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Janissaries #1
Janissaries
Some days it just didn't pay to be a soldier. Captain Rick Galloway and his men had been talked into volunteering for a dangerous mission—only to be ruthlessly abandoned when faceless CIA higher-ups pulled the plug on the operation. They were cut off in hostile territory, with local troops and their Cuban "advisors" rapidly closing in. And then the alien spaceship landed...
The mercenaries are offered a deal, travel to the stars, to a primitive planet, and fight the enemies of the aliens. Intrigue, danger, and death await.
The mercenaries are offered a deal, travel to the stars, to a primitive planet, and fight the enemies of the aliens. Intrigue, danger, and death await.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Jerry Pournelle
216 books524 followersDr Jerry Eugene Pournelle was an American science fiction writer, engineer, essayist, and journalist, who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte, and from 1998 until his death maintained his own website and blog.
From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.
Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.
Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.
“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”
Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.
From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.
Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.
Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.
“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”
Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
June 16, 2023
This illustrated novel attempts to be a Burrough's type Mars series, updated for the seventies. Unfortunately, it succeeds.
Rick Galloway, leading a bunch of mercs in a backwater war in Africa is surrounded by Marxist troops, and their Cuban "advisors" when they are picked up by a flying saucer and taken to a planet out in the cosmos.
Turns out the planet can, for a limited time, produce a narcotic the aliens want. The troops have to subdue the planet's population, and grow the crop, or be wiped out.
When they land, Rick is ousted from his leadership, and travels the land. Of course, he rescues a princess, and becomes a conquering hero. Despite the swashbuckling premise, the book itself strips almost all of the fun from it. That's about as 1970's as it gets, isn't it?
The illustrations were pretty good.
Rick Galloway, leading a bunch of mercs in a backwater war in Africa is surrounded by Marxist troops, and their Cuban "advisors" when they are picked up by a flying saucer and taken to a planet out in the cosmos.
Turns out the planet can, for a limited time, produce a narcotic the aliens want. The troops have to subdue the planet's population, and grow the crop, or be wiped out.
When they land, Rick is ousted from his leadership, and travels the land. Of course, he rescues a princess, and becomes a conquering hero. Despite the swashbuckling premise, the book itself strips almost all of the fun from it. That's about as 1970's as it gets, isn't it?
The illustrations were pretty good.
June 4, 2020
Mercenaries for aliens
Captain Rick Galloway, serving as a mercenary in Africa under the auspices of the CIA, finds himself and his few surviving men abandoned by the CIA just as about a thousand Cubans are closing in. It looks like the end. Surrender is not an option but boarding a flying saucer is. Thus the adventure begins.
The general ideas behind this novel have been used several times in science fiction but few have written these themes as well as has Jerry Pournelle. A delightful fantasy to remove a reader from his present to a strange planet light years from Earth. I will take the liberty to recommend RANKS OF BRONZE by David Drake to those who enjoyed JANISSARIES.
Captain Rick Galloway, serving as a mercenary in Africa under the auspices of the CIA, finds himself and his few surviving men abandoned by the CIA just as about a thousand Cubans are closing in. It looks like the end. Surrender is not an option but boarding a flying saucer is. Thus the adventure begins.
The general ideas behind this novel have been used several times in science fiction but few have written these themes as well as has Jerry Pournelle. A delightful fantasy to remove a reader from his present to a strange planet light years from Earth. I will take the liberty to recommend RANKS OF BRONZE by David Drake to those who enjoyed JANISSARIES.
March 10, 2014
I am a bit royally ticked about this book. See I like it. I've liked other books by the writers they have turned out some great science fiction (and science fantasy). Much of it with plenty of action, a lot of it with thought provoking ideas.
The book's great. I sort of stumbled over it after seeing it reviewed and recommended here. Went to the library web-sight and there it was. Hoopla had it in audio all I had to do was download it.
It's not a totally new idea human soldiers from earth get transported to some other planet or world or universe or whatever and have to make a go of it there. That's what we got here. the soldiers were about to be slaughtered when they were unexpectedly and against all chance snatched away by aliens to be used as "foreign troops" on a distant world. Like I said not really unique, but this one is done well. it drew me in and held my interest from the beginning.
So why am I ticked off you ask? BECAUSE IT ENDS IN A CLIFFHANGER AND THE LIBRARY DOESN'T HAVE THE NEXT BOOK IN ANY FORM! I will have to get it in paperback form which means I can't jump right into it.
Stupid non-audio reads that I have to buy....
Oh yeah, recommended. Enjoy.
The book's great. I sort of stumbled over it after seeing it reviewed and recommended here. Went to the library web-sight and there it was. Hoopla had it in audio all I had to do was download it.
It's not a totally new idea human soldiers from earth get transported to some other planet or world or universe or whatever and have to make a go of it there. That's what we got here. the soldiers were about to be slaughtered when they were unexpectedly and against all chance snatched away by aliens to be used as "foreign troops" on a distant world. Like I said not really unique, but this one is done well. it drew me in and held my interest from the beginning.
