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dsrtao_Overkill_, Robert Buettner
On the surface, a Baen-standard MilSF, subtype multiplanet mercenary.
Slightly below: a character study of an ex-soldier damaged by war, subject to flashbacks that are as surprising to the reader as they are to the other characters around him.
Further on: an alien which might have been more alien with less explanation, on a planet scaled up from Harry Harrison's Deathworld. (There are a whole bunch of similarities, even though Buettner claims he was stealing from Van Vogt.)
At the end: surprisingly humane humanity, plus a setup for a series.
Over all: pretty good.
On the surface, a Baen-standard MilSF, subtype multiplanet mercenary.
Slightly below: a character study of an ex-soldier damaged by war, subject to flashbacks that are as surprising to the reader as they are to the other characters around him.
Further on: an alien which might have been more alien with less explanation, on a planet scaled up from Harry Harrison's Deathworld. (There are a whole bunch of similarities, even though Buettner claims he was stealing from Van Vogt.)
At the end: surprisingly humane humanity, plus a setup for a series.
Over all: pretty good.
