatic events? It's a brilliant point, but it is not overstated. (I'm adding this in response to a comment which said that the children were not at the state where they felt that they had done wrong. At the time of this story, that is mostly true. But at some point in their re-education, many if not all of the kids will have to deal (internally) with the consequences of what they did. That's when they need to understand it was not their fault.) Jon does not reveal how he is using Slanted Jack in his scheme to provide a long term solution to the problem of the children, not until the end. It's a wicked good con! You'll have to trust me on that. That is what Jon has to keep telling people who are involved, but who cannot be trusted (Jon is notably short on trust when dealing with humans, for a lot of very good reasons.) Finally, one reviewer thought that the book was preachy (but couldn't put it down!). Maybe, but read the author's description of his introduction to military training as a 10 year old at the end of the book. He understands what he endured was nothing, nothing at all compared to what the child soldiers of the world endure. But he can begin to imagine. The back cover of the book states that the author's proceeds from this book go to an organization called Falling Whistles. (fallingwhistlesdotcom)

This book does two things: 1) flashback into interesting backstory that was only hinted at in the first three books, and 2) show their latest adventure in which they try to rescue a bunch of kids who have been made into soldiers. But why those kids on that planet at that time, and not some other kids somewhere else? The characters struggle with that question and it basically comes down to: they were paid for this one. Okay. But why were they paid? Without giving away what is anyway an almost irrelevant plot point, basically it is because one of the kids is special. That's the MacGuffin, the thing that drives the story. You'd think it'd end up being important. That we would learn about the kid. As a reader, you can't help but think about each kid we meet, "Is this the guy? What's so special?" Nothing. It's kinda disappointing. There was at least room at the end for a little plot twist to reveal that there was a mistake or it was someone else or... well, something! Nothing. And on a possibly related note, the underlying tone of the book is a bit preachy. Okay, we get it, making kids into soldiers is bad. We don't need much convincing on that front. Take it easy! Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game had kid soldiers too, but the story was paramount. So why I am giving it five stars? Because it was a damn good read. Like the first three books, and like anything by Card, you just can't put it down. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. Well, I could eat. Probably gained a couple pounds eating and reading. But it's just a great, well-written book. And anything that makes you keep turning pages till the end is a five-star book, in my book.

Children No More (2010) is the fourth SF novel in the Jon & Lobo series, following Overthrowing Heaven. In the previous volume, Pri jumped McCombs and was stabbed. Jon went for the children and Lobo released the animals. Then Jon provided Parks to the rebels as a witness. In this novel, Jon Moore is a native of Pinkelponker, who got away from the system before it was quarantined. The nanomachines within his body has kept him alive for over a hundred years. Jon had been a mercenary for the Shosen Advanced Weapons Corporation and is now an independent operator with his own Predator Class Attack Vehicle. Lobo is an armed and intelligent PCAV. His shell is also full of intelligent nanotech machines. Although he legally belongs to Jon, Lobo is the more knowledgeable of the two. Yet Jon has more street smarts. Alissa Lim is another veteran of SAW and has worked with Jon. They both have saved each other's life more than once. Maggie Park is an agent for the Children of Pinkelponker, a group that protects mutant descendants of the quarantined planet. She met Jon in Slanted Jack. Slanted Jack is a con artist. He had partnered with Jon for several profitable years, but they had split up due to moral differences. Jack liked to swindle his friends and Jon didn't. In this story, Maggie is running an operation to free a Pinkelponker child from a rebel group on Tumani. She hires Alissa as commander of the mercenaries and suggests the hiring of Jon. So Alissa contacts Jon and offers him a position in the team. Naturally, they also want his PCAV. Jon receives some film clips of the rebels and their indoctrination of the children. He soon realizes that Maggie is involved in the operation and manages to have a private word with her. She states that they don't know which child is their target. Jon knows several of the soldiers on the team and quickly becomes part of the planning group. He and Lobo are to provide air cover for the raid on the rebel camp. After the children are freed, the team will change from military operatives to social training counselors to prepare the children for release into society. At that point, the need for the services of Jon and Lobo are greatly reduced and they are expected to leave. Although no one else knows, Jon had been indoctrinated -- albeit voluntarily -- on Pinkelponker. Jon believes the others misunderstand the feelings of the indoctrinated children, so he decides to stay for a while. Jon learns a lot from the others, but he also has some ideas on how to expedite the process. He treats the children differently than do the others, but in accordance with his own childhood experiences. The children begin to response to his methods. This tale involves a large group of conditioned children, their rebel leaders, and a local politician out to gain fame and money. Jon brings Slanted Jack into the situation to run a scam. But the politician has stationed army troop outside the camp. This story dif