Colonel Audiobook By Rick Shelley cover art

Colonel

Dirigent Mercenary Corps, Book 6

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Colonel

By: Rick Shelley
Narrated by: Mark Delgado
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A legendary warrior in the Dirigent Mercenary Corps, Colonel Lon Nolan is ready to distance himself from a world of war and death, until he discovers that the chancellor of Elysium is coming to Dirigent, hoping to enlist the aid of the DMC against the marauding mercenaries of New Sparta.

©2000 Rick Shelley (P)2013 Audible, Inc. Science Fiction Military
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3.5 stars.

In this last book in the series, we see Lon commanding a multi-regimental job to defend a university world from Earth domination.

Lon's mental agonies about his son's safety and the losses caused by his command decisions are among the best character work in the series. Other than that, though, the characters don't have much depth.

The combat scenes are drawn well for what they are, but as with the whole series, there is little in the way of real combined arms action at any point. But at least this time, the other arms do get mentions and important jobs.

There is still very little that firmly makes this series SF other than the spaceships. The weapons would occasion hardly any surprise on a late-20th century battlefield, and there is no indication that technological change has driven significant tactical changes.

As with the other books, this book ends with very little in the way of a denouement, which is more a choice than a failing, but it does feel rather abrupt.

Overall, the series was entertaining, but it will never be a favorite. The military descriptions are strong (both the military tactics and the military culture), but the character work, world design, and science fiction elements are lacking. I would only recommend this for a serious MilSF fan who has already read the better offerings in the sub-genre.

Mid-tier MilSF

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