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Legion #5
For More Than Glory
You're only a hero until your next battle. Legion General Bill Booly knows that peace is just a pause between wars. He's just crushed one uprising, and now a new rebellion is already brewing on a remote world light years away--spawning a web of terrorism that is close enough to catch the vulnerable Confederacy in its grasp.
496 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
William C. Dietz
126 books457 followersNew York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than fifty novels, some of which have been translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. He grew up in the Seattle area, served as a medic with the Navy and Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director and producer. Before becoming a full-time writer Dietz was director of public relations and marketing for an international telephone company. He and his wife live near Gig Harbor, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 6, 2023
Very long read, but plenty of action.
March 11, 2015
Another great book in this compelling series.
Military science fiction has several great authors weaving their tales and William C. Dietz is on of them.
This one has all the major players trying to rule and in the end the good guys prevail. Along the way we see and experience much to attain this goal.
HIGHLY recommended series and author (his other books are just as good)
I did have to chuckle a little bit at this because because the copy editor must have been absent as there are missing words, misspelled words and puncuation must have cost extra as it was mostly missing. Still a great story
Military science fiction has several great authors weaving their tales and William C. Dietz is on of them.
This one has all the major players trying to rule and in the end the good guys prevail. Along the way we see and experience much to attain this goal.
HIGHLY recommended series and author (his other books are just as good)
I did have to chuckle a little bit at this because because the copy editor must have been absent as there are missing words, misspelled words and puncuation must have cost extra as it was mostly missing. Still a great story
January 14, 2018
More of the same but I will finish this later.
March 19, 2017
Note on significant alien races in this book:
Ramanthians: insect like aliens about to experience a population explosion when 5 billion
eggs hatch.
Hudathan: xenophobic genocidal aliens defeated twice but now limited confederate
members b/c of help given to address the Thracki/Sheen threat.
Thraki: xenophobic genocidal aliens who were chased by Sheen for centuries until
resolution in prior book.
Sheen: xenophobic genocidal alien robots chasing Thraki for centuries until central
computer was shut down in prior book. It appears their 12,000 or so drifting
will be a prime story line going forward.
Starts out with confederate troops attacking a hideout of confederate mutineers- presumably setting up some kind of space pirate story line. Focus, however, then immediately shifts to the Ramanthians. This story line is STUPID. Advance space traveling society that experiences a birth explosion can't plan sufficiently ahead so as to deal with the new population in a way that won't create a war? How about building space habitats or looking for worlds that aren't already claimed by the genocidal Hudathan? The author doesn't explain. Not only that but then the author goes on to have the Ramanthians steel Sheen ships because they don't have enough to transport the eggs to the new planets. Why? Because of the all the ships the Ramanthians supposedly lost in the prior conflict. I just finished the prior book and I don't remember the Ramanthians losing a single ship. Also the author seems to forget that the Ramanthians are participating in interstellar commerce- there should be loads of transport ships for them to hire or buy, not to mention their own civilian ships that could be pressed into service. No, it appears with the Ramanthian story line the author simply mapped out the story he wanted to tell and ignored the glaring holes. The biggest hole of them all is why? Why are the Ramanthians acting in a way certain to sooner or later cause war with the Hudathan and likely to cause war with the confederacy in the short term when, if they just made their needs known they would receive confederate aid in solving the problem without war. AND YET IT GETS WORSE. Unable to think of a better plan the Ramanthians decide to place a bomb on the ship that serves as the capital of the confederation as a distraction for the taking of the sheen ships. HOW COULD ANY REMOTELY INTELLIGENT BEING EXPECT THAT NOT TO BE NOTICED AND NOT TO RESULT IN WAR????
AND YET IT GETS WORSE, because who is chasing the mutineers? A reasonable person? No, its the head of all confederate forces AND HIS FAMOUS WIFE. The excuse for this? She had a ship he could use to impersonate a disreputable trader (because the head of all military forces couldn't arrange for such a thing with a phone call????) She, of course gets recognized, DUH! Shit like this gets overlooked on Star Trek because it is a tv show and constantly hiring and firing a slew of actors for that extra level of realism isn't financially possible. But here? Especially when the main story line centers on a lieutenant we've not previously heard of? Why not be reasonable and simply have the COMMANDER OF ALL CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS assign the tasks to properly trained personnel?
