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tani's review against another edition
4.0
Autonomous warfare will not be bloodless. War by machine proxy is still war, with the sacrifice pushed out of sight, the burden unloaded on distant people. The repercussions, inevitable.
8 years ago, True Brighton's son, Diego, was captured while on a mission, crucified, and then burned to death in a public execution that was broadcast to the world. Since that day, she's tried to go on with her life, consoling herself with the thought that everyone involved in Diego's death is dead. It doesn't help much, but it's something. Until one day, she finds out that there's more to her son's death than she had previously thought, and someone who knows the whole story is out there...
Linda Nagata is an author I've been curious about for a little while now, so I was super-excited when I was given the chance to read an ARC of her latest novel. And this book has quite a few good things going on in it. It's fast-paced and action-packed, but it also examines the societal and political consequences of its premise in a way that felt extremely accurate to real life. In short, I thought it was really great, and I hope I can write a review that will do it justice.
First, let me talk about the pacing and plotting of this one. This is a very fast-paced book, It goes from mission to discovery to revelation at an impressive pace, and I found myself reading large chunks of the book at a stretch, just because I couldn't find a good place to put it down. This is a book that allows neither boredom nor ennui. The question of what actually happened to Diego is one that we learn the answer to in bits and pieces, and I found myself completely drawn into that mystery.
In addition, the way that the story is structured works incredibly well. The story almost immediately drops you into the action. True and her friends work for a private military contractor called Requisite Operations, and at the beginning of the novel, they've taken a hostage retrieval job. This is used not only to orient the reader to the characters, but also to the setting. In many ways, this world is extremely familiar to our own, but in this version of the future, people are slowly being phased out of the process of war, as robots become increasingly able to outclass them in terms of speed and accuracy in completely missions.
This also introduces one of the big questions of the novel: although it may seem beneficial to decrease the loss of life that war causes by using robots, what is the actual result? By removing humans from the process, do we just create more loss? The question is presented in multiple ways throughout the book, and I have to say, my feelings are a lot more complicated about it now than when I began. I think that this book is going to serve as a touchstone for me on that issue for many years to come. Prior to reading this, I honestly hadn't thought a lot about it, but if I had, I probably would have been absolutely in favor of robotic warfare. This book made me much more aware of the complications to that future, and I'm grateful to it for that.
In addition to these ethical shades of grey, I was also impressed by the shades of grey that we see in characters. Nagata is able to show that emotions are complicated and not often logical, and although I can't say I always agreed with the choices that characters made, I always came to understand where they were coming from. True is clearly the star of the show, but I was also truly moved by many of the characters. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't name any names, but several of the characters who might have been 'villains' in another novel are treated with such empathy here that I couldn't help but be impressed.
In all, this was a book that I really and truly enjoyed. If this is the kind of quality that I can expect from Linda Nagata, then I would love to pick up some more of her books and give them a try as well!
8 years ago, True Brighton's son, Diego, was captured while on a mission, crucified, and then burned to death in a public execution that was broadcast to the world. Since that day, she's tried to go on with her life, consoling herself with the thought that everyone involved in Diego's death is dead. It doesn't help much, but it's something. Until one day, she finds out that there's more to her son's death than she had previously thought, and someone who knows the whole story is out there...
Linda Nagata is an author I've been curious about for a little while now, so I was super-excited when I was given the chance to read an ARC of her latest novel. And this book has quite a few good things going on in it. It's fast-paced and action-packed, but it also examines the societal and political consequences of its premise in a way that felt extremely accurate to real life. In short, I thought it was really great, and I hope I can write a review that will do it justice.
First, let me talk about the pacing and plotting of this one. This is a very fast-paced book, It goes from mission to discovery to revelation at an impressive pace, and I found myself reading large chunks of the book at a stretch, just because I couldn't find a good place to put it down. This is a book that allows neither boredom nor ennui. The question of what actually happened to Diego is one that we learn the answer to in bits and pieces, and I found myself completely drawn into that mystery.
In addition, the way that the story is structured works incredibly well. The story almost immediately drops you into the action. True and her friends work for a private military contractor called Requisite Operations, and at the beginning of the novel, they've taken a hostage retrieval job. This is used not only to orient the reader to the characters, but also to the setting. In many ways, this world is extremely familiar to our own, but in this version of the future, people are slowly being phased out of the process of war, as robots become increasingly able to outclass them in terms of speed and accuracy in completely missions.
This also introduces one of the big questions of the novel: although it may seem beneficial to decrease the loss of life that war causes by using robots, what is the actual result? By removing humans from the process, do we just create more loss? The question is presented in multiple ways throughout the book, and I have to say, my feelings are a lot more complicated about it now than when I began. I think that this book is going to serve as a touchstone for me on that issue for many years to come. Prior to reading this, I honestly hadn't thought a lot about it, but if I had, I probably would have been absolutely in favor of robotic warfare. This book made me much more aware of the complications to that future, and I'm grateful to it for that.
