Orphanage

Rating:
Summary: Up Through the Ranks
Review: A spur of the moment purchase that turned out to be a day and a half of non-stop reading. A new entry into military SF has arrived. Written by a soldier about what really modivates individuals that take up the sword as a profession. Orphanage is the story of the development of a unified Terran military force as told from the viewpoint a grunt whose simple choice is military service or jail. If you enjoyed "Starship Troopers", "Joe Mauser", Hammer's Slammers" or "Falkenberg's Legion then this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: A real good first novel
Review: I just finished the book and I have to say it was well worth reading. It is a story of human determination. We get to see just about every side of humanity is this book. There is humor and loss and sacrifice and so many other aspects that makes for a real good story and all woven together in a believable main character who keeps having to push himself to be more in order to help save the Earth.

If you are a fan of military sci-fi stories, then I highly recommend reading Orphanage.

Rating:
Summary: 2004's best Sci Fi novel!
Review: I kept reading reviews all over the net claiming Orphanage was the novel of the year, of the decade, this generation's Starship Troopers. Right. I know books. I know Heinlein. So I appointed myself as a Truth Squad and plunked down $6.99 to set the record straight.

Twenty-four couldn't-put-it-down hours later, I reveal The Truth to you all: The reviews are right. Orphanage may be the definitive military coming-of-age story of the Post-9/11 generation. Easily 2004's best SF novel, but it is fast, funny and accessible enough that general-fiction readers can gobble it like Grisham or Grafton.

Orphanage is the story of smart, underacheiving teen Jason Wander, who grows a chip on his shoulder as big as Jupiter after alien bombs kill his mother and millions of others. Jason comes of age in the infantry and winds up "one of the lucky orphans who in one hour will save the human race or die trying." His infantry division must invade Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, and destroy the Alien outpost that is sending the bombs. They have to win with pasted-up antiques. Each time you think things can't get worse, they do.

Halfway through, I thought I loved this book because it was fast, funny, superbly-written entertainment. When I finished it, I realized that I loved it because I would never look at soldiers the same way again. And today that matters.

Warner Books released Orphanage as a low-profile, mass-market, genre paperback. As The Word gets out, my $6.99 for that first-printing paperback is going to look like an investment.

Rating:
Summary: Fast and Fun
Review: I picked up this book on impulse because of the references to Heinlein's Starship Troopers. I think that description is correct to a certain extent, but Orphanage is a great story on its own with constant non-stop action. My only disappointment was finishing the book so quickly. Hopefully Buettner has more of the same waiting in the wings.


Rating:
Summary: Now we're talking!
Review: I rarely read sci-fi these days. If more books were like this one, I'd be an addict again. This here's the real deal--a delightful adventure in the grand Heinlein tradition. No lover of old-fashioned space opera should miss it.

Rating:
Summary: City-destroying missiles come from Ganymede
Review: In Robert Buettner's original and highly recommended science fiction novel Orphange, humankind's first alien contact comes in the form of city-destroying missiles from Jupiter's moon Ganymede. Under attack from afar, humanity needs an effective counterstrike to survive- and it's up to a teenage and a group of orphan soldiers nobody will miss to man a scavenged spacecraft that's mankind's only hope for survival.


Rating:
Summary: A fun read, even if it does use every cliche of the genre
Review: Like the other reviewers, I really enjoyed "Orphanage". But having read "The Forever War" and "Starship Troopers" recently, I couldn't help but notice that most every major plot point or character stereotype in "Orphanage" was lifted from those two books.

Talented space pilot who happens to be the main characters friend? Check (Starship Troopers). Human handlers psychicly and emotionally attached to a robot/dog scouting the front lines? Check (Starship Troopers). Main character emotionally attached to a female who gets wounded on the front lines? Check (Forever War). Evil aliens thowing large objects at Earth in order to soften us up? Check (Starship Troopers) Main character haunted by the death of a family member who happened to be at ground zero when said object hits Earth? Check (Starship Troopers). Main character part of the first assault wave against the aliens, only to be handed a crushing defeat? Check (both Starship Troopers and Forever War). Main character's military mentor tries to rejoin the front in time for battle? Check (Forever War).

This list goes on and on, right down to the manner in which Jason Wander ends up in the military, with some minor variation. Granted, there are some trademark cliches of the genre that are simply unavoidable. But really, this seems a bit much. "Orphanage" reads like the redheaded stepchild of both of its superior forebears. There are some original elements to it, as Jason Wander becomes attached to military intelligence unit scouting a crashed alien Projectile on the moon. Or earlier on as Wander is sent into the remains of Pittsburgh searching for Projectile debris (including a subplot involving Wander's almost-psychic ability to find said debris, which is never followed up on).

Again, "Orphanage" is a good read, and I am genuinely anticipating the sequel, which is promised in the author's biography. Hopefully, the sequel will be more original than this first volume.

Rating:
Summary: Good military SF
Review: Very good military SF, a lot like Starship Troopers mixed with Heinlein juveniles. Very entertaining!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put this book down!
Review: When I received this book I began to read and found myself unable to do much of anything until I finished it. The narrator's voice makes you feel as though it is your good friend telling you this heartfelt story.
I have not read Forever War, but have read Starship Troopers. And, unlike the previous reviewer I find the book is just a great new version of Starship Troopers. The similarities to "Troopers" are obvious, but that is what the cover of the book tells you.
I highly recommend picking up this fantastic new story. It kept my weekend full of good reading.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book!
Review: Wow! I couldn't put this book down. Buettner did a great job of keeping the reader invested in each and every character. This is by far the best sci-fi book I have read this year. I can certainly see this exciting story as the next big blockbuster movie.