Shuvom Ghose

Flawed, but a lot of fun. *Infinity Squad* reads like the novelization of a Hollywood bastardization of *Starship Troopers* and *Catch-22*, gratuitous blonde bimbos and all. Clunky dialog and movie-magic lapses in realism and accuracy detract only a little from this speedy little scifi novel. It's pulpy, it's fun, it has giant spiders and flamethrowers. There are typos and mistakes, but the writing is fairly good for it being self-published.

I actually almost dropped it altogether at the start--the dialog was that bad, and there were some sloppy mistakes. But it was fun.… (meer)

What a treat! Clever, fast paced, and for something that is clearly trying to be a "Catch-22 in space," a surprising amount of heart. It's somewhat anti-war, and I suppose I could get into argument on some statements sprinkled throughout. But mostly, as the best sci-fi AND best military fiction is supposed to do, it raises universal questions of human condition- identity, loyalty, courage and honor. I liked the humor, both the dark and slapstick kind. I appreciated the female characters being portrayed as actual females while still being strong and admirable (and the avoidance of the "tiny woman knocks out a slab-of-beef trained fighter" trope). I was surprisingly OK with the main premise that actually annoyed the you-know-what out of me in a book considered one of scifi greatest (Ender's Game) but somehow it just worked for me here. The ending was very satisfying; some may call it too neat, but I like neat. Speaking of the ending, once you get to about 75% point, either prepare to read till the end in one sitting, or put it aside till you have time. You will NOT be able to put it down. I found out the hard way and had to stay up till midnight against my best intentions.

There's definitely space for a sequel, or rather the whole multi-book series, but the author says he will need 1000 people to get the book before he writes another so we'll just have to see.… (meer)