In addition to these ethical shades of grey, I was also impressed by the shades of grey that we see in characters. Nagata is able to show that emotions are complicated and not often logical, and although I can't say I always agreed with the choices that characters made, I always came to understand where they were coming from. True is clearly the star of the show, but I was also truly moved by many of the characters. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't name any names, but several of the characters who might have been 'villains' in another novel are treated with such empathy here that I couldn't help but be impressed.
In all, this was a book that I really and truly enjoyed. If this is the kind of quality that I can expect from Linda Nagata, then I would love to pick up some more of her books and give them a try as well!
meghan111's review against another edition
4.0
A thriller about near-future military technology, drones, private military contractors, and surveillance. True Brighton is a former helicopter pilot who now works for a US private military contractor (since helicopters are now flown robotically). The small company she works for tries to operate with a motto of "right action" - a similar ethos to Google's "don't be evil" that will place the organization less in a grey area and more on the side of doing good in the world. After a hostage rescue in the Middle East, things from True's past come to light, including information related to the death of her son on a military mission several years ago.
sillypunk's review against another edition
2.0
Blahhh. Not very believable characters, imho: https://blogendorff.com/2018/01/12/book-review-the-last-good-man/
jefffrane's review against another edition
5.0
Take my advice: do not start this book at bedtime. Instead, start it first thing in the morning on your day off. Nagata's story will grab you by the throat and not let go until you turn the last page. Her protagonist, True Brighton, is motivated, driven and richly drawn but all of the characters are fleshed out human beings, caught up in non-stop action.
paulataua's review against another edition
2.0
Set in the near future with its advanced AI weaponry, ‘The Last Good Man’ is an unrelenting action packed adventure that leaves no time for reflection on the horror of it all. If you the kind of person who gets off on battle action, descriptions of futuristic weaponry, and loves reading about operational action, then this is the book for you. Needless to say, I am not that kind of person, and it just left me cold. Still, I nearly made it to the end.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Intense! Too intense for a beach vacation trip, but I didn't want to put it down and come back to it. So I'm glad it's done. In general this is not my kind of thing. It was basically all military combat of one sort or another. But it was also a chance to explore how drones of various shapes and sizes would impact on combat in the probably near future. Frightening but believable. And the characters were interesting. Still wish this author will switch off of military and back to pure sf some day. But these have been good. And I'd rather books different than I prefer than no books at all. 4.5 of 5.
annaswan's review
4.0
Very good super-near-future MilSF. I'm no military robotics expert, but I'd guess it's just barely SF. Most of the characters, if not quite three dimensional, at least had distinct and (eventually) comprehensible motivations. And Nagata has that hard to quantify skill that Heinlein had of immersing me in the prose, and making me turn pages.
mhall's review against another edition
4.0
A thriller about near-future military technology, drones, private military contractors, and surveillance. True Brighton is a former helicopter pilot who now works for a US private military contractor (since helicopters are now flown robotically). The small company she works for tries to operate with a motto of "right action" - a similar ethos to Google's "don't be evil" that will place the organization less in a grey area and more on the side of doing good in the world. After a hostage rescue in the Middle East, things from True's past come to light, including information related to the death of her son on a military mission several years ago.
nghia's review against another edition
2.0
Clearly I'm in the minority but this book just didn't work for me. It clocks in at nearly 450 pages. If it were 300 pages it would be a 3-star book but the unnecessary length knocks another star off.
The book starts with 150 pages detailing a military raid on a terrorist compound. This entire section is almost entirely unrelated to the rest of the book and there are no real stakes the make the reader care about the outcome. A bunch of mercenaries are hired to rescue some hostage. We don't especially know or care about the hostage, or even the mercenaries. The only real purpose this section of the book is that during the course of their escape it kicks off the ACTUAL plot of the book. But at that point you're 150 pages in.
Once you find out what the actual plot of the book is....I kept wondering...is that all? True's son was tortured & murdered by terrorists. She finds out that someone was captive with him during his last days. She wants to track him down and....something. "Hear the story from him". When she eventually does -- something she accomplishes with virtually no effort -- he tells her exactly what she already knew. The entire driving point of the book is "if the mother learns what REALLY happened in her son's final hours, she'll....uh, something. Feel better, maybe?" Is that the storyline you want from your near-future military thriller?
The pointlessness of the entire book is summed up by the main character herself once she finally hears the story:
"As he looms close, she adds, unsure if she's speaking to herself or to him. "I thought if I knew what happened, if I understood it..."
