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A review by mburnamfink
First Light by Linda Nagata
5.0
Every major war inspires a science-fiction novel. Starship Troopers is a paean to World War II Marines and Paratroopers, now dropping into an atomic hell against commie bugs. Vietnam inspired The Forever War with its reluctant draftees and purposeless battles. Now, with The Red: First Light, Nagata has given us the milSF novel for the Global War on Terror.
Lt. James Shelley is the commander of a Linked Combat Squad, an American infantry unit with powered exoskeletons, HUD targeting helmets, drones overhead, neural implants that suppress stress, and comlinks to each other and "Guidance" back in the states that give them an uncanny ability to coordinate. The enemy is well... anybody overseas will do, as the cynical Shelley explains to his squad: War is profitable, and defense contractors manipulate the media to ensure that people like Shelley are out there somewhere, on the end of a very long supply chain that can be milked dry.
Along with all the high-tech gear, Shelley has a 6th Sense, or maybe a direct line to God, that warns him about danger. His uncanny alertness saves him multiple times on patrol, only failing when fighter jets that shouldn't have even been in the war blow the hell out his outpost. Shelley loses his legs, and becomes the test subject for an experimental program in neuroprosthetics. Meanwhile, the army and Shelley's ex are coming to terms with the fact that Shelley's 6th Sense is because something is dancing through the best military grade encryption to manipulate Shelley's mind.
The entity, an AI that antagonist and bugfuck-nuts defense contractor CEO Thelma Sheridan identifies as the Devil deems "the red stain that creeps through human affairs" and which is adapted as The Red by Shelley and his friends, seems to be manipulating thousands or millions of people via subtle chains of coincidence. As Shelley recuperates and learns to use his new cyborg legs, Sheridan launches an all out assault against The Red, using tactical nukes against key data centers in an attempt to cut The Red apart in the Cloud. Millions of people die, the country is paralyzed, The Red limps along, and Sheridan retreats to an arctic lair to plot her next step, insulated from the consequences by her immense power (remember, this is a private citizen with a nuclear arsenal). The final third of the book is a sheer rocket, as Shelley attempts to bring Sheridan to justice, with terrible terrible cost.
The Red: First Light is a great story, balancing action and Clancy-esque "tomorrow's weapons" (trust me on that one, I know the subject), with rich characters and some worrying insights about the rise of algorithmic filter bubbles, ubiquitous computing, and the power of super-elite individuals. I'm excited to see how the rest of the series plays out.
Lt. James Shelley is the commander of a Linked Combat Squad, an American infantry unit with powered exoskeletons, HUD targeting helmets, drones overhead, neural implants that suppress stress, and comlinks to each other and "Guidance" back in the states that give them an uncanny ability to coordinate. The enemy is well... anybody overseas will do, as the cynical Shelley explains to his squad: War is profitable, and defense contractors manipulate the media to ensure that people like Shelley are out there somewhere, on the end of a very long supply chain that can be milked dry.
Along with all the high-tech gear, Shelley has a 6th Sense, or maybe a direct line to God, that warns him about danger. His uncanny alertness saves him multiple times on patrol, only failing when fighter jets that shouldn't have even been in the war blow the hell out his outpost. Shelley loses his legs, and becomes the test subject for an experimental program in neuroprosthetics. Meanwhile, the army and Shelley's ex are coming to terms with the fact that Shelley's 6th Sense is because something is dancing through the best military grade encryption to manipulate Shelley's mind.
The entity, an AI that antagonist and bugfuck-nuts defense contractor CEO Thelma Sheridan identifies as the Devil deems "the red stain that creeps through human affairs" and which is adapted as The Red by Shelley and his friends, seems to be manipulating thousands or millions of people via subtle chains of coincidence. As Shelley recuperates and learns to use his new cyborg legs, Sheridan launches an all out assault against The Red, using tactical nukes against key data centers in an attempt to cut The Red apart in the Cloud. Millions of people die, the country is paralyzed, The Red limps along, and Sheridan retreats to an arctic lair to plot her next step, insulated from the consequences by her immense power (remember, this is a private citizen with a nuclear arsenal). The final third of the book is a sheer rocket, as Shelley attempts to bring Sheridan to justice, with terrible terrible cost.
The Red: First Light is a great story, balancing action and Clancy-esque "tomorrow's weapons" (trust me on that one, I know the subject), with rich characters and some worrying insights about the rise of algorithmic filter bubbles, ubiquitous computing, and the power of super-elite individuals. I'm excited to see how the rest of the series plays out.