Sword of Liberty
1.0 Stars
2-15-2024

There is a sub-genre of sci-fi that I like, which explores the hypothetical of how quickly could we colonize/industrialize outer space if Earth turned all of its surplus energies towards that task. Notable members include Seveneves, the Three Body problem novels, the various Lumpkin novels/Terra Invicta, and now this book as well. Unfortunately this novel is a verrrrry amateurish entry into the genre. The characterization is terrible, it doesn't really consider the world outside of America, and it doesn't really engage with any of the many, many technical problems of the task. There's a notable part early on where they're talking about building a new breed of space ship, but they haven't yet decided on what the ship will use for propulsion or what it will use for power. Which is, like, 99.8% of the difficulty of building a spaceship. Fortunately the author quickly handwaves these problems away. The one positive thing I will say about the novel is that the aliens, their reason for arriving, and the unfolding of their ship-complex was moderately creative and interesting.