Dark Sky Legion

Simply excellent. Barton ranks as my favorite all time sci-fi (and sci-fantasy) author.

Excellent writing and characterization, but boy, is this book a downer. A terrifyingly plausible, wrenchingly sad view of humanity's future as the controller of a true galactic empire. I haven't read this one for a while (just dropped by to see what sort of reviews it had gotten, to find none yet), and I've read many books since, but "Dark Sky Legion" still gives me chills just to think about. Barton doesn't seem a very cheery fellow, judging from other stories (authored and coauthored) of his I've read. Too bad, because he is a very fine writer. "Dark Sky Legion" has lots of explicit sex, so give it a pass if that offends you. I can't give it less than four stars--it's a compelling piece of work--but this is one vision I hope never, ever comes to pass.