Interestingly enough, the main story line of Confederate bases on newly discovered planet with an intelligent species of pre-steam age technology is pretty well written. The book would have halfway good if it weren't for the ridiculously moronic additional story lines. Story lines that author apparently has to re-write the internal history of his books to justify. I'm reading this series one book after another and there have been many places a Ramanthian/Hudathan war should have been mentioned but wasn't (like when a Ramanthian challenged a Hudathan to a dual in the prior book). Now the author has created one to explain why the Ramanthians need to steel Sheen ships, except he put it 50 years in the past. SO WHAT HAVE THE RAMANTHIANS BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS SINCE THEY CLEARLY WEREN'T BUILDING THE SHIPS THEY KNEW THEY WOULD NEED. UGH! SO MUCH UNNECESSARY STUPIDITY.
AND IT STILL GETS WORSE- What would you do with an automated battle fleet arrayed outside of the ship you use for a capital? Let it sit there and hope some subroutine doesn't kick in and bring it back to life OR MOVE IT AND NOT TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU ARE MOVING IT TO?????
At this point I don't care about spoilers so the bomb succeeds but the good guys find out about it so the ship is evacuated BUT WITH APPARENTLY SUCH SHITTY SURVIVAL PODS THAT THE PRESIDENT, WHO KNOW ABOUT THE RAMANTHIAN PLAN TO STEEL SHEEN SHIPS ORDERS THE NAVY SHIPS GUARDING THE SHEEN SHIPS TO COME IN AND PICK UP SURVIVORS. So the Ramanthians succeed and UNLIKE THE REST OF THE FUCKING MORONIC CONFEDERACY, use the highly automated status of the Sheen ships to steel something like half of them. Why not steel all of them? Good question, I can only assume the answer is that the author didn't want to write that book. After all, the confederacy will need their half of the ships for the next book.
In short, the entire Ramanthian story line exists apparently to fill pages as it is incredibly stupid and even inconsistent with stories that have gone before.
Ramanthians: insect like aliens about to experience a population explosion when 5 billion
eggs hatch.
Hudathan: xenophobic genocidal aliens defeated twice but now limited confederate
members b/c of help given to address the Thracki/Sheen threat.
Thraki: xenophobic genocidal aliens who were chased by Sheen for centuries until
resolution in prior book.
Sheen: xenophobic genocidal alien robots chasing Thraki for centuries until central
computer was shut down in prior book. It appears their 12,000 or so drifting
will be a prime story line going forward.
Starts out with confederate troops attacking a hideout of confederate mutineers- presumably setting up some kind of space pirate story line. Focus, however, then immediately shifts to the Ramanthians. This story line is STUPID. Advance space traveling society that experiences a birth explosion can't plan sufficiently ahead so as to deal with the new population in a way that won't create a war? How about building space habitats or looking for worlds that aren't already claimed by the genocidal Hudathan? The author doesn't explain. Not only that but then the author goes on to have the Ramanthians steel Sheen ships because they don't have enough to transport the eggs to the new planets. Why? Because of the all the ships the Ramanthians supposedly lost in the prior conflict. I just finished the prior book and I don't remember the Ramanthians losing a single ship. Also the author seems to forget that the Ramanthians are participating in interstellar commerce- there should be loads of transport ships for them to hire or buy, not to mention their own civilian ships that could be pressed into service. No, it appears with the Ramanthian story line the author simply mapped out the story he wanted to tell and ignored the glaring holes. The biggest hole of them all is why? Why are the Ramanthians acting in a way certain to sooner or later cause war with the Hudathan and likely to cause war with the confederacy in the short term when, if they just made their needs known they would receive confederate aid in solving the problem without war. AND YET IT GETS WORSE. Unable to think of a better plan the Ramanthians decide to place a bomb on the ship that serves as the capital of the confederation as a distraction for the taking of the sheen ships. HOW COULD ANY REMOTELY INTELLIGENT BEING EXPECT THAT NOT TO BE NOTICED AND NOT TO RESULT IN WAR????
AND YET IT GETS WORSE, because who is chasing the mutineers? A reasonable person? No, its the head of all confederate forces AND HIS FAMOUS WIFE. The excuse for this? She had a ship he could use to impersonate a disreputable trader (because the head of all military forces couldn't arrange for such a thing with a phone call????) She, of course gets recognized, DUH! Shit like this gets overlooked on Star Trek because it is a tv show and constantly hiring and firing a slew of actors for that extra level of realism isn't financially possible. But here? Especially when the main story line centers on a lieutenant we've not previously heard of? Why not be reasonable and simply have the COMMANDER OF ALL CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS assign the tasks to properly trained personnel?
