Rich Man's War
By Elliott Kay
the crewman shouted “I don't even want to be here! I only signed up for the college money!”
“Yeah?”Tanner huffed. “Me, Too.” page 411
Elliott Kay grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in Seattle. Before becoming a writer, he served a hitch in the coast guard, earned a bachelor's degree in history, survived summers in Phoenix (What the hell is it with authors in this review being Phoenix connected? Does the Arrakisesque heat create transient delusions that turn into books? {Maybe all these science fiction and fantasy books started as heat caused fever dreams?}), was a substitute teacher (the poor soul) and managed to get married. If nothing else, I can see a lot of his life in this book series; from his experience in the coast guard informing the training, to his main character Tanner Malone having to put up with hazing, disdain, and disrespect despite just wanting to do his job and get to college. Let me explain, Rich Man's War, published by Skyscape books, an Amazon imprint for self-publishing authors, is the sequel to Poor Man's Fight. I reviewed that novel about a year ago and if you need a refresher there's a link at the bottom at this review. Rich Man's War was published in 2015 and continues the story. Let me touch the basics, quick warning though this is our last review of the year so I'm feeling lacking in restraint.
It is the far future, humanity has figured out a lot of amazing things; like Faster than Light travel and how to extend our youth and health for over a century. We've also managed to turn your desktop computer into something you can wear on your wrist but odds are most y'all saw that coming (I mean, barring a haptic interface and holographic display we can already kinda do that.). Humanity is in theory united under the Union, which is an incredibly weak central government that only exists because the various alien races of the galaxy got tired of dealing with dozens upon dozens of feuding human nations, tribes, and clans shotgunned across space. Because of this, the only real function of the Union is to provide a common diplomatic front to other sapient species and a common defense with everyone kicking in funds to build, man, and maintain the Union Fleet (Dear God, save us all from minarchy. {Well the Union is not a nation, so I figure it’s actually better than the UN and competitive with the EU… Although the EU has more corporate controls}) The Union has managed over time to win some power, such as setting up restrictions on the fleet size of members in order to, if nothing else, limit the amount of devastation that occurs when member states decide to go to war with one another (I cannot express to you how horrified this makes me.). Which can and does happen, because there are no rules against it and the interstellar corporations that increasingly make up a larger share of the Union's economy has worked hard to prevent any kind of court system that could work out issues between member states because if such a court system existed, the same Union members could sue the corporations and maybe even win! Imagine what that would do to their bottom line (I retract the previous comment. I am even more horrified of this.)
It's a vast bottom line too because the Union members are under restrictions over how many ships they can field and space pirates operate across the void the corporations make good money operating as mercenary security (Aw Hell Naw!). Thus they're able to legally maintain large fleets and armies. As if this wasn't a bad enough idea just about all the interstellar media is owned by these same corporations and they run the education system (Frigid. Get the diesel fuel. There’s a society that needs to be burned to the ground. This polity is worse than the EA.). So I'm assuming that Mr. Kay's thesis behind this setting is that as a species we simply do not learn from our own history. Well, the government of Archangel, a settled system with four planets and a good number of asteroid colonies have had enough of this crap. In the first book, they nationalized their education system and took over their own security arrangements (Good for them! They could do more, but that’s a good enough first step.). The Corporations did not take this well and decided to sic pirates on Archangel to bring them to heel. Enter Tanner Malone, a really smart kid out of high school who just wanted to go to college. Unfortunately, since the education system is completely privatized, that means everyone graduates high-school with a debt. Now while Tanner had a pre-test week straight out of hell and even worse day of the test, none of that matters because the test is bloody rigged. That's right, it's not enough that the corporations get to drain money from every human being in the galaxy, avoid the law of most systems by ensuring there's no place to take them to court and maintain fleets large enough that no one can pursue more kinetic options. They have to rig the bloody system because God forbid you little walking wallets walk away with any spare change. I really want to decry this as unrealistic but I just got done reading a follow up on Volkswagen’s years-long scheme to cheat on environmental tests and Nestle decrying the fact that American courts won't let them seize water sources from towns on the idea that their bottled water is a public service (Capital abhors a public good where there is profit to be made. The capitalists, driven by the logic of the capitalist system which forces even decent people to act like monsters to avoid being out-competed by the actual monsters, will inevitably create situations like this. That isn’t even me being left of Trotsky. It is the straight-line computation. They absolutely will privatize the air if we let them.{I was hoping you would discuss rent-seeking above, as it is a prime example of it} Rent-seeking is just a special case of this general principle. Find public good - the more necessary to life it is the better - find a way to own it. Charge out the ass for it, with little to no cost to you!). So the only way I could argue against Mr. Kay here is by turning this review into a fantasy novel in its own right. Getting back to it, Tanner joined the rapidly expanding Archangel navy to get food, lodging, and a source of money to pay off the very large debt that he earned for (And presumably also to strike back against the capitalist trash. Or at least that’s a side benefit! {Tanner isn’t filled with revolutionary zeal here, he just wants to go to college} Hence, the side-benefit.) the privilege of basic schooling. When all of his shipmates were killed in a pirate attack, he not only survived but managed to take out the pirates and become a massive hero. Tanner's firm hope was that the rest of his life would be quiet and people would forget about his actions letting him fade into the background. Unfortunately, Tanner Malone is going to learn that the universe is never going to be that kind to him (Poor Tanner.).
