The Excalibur Alternative

A good book that is light but still engaging and thought-provoking. It made for an EXCELLENT way to pass a Saturday afternoon! The basic storyline is fairly simple, a crew of English infantry, knights & bowmen on their way to France in 1346 get abducted by aliens, along with a few wives, children, and seamen. They are to be unpaid mercenaries, forced to fight alien races on alien worlds for the alien being that has kidnapped them. Fairly pedestrian . . . EXCEPT for the main characters and the politics of who has kidnapped them and why. I initially thought that Weber had created human characters that were not very real in their ability to grasp new concepts, think beyond their initial prejudices and still be that stubborn and hate their captors that much. But then I remembered the people in real history who dared to dream dreams that no one else did and were there at the right time and place to try for those dreams, sometimes in the face of overwhelming odds. I also remembered that human beings ARE capable of surviving just about anywhere and, while they're at it, being individualistic, rebellious, stubborn pig-headed sneaks with very long memories. And I thought that maybe, while Sir George was definitely a rare and extraordinary human being, maybe he wasn't an impossible human being. The story does move a bit slowly in some places in the first half of the book, but it's still an interesting read. After Sir George and the rest of the humans get their big chance, things move much more quickly. The last section of the book that starts with the Solarian Union negotiating with the Galactic Federation is wonderful, both in the story and in the story-telling. The book has a rather eclectic blend of medieval military tactics, knightly accoutrements, the psychology of how to inspire men on the battlefield (and how to discourage them as well), Machiavellan plotting in a science-fiction setting, sudden plot twists and a theme of "what happens when someone asks the questions everyone thought they already knew the answers to?", so there are probably a lot of readers who will not like it as much as a straight fantasy book or straight sci-fi book. But for readers who don't mind genres being mixed around a bit, it's an excellent read.

The story begins on Earth, with a ragged band of Englishmen sailing the high seas toward battle. Battered by storms, some of the ships were lost. Soon all of the ships were to be lost, along with the families of the soldiers onboard. Then they are plucked from the earth by hands in the heavens, toward a cause that was not their own.Sir George Wincaster is a noble who deserves the title of his nobility. He is well educated, and upholds the integrity of those in leadership positions. His potential was great, he unlocked it during his voyage among the stars. Wincaster was thrown into servitude as a gladiator, except he didn't fight for the master's amusement, he fought to claim territory instead. The Galactic Federation had laws preventing the systematic strip mining of habitable planets except with the inhabitant's permission. There are loopholes in every law. Those who wanted the planet couldn't use technology to coerce the inhabitants, so they got their own "barbarians".This is a story of how highly advanced civilizations have become dependent on their high technology, using it as a crutch. It tells the story of one George Wincaster, his family, and the people under his care. Of how Wincaster overcame his rudimentary knowledge of technology to save himself and all those he valued. Of the difference between stagnation and growth through hard work.Of the injustices commited against Wincaster and how he righted them all.Of how Earth is to be obliterated, not because humans are strong, but because they weren't strong enough.It is, finally, a story of the tale of Excalibur. It will come to the aide of humanity in its darkest hour.

An oft recurring theme in science fiction is that of aliens kidnapping or recruiting humans to act as their slaves or mercenaries. Several well received stories spring to mind. "Janissaries" by Jerry Pournelle, which depicted contemporary American mercenaries, spawned two sequels. "The High Crusade" by Poul Anderson showed English knights in the Middle Ages ready to march on Jerusalem. Instead aliens abduct them. "Ranks of Bronze" by David Drake was a short story of a Roman legion sold to aliens to fight endless wars against enemies of comparable (non-)technology. This book is an authorised sequel to the latter. Think of it as an alternative starting scenario for "The High Crusade". The book ends with the English knights overthrowing their masters and setting up a pocket empire that is ready to confront the aliens in a Galactic War!! As others have noted, the end of this book is slightly at askance. Weber is positioning probably many sequels. He has just released "War of Honor" (2002), which is clearly the start of a new Honor Harrington series. (See my review on that for more details.) Plus he also published "The Shiva Option" which ends that series. He has built up an expertise in writing interplanetary battle scenes, and in doing so has attracted a devoted fan base. From a marketing standpoint, he is reinforcing success by introducing different but related brands, like Coke and Diet Coke. Also, if he experiences a temporary writer's block in one series, he can switch to the other, to maintain productivity.--------------------------------------------------------Here is an aside, and something that does not seem to have been noted by others. The stories mentioned above about humans being kidnapped or recruited have all had humans as the heroes. Are there any where the humans are bad blokes? Not as far as I know. But if you relax the restriction that they be human, then you get Kzin! Yes, that's right. The Man-Kzin wars by Larry Niven. The Kzin were pretechnological tribals who overthrew and enslaved their spacefaring masters. So if you want a different take on this theme, check out that series.

I do not agree with any of the reviewers who bombed this book. It is a wonderfully subtle and thoughtful story that stretches the imagination of a reader inventive enough to look at the many levels and shadings of the tale. The premise is that of a primitive english lord caught up, literally, in an alternative universe and forced to serve as a slave for hundreds of years in an environment that is beyond his wildest nightmares. How he holds his sanity and his fellow survivors together is a subtext that teaches heroism at its highest level as well as the gift of incredible adaptability of human intelligence to grow beyond predictable boundaries arbitrarily set by culture, time and old expectations. The theme is very inspiring for it shows how one can "push the envelope" of imagination and accept the impossible. For me the tale was a metaphor for humanity's greatness. David Weber, among his many gifts as a writer creates excellent dialog and his worlds are peopled with both intellectually and emotionally stirring characters. Sir George represents the strength of humanity, its honor, courage, bravery and integrity. Weber offers these qualities as reminders of the costs to the soul when challenged to overcome xenophobia. Imagine accepting a 3 eyed, dual mouth, purple furred entity as one's boss, or a scaled, reptilian creature as one's ally and best friend. Just as H. G. Wells challenged us to imagine a future world that has long since come to pass, so too, David challenges us to stretch beyond our own limitations and perceptions and imagine the "what if" that could some day become the "as is". I particularly liked his gradual bringing about the shift in consciousness and learning for Sir George and his evolution from primitive to techno geek, a metaphor for our present world where countless people in other countries have never heard of or used a computer. Sir George's perception of "computer" as a sentient being whom he calls "he" is also a harbinger for AI technology that will be part of our everyday use reality soon enough. What a trip that will be.For this reader, the reverence of british culture and traditions held by Sir George who names his empire Avalon, his flag ship Excaliber and uses hereditary titles for his subjects adds a sense of timelessness that also serves as an anchor that unites real time to space/time. Concepts of nanotech for medical and longevity purposes and human cloning to populate other worlds really challenge one to think of these potentialities and prejudices. This book is engaging, deep and worth the effort to read it carefully rather than gulp it down. There are many levels of insight and foresight that are worth being explored and I am intrigued by the notion of where this story could go from here as a new and strong heroine, Admiral Her Imperial Highness Princess Evelynn Wincaster, the commander of Third Fleet has appeared in the story. I would love to see her evolve as Honor Harrington has in that wonderful series.