So why am I ticked off you ask? BECAUSE IT ENDS IN A CLIFFHANGER AND THE LIBRARY DOESN'T HAVE THE NEXT BOOK IN ANY FORM! I will have to get it in paperback form which means I can't jump right into it.
Stupid non-audio reads that I have to buy....
Oh yeah, recommended. Enjoy.
January 5, 2019
Well, this is quite far removed from the stuff Pournelle did with Larry Niven. I've enjoyed the books of the latter, as well as the collaborations between the two authors, so it was only a matter of time before getting around to one of Pournelle's solo outings. Janissaries appears to be quite popular, and I can see why, it does have a pulpy, old school charm interspersed with some darker elements that is somewhat appealing. The only problem that I had with this novel was that I thought it wasn't very tight, with the plot wandering all over the place. It's a big story told in too few pages, perhaps. Anyway, it's not bad, it was entertaining enough. I'll likely check out some more of Pournelle's stuff in the near future.
May 18, 2015
Grand story, awesome premise and absolutely no substance. Not a single element of storytelling is implored here. It's a concept, a rough sketch. "They did this and then went here. Everyone now is fluent in Latin. Now it is two years later. Something occurs. It's now a week later."
I was bored to death. Which frankly sucks because the concept is awesome. Planets around the universe in which humans were transplanted centuries ago, taking the current culture at the time with them. The variables could have been fascinating. The social structure, the variance of history playing out in relation to even the change of landscape. The different climates, the moons... and yet none of it is explored.
I wish a better writer would steal the concept and run with it, copyright be damned.
I was bored to death. Which frankly sucks because the concept is awesome. Planets around the universe in which humans were transplanted centuries ago, taking the current culture at the time with them. The variables could have been fascinating. The social structure, the variance of history playing out in relation to even the change of landscape. The different climates, the moons... and yet none of it is explored.
I wish a better writer would steal the concept and run with it, copyright be damned.
Read
March 1, 2022I am going to mark this DNF for now with no stars given. I generally love Pournelles work but I bounced hard of of chapter two when he started setting up what seems to be an abduction. Emotionally, I was out at that point. I have the full series too waiting so maybe I'll be able to take a run at it later.
August 2, 2009
Probably my favorite book by Pournelle. And my copy is nicely illustrated. A really good book.
October 23, 2014
A quick, but interesting group of ideas. Plenty of action with a neat balance between high & low technology. There were a lot of neat themes that played out quickly. My edition is a paperback with a lot of good drawings in it. I think I would have liked the book better if the ideas had been more fully developed, but that might have taken volumes.
November 24, 2020
Notes:
Currently on Audible Plus, Books 1-3
I assumed that the series was finished. I'm wrong. Thanks to the reviewer of #3 that let people know the #3 ends on a cliffhanger and the series has not been completed.
I had read another book by the author and enjoyed it. When I saw that this series was also on Audible Plus, I added it to my audio TBR. Unfortunately, the pacing for the series is not as well done and overly ambitious in concept vs what's written down.
Interesting ideas but underdeveloped characters, setting and takes for granted that readers will be familiar enough with Roman civilization/history to fill in the large gaps of knowledge. Which still doesn't work well because the context of the "people" living on the alien planet is not a carbon copy of Roman culture/etc.
Going by the three books I have read by the author, I'm going to guess that he has a habit of ending stories on a cliffhanger. Even if it's a standalone novel.
Currently on Audible Plus, Books 1-3
I assumed that the series was finished. I'm wrong. Thanks to the reviewer of #3 that let people know the #3 ends on a cliffhanger and the series has not been completed.
I had read another book by the author and enjoyed it. When I saw that this series was also on Audible Plus, I added it to my audio TBR. Unfortunately, the pacing for the series is not as well done and overly ambitious in concept vs what's written down.
Interesting ideas but underdeveloped characters, setting and takes for granted that readers will be familiar enough with Roman civilization/history to fill in the large gaps of knowledge. Which still doesn't work well because the context of the "people" living on the alien planet is not a carbon copy of Roman culture/etc.
Going by the three books I have read by the author, I'm going to guess that he has a habit of ending stories on a cliffhanger. Even if it's a standalone novel.
February 22, 2023
I've recently dabbled in a few alt-history/sci-fi stories, the genre has always had an appeal but something about it always felt a little dated and unpolished, of the ones I've read so far I had been pleasantly surprised by my forray into a new genre but with Janissaries I was quite disappointed. Between my other reads in the genre and the good things I had heard about the series (it entered my to read list after appearing in a book-tubers best I read in 2022 list) I found Janussaries to be a bit lack-luster. There's some interesting ideas in the setting that I would have liked to have seen more of but I found the overall plot and characters a bit dull and the aspects of the setting I did like weren't enough interest me in returning to the series.
