From archive (archive)
From: gmp@rayssd.ray.com (Gregory M. Paris)
Subject: Soldier of Another Fortune by Mike Shupp
Organization: Raytheon Submarine Signal Division
Date: 30 Aug 88 00:31:07 GMT




I, like the majority of readers of this group, leave the book reviewing
to the "professionals," but when it comes to a book that really gets me
angry, I'm afraid that I just have to speak out.

"Soldier of Another Fortune" by Mike Shupp (Ballantine, August 1988) is
the third book in what now appears to be a four book series called "The
Destiny Makers."  Books One and Two, "With Fate Conspire" and "Morning
of Creation," deal mainly with the adventures of Tim Harper, a 20th
century Viet Nam vet, propelled into the far future to a civilization
called the Fifth Era.  For some reason, I thought I was looking forward
to this third book in the series, but after reading it, I can't believe
that the first two could have been good enough to make me want to read
another.  My memory must be frazzed.

"Soldier of Another Fortune" abandons following Tim Harper for over
half the book, introducing a thoroughly despicable new character known
by a multitude of names throughout the book (as is Harper), but most
often referred to as Kalm.  Kalm is a telepath, a Teep, but seems to
use his power mostly to verify what male misogynists have long assumed --
that women want to be sexually abused.  But this is SF, so I don't want
to waste words summarizing the many abusive and anti-female scenes in
the book, but will mention that Kalm likes his women with no arms and
no legs.  (Sorry, but it's in the book, graphically enough.)

On to the story.

The first two books were about time travel and it's uses toward
changing the outcome of a war in the Fifth Era.  If you were interested
in this story line, there's no need to read this book.  The characters
are stuck in a single time in a feudal society where they maneuver to
affect the outcome of a single battle.  I found it not interesting in
the least.  In fact, I did something that I rarely do:  I paged through
one third of the book.

A great trick the author uses to add some pages to the book:  Run
through a scene once (and take 50 pages or so), have one of the
characters go back a little in time and make a change, then play the
resulting new scene (and double your page count!).  Wow, does that make
interesting reading, or what!?

I've got a BIG (really) spoiler at the end of this article, so let me
summarize now, though it's probably not necessary.  This book is boring
and offensive.  It does not advance the story of Tim Harper in the
Fifth Era.  On the Leeper scale, it gets a -4 in my book, though I
would have rather not read it and thus not rated it.  Please, bring on
the Gargantusaurs now, I'm ready...

The SPOILER follows.  Hit `n' now if you don't want to know the ending.







Remember what I said about going back in time to cause part of the
story to be retold, but differently the second time?  Remember how I
said that Kalm was the major character of the third book?  Well, in the
last few pages, Tim Harper is killed!  Don't worry.  Kylene (the Teep
girl from the Second Era) goes back a little bit and kills Kalm, thus
saving Tim.  In other words, the entire book never happened!!!!!

Is that unbelievable???

-- 
Greg Paris                     <gmp@rayssd.ray.com>
 {decuac,gatech,necntc,sun,uiucdcs,ukma}!rayssd!gmp