Interestingly enough, the main story line of Confederate bases on newly discovered planet with an intelligent species of pre-steam age technology is pretty well written. The book would have halfway good if it weren't for the ridiculously moronic additional story lines. Story lines that author apparently has to re-write the internal history of his books to justify. I'm reading this series one book after another and there have been many places a Ramanthian/Hudathan war should have been mentioned but wasn't (like when a Ramanthian challenged a Hudathan to a dual in the prior book). Now the author has created one to explain why the Ramanthians need to steel Sheen ships, except he put it 50 years in the past. SO WHAT HAVE THE RAMANTHIANS BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS SINCE THEY CLEARLY WEREN'T BUILDING THE SHIPS THEY KNEW THEY WOULD NEED. UGH! SO MUCH UNNECESSARY STUPIDITY.
AND IT STILL GETS WORSE- What would you do with an automated battle fleet arrayed outside of the ship you use for a capital? Let it sit there and hope some subroutine doesn't kick in and bring it back to life OR MOVE IT AND NOT TELL ANYONE WHERE YOU ARE MOVING IT TO?????
At this point I don't care about spoilers so the bomb succeeds but the good guys find out about it so the ship is evacuated BUT WITH APPARENTLY SUCH SHITTY SURVIVAL PODS THAT THE PRESIDENT, WHO KNOW ABOUT THE RAMANTHIAN PLAN TO STEEL SHEEN SHIPS ORDERS THE NAVY SHIPS GUARDING THE SHEEN SHIPS TO COME IN AND PICK UP SURVIVORS. So the Ramanthians succeed and UNLIKE THE REST OF THE FUCKING MORONIC CONFEDERACY, use the highly automated status of the Sheen ships to steel something like half of them. Why not steel all of them? Good question, I can only assume the answer is that the author didn't want to write that book. After all, the confederacy will need their half of the ships for the next book.
In short, the entire Ramanthian story line exists apparently to fill pages as it is incredibly stupid and even inconsistent with stories that have gone before.
October 30, 2020
Mystery, intrigue and science fiction are the ingredients for a rather fictional Sci-fi take on historical events in Dietz’s filth entry into the Legion of the Damned series.
While the Confederacy has got over the previous War, the Legion of the Damned has to quash another brewing in LaNor light years away. Tony Santana is stationed there along with his men. And as a legion lieutenant, he experiences what it is like to stay in a place where the legion aren't appreciated, even though Santana has to investigate the ones who could destroy the confederation.
LaNor is the sort of planet where no one would want to be stationed as those who are get forgotten about, their transport is rusting and run-down called "appropriate civilian transportation," the Rim Queen has nothing much to offer, and those who ride in it are amazed it can complete a hyperspace jump. Haldathans, LaNorians and other species co-exist there and Santana's only enjoyment is from bed mate Molly Cass who more than fulfils her purpose in this novel. She is there in the worst and darkest of times when Santana feels he can't make a difference as part of the legion, and when only one person appreciates him, he can't let her down either.
For More Than Glory is a novel that is inspired by the Boxer Rebellion during the time of 1900, when China was under a drastic transition during the reign of Empress Tzu Hsi. Characters in this novel are also based on some real people who were a part of the rebellion and those who previously had control of the people through the empress. While the Empress Shi Huu rules from her palace, she doesn't see what happens in the real world and only receives information and pictures from her informants. Despite their cruelty, these men are the ones who work on her behalf.
Mystery, intrigue and science fiction are the ingredients for a rather historical look at Dietz’s legion members. In many ways as we have never seen them before, through their eyes and their experiences of what it is like to be seen as the enemy while the enemy quietly plots humanity’s downfall. I won’t mention whether Santana has everyone’s best interests at heart, only that he is trying to make LaNor a better place. This planet isn’t what it seems from the start and Dietz uses his knowledge of hundred year old history and puts it in the right context so that we see what might be a possibility in the future.
