Mercenaries for aliensCaptain 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...

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...

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.

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 l

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 coul...

Notes:Currently on Audible Plus, Books 1-3I 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...

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

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,

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.

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 Lizz...

I 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.

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.

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

An illustrated book that hasn't appealed to me. But I like Pournelle and will give another try.

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 Cuba "advisors" when they are picked up by a flying saucer and taken to 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 ou...

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 tra...

An excellent portal fantasy with lot of military and strategery.

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.

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 mo...