February 21, 2021
An excellent portal fantasy with lot of military and strategery.
March 16, 2017
In many ways, the best science fiction is that based on human history, and this story is one of the best. It opens with Captain Rick Galloway leading a group of mercenaries against a larger Cuban unit in a tropical African country. The situation is dire and they all know that their fate is to either be killed in action or executed after being captured. Officials of their sponsor, the American CIA, pulled all support for their operation, so they can expect no assistance.
Suddenly, a spaceship lands and the occupants offer them a simple choice. Stay on Earth and die or be transported to another planet to fight and have a chance at life. There is a complex interplanetary organization that allows for contacting Earthlings if they were to shortly be dead anyway. Taking advantage of their only real option, Rick and his men agree to be transported to a planet that is roughly in the technological state of the late Roman Empire.
The planet where the mercenary group is relocated goes through a complex cycle over hundreds of years where it warms up dramatically to a point where a very valuable narcotic can be grown, which is what the interstellar group is interested in. It is their hope that Rick and his band can learn how to produce the drug for interstellar commerce.
It turns out that bands of humans have been plucked from Earth during the cycles when the narcotic can be grown for thousands of years. Therefore, some of the functioning and feuding governments are a Roman Empire and a conglomeration of Scottish clans. As a consequence, the story is also a lesson in Earth’s history. The archives of the Roman Empire even contains parchments written by actual Roman Caesars.
Fundamentally, Galloway is trying to put in place the basics so that the societies of the planet can develop. Simple things like brushing teeth, other basic human hygiene, higher education and rudimentary health care are all unknown on the planet. He must do this within the context of nearly constant warfare between the various factions.
The story is very well written and after reading it I immediately looked online to determine if there is a sequel. They exist and I have a great desire to read them.
Suddenly, a spaceship lands and the occupants offer them a simple choice. Stay on Earth and die or be transported to another planet to fight and have a chance at life. There is a complex interplanetary organization that allows for contacting Earthlings if they were to shortly be dead anyway. Taking advantage of their only real option, Rick and his men agree to be transported to a planet that is roughly in the technological state of the late Roman Empire.
The planet where the mercenary group is relocated goes through a complex cycle over hundreds of years where it warms up dramatically to a point where a very valuable narcotic can be grown, which is what the interstellar group is interested in. It is their hope that Rick and his band can learn how to produce the drug for interstellar commerce.
It turns out that bands of humans have been plucked from Earth during the cycles when the narcotic can be grown for thousands of years. Therefore, some of the functioning and feuding governments are a Roman Empire and a conglomeration of Scottish clans. As a consequence, the story is also a lesson in Earth’s history. The archives of the Roman Empire even contains parchments written by actual Roman Caesars.
Fundamentally, Galloway is trying to put in place the basics so that the societies of the planet can develop. Simple things like brushing teeth, other basic human hygiene, higher education and rudimentary health care are all unknown on the planet. He must do this within the context of nearly constant warfare between the various factions.
The story is very well written and after reading it I immediately looked online to determine if there is a sequel. They exist and I have a great desire to read them.
April 25, 2008
I love this book and just passed it along to my 12-year-old son, who read it in one sitting. The whole idea of aliens kidnapping military units from throughout history has been done before. In fact, I still enjoy watching my copy of Dr. Who's War Games. In this book, however, even with modern weapons and 20th Century tactics, the hero is forced to fight with proven methods of Roman legions. It doesn't have to make sense, but this book has always been in my top 25, no matter how many good ones I have read since.
February 26, 2017
This edition is lavishly illustrated and is described by many as either a trade paperback or an illustrated novel. I prefer the latter description, it seems more accurate.
Lavish is the correct word to use. It's an amazing attempt to enhance storytelling that we just don't see anymore. I picked up this copy and the sequel at a second-hand shop and am looking forward to the next book.
Even if you have already read another version, find this one and dive into the adventures of Rick Galloway once more.
Lavish is the correct word to use. It's an amazing attempt to enhance storytelling that we just don't see anymore. I picked up this copy and the sequel at a second-hand shop and am looking forward to the next book.
Even if you have already read another version, find this one and dive into the adventures of Rick Galloway once more.
May 28, 2018
Great old fashioned adventure. Combination of cold war era US military & medieval society works far better than it has any right to. Janissaries is a bit heavy on machismo but Pournelle's protagonist is an exemplar of martial virtue and continence in the face of licentious barbarism. The author also rather skillfully slips in an anti-eugenics message.
However, the best surprise in this title is the art work. The artist really does justice to the military aesthetic.
However, the best surprise in this title is the art work. The artist really does justice to the military aesthetic.
Want to read
July 19, 2024An illustrated book that hasn't appealed to me. But I like Pournelle and will give another try.