Because things are heating up between the Corporations and the government of Archangel who goes public with the proof that the tests are rigged and starts seizing corporate property within the Archangel system, expelling their executives and declaring the debts that Archangel citizens owe to them null and void (Yes! YES!). This is a disaster for the corporations who realize that they can't afford the hole in their budgets that losing the 9th largest economy in the Union creates, nor can they afford for other systems to start to get the same idea and they need to get the Archangel government on camera recanting their claims before people start taking them seriously. So the navy, which still has Tanner Malone on the rolls for the next three years, isn't gonna let him take a backseat now that they know just how awesome he is. So Tanner, after having undergone medical and psychological treatment, is sent back out into the void where he proceeds to get himself into and out of trouble with a furious combination of quick thinking, bravery, and refusing to second guess himself in combat. It's not all bad though, as Tanner also receives additional training and commits to a career path within the navy (Might as well turn into the skid! In his shoes, I’d do the same damned thing. Hell, if we had an actual void-navy… let alone one committed to smashing capitalist overlords…{Well Tanner is figuring that if the universe is after him, he might as well learn as much as he can to make it hard for the universe to get him}). This is good because while the Archangel navy is well trained, well lead, and willing to commit to insanity if it keeps them free of corporate serfdom... They're outgunned, outmanned and fighting against powers that can maintain safe zones for recruitment and rearmament outside of their strike range. That's usually a bad sign for you in a war. Now the CNO of Archangel Admiral Yeoh has a plan to try and maximize her advantages but she's gonna need all the crazy lucky awesome she can get to pull it off. Meanwhile, in the background, there's a lot of cloak and dagger operations going on as Archangel pulls any asset they can get a hold of to survive, even morally questionable ones (Well, yeah.). Meanwhile, the corporations are pulling together their own assets and making their own plans because if they want to maintain their position of dominance across human space, or even keep the company solvent, they can't let this stand. For both sides, this rapidly becomes a confrontation with survival on the line.
The first 300 pages of the book are a careful set up of why both sides are willing to commit to armed conflict and what's on the line for them. Mr. Kay does a good job capturing the feel of a car sliding on ice towards a deep hole as events sweep up everyone and push them towards armed confrontation. We get a sense of what Tanner is struggling with as he tries to bring a sense of normalcy to his life and move on even as the galaxy assembles itself into a giant tinder pile. That said there is plenty of action going on as well, as old villains with their own grudges are also operating in the galaxy as well as forces outside of Tanner's control. To show us this, the book spends more time in other character's viewpoints than the first book but I'm fairly okay with that as it gives us a look at the wider context of the situation. He also does a good job of showing the mass confusion and barely restrained panic of warfare. It's been said more than once (and Mr. Kay uses this line in the book) that inside every army is a mob waiting to get out and when the bullets are flying and everything is going down the sewer is when you're at the highest risk of the mob getting unleashed (History bears this out. Things get really bad when that mob is unleashed. Sometimes it happens intentionally like in Nanking. Sometimes less so like the Russian army moving through Germany. Sometimes it’s just the reality of war in a given time period and the mere threat of being sacked was enough to force a city’s surrender.). We also see that on a smaller scale as we see Tanner's reaction to being thrown into the thick of it again. Because none of the events of the first book have left Tanner unscarred. Don't get me wrong, in a lot of ways he's the same kid he was at the start of the series. He's a bit sensitive to emotional blows but brave and intelligent as well as very mature for his age. However, in the book we see him... He very clearly shuts a part of himself down completely when faced with a stressful situation like combat. Which isn't entirely wrong because if you don't you won't survive it. Combat is simply not the time to be processing your fear, grief, or anger. When I read Tanner in combat - especially the climactic battle at the end of the book - I've seen that before and all I can say is that Tanner is not okay but by the end of this book, no one is. Because this isn't a book about the glory of war, while there is a big fight at the end of this novel that would shame most summer blockbusters, it doesn't solve anything at the end. The war, like the vast majority of real wars, isn't decided by a single engagement and the loses that the good guys take are so grievous they may make their victories pointless. So our novel ends on a somber note, with neither side really out of the fight. While Archangel is fighting for the best of reasons, the plain fact is that this war is bringing pain and destruction on its people and the survivors are going to be carrying that weight for the rest of their lives. Not even victory makes that go away.
Rich Man's War brings us intrigue, diplomatic maneuvers, skulduggery, and action-packed military missions while showing us the costs of all of that on the ground. By letting us see what this does to Tanner and young men and women like him, Mr. Kay reminds us firmly that even a war with a clear moral component is going to kill a lot of people that don't deserve to die. This might seem a bit of a mood killer but I honestly think we should remember that while sometimes wars must be fought and some enemies can only be deterred with violence, that comes as a cost beyond any dollar amounts. Rich Man's War by Elliott Kay gets an A from me for being to tell such a tell while keeping it a page-turner and keeping me invested in the characters.
Welp, that's it for this year folks! We wrap up in what is our 250th post and I would like to thank everyone who has been a part of this and say that I hope that you will continue on with us next year. We will be returning January 24th with whatever novels win the now open January poll. Currently in the lead is The Emperor Blades by Brian Staveley. Now if you'd like to vote in that poll or in February's poll, feel free to join us at https://www.patreon.com/frigidreads Where votes are just a dollar a month. Until then, may you have Happy Holidays, a Wonderful New Year and above all else... Keep Reading.
As always, red text is your editor Dr. Ben Allen
Black text is your reviewer Garvin Anders.
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