"What? What had she expected? Had she hoped to make peace with what happened? "Nothing has changed," she says, looking up at him. Bitter words."
If this were a book with deep characterisation that dove into coming to terms with senseless loss & tragedy...that kind of arc could work. But this isn't a book with deep characters. There is very little emotional depth to most of the characters. So the pointlessness of everything just left me feeling like....why bother reading? Nothing happens. Nothing is achieved. We learn nothing. We're right back where we started 450 pages ago.
Since I didn't enjoy the book, I also found several details to nitpick.
The main characters find the highly wanted terrorist with the $2 million bounty on his head after looking for just 48-hours. Makes you wonder how nobody else was ever able to find him.
The mercenary company is described as being worth $25 million -- like it is a big number -- but we are also told that just 3 of their drones are worth $40 million. Those kinds of numbers don't really make sense, since it means you can make more money by shutting down the company and selling the assets than by simply staying in business.
Tracking down "John Helm" also takes about 48 hours. Go talk to the first mercenary you find in Morocco and by nightfall you're meeting John Helm in person.
A Middle East terrorist group is able to kill an American -- in America -- with a car bomb mere days after the hostage rescue mission. This wasn't something that took months or years to plan. Virtually nothing is explored about this, though. Is this a common occurrence? I'm just trying to imagine the firestorm if that happened today.
I don't understand how True, who was a helicopter pilot in the Army, is also a kick-ass special forces commando taking part in raids on terrorist compounds at age 49.
I don't understand how True's son, in his very first combat deployment ever!, is assigned to an elite special forces squad that is tasked with kidnapping & assassinating high value targets deep in enemy territory.
I really don't understand how everybody -- and I mean everybody -- is able to easily find John Helm for the final showdown. There are three unrelated sides who all converge at the same time on this guy who hasn't been seen or located in 8 years!
The book starts with 150 pages detailing a military raid on a terrorist compound. This entire section is almost entirely unrelated to the rest of the book and there are no real stakes the make the reader care about the outcome. A bunch of mercenaries are hired to rescue some hostage. We don't especially know or care about the hostage, or even the mercenaries. The only real purpose this section of the book is that during the course of their escape it kicks off the ACTUAL plot of the book. But at that point you're 150 pages in.
Once you find out what the actual plot of the book is....I kept wondering...is that all? True's son was tortured & murdered by terrorists. She finds out that someone was captive with him during his last days. She wants to track him down and....something. "Hear the story from him". When she eventually does -- something she accomplishes with virtually no effort -- he tells her exactly what she already knew. The entire driving point of the book is "if the mother learns what REALLY happened in her son's final hours, she'll....uh, something. Feel better, maybe?" Is that the storyline you want from your near-future military thriller?
The pointlessness of the entire book is summed up by the main character herself once she finally hears the story:
"As he looms close, she adds, unsure if she's speaking to herself or to him. "I thought if I knew what happened, if I understood it..."
"What? What had she expected? Had she hoped to make peace with what happened? "Nothing has changed," she says, looking up at him. Bitter words."
If this were a book with deep characterisation that dove into coming to terms with senseless loss & tragedy...that kind of arc could work. But this isn't a book with deep characters. There is very little emotional depth to most of the characters. So the pointlessness of everything just left me feeling like....why bother reading? Nothing happens. Nothing is achieved. We learn nothing. We're right back where we started 450 pages ago.
Since I didn't enjoy the book, I also found several details to nitpick.
The main characters find the highly wanted terrorist with the $2 million bounty on his head after looking for just 48-hours. Makes you wonder how nobody else was ever able to find him.
The mercenary company is described as being worth $25 million -- like it is a big number -- but we are also told that just 3 of their drones are worth $40 million. Those kinds of numbers don't really make sense, since it means you can make more money by shutting down the company and selling the assets than by simply staying in business.
Tracking down "John Helm" also takes about 48 hours. Go talk to the first mercenary you find in Morocco and by nightfall you're meeting John Helm in person.
A Middle East terrorist group is able to kill an American -- in America -- with a car bomb mere days after the hostage rescue mission. This wasn't something that took months or years to plan. Virtually nothing is explored about this, though. Is this a common occurrence? I'm just trying to imagine the firestorm if that happened today.
I don't understand how True, who was a helicopter pilot in the Army, is also a kick-ass special forces commando taking part in raids on terrorist compounds at age 49.
I don't understand how True's son, in his very first combat deployment ever!, is assigned to an elite special forces squad that is tasked with kidnapping & assassinating high value targets deep in enemy territory.
I really don't understand how everybody -- and I mean everybody -- is able to easily find John Helm for the final showdown. There are three unrelated sides who all converge at the same time on this guy who hasn't been seen or located in 8 years!