Bolo Strike - Hardcover

Keith, William H., Jr.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671318357 ISBN 13: 9780671318352

Publisher: Baen, 2001

Synopsis

When Colonel Jon Streicher leads his team of men and Bolos in a planetary invasion against Caern and the Aetryx, a group of mysterious beings, they find themselves caught in a trap, stranded in the midst of a battle against an immortal foe.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Following Bolo Brigade and Bolo Rising, Keith serves up a military SF adventure with the exciting complexity of a good computer war game and about as much depth. Keith Laumer was the first to write about the Bolos, immense tanks that develop enough intelligence to become partners rather than mere tools of flesh-and-blood warriors. Since Laumer's death, other writers have carried on the concept, so that a Mark XXXIII Bolo weighing 32,000 fearsomely-armed tons can ponder its relations with humans in leisurely fractions of seconds when it isn't deflecting nuclear missiles or outmaneuvering swarms of other tanks. In this novel, the Bolos' Confederation commanders have seriously bungled a planetary invasion intended to free human slaves from mysterious aliens. Unfortunately, the aliens are smarter and more ruthless than anticipated, and they control earlier-model Bolos that are almost as formidable as the Mark XXXIIIs. The pace of conflict escalates constantly, especially after Confederation personnel crash-land in the battlefield. The human characters themselves are pretty rudimentary, but their presence does serve to further complicate the action. The result is fast, furious and clever. It would be a mistake to call this kind of fiction "mindless" fun, since readers have to keep track of damage reports, ammunition status and battlefield tactics; the enjoyment simply requires that you turn off the part of your mind interested in people. An old pro at action series (Warstrider, Seals and Battle Tech), Keith does his part to keep this franchise profitable. (Sept.)Act with Babylon 5 star Peter Jurasik.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Keith Laumer's sentient tanks, known as Bolos, battle again, this time in the accomplished hands of Keith, an underrated purveyor of action sf. The battleship-sized war machines descend on the planet Caern, which is occupied by the alien Aetryx, respectable fighters in their own right, who defeat human space forces and use genetic engineering to give some mothballed Bolos human consciousness and loyalty to the Aetryx. The fighting is fast, furious, and lethal to unprotected humans--no wonder, given that each Bolo has the nuclear and conventional firepower of an armored division. The human Bolo Victor, however, and his regimental commander, Colonel Streicher, manage to impress upon an Aetryx-loyal Bolo, Elken, that his mind and memories have been brutally tampered with, and the Aetryx Bolos switch sides. What was turning into a human disaster instead ends in a draw that leads to a human-Aetryx armistice. Eminently readable military sf. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Baen
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0671318357
• ISBN 13: 9780671318352
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352