While the Confederacy has got over the previous War, the Legion of the Damned has to quash another brewing in LaNor light years away. Tony Santana is stationed there along with his men. And as a legion lieutenant, he experiences what it is like to stay in a place where the legion aren't appreciated, even though Santana has to investigate the ones who could destroy the confederation.
LaNor is the sort of planet where no one would want to be stationed as those who are get forgotten about, their transport is rusting and run-down called "appropriate civilian transportation," the Rim Queen has nothing much to offer, and those who ride in it are amazed it can complete a hyperspace jump. Haldathans, LaNorians and other species co-exist there and Santana's only enjoyment is from bed mate Molly Cass who more than fulfils her purpose in this novel. She is there in the worst and darkest of times when Santana feels he can't make a difference as part of the legion, and when only one person appreciates him, he can't let her down either.
For More Than Glory is a novel that is inspired by the Boxer Rebellion during the time of 1900, when China was under a drastic transition during the reign of Empress Tzu Hsi. Characters in this novel are also based on some real people who were a part of the rebellion and those who previously had control of the people through the empress. While the Empress Shi Huu rules from her palace, she doesn't see what happens in the real world and only receives information and pictures from her informants. Despite their cruelty, these men are the ones who work on her behalf.
Mystery, intrigue and science fiction are the ingredients for a rather historical look at Dietz’s legion members. In many ways as we have never seen them before, through their eyes and their experiences of what it is like to be seen as the enemy while the enemy quietly plots humanity’s downfall. I won’t mention whether Santana has everyone’s best interests at heart, only that he is trying to make LaNor a better place. This planet isn’t what it seems from the start and Dietz uses his knowledge of hundred year old history and puts it in the right context so that we see what might be a possibility in the future.
December 14, 2025
Tome 5 de la série "Legion of the damned"
Lu en anglais
Plusieurs races extraterrestres se sont installés sur un monde, à la population peu avancée technologiquement, pour profiter de ses ressources. Mais, tranquillement la révolte gronde parmi la population et bientôt des milliers de convaincus visent à éliminer, non seulement les extraterrestres, mais aussi les autochtones qui sont entrés en contact avec eux, car ils sont considérés corrompus. Et même l'impératrice ferme les yeux et quelquefois encourage les actes de violence de ces "rebelles". Et à travers cette histoire principale, il y a une race extraterrestre, les Ramanthian, qui prépare une attaque contre la confédération aidée par un chef Hudathan qui vise à prendre le contrôle total de son peuple et de repartir en guerre contre leurs ennemis; tout non Hudatan est un ennemi. Mais la Légion, qui intègre maintenant plus d'espèces, est là et va se trouver impliquée.
Un roman de science-fiction militaire fortement inspiré de la rébellion des boxers en chine vers 1900. On suit principalement les actions du lieutenant Santana qui avec l'aide des légionnaires et de ses monstrueux cyborgs, essaie de son mieux de protéger les hors-monde (les extraterrestres) et leurs amis autochtones. L'action consiste surtout en des escarmouches et manque de l'ampleur des romans précédents. Mais on a une démonstration de ce que le fanatisme peut faire et ce n'est pas beau.
J'ai aimé mais j'aurais préféré plus d'ampleur. Par contre, les évènements devraient être intéressants dans le tome suivant.
Lu en anglais
Plusieurs races extraterrestres se sont installés sur un monde, à la population peu avancée technologiquement, pour profiter de ses ressources. Mais, tranquillement la révolte gronde parmi la population et bientôt des milliers de convaincus visent à éliminer, non seulement les extraterrestres, mais aussi les autochtones qui sont entrés en contact avec eux, car ils sont considérés corrompus. Et même l'impératrice ferme les yeux et quelquefois encourage les actes de violence de ces "rebelles". Et à travers cette histoire principale, il y a une race extraterrestre, les Ramanthian, qui prépare une attaque contre la confédération aidée par un chef Hudathan qui vise à prendre le contrôle total de son peuple et de repartir en guerre contre leurs ennemis; tout non Hudatan est un ennemi. Mais la Légion, qui intègre maintenant plus d'espèces, est là et va se trouver impliquée.
Un roman de science-fiction militaire fortement inspiré de la rébellion des boxers en chine vers 1900. On suit principalement les actions du lieutenant Santana qui avec l'aide des légionnaires et de ses monstrueux cyborgs, essaie de son mieux de protéger les hors-monde (les extraterrestres) et leurs amis autochtones. L'action consiste surtout en des escarmouches et manque de l'ampleur des romans précédents. Mais on a une démonstration de ce que le fanatisme peut faire et ce n'est pas beau.
