I do not give out 5-star ratings to anything casually. The best you are going to get out of me if I like something is 4-stars. I reserve 5-star reviews for things which have something special about them. They don't have to knock my socks off, but they have to have something to offer that is more than just "good." However, that being said, Terms Of Enlistment knocked my socks off!
It's just ... it's just so good! I am a huge fan of the military science fiction genre. I love books like
The Lost Fleet Series
by Jack Campbell, and
The Man of War Series
by H. Paul Honsinger. Kloos, Honsinger and Campbell all understand how to mix together elements of honor, excitement, duty, realistic military descriptions, and space-faring ships crewed by humans in a way that is just spell binding. These kinds of books are capable of keeping me up until 4 AM to read "just one more chapter" because I HAVE TO find out what happens next!
Kloos, like Campbell and Honsinger, writes exciting military science fiction that depicts humanity realistically, but with some artistic license to keep things interesting. None of them go too dark with their stories (no rape, no torture, no crimes against women), and all of them tell interesting, page-turner tales.
In Terms of Enlistment, Kloos tells the story of a dystopian future for humanity (rapidly approaching in real-life, at the rate things are going) where the Earth is over-populated, and humanity has reached the stars. Things are pretty desperate on earth if you aren't born to a family with money. Most of humanity is living in welfare cities called Public Residential Centers (PRCs) that double as ghettos to keep the poor in one place. The powers on Earth have split into two main factions, the North American Commonwealth (NAC), which is basically all of the Western Hemisphere vs. the Sino-Russian Alliance (SRA), which is basically all of the Eastern Hemisphere.
The main character in the book, Andrew Grayson, was born in a PRC, in what used to be called Boston, before it merged with all of the rest of the mega-cities in the area. He is joining the military to get out of the poverty he was born into, as the military is pretty much the only meritocracy left on Earth that everyone has a chance to make it with.
What follows is a fast-paced, extremely interesting story that is very accurate on the military details, and contains a surprising amount of human-interest elements as well. Grayson starts out as ground-soldier, and by the end of the story he is living through adventures that are amazing, and set the stage for the sequel. You are with Grayson every step of they way, and you understand him, and the choices he makes. The loyalty shown amongst the soldiers rings very true, and is very appreciated in the story (those kinds of elements are why I read military sci-fi in the first place).
Star Wars and Star Trek fans will feel mostly at home in this universe, although the tone of the series is much more Starship Troopers, but with less graphic violence. Read it, you will be glad you did.
5 stars!
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Book Content Guide For Parents:
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Sex & Nudity: [3/5] the military of the future is an integrated military, so the males and females sleep and shower together. Characters are depicted having sex together, but not in graphic detail (descriptions amount to phrases such as "enjoy each other's bodies", that sort of stuff). Any child over 12 will know what is going on, but it isn't any more graphic than prime-time TV dramas (I would actually said it is quite tamer).
Violence & Gore: [3/5] numerous military battles take place, and humans are killed. No torture, and no gore or graphic details. But descriptions of things like grenades blowing holes in peoples chests, and descriptions of people being shot, and what it feels like to have their lung collapse do occur. I would say the violence levels are at the PG to PG-13 level.
Profanity: [4/5] it is a military novel, OF COURSE it has language in it. All of the "big 4" make it into the language of the soldiers, but not actually as often as you might expect. Nothing too terribly graphic or offensive, though (no bodily descriptions, crude sexual remarks, racial epithets, or hate-speech).
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: [2/5] I don't recall any smoking, drug abuse is commented on in the PRCs but never depicted, but there is a bit of drinking in the story, nothing graphic or glamorized, though.
Frightening/Intense Scenes: [3/5] standard PG/PG-13 action/war movie stuff. There are some intense military battles, soldiers die, and the protagonist is in mortal danger more than once. But it is never horrifying or sadistic stuff. Quite tame compared to some of the horror shows I have had to endure lately. None of it bothered me.
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