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The Excalibur Alternative

2003David Weber

4.8/5

Not as good as the first two in the seriesVerified Purchase(What's this?)This review is from: The Excalibur Alternative (Ranks of Bronze Series Book 3) (Kindle Edition)I really like David Drake's RANKS OF BRONZE and was happy to see another volume in the series. After reading it, I confess disappointment. Compared to other science fiction and fantasy, it is good. However it is one of David Weber's weaker efforts. Of course the book had to leave an opportunity for a sequel. Even understanding this, the ending seemed abrupt and hurried. Some of the characters and situations seem to have been borrowed from other of Weber's works. This can not be completely avoided by a prolific author but I wish it had not been so obvious. Even with these petty complaints, Weber remains an extraordinary story teller. Compared to Weber's other work, my opinion on this is about 3 1/2 stars. As I can't give that rating, I am marking it 4.In scanning the previous reviews I noticed that several people complained that the alien commander was too stupid to be realistic. Those reviewers have apparently been fortunate in their work and life experience. In my law enforcement career I once worked for a unit director who was, if anything, stupider than the alien and just as arrogant, incompetent, vindictive and callous. Seemingly absolutely convinced of his superior knowledge and ability he seldom listened to anyone. If he did listen, he took credit for the idea. So yes, it is possible to have a commander as stupid as the alien. Anyone who studies history has also come across people who seem to have been much like the alien commander. On the other hand, I have worked for and been commanded by two or three people who may have been as flexible and competent as Sir George in such circumstances, but, especially given the level of human knowledge in the 1300's, I don't believe that all of the troops would have accepted the situation as readily as did these English. Again based on my experience, I believe there would have been some serious mental and emotional problems. This review is from the Baen Books edition published January 1, 2002 and sold by Amazon Digital Services.

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