J'ai aimé mais j'aurais préféré plus d'ampleur. Par contre, les évènements devraient être intéressants dans le tome suivant.
August 31, 2017
Pretty good combat centered sci-fi
April 19, 2022
This appears to be a bridging novel. 55 days in peking springs to mind, as the author shifts from outward threats to the confederacy to a internal one
November 4, 2012
With a healthy mix of aliens on a foreign planet, the locals have an uprising to expel foreign influences. It's based on the Boxer Rebellion, a pivotal moment in history leading into WWI. Dietz writes from a military viewpoint, and essentially the alien alliance finds itself under siege in the foreigners quarters. Or course, the alliance has some really nasty flaws developing, at a time when they need to come together.
This is my favorite of the Legion of the Damned series. So named, that those who are found guilty of capital crimes are given the choice of death or military service. If they choose military service, their brains are removed and used to control robotic tanks. Santana gets the task of leading these misfits into combat and keeping them from shooting each other. In the middle of the chaos, Santana pursues his love interest, one of the diplomats trapped in the siege.
If you're into military stories, and sci-fi, I would highly recommend this work.
This is my favorite of the Legion of the Damned series. So named, that those who are found guilty of capital crimes are given the choice of death or military service. If they choose military service, their brains are removed and used to control robotic tanks. Santana gets the task of leading these misfits into combat and keeping them from shooting each other. In the middle of the chaos, Santana pursues his love interest, one of the diplomats trapped in the siege.
If you're into military stories, and sci-fi, I would highly recommend this work.
April 18, 2013
In Dietz's elaborate military-political thriller set on the galactic backwater world of LaNor, Lieutenant Antonio Santana, officer in a futuristic version of the French Foreign Legion, battles a far-reaching interplanetary conspiracy as off-world factions vie with an alien version of the Chinese Triad mafia for control of the planet's resources and its strategic position within the shaky galactic Confederation. LaNor is peopled by a highly static society reminiscent of China's during the colonial era. Dietz, the author of the Drifter and the Bounty military SF series among others, is known for the complex political and social layout of his future worlds. If the book offers little speculation on scientific advance, Dietz has created an intricate tapestry of local and star-faring culture with topnotch action sequences.
July 21, 2013
I made the mistake of coming into this series at book number 5, but at the time I was desperate for something to read.
Dietz did a fine job with his description of the aliens, situation, and general characters, but since the plot follows the Boxer Rebellion (1905?) almost by the numbers, I found the story much too predictable. I suppose if you do not know much about the Rebellion the story will work just fine, but for me any sense of suspense was lost by about halfway through the book. It became more an exercise to see how closely he would follow historical events rather what would happen to the characters.
Dietz did a fine job with his description of the aliens, situation, and general characters, but since the plot follows the Boxer Rebellion (1905?) almost by the numbers, I found the story much too predictable. I suppose if you do not know much about the Rebellion the story will work just fine, but for me any sense of suspense was lost by about halfway through the book. It became more an exercise to see how closely he would follow historical events rather what would happen to the characters.
December 13, 2014
War with two alien species ends with their becoming allies of the Confederation. But General Bill Booly of the Legion has to take care of a mutiny by some members of the Legion and recover dangerous weapons that are in their hands while preparing for the next war.
March 25, 2016
The best of "The Legion of the Damned" series. This time taking place on a planet going through something akin to historical "Boxer Rebellion". Fun, light political intrigue, good action, epic scale. One of my all-time favorites across genres.
December 24, 2010
story is based on Boxer Rebellion. Wonderful characters, action packed military SF
October 30, 2013
This series has gone downhill since the first novel
August 31, 2013
There's a big loss of focus.
I think it stemmed from too many characters/disparate storylines happening in completely exclusive areas of the universe.
I think it stemmed from too many characters/disparate storylines happening in completely exclusive areas of the universe.
July 2, 2014
Another great read by Dietz have the next in the series lined up soon
May 7, 2014
A scifi version of the Boxer Rebellion; no shortage of action.
December 23, 2017
Quick read. Typical Dietz. Action packed and plot-driven. A tiny bit "soapy" but the main action on planet is interesting.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews