I remember when Gavin Smith’s debut novel, Veteran, hit the shelves, and with it came this confident and action-orientated voice that was much fun to read. For reasons that escape me, I never did get around to its sequel, War in Heaven, and while I did try Age of Scorpio, I just couldn’t quite get into it. However, Smith’s latest novel, The Bastard Legion (the first book in the Bastard Legion series) jumped out at me the moment I heard about it. Military SF with a twist and some very interesting characters to go along with a plot that begged to be read – this book has pretty much everything I could ask for. And it delivered the goods too…
From the publisher:
The Suicide Squad for lovers of Aliens, a thrilling new down-and-dirty military SF series set in a world of mercenary actions and covert operations
Four hundred years in the future, the most dangerous criminals are kept in suspended animation aboard prison ships and “rehabilitated” in a shared virtual reality environment. But Miska Corbin, a thief and hacker with a background in black ops, has stolen one of these ships, the Hangman’s Daughter, and made it her own. Controlled by explosive collars and trained in virtual reality by the electronic ghost of a dead marine sergeant, the thieves, gangsters, murderers, and worse are transformed into Miska’s own private indentured army: the Bastard Legion. Are the mercenaries just for fun and profit, or does Miska have a hidden purpose connected to her covert past?
Along with the virtual reality construct of her dead Marine Sergeant father, Miska Corbin is in charge of the stolen prison ship The Hangman’s Daughter. Holding around 6000 convicted felons, all controlled by explosive collars, The Hangman’s Daughter is a treasure trove of violent offenders for Miska to use for her own means, namely tracking down her father’s killer. Yet while this is an overreaching goal of hers, she must also make ends meat, and hiring out herself and her indentured prisoners on risky missions is the only way to go…
Gavin Smith doesn’t hang around in The Bastard Legion, throwing us straight into the action and introducing both the premise of the story and the slightly unbalanced personality of Miska. However, given her situation it’s easy to see why her behaviour is the way it is, and it has the added benefit of keeping the convicts on their toes. We get to see quite a few of these prisoners both during their VR training and as they take turns coming out of cryo stasis for various duties and jobs, and the core team that Miska ends up using is varied enough to give the group some good – or bad, depending how you look at it – dynamics.
While the action scenes are a pure highlight of the novel – Smith can really immerse you with these – it’s the way he gradually tells Miska’s story as the novel unfolds. We find out more about her, and her relationship with her father, piece by piece, raising questions but never quite giving the answers until the time is right. It gives The Bastard Legion something more than just action set pieces, raising it to something well worth reading.
The publisher touts The Bastard Legion as one for lovers of Suicide Squad and Aliens, both of which ring true as the pages turn, and due to this it will appeal to many readers looking for that bit of SF action, while delivering more than is apparent at first glance. Some great worldbuilding, a varied cast of characters, and a take-no-nonsense anti-heroine make this a novel that is well worth checking out. Recommended.
Publisher: Gollancz
Author: Gavin Smith
October 2017, 336 Pages
Paperback, ISBN: 9781473217256
Review copy received from the publisher
© 2017 Mark Chitty | @chitman13