September 4, 2020
I have a bit of history with this book. When I first read it, I was maybe 13 years old. I had been reading and devouring Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators books at a rate of about three a day before my aunt found out how quickly i was reading them and told me I should get something more substantial. She was the one who always bought my books for me, from the mall, so she took me to Waldenbooks and let me choose.
Janissaries was slightly bigger than other books (trade paperback sized, but that was unusual back then) and had soldiers, so it grabbed my attention and that was the one I chose.
And I didn’t like it. It was too different for me and unapproachable, and even though I looked at all the pages and read all the words, I did not really retain anything that I had read. So I put the back to the side, and the next time I chose a fantasy title instead. (Piers Anthony’s A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON)
I really experienced this book this week because Audible has started a new program that allows members to listen to thousands of books (as far as I can tell) for free, and Janissaries was one of those. I still did not care for it very much, but now I realize that i did not like it back then due to several factors:
* I do not like militaristic books. Or movies. Or video games. As much as I respect the people who serve in our military, it just doesn’t appeal to me as an art form
* I wasn’t old enough at 13 to understand the world in which the characters of the book interact. Relationships and pregnancies and so on ... I had no tie-in
* none of the characters seemed especially relatable to me. Probably because they were adults and I was still very much a kid. But even now, re-experiencing the book, I’m not connected to the characters
So anyhow, that’s a lot of words just to give something a two-star review, but I think it’s interesting that I have stories about books.
Janissaries was slightly bigger than other books (trade paperback sized, but that was unusual back then) and had soldiers, so it grabbed my attention and that was the one I chose.
And I didn’t like it. It was too different for me and unapproachable, and even though I looked at all the pages and read all the words, I did not really retain anything that I had read. So I put the back to the side, and the next time I chose a fantasy title instead. (Piers Anthony’s A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON)
I really experienced this book this week because Audible has started a new program that allows members to listen to thousands of books (as far as I can tell) for free, and Janissaries was one of those. I still did not care for it very much, but now I realize that i did not like it back then due to several factors:
* I do not like militaristic books. Or movies. Or video games. As much as I respect the people who serve in our military, it just doesn’t appeal to me as an art form
* I wasn’t old enough at 13 to understand the world in which the characters of the book interact. Relationships and pregnancies and so on ... I had no tie-in
* none of the characters seemed especially relatable to me. Probably because they were adults and I was still very much a kid. But even now, re-experiencing the book, I’m not connected to the characters
So anyhow, that’s a lot of words just to give something a two-star review, but I think it’s interesting that I have stories about books.
December 10, 2020
I wanted to like this book — mercenaries fighting Cubans in Africa and abandoned by CIA, rescued by aliens and then serving as Space Mercenaries to alien cultures. However, just couldn’t get into it at all — I like military sci-fi, alt-history, anti communism, and mercenaries, but it 1) didn’t come together 2) ended as a cliffhanger for no reason. No interest in the rest of the series.
May 30, 2021
For reasons I can't explain, this is the first Jerry Pournelle book I've read. Now I regret not diving into his stuff earlier. This is a sci-fi book but it's also a military history book, which made it kind of fun. Highly recommend.
December 4, 2020
I reviewed Janissaries by Jerry Pournelle in 2011, but I am going to do so again in preparation for the fourth posthumously published volume in the series. This is another book that made a big impression on me, and I want to do it justice.
First, the physical volume itself is one of my favorites. The cover of my Ace paperback from 1979 is credited to Enrich, and the interior really is massively illustrated by Luis Bermejo. Bermejo’s illustrations make the story come alive, even though as Ken Lizzi notes that often technical details are off. Ken points out that the CIA mercenaries in the book look to be carrying Ruger Mini-14s, even though the text refers to the men as using the H&K G3. I also the men are depicted wearing a shirt and trousers, but they are described as wearing one-piece coveralls.
Don’t let that keep you from enjoying this volume. Bermejo expertly captured the feel of Janissaries with its intrigue and romance. That the book itself feels sturdy in the hand only enhances this.
Jerry Pournelle pretty clearly followed in H. Beam Piper’s steps with Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen when he wrote Janissaries, but Jerry’s interest in cyclical history is visible here, along with the intersection of myth and archaeology. When Calvin Morrison ended up in an alternate version of Pennsylvania, it was a one in a million accident.
Here, Rick Galloway and his men aren’t the first set of mercenaries dumped on Tran by shady business aliens [again, the obvious bad guys in a Pournelle book are businessmen], but it happens infrequently enough that only half-believed legends portent what that really means.
We learn about all this at the same pace as Rick does, which is mostly after it might have influenced his decisions. Much of the key knowledge of what is really going on with Tran and the mercenaries resides with Gwen, a pregnant college student from Earth that Rick finds himself escorting after they are both left on Tran.
