Share for friends:

Read Mercenary (2000)

Mercenary (2000)

Online Book

Author
Genre
Rating
3.76 of 5 Votes: 2
Your rating
ISBN
0738806951 (ISBN13: 9780738806952)
Language
English
Publisher
xlibris corporation

Mercenary (2000) - Plot & Excerpts

I would give this book -5 out of 5 stars if I could. Instead it gets 1 star rating as that is the lowest I can give it.The novel takes place right after Refugee. Hope has his ID stolen so the only work he can find is as a plant harvester. He gets introduced into a friendly, family-oriented friendship that he eventually takes with him when he is forced to join the Navy. While in the Navy he finds his sister who joins him in the Navy. Due to his abilities and his strong crew he manages to win a few campaigns. However, since he succeeded when he was supposed to fail he is court-marshaled and arrested (along with Spirit). The plot of the story was okay. It helped to introduce the culture and life of Jupiter citizens/workers. I thought some of the description of the ships technology was excessive which dragged the story on. The main reason the novel got such a low rating was it portrayed women so sexist and negatively. Although there were a few female characters they didn't really have a mind to themselves and were only sex objects. Females were portrayed as sex objects heavily in the "tail". Women were pretty much forced to pimp themselves out so Navy men would have sex (their minimum quota was once per week). Although women were also forced to have sex once per week (some lame excuse about alleviating all types of hunger). Since there was significantly more men that women the women are forced to take on multiple partners to accommodate this. There were two parts of the novel that really angered me. In the Tail a previous refugee who had joined the Navy couldn't perform because she had been brutalized by pirates. She was still expected to perform even though she was emotionally scarred. There was also a chapter where Hope was expected to rape Rue to complete the marriage ceremony (her culture as a pirate demands this). Even though he didn't in the end the fact that the author would put this in the novel sickens me. Plus it is the future where we've evolved technologically and culturally so THIS SHOULDN'T EXIST. I wouldn't recommend anyone read this book. It is terrible and not worth the time.

Bio of a Space Tyrant Refugee Vol.1 and Mercenary Vol. 2 by Pierce Anthony Volume 1 details how Hope Hubris reaches Jupiter and the horrific conditions he faced on getting there. Volume 2 details the rise of Hope Hubris in the Jupiter Navy and his campaign against the asteroid belt pirates. The books purpose to be the biography of the tyrant of Jupiter. It is written in almost a text book style. I have mixed feelings about the book. Anthony seemed intent on providing a sense of normalcy for all manner of abnormal actions. It seemed like he wrote some sections to blatantly provoke emotions. This was done with a baseball bat style as opposed to his more smooth style seen in his later books. The overt ethnic prejudice in the book dismayed me but that could be Anthony’s intent. My hopes when reading about proposed futures is that racism is a thing of the past and sadly the present but that we as a society will out grow it. This future illustrates a continued commitment to despicable practices. The characterizations are somewhat superficial on any but the main characters. Spirit, who is Hope’s sister, plays a huge part in his growth. Helese his first love preyed on his mind throughout both books. One of the things I did like about the book was Hope’s realization that he was not the center of the universe. He showed an understanding that great men become great due to surrounding themselves with an outstanding staff. It provided a more realistic protagonist. The books both had pedantic moments. The author often described situations or explained things ad nausem. I have read a great deal of Piers Anthony’s work and this series is not a stellar example. It is worth reading but take a look at his Xanth series to see what he can really do.

What do You think about Mercenary (2000)?

First off the whine... Again the Kindle edition needed a proof reading pass. Instead of hyphens being the issue, this time it was line breaks, where a line would break earlyand then continue on the next line. Not a big thing but jarring when you're reading it.Like the others, this is my 4th'ish reading of this book and I still enjoy it. This one grabs me because of my Army experience. Sure I kind of doubt they would have the same structure (S1, S2, etc) in the future, but it still struck a cord of familiarity with me and helped me suspend my disbelief. And the good guy wins (and not), moving from nothing, E1, to Commander, which I always enjoy... :)
—Greg

It took me several decades to track this book down and I'm glad, in hindsight, that I read it as an adult and not as an impressionable teenager. This is the second volume in Piers Anthony's "bio of a space tyrant" books, documenting the rise of Hope Hubris from penniless refugee to becoming the great tyrant of Jupiter. The style of these books is akin to the Master and Commander style nautical epics but in space. As in the previous book there are space pirates with an unquenchable lust for savagery, rape, and booty. There are corrupt naval officers with a passion for drugs, rape, and, um, more rape. And there is an entire society built upon whoring, rape, and clan loyalty.The descriptions of the technical details of space combat are fascinating. The view of the future is essentially that of the 1950s but with more relaxed sexual mores, and in space. There's a lot of rape. And a lot of weirdly justified violence, particularly against women. So much so it's hard not to read this as satire.But don't let that out you off. The core character, Hope Hubris, is essentially a decent man surrounded by powerful women who all do what has to be done to combat the scourge of piracy. It's tightly written, ridiculous, and at times utterly alarming.I can't wait to read the next one.
—Dave

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Read books by author Piers Anthony

Read books in series bio of a space tyrant

Read books in category Fantasy