The Forge

This book is the first in a series of 5 books that depict a planet (Bellevue) with a human civilisation that has fallen back from a star spanning empire to preindustrial levels, roughly circa US prior to its Civil War. David Drake furnished the outline, which was laid flesh by Steve Stirling. The books are superbly written, with a plausible, complicated neo-feudal world. You can feel the dust in the air and the sweat on the skin as General Raj's soldiers trudge to battle; and thence the stench of gunpowder and voided bowels as the casualties mounted in battle. Sometimes, between battles, there are jarring scenes as people who transgress an autocrat's law are enslaved, along with their entire families. While the level of technology is roughly Civil War America, imagine instead an America where you did not have to be Negro to be a slave, and there was no restriction on a ruler's power. Where the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man is unknown. The society is closer to that of Imperial Rome. No coincidence. The hero, Raj, is modelled on Belisarius, the Byzantine general. There are lighter moments. The state religion is a worship of Computers (explicitly capitalised), based on a fragmented recollection of their power, prior to the nuclear war that brought down the earlier civilisation. Priests can be female. Fierce theological disputes arise over different interpretations of surviving computer manuals. Which were probably untelligible to begin with, anyway. Those of you who have read Byzantine history can see echoes of the nitpicking arguments that split early Christianity; arguments utterly meaningless to those outside a narrow frame of reference.Oh, speaking of Christians, here they are like Jews; an unloved minority. But there are plenty of Muslims. In fact, they are the other Great Power on Bellevue. The series revolves around the two Powers confronting each other, to decide the fate of the planet.Before you read this series, I urge that you do a quick scan of Belisarius in a good dictionary. You will get more from the series this way.The biggest problem about this series is that it is hard to find in its entirety in a bookstore. You may have to scrounge in used bookstores. It doesn't appear to have been reprinted recently.

This is the standard by which I judge all military fiction. I have never found another that was it's equal. Even when the same authors got together again for books 6 and 7 (which I have reviewed separately) they couldn't recreate the magic of this series.THE GENERAL series is about a fallen interstellar society which has climbed it's way back up to the technological level of the American Civil War. The hero, Raj Whitehall, has to reunite the planet in order to reach the stars again some day. This involves a lot of fighting and empire building. What gives Raj his edge is the pre-fall computer he has linked with that can see through his eyes. This series has outstanding character development, a solid and well thought out overall plot line, and good story resolution in each book. The two things that really make the series the top of its genre are the interaction between the computer and the hero, and the realism of the situation. The interaction is a delicate balance that the authors perform magically. If the computer (Center) contributes too much, then the hero has too much of an edge, he doesn't have to try, and the story becomes boring. Without the computer, the hero is just this god like superhuman character that can do no wrong. The computer assistance makes Raj identifiable to the reader, even after he overcomes overwhelming odds to defeat the enemy. The realism comes from the fact that Raj is based on the life of a real person. The whole story is very similar to the story of Byzantine General Belisarius who conquered most of the Mediterranean world for his Emperor after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. That makes it very believable. The characters are very real. Their actions really happened a millenium and a half ago.This is a must read for any fan of military fiction or empire building.

Ever wonder what civilization would be like if a devastating war wiped out all modern luxuries? This book does an incredible job telling a tale of a fallen civilization that worships the technology that brought them to their world. Technology that was lost after an interstellar war centuries before and has become a misunderstood ancient religion. Finally, an "angel", a pre-Collapse computer has chosen one man to begin a path that could lead to the restoration of the "Holy" Federation and reintroduce man to the stars. I've just started the second book in the series and am enjoying it as much as the first. The detail of events and the confusion of battle, the depth of the plot and diversity both large and small scale make this novel more than worthy of the rating!

"The Forge" is the first of a five volume set that details the conquest of an early industrial age planet by a brilliant military commander. The planet Bellevue is a colony world that is sinking into barbarism after an interstellar civil war has cut off all travel between worlds. Each successive cycle of time drags civilzation further and further back. But the one remaining operating computer on the planet has taken on the task of reversing this entropy, and raising man back to his former power - with the help of Raj Whithall, the youngest military commander in the army of the Civil Government.I thoroughly enjoyed this entire series, and have re-read it at least three times. The characters are engaging, the environment is seamless, and the action will keep you up late into the night. At least you don't have to wait for the next volume to be released like I did!

The Forge begins a fascinating and tremendously enjoyable collection of five books, continuing with The Hammer, The Anvil, The Steel, and the Sword. The lead character, Raj Ammenda Halgern Da Luis Whitehall is a military officer in a society living on the planet Bellevue which was cut off from the rest of interstellar civilization when civil war destroyed Man's ability to travel between stars. The chaos that followed drove the succeeding generations further and further toward barbarism. During Raj's time, the technology of the ancients is worshipped as holy. Now with the help of a still active ancient computer, Raj is tasked with reuniting his world and reversing the social entropy.These novels have some of the most entertaining prose and most convincing battle scenes I have ever read. I have read this series at least 5 times. Thankfully, you will not have to wait for the rest of the series as I did.