In Death Ground, 3

This book is nothing short of incrediable. The story line moves along at a good pace that gives you all the information you need and with enough action to keep you from putting it down. The story is well thought out and technical aspects are simply supurb. This is a wonderful read but be warned it is addictive (and the sequel is just as good).

In Death Ground (1997) is the third novel by Weber & White in the Starfire series. However, it is the second in internal chronological sequence following Crusade and is the first in a duology with The Shiva Option. Insurrection is actually last in the series by internal chronology. This story takes place 60-odd years after the Theban War. The enemy ambushes Survey Flotilla 27, destroying or severely damaging the survey cruisers and their escorts. The enemy then pursues the survivors through warp point after warp point. The Terran Federation Navy diverts two nearby task forces to reinforce the survivors of SF27 and sends all available freighters and transports to evacuate the colony planets. TF58, under Admiral Anthony Villiers, is the first task force to reach the SF27 survivors in the Golan system. He holds the warp point for a while, bleeding the enemy and evacuating part of the population, until forced to withdraw to Erebor. TF58 has a month to prepare, receive reinforcements, and to start evacuations, but the enemy then attacks through the warp point with devastating tactics, mass, and a new weapon. Villiers is forced to commit his battleline to slow the advance, losing his battleships, and leaving Admiral Jackson Teller in command of the withdrawal into the K-45 system. This novel describes the desperate battles to stop the enemy advance. Since the warp points are bottle necks, the fighting is more separated than surface naval combat. Each warp point is defended and the TFN makes the Bugs pay dearly despite overwhelming odds against them, but more Bugs ships keep coming through. TFN reinforcements are still arriving, but will they be enough to stop the Bugs? This novel describes a campaign similar in many ways to the Pacific theater of World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed or severely damaged every US battleship in the Pacific, forcing the US navy to rely on aircraft carriers and escort ships. Therefore, the strategy was to harass the enemy with destroyers, PT boats, and submarines, while the carrier task forces struck at enemy concentrations and tried to destroy the Japanese carriers. At the Coral Sea, aerial attacks by US carrier planes severely damaged three Japanese carriers and destroyed several escorts. Then, at Midway, the US carriers destroyed four of the remaining Japanese carriers. These two battles effectively stopped the Japanese advance. This novel is recommended to all Weber & White fans and anyone who enjoys stories of spatial battles with a touch of political intrigue.

"In Death Ground" is the third book to come out in a series which also includes "Insurrection" and "Crusade." "Insurrection" takes place many years after the other two books, however. "In Death Ground" is, chronologically, the sequel to "Crusade"; moreover, it reuses many of the characters from "Crusade," as well as relying on background information provided by that book. So "Crusade" should be read prior to "In Death Ground."That being said, "In Death Ground" is a book which is superior in many ways to "Crusade." At heart, both books are really nothing but space opera, in which space battles play a major role. But whereas the characters in "Crusade" were flat and there was little change in them from one end of the book to the other, this is no longer the case for "In Death Ground." Finally, what Weber has learned elsewhere gets a chance to shine here. His hand is clearly present at the description of space battles, but some of that great character insight he has shown (in the Honor Harrington series) he is capable of finally makes an appearance in this book.The plot is straightforward, pitting again the Orion-Earth Federation Alliance against a new foe. Battle after battle follows, but this time we get insight the head of a few of the captains and admirals commanding this battle (something sorely missing from the previous book).As opposed to both "Insurrection" and "In Death Ground", the issues are NOT resolved in this book; clearly a sequel is planned, and I hope not too far away.In summary, this book is pure fun space opera, but with some actual three-dimensional, evolving characters thrown in. Fans of mindless space opera will no doubt enjoy it, as will those who require a bit more depth to their science fiction. But beware: you should probably read "Crusade" first, and that is, unfortunately, an inferior book to "In Death Ground."

When I first read the back cover of IN DEATH GROUND, it sounded suspiciously like a rip-off of the great STARSHIP TROOPERS, by Heinlein ("Bugs" and "Arachnids" as the enemy, for gosh sakes). But after the first chapter I was hooked. For readers of sci-fi military lore, this book satisfies on many levels. The detailed and innovative descripton of future military technology ("SBMHAWKS"), the breathtakingly original tactics for fighting battles in deep space between two entrance/exit points (almost like fighting in a 2-dimensional universe, which would be far more difficult than in 3 dimensions), were absolutely riveting. The intrepid admirals, the high-tech battlewagons and carriers fighting a numerically superior and brutally agressive foe, the exciting and dramatic accounts of the desperate battles, and the incredible but realistic casualty rates of such deadly battlegrounds in space kept me glued to the book from start to finish. The only flaw in the book was the somewhat unrealistic use the Bugs had for the inhabitants of their captive planets. However, it detracted very little from the storyline and was easily overlooked in the overall drama of this gigantic campaign for survival of humanity and other allied races. The particular process of interstellar travel in this book, and its implications on strategic thought in this future century, was original and spellbinding. All in all, one of my top ten of all sci-fi books I have read and the equal in many respects to the great STARSHIP TROOPERS (the book, not the film!). Mr. Weber and Mr. White, please write the sequel. I have to know how it ends.

In Death Ground is one of the best book I ever read aside of the Foundation series. If you are looking for a story involving spaceships battling against each other, In Death Ground is the one you are looking for. Weber/White did 3 sequels on same type of background story. They are Crusade, In Death Ground and Insurrection. However all 3 books are not directly related. For example, you won't need to read In Death Ground to read Insurrection. But if you want to read with the timeline of the 3 books in mind you read in the order I mentioned above. One more interesting point is that In Death Ground came out at a much later date than the 2 other books. After reading In Death Ground, you would crave for a sequel to it. Unfortunately, Weber/White does not satisfy us with a direct sequel as Insurrection sets a much later date in the story timeline. If Weber/White is reading this, please give us a true sequel to In Death Ground.