I enjoy the miniature intrigues and conflicts between Rick and Gwen, a microcosm of what Rick finds himself involved in with both local and galactic politics. Jerry also introduces a plot element he used several times in the Colonel Falkenberg books, of a woman stubbornly refusing to abort her child, no matter how inconvenient the child might be.
The Catholic themes really ramp up in later volumes, but since this is an event Jerry used frequently in his books, it sets the tone for his moral universe. His heroes are not always men of firm faith or explicit piety, but they usually follow a chivalric code that enables them to fit in well in societies bound by a code of honor. And Rick is a man of honor.
As Rick travels through Tran with Gwen and Tylara, a noblewoman on the run from her enemies, he turns to the second oldest profession, soldier of fortune. This is what he was doing anyway in Africa before he was abducted by aliens, but at least back home he had an institutional sponsor of a sort. This is purely freelance work. Rick of course has an unfair advantage, possessing both mid-twentieth century infantry weapons, as well as a good memory of historical tactics. But his position is precarious, his men few, and his time short, so it still isn’t easy to be Rick Galloway.
The strangely fractured cultures and technologies of Tran do make some sense in the world that Jerry created, but I suspect the ultimate reason is so we can get to see Jerry use his knowledge of military history to put together opponents who could never have met in the real world due to distance or time or both, like English longbowmen versus Roman heavy cavalry. That is much of the fun of Janissaries.
If I have a complaint about this book, it is that Jerry spends the first half just getting all the pieces set up. This was pretty clearly made to be a series, but Jerry died before he finished it, so that may not have been the best model to follow. It is a great book though, and a popular series of his. Given how deep I like to go on a book, I do kind of like this much backstory, but I also think it isn’t the best way to do a book, especially one of this style. That this book works at all is a testament to the inherent interest of the setting and characters.
And the characters are great. Rick is a very different man than Colonel Falkenberg, more of a Cincinnatus eager to get back to his plow than a man only comfortable in war. Tylara and Gwen are very different women, but well realized, strong but still feminine. I suspect that Jerry, like Timothy Zahn, was influenced by his wife in how he characterized women. I think so even more after hearing Roberta Pournelle’s eulogy, how bold and adventurous she was. After learning that Jerry was married to another woman who left him after the death of his second child, before he met his long-time second wife Roberta, gives me something of a clue as to why his male protagonists so often seem to be trapped in situations involving multiple women.
The setting, the characters, the implausible but fun ahistorical matchups, all this makes this book work, and I’m pleased to see I enjoyed it just as much this time through. Things will of course only get crazier as the series goes on, but this one could stand alone if you wanted to see a man go on the adventure of a lifetime. Highly recommended.
First, the physical volume itself is one of my favorites. The cover of my Ace paperback from 1979 is credited to Enrich, and the interior really is massively illustrated by Luis Bermejo. Bermejo’s illustrations make the story come alive, even though as Ken Lizzi notes that often technical details are off. Ken points out that the CIA mercenaries in the book look to be carrying Ruger Mini-14s, even though the text refers to the men as using the H&K G3. I also the men are depicted wearing a shirt and trousers, but they are described as wearing one-piece coveralls.
Don’t let that keep you from enjoying this volume. Bermejo expertly captured the feel of Janissaries with its intrigue and romance. That the book itself feels sturdy in the hand only enhances this.
Jerry Pournelle pretty clearly followed in H. Beam Piper’s steps with Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen when he wrote Janissaries, but Jerry’s interest in cyclical history is visible here, along with the intersection of myth and archaeology. When Calvin Morrison ended up in an alternate version of Pennsylvania, it was a one in a million accident.
Here, Rick Galloway and his men aren’t the first set of mercenaries dumped on Tran by shady business aliens [again, the obvious bad guys in a Pournelle book are businessmen], but it happens infrequently enough that only half-believed legends portent what that really means.
We learn about all this at the same pace as Rick does, which is mostly after it might have influenced his decisions. Much of the key knowledge of what is really going on with Tran and the mercenaries resides with Gwen, a pregnant college student from Earth that Rick finds himself escorting after they are both left on Tran.
I enjoy the miniature intrigues and conflicts between Rick and Gwen, a microcosm of what Rick finds himself involved in with both local and galactic politics. Jerry also introduces a plot element he used several times in the Colonel Falkenberg books, of a woman stubbornly refusing to abort her child, no matter how inconvenient the child might be.
The Catholic themes really ramp up in later volumes, but since this is an event Jerry used frequently in his books, it sets the tone for his moral universe. His heroes are not always men of firm faith or explicit piety, but they usually follow a chivalric code that enables them to fit in well in societies bound by a code of honor. And Rick is a man of honor.
As Rick travels through Tran with Gwen and Tylara, a noblewoman on the run from her enemies, he turns to the second oldest profession, soldier of fortune. This is what he was doing anyway in Africa before he was abducted by aliens, but at least back home he had an institutional sponsor of a sort. This is purely freelance work. Rick of course has an unfair advantage, possessing both mid-twentieth century infantry weapons, as well as a good memory of historical tactics. But his position is precarious, his men few, and his time short, so it still isn’t easy to be Rick Galloway.
