Patricia Anthony (1947–2013)

4.5. Flanders is the Southern Gothic World War I novel you didn't know you wanted, and is a significant entry in the "war is hell" genre.

Our Texan narrator, the surprisingly compelling and uncorny Travis Lee Stanhope, signs up to be a British sharpshooter and struggles with all sorts of demons and ghosts, both figurative and (ambiguously) supernatural. An epistolary novel composed of letters whose destination becomes increasingly unclear, the prose is sharp and evocative and Travis Lee is an unforgettable character.

The novel's rhythm is set by the company's tour of duty, with intense days in the trenches followed by days of respite in the rest area. This cyclical structure manages to capture the boredom, anxiety, and angst of front-line combat in a way I've rarely seen.

That said, the dense repetition and slow pacing made this book at times a slog. Yet I was sufficiently invested in the story that it kept my attention to the end.… (meer)

Anthony's first published novel set the pattern for all her books. A SFnal premise, usually involving aliens, that challenges the endurance and beliefs of a number of characters. Here, global warming has made the Middle East unlivable, Arab warriors have been engaged in a successful march into Europe, and the US has been helping Europe primarily with remote-controlled tanks called CRAVs. To complicate things, mysterious blue lights have been watching the battles and sometimes killing or mutilating soldiers, but only the Arab ones. Are they potential allies in this losing war?

As in other Anthony books, the aliens never provide answers. They only raise more questions, questions our characters either don't understand or can't answer. To me, the mood that permeates this novel of hers and others is helplessness. Which is not to say the novel fails. I think she was a brilliant author, just not a comforting one.

Recommended. You should read at least one Anthony novel, and this as strong as any of her books.… (meer)

In a word: silly. In another word: boring. Maybe it was my mood of the day. Maybe it's because I've been reading so many excellent military sci fi books lately. Whatever the case, when I started reading this book, I was immediately put off by what seemed to me to be the author's lack of knowledge and professionalism. Further, the book didn't seem as realistic as I want my military sci fi to be. Wait. Let me back up. Some of it actually was. A future Earth, suffering from easily believable accelerated global warming that has so increased the rate of desertification that the Arab world, faced with starvation, has created an Arab National Alliance army and has invaded Europe. The European forces are a nervous group of Russian, Ukrainian, Pole, German, and other European countries, with the US as a hesitant ally whom their partners worry might pull out at any moment, as things aren't going very well over there either.

Enter one Sgt Gordon and his CRAV, the first real futuristic weapon in an otherwise boring book of near-current twentieth century weaponry. The CRAV is a VR controlled mini-tank that is a reconnaissance and attack vehicle. Gordon is attached, seriously attached, one could say in love, with his. And while his is out surveying dead bodies one day, fa, la, la, he spots a floating blue orb coming toward him and wonders what it is. Then he is ripped from his VR equipment and suffers a near breakdown.

That's about all I could take. It was frankly pretty laughable. The floating blue orbs are aliens who appear on both sides and you don't really know if and who they're fighting with or for. You do know that after they've been somewhere you find dead bodies with puncture wounds and bodies drained of all fluids. So they're vampire aliens. Yep.

This book has a really low rating on Goodreads. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. I've read some poorly rated books and enjoyed them. However, I just didn't think this would be one of them. I was laughing too hard in serious spots. I couldn't take it seriously and it wasn't remotely believable in parts where it was desperately trying to be. Maybe I'm being too critical. Maybe I'm unfairly comparing this book and this author with some of the best military sci fi writers out there. But if you're going to write in that genre, shouldn't you strive for the best, to be the best, for the best book? Do you want to pump mediocre, at best, crap out there just for a couple of bucks? I don't think so. I read the first several chapters and gave up. One star and not recommended.… (meer)