Helfort's War Book 2: The Battle of the Hammer Worlds
by Graham Sharp Paul
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Book Summary Information
Author: Graham Sharp PaulEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-26
ISBN: 0345495721
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of Helfort's War Book 2: The Battle of the Hammer Worlds
Book Review: Solid and enjoyable read
Summary: 4 Stars
I just finished this book in a single day, and I quite enjoyed it. Paul writes well; his descriptions of the combat scenes manage to convey tension without being melodramatic; and his main character Michael Helfort comes across as being a 'real person' in that he is not a paper-thin, mono-emotional, engine of destruction type. He manages to bring Helfort through an entire spectrum of emotions from despair to intense hatred without the character ever becoming unbelievable. The plot line of the main story was well-constructed without any of those deus ex machina moments leaving you in disbelief that everything just happened to work out perfectly. Paul isn't afraid to develop and then cast away characters as their role in developing the story line comes to an end; since Helfort is the 'star' of the series, you know he's not going to wind up dead, but everyone else has potential bulls-eyes painted on them. This was very effective is that you never knew what was going to happen at any particular point in the story. In many books, the main character gains a cadre of friends/helpers around him, and you just know that they've become part of a group on 'untouchables'; Paul eschews this strategy and it works to great effect. Also, the people around the main character react in believable ways - not everyone who is a friend/family to Helfort winds up supporting him during parts of the story arc. This all adds up to a very well written and enjoyable story; and I look forward to the next installment.
So - why 4 stars and not 5? Two things really... while, the space combats are well written, I - like another reviewer - found the thought of rail gun attacks being effective over great distances to be a little tough to swallow. Also, one of Helfort's antagonists - his captain on the Ishaq - IS paper-thin. No development is given to this character, and no reason why the character acts the way she does is provided. Paul tries to allay this by having Helfort wonder what could have caused his captain to act thusly, but the total lack of any explanation is a jarring note. In fact, that is the one real weakness of the series so far; some characters that seem to play minor antagonist roles are given no development - they are just presented as people who for some unknown reason take an intense dislike to the hero. These are both nit-picking I know; but it was an odd enough note that it caused me to lose that intensity of involvement that great stories pull you into.
Summary of Helfort's War Book 2: The Battle of the Hammer Worlds
He thought Hell was the worst they could throw at him.He was wrong.
Back from tangling with the Hammer of Kraa, the most brutal, trigger-happy tyrants in humanspace, Junior Lieutenant Michael Helfort is assigned to the Federated Worlds heavy cruiser Ishaq, which is struggling to rise to the threat posed by a newly resurgent Hammer. Aboard the floundering ship, Helfort is coming to grips with a painful injury and the unpleasant truth that nobody likes a young hero?least of all senior officers.
Without warning, the Ishaq and twenty-seven Fed merchant ships are blown apart in a horrific ambush, the first step in the Hammer?s master strategy to destroy the hated Federated Worlds. Michael and a pitiful remnant of the Ishaq?s crew escape the inferno. The Feds have no idea who?s behind the heinous attack, and the Hammer are determined to keep it that way, consigning the Ishaq?s survivors to a prison camp deep in the wilderness of the Hammer?s home planet.
No one?s getting out alive to derail the Hammer?s lethal master plan?especially not the FedWorlds hero who so humiliated them on the battlefield. It?s payback time, and the Hammers intend to throw their entire space fleet into destroying Michael Helfort and the Federated Worlds.
Too bad it won?t be enough.
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