The strangely fractured cultures and technologies of Tran do make some sense in the world that Jerry created, but I suspect the ultimate reason is so we can get to see Jerry use his knowledge of military history to put together opponents who could never have met in the real world due to distance or time or both, like English longbowmen versus Roman heavy cavalry. That is much of the fun of Janissaries.
If I have a complaint about this book, it is that Jerry spends the first half just getting all the pieces set up. This was pretty clearly made to be a series, but Jerry died before he finished it, so that may not have been the best model to follow. It is a great book though, and a popular series of his. Given how deep I like to go on a book, I do kind of like this much backstory, but I also think it isn’t the best way to do a book, especially one of this style. That this book works at all is a testament to the inherent interest of the setting and characters.
And the characters are great. Rick is a very different man than Colonel Falkenberg, more of a Cincinnatus eager to get back to his plow than a man only comfortable in war. Tylara and Gwen are very different women, but well realized, strong but still feminine. I suspect that Jerry, like Timothy Zahn, was influenced by his wife in how he characterized women. I think so even more after hearing Roberta Pournelle’s eulogy, how bold and adventurous she was. After learning that Jerry was married to another woman who left him after the death of his second child, before he met his long-time second wife Roberta, gives me something of a clue as to why his male protagonists so often seem to be trapped in situations involving multiple women.
The setting, the characters, the implausible but fun ahistorical matchups, all this makes this book work, and I’m pleased to see I enjoyed it just as much this time through. Things will of course only get crazier as the series goes on, but this one could stand alone if you wanted to see a man go on the adventure of a lifetime. Highly recommended.
February 22, 2013
The first of these earth warrior adbucted to fight aliens low-tech wars I read. Not the best. That's probably be Poul Anderson's The High Crusade.
Still, a good read
Still, a good read
November 6, 2017
The late Jerry Pournelle's "Janissaries" is possibly one of his more famous works. While it's ostensibly a novel geared for adults, it reads, in spite of a rape of one character (that happens off screen) and implied sexual encounters with two other characters, the book reads more like a Young Adult novel. And there's nothing wrong with Young Adult books (I read some from time to time), it's a bit disorienting expecting the book to be one thing, but finding out it's something else. Much of why I felt like "Janissaries" was YA book is due to Pournelle's writing style. It felt a little too simplistic, as did the story itself.
It doesn't help that Pournelle's come across as one-dimensional and flavor-less. They just aren't that interesting. Or in the cases of the two characters - Les and Gwen - who know more than they allegedly can say, downright annoying.
Pournelle's plot involves an alien race, the Shlanuksis, needing to shanghai a group of Earth soldiers to fight on another world. This despite the Shalnuksis being not only more advanced than Earth technologically, but the aliens are also a part of an interstellar Confederacy. Surely they could've recruited the soldiers from one of the Confederated planets? They can't because Reasons. Pournelle jumps through a lot of hoops to explain it has to Earth soldiers, but the rationale really feels half-assed and not very convincing.
It should be noted that along with fighting the natives of the alien world (Tran), the soldiers also have to insure the harvest of a specialized plant (it's basically extraterrestrial marijuana). The reasons why the Earth soldier have to insure this harvest and why Tran is the best planet to grow the star pot is equally convoluted and unconvincing.
Honestly, "Janissaries" seems like Jerry Pournelle had some cool ideas like Earth soldiers fighting on another planet, the planet has several ancient Earth cultures on it, etc., but had to jump through a lot of mental hoops and over-explain things just to make the story work.
And for me, it doesn't.
It doesn't help that Pournelle's come across as one-dimensional and flavor-less. They just aren't that interesting. Or in the cases of the two characters - Les and Gwen - who know more than they allegedly can say, downright annoying.
Pournelle's plot involves an alien race, the Shlanuksis, needing to shanghai a group of Earth soldiers to fight on another world. This despite the Shalnuksis being not only more advanced than Earth technologically, but the aliens are also a part of an interstellar Confederacy. Surely they could've recruited the soldiers from one of the Confederated planets? They can't because Reasons. Pournelle jumps through a lot of hoops to explain it has to Earth soldiers, but the rationale really feels half-assed and not very convincing.
It should be noted that along with fighting the natives of the alien world (Tran), the soldiers also have to insure the harvest of a specialized plant (it's basically extraterrestrial marijuana). The reasons why the Earth soldier have to insure this harvest and why Tran is the best planet to grow the star pot is equally convoluted and unconvincing.
Honestly, "Janissaries" seems like Jerry Pournelle had some cool ideas like Earth soldiers fighting on another planet, the planet has several ancient Earth cultures on it, etc., but had to jump through a lot of mental hoops and over-explain things just to make the story work.
