Subject: _Sassinak_ by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon

From: [email-masked] (Wayne Throop)
Date: 25 Feb 90 00:14:54 GMT

From Baen Books, 4.95, 333 pages.  ***+ on the OtherRealms scale.

Some of you may remember _Dinosaur_Planet_ and _Dinosaur_Planet_Survivors_
by Anne McCaffrey.  The two books were separated by several years, and
yet they were clearly "really" a single book.  This oddity was
discussed on the net a while back, but I don't remember anybody
presenting a convincing definitive reason for the split in the
story or the long interval between publication.

I also recall that there was a faction that thought the books were
quite good, and another that thought they were quite bad, and not too
many with intermediate opinions.  One of those "loved it or hated it"
things.  My position was that it was quite good, as a bit of adventure
fluff.  Quite McCaffrey-esque.  *Very* interesting multi-sentient
civilization universe.

Well, Anne and Elizabeth have gone and written a pre-and-sequel.
Or a simulquel.  ANYway, a book set in the same universe which
touches strongly upon the events in DP and DPS.

_Sassinak_ chronicles the adventures of one of the spear-carrier
characters of the resolution of DPS from childhood to somewhat
beyond the time of the end of DPS (a few days beyond).  I'm not
sure how it would read to somebody not familiar with DP and DPS...
towards the end it might get somewhat choppy as characters from
the other books get involved.  (Or maybe not... as I say it's
hard to judge.)  But even if choppy, I think the book as a whole
is very effective.  Better than DP and DPS.

I think Anne and Elizabeth handle the coming-of-age-in-the-military
better in many ways than F.M.Busby's "Rissa" and "Zelde" books.  I could
also compare it to Starship Troopers (epecially what with the
eye-catching cover of Sassinak in powered battle armor), but no matter
what I said about that would be misleading one way or another, given the
ossified Heinlein controversy.  In fact, come to that, forget what you
might think of F.M.Busby's UET universe...  even if you didn't like
those, you might like this. 

As Goldman's father might say, "Good men.  Bad men.  Giant men.
Beautifullest women.  Alienest peoples.  Space Battles.
Sacrifice.  Treachery.  Loyalty.  Revenge.  True Love."

(Well, sincere love, anyway.)

This is definitely *after* the invention of the adventure yarn.

Perhaps the only negative thing about it is that it is the first of a
(ugh, I can barely stand to say it...) Trilogy.
--
Wayne Throop <backbone>!mcnc!rti!sheol!throopw or [email-masked]