Planetside - Michael Mammay

Planetside

By Michael Mammay

  • Release Date: 2018-07-31
  • Genre: Science Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 93 Ratings

Description

“Planetside is a smart and fast-paced blend of mystery and boots-in-the-dirt military SF that reads like a high-speed collision between Courage Under Fire and Heart of Darkness.” – Marko Kloos, bestselling author of the Frontline series

A seasoned military officer uncovers a deadly conspiracy on a distant, war-torn planet…

War heroes aren't usually called out of semi-retirement and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy for a routine investigation. So when Colonel Carl Butler answers the call from an old and powerful friend, he knows it's something big—and he's not being told the whole story. A high councilor's son has gone MIA out of Cappa Base, the space station orbiting a battle-ravaged planet. The young lieutenant had been wounded and evacuated—but there's no record of him having ever arrived at hospital command.

The colonel quickly finds Cappa Base to be a labyrinth of dead ends and sabotage: the hospital commander stonewalls him, the Special Ops leader won't come off the planet, witnesses go missing, radar data disappears, and that’s before he encounters the alien enemy. Butler has no choice but to drop down onto a hostile planet—because someone is using the war zone as a cover. The answers are there—Butler just has to make it back alive…

 “Not just for military SF fans—although military SF fans will love it—Planetside is an amazing debut novel, and I’m looking forward to what Mammay writes next.” – Tanya Huff, author of the Confederation and Peacekeeper series

Reviews

  • A review of military science fiction in general. 😩

    2
    By ShootForTheEdit
    (While this is not a review of Planetside, much of what I say does apply to it. I’ve been noticing this trend for years, but Planetside is where it really stood out to me.) 99% of it is boring. Deceptively boring in the fact that military sci-fi has become very formulaic, with more lore than substance. To the point: it’s a lot of talking. A lot of military jargon about what’s going on, who’s doing what, what they need to do, why they need to do it, what their next step is, and what will happen if they don’t. Sounds good, right? Everything you need to make a story. Except when your entire story consists only of these facts. They spend most of the time exploring their fictional hierarchy and procedures (see my Starship Troopers review), with characters trying to navigate the corporate-like mine field in order to complete their mission. As intriguing as that is, I often find myself wanting them to just stop. Stop talking about some random attack, or the consequences thereof, or the danger of what’s to come, and let me actually see these events unfold. It’s mostly my fault for always expecting more. I’ll admit that I like being in the action, and really experiencing the war. But it usually feels like I’m watching it from a Generals point of view (you know, kinda like those giant maps they have in war rooms with action figures they push around with sticks? It’s like watching one of those). I think some of the better science fiction out there are the ones that are not military based. While I still love the ideas behind military sci-fi (and will likely continue to read them), I feel like they're not living up to their potential.