2019 Dragon Award Finalist, Best Military SF: "Order of the Centurion"

If you are running an ad blocker, you won't see the link above. So, here's an image for you:

And here's a link!

If  you want to read a CONDENSED version, just review, no commentary, click here to go to the Goodreads review.

Greetings to all my internet friends and neighbors, and  for those of you who are following the Dragon Race To Review, here is review #7 of 24!  I have 14 days left to review 17 books. (Will he make it, folks?) And to any of my family who have made an appearance, signing up for that membership in AAA has paid off again. That's AAA, not AA; although the AA membership has paid off even more. But I digress.

Yesterday was a bit of a marathon session. I posted two reviews here, and on Goodreads, and submitted them to Amazon; I think I had to fool around a little bit with Amazon jail; and then, Life, The Universe and Everything. I also re-posted something from September 2017, because of LTUE; and then, a little later on, the Dear Chopper Lady (DCL) herself, Kacey Ezell, suggested I needed to know a friend of hers, Butt Hat Sally. DCL was not able to provide any additional information, but I'm writing all of my appointments in pencil, just in case I need to make a last-minute meeting.

So, a VERY busy day. And I intended to take a brief rest. However, the BOOKS had a different plan. And, right around 8 PM, “Order of the Centurion,” by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole, took over the controls of my iPad, and only allowed me the minimum amount of time needed for family maintenance issues and comfort breaks, until I finished shortly after 1 AM. 

It was a glorious time!

“The planet Psydon”

“27 years prior to the Battle of Kublar”

That's how the story opens. At this very moment, I know that the Battle of Kublar figures prominently in the series “Galaxy's Edge” by the Anspach-Cole team, but last night when I started reading, I had not a clue. And my first interpretation of the data was: 

“...this is going to tell me about how Lieutenant Washam, the protagonist, goes from a naive butter-bar on this back-water planet to achieve greatness at the Battle of Kubar...”

I knew greatness was in the picture, because the name of the book is “Order of the Centurion.” The preliminary material describe the nature of the award, which only goes to those who display exceptional valor, refusing to yield even unto death, and that 98.4% of all citations are awarded posthumously. This will NOT be a story of a young man who finally learns from a kindly drill sergeant how to put a spit-shine on his boots, and gets to have an extra cookie on graduation day *, okay? Greatness is going to happen.

*This is not meant to be a disparagement of shiny boots, kindly drill sergeants, or cookies. In fact, all are worthy of endorsement.

But: what I was expecting was a quick series of episodes, taking Lt. Washam across the galaxy, sort of like Johnny Rico. Oh, my, no! This is the tightly-wrapped story of a single patrol, with appropriate head, tail, and feathers attached to give proper context. And, the closer I got to realizing that was the scope of this book, the more respect I gained for the opening: “27 years prior to the Battle of Kumar.” NEVER, not once, within the pages of this book is Kumar referenced after that opening. It doesn't have to be; the intro is enough to tell me it's enormously significant. And because it's significant, I looked it up, and now, I know how to find out about it.

Well-done, Anspach and Cole!

And on to the story:

Lieutenant “Wash” Washam is stuck in a rear-echelon office as a paper-pusher, and he hates it. He's part of a group of political appointees that have been commissioned in the Legion, the elite military force that is responsible for the continued existence of civilization. To a man, they have been rejected as unworthy by the rest of the Legion, who correctly see them as 

“The long con everyone saw and couldn’t get out of.” (Anspach, Jason. Order of the Centurion (Galaxy's Edge) (p. 4). Galaxy's Edge Press. Kindle Edition. )

The rest of the 'points,' as the legion contemptuously calls them, accept their pariah status as a necessary preliminary to political careers after they complete their terms of service, and spend their days doing nothing that looks like work. Washam alone went through all of the training required to be a regular member of the Legion, while the other points skipped everything, knowing that there were no consequences.

Except: there are political consequences, and there are consequences that have tissue damage attached to them. Wash has ignored the political, and prepared for the lethal. Unfortunately, the Legion will not give him the opportunity to show what he can do. And so he sits, processing supply requests.

Until his buddy shows up. Almost everybody has a buddy like this; they show up, they have a plan, and you know in advance it's going to be a bad idea. Still, they cajole, and prevail; and, despite the fact that good old buddy Major Berlin's idea is most likely to result in death or court-martial, Wash goes along with it.

And the next day, a helicopter shows up, loaded with a squad of Marines, and Berlin and Wash get aboard so that Berlin can get in some combat time, which will almost certainly guarantee a successful political career upon discharge. The fact that he skipped ALL of the training necessary to lead a small group in combat, the fact that these troops are NOT in his chain of command, the likelihood that they will all die; none of that enters his  plan. He blithely assumes that he can do Great Things, despite all evidence to the contrary.

It's up to Wash to fix things. The first order of business is to keep the Marines, all with some degree of experience in combat, from fragging Berlin as soon as they realize he is a fraud. The second is to accomplish whatever mission he can, and to bring back as many alive as possible.

Once I realized the entire focus was going to be on a single mission, I had a new appreciation for the fact that some of the story arcs might be closed, and that there was no guarantee that ANYONE was going to make it out of the story alive. Everything was on the table, and that adds to the fascination with the story developing before me.

As evidenced that I read this book in one setting, I loved the story, the writing, the characters. And so to the question: is this a viable candidate for the Dragon Award for Best Military Science Fiction Novel?

I joyfully pay for the privilege of reading books of this quality, and I have every reason to believe that FINALLY, I can expect to have offerings on a regular basis. There was a long, long dry spell when this wasn't the case, when any mil sci-fi gem found was clutched close to the chest and fondled; I must have read my copies of Jerry Pournelle's “War World” series 10 times over. I have now read four of the six entries in this category, and reviewed three of them. And based on what I've seen, the winner of this category will NOT be decided on excellence of story. Of the four I've read, every single one of them is a premier work. They aren't carbon copies of each other; even the two books which share a universe are quite different. But, I can't identify any particular discriminating factor that is going to hook a huge subset of the fans of military science fiction. Therefore, based on what I'm seeing: the size of the fan base is going to determine the winner. 

But, based ONLY on what is found between the covers, yes. This is a book that could very well bring home the Dragon.

Peace be on your household.