And for me, it doesn't.
October 17, 2024
I'm sure I've seen this book kicking around libraries and used bookstores over the years, but it wasn't until I read an old blog post by the author Jo Walton recommending it that I figured I'd give it a shot. Alas, while 13-year-old me probably would have loved it, the writing is so simplistic, and the plotting so contorted that adult me found it pretty poor. First published in 1979, the book opens with a group of some sort of black ops, plausibly deniable force of (mostly) American soldiers getting routed by Cubans in what is presumably supposed to be Angola. Just as their commander gets word that their CIA masters won't be extracting them, a flying saucer whisks them to safety. It seems that they've been chosen for a special mission on a distant planet.
The mission is absurd, as is the logic behind why advanced beings with crazy tech would need to abduct fifty mercenaries from Earth to do something for them across the galaxy. It's all smoke and mirrors to drop some modern soldiers into a quasi-Roman empire and quasi-Scottish highlands setting for some military sci-fi nonsense. It just so happens that the college dropout commander was keen on military tactics and history and managed to absorb an awful lot in his few years, along with an apparently natural genius for strategy and logistics, not to mention a remarkable memory for natural science, including the formula for gunpowder, etc... There are some political machinations, and a romantic subplot, and exactly zero characters with any depth to them whatsoever.
I do enjoy the escapist concept of a military unit getting whisked to another time or alien place (more or less the same idea), and getting to see how they adapt and survive, that just isn't well executed here. Readers willing to enjoy this kind of cartoony space opera may enjoy this, but I don't think it's aged particularly well, and wasn't particularly good when fresh off the presses. Definitely not going to bother continuing with the series.
The mission is absurd, as is the logic behind why advanced beings with crazy tech would need to abduct fifty mercenaries from Earth to do something for them across the galaxy. It's all smoke and mirrors to drop some modern soldiers into a quasi-Roman empire and quasi-Scottish highlands setting for some military sci-fi nonsense. It just so happens that the college dropout commander was keen on military tactics and history and managed to absorb an awful lot in his few years, along with an apparently natural genius for strategy and logistics, not to mention a remarkable memory for natural science, including the formula for gunpowder, etc... There are some political machinations, and a romantic subplot, and exactly zero characters with any depth to them whatsoever.
I do enjoy the escapist concept of a military unit getting whisked to another time or alien place (more or less the same idea), and getting to see how they adapt and survive, that just isn't well executed here. Readers willing to enjoy this kind of cartoony space opera may enjoy this, but I don't think it's aged particularly well, and wasn't particularly good when fresh off the presses. Definitely not going to bother continuing with the series.
August 17, 2020
I haven't read Pournelle in a long time (he died three years ago), and then only one of his books, so it was time. This book would not have been my first choice—a mercenary group gets sent by aliens to an earth-like planet where there are past cultures already present (every 600 years worth, or so). I'm usually not crazy about mixing time periods, but Pournelle makes it work so well that the book becomes a quick read. He has a story that seems mismatched at the edges—trust me, it's not. There are many questions that are only partially answered until a crucial time in the narrative. Besides a good storyline, the characters are not the usual stereotypes: the protagonist is a man who actually listens to an intelligent woman able to plan ahead. It comes at a price, though, as you will see. The science fiction aspect is less important than the speculative psychological problems presented, and that was fun to read. A third point that increased the fun factor was the bringing up of past great battles or methods of a culture's fighting. Using the comparisons to make present stratagems work added an intellectual depth. The book makes full use of Pournelle's background as a scientist in the area of operations and human factors research. I'm grateful there's a second novel.
June 1, 2021
Rick Galloway A brevet Captain in a Mercenary army working for the CIA in Africa is having a bad day. His company is on the run, and it looks like his people are going to leave them on their own, and there is nothing he can do about it. Until, from the heavens a disk shaped craft lands on their hilltop and offers Rick the only rescue he is going to get.
Face with the choice of being dead, or being forever whisked away from Earth he loads up his people and heads for the stars. The problem is that he never told his people, his second officers isn't trustworthy and the only help he is going to get is from a man who works for the Aliens whose named Les, and the human girl Les has charmed.
Taken to a new planet of Tram, he is informed that the planet is his to rule if he can take it, but on one condition, Rick must help a developing human culture cultivate and grow drugs for the aliens, or be nuked to kingdom come.
This is a typical 70s Sci Fi novel, with child safe phrasing and convenient time leaps where they all learn everything and easily outsmart and out fight the enemy. Go Humanity!
It's interesting for a quick read, but I'm not sure I would read the second unless the car ride is longer than expected and I just needed to listen to something.
Face with the choice of being dead, or being forever whisked away from Earth he loads up his people and heads for the stars. The problem is that he never told his people, his second officers isn't trustworthy and the only help he is going to get is from a man who works for the Aliens whose named Les, and the human girl Les has charmed.
