2025 SF, sixteenth of its series. The enemy will be coming for
Chimera; how much of its population can be evacuated before they
arrive?
So the overall plot is basically predictable if you've cheated
and read the title. But the interesting bit, of course, is how we get
there. The Protectorate of Mars is huge, hundreds of worlds, but in
spite of everything still has a basically peacetime economy; the enemy
has nine worlds, which may be armed to the teeth but can still only
produce nine worlds' worth of materiel and people, even if they are
highly militarised. So the overall ending to the war is not in doubt:
like Japan in 1941 going against the USA, they can't win. But that
doesn't mean they're not going to have a go. And the tension is in
what damage will be done before the end.
There's also a fair old bit of logistics: what can the Protectorate's
economy supply in terms of planetary evacuation ships right now,
because there isn't going to be time to build more? Old allies and old
enemies join the effort, and one of the pleasing things about the
human side of this conflict—and we don't get to see the other side
from the inside at all, which suits me very well—is that there is
still the potential for conflict even while everyone agrees on the
overall goal.
If you feel that military SF doesn't talk enough about logistics, this
is absolutely the book for you, as it was for me. Yes, some points are
repeated (and some from previous books), and there are the obligatory
massive space battles, but I still had an enjoyable time. Obviously
there is no good reason to start at book 16 of a series like this one
for which all the previous books are available, and if you've got as
far as book 15 you're probably still enjoying it, but I'm glad to say
that his book offers a little more than just more of the same heroics.
Good stuff!