Taken to a new planet of Tram, he is informed that the planet is his to rule if he can take it, but on one condition, Rick must help a developing human culture cultivate and grow drugs for the aliens, or be nuked to kingdom come.
This is a typical 70s Sci Fi novel, with child safe phrasing and convenient time leaps where they all learn everything and easily outsmart and out fight the enemy. Go Humanity!
It's interesting for a quick read, but I'm not sure I would read the second unless the car ride is longer than expected and I just needed to listen to something.
August 14, 2021
Jerry Pournelle's Janissaries is much shorter than it seems, at least 40% of its real estate devoted to Luis Bermejo's gorgeous (if not always necessary, and in placement, sometimes spoilery) illustrations, but there are times when it might have needed more prose, in particular where characterization is concerned. Some of the turns aren't justified properly, and Pournelle goes out of his way to create competent female characters only to emotionally subjugate them to male ones. Still, he makes good use of his knowledge of military history to answer questions as to how more advanced tactics would work against various historical ones, essentially creating a time travel story without resorting to that trope (nor changing history). Human soldiers are brought to a planet to grow weed for aliens every 600 years, a planet that's thus become a mish-mash of ancient cultures. How would you break the Prime Directive "for the good", so to speak? Once it gets going, it's good, even if the climax is a little cursory. I do have the other two books in the line, and I'm game - if not exactly enthused - to follow up.
June 18, 2023
Jerry Pournelle (1933-2017) was best known for his hard science fiction collaborations with Larry Niven. These days, he takes heat for his paleoconservative politics and racial and gender stereotyping. He served in the Korean War and was a student of military history. Janissaries was published in 1979, five years after Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War and the same year as David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers. Vietnam made endless war a natural theme. The Forever War is extended by time dilation. Hammer’s Slammers follows a squad of armored mercenaries from one interplanetary battle to another. Pournelle uses alien abduction toward the same end. CIA mercs are surrounded by Cuban soldiers in a near-future battle when they are rescued/kidnapped by an alien flying saucer and transported first to the Moon and then to a war zone on a planet populated by humans kidnapped from ancient Earth cultures. The modern soldiers must learn to make and use preindustrial weapons and tactics. The Forever War broke more ground, but Pournelle continues to be readable if you can forgive him his politics—four stars.
June 17, 2020
While not my favorite book by Jerry Pournelle, I give this one four stars because the setup is extremely interesting, and I kept wanting to see where things would go next. My only actual complaint with this book and its sequels is that several times I lost track of the amount of time that passed, because of the way the story is told.
There is a weakness in the way the two main female characters are portrayed, and I think that this was an attempt to display the radical differences between the cultures of modern Earth and the alien Humans of Tran, whose culture was descended from a cultural mish-mash but settled on a semi-medieval feudal form of culture, except for the exceptions...and yes, that sounded weird, but as the story progresses, there are analogs of a whole bunch of different cultures, all glued together because of the setbacks they suffer every six centuries.
I'm still not sure about the military logistics, because it seems like they had a LOT of ammunition in too small of a shipment, but still a good story.
There is a weakness in the way the two main female characters are portrayed, and I think that this was an attempt to display the radical differences between the cultures of modern Earth and the alien Humans of Tran, whose culture was descended from a cultural mish-mash but settled on a semi-medieval feudal form of culture, except for the exceptions...and yes, that sounded weird, but as the story progresses, there are analogs of a whole bunch of different cultures, all glued together because of the setbacks they suffer every six centuries.
I'm still not sure about the military logistics, because it seems like they had a LOT of ammunition in too small of a shipment, but still a good story.
May 18, 2017
A good adventurous book. Has some of the best of both worlds from Sci-Fi and fantasy.
CIA mercs fighting in Africa against Cubans are getting overrun...in swoops a UFO and whisks them to safety on the moon! One little catch: they can't go home, but they can go far far away and grow drugs for the ETs. I'm not kidding. The world they're left on is a mish-mash of earlier civilizations that the ETs have planted there before (every 600 years). There are Romans, Celts, and Greeks... and now American mercs. The integrated time period they find themselves in is pretty much medieval in society and military. I know the premise doesn't really sound all that great, but I enjoyed it...imagined myself put in that situation and rolled with it.
Good escapism; good characterization.
CIA mercs fighting in Africa against Cubans are getting overrun...in swoops a UFO and whisks them to safety on the moon! One little catch: they can't go home, but they can go far far away and grow drugs for the ETs. I'm not kidding. The world they're left on is a mish-mash of earlier civilizations that the ETs have planted there before (every 600 years). There are Romans, Celts, and Greeks... and now American mercs. The integrated time period they find themselves in is pretty much medieval in society and military. I know the premise doesn't really sound all that great, but I enjoyed it...imagined myself put in that situation and rolled with it.
Good escapism; good characterization.
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