I normally wouldn’t do a book review, but I’m probably the noisiest Republic fan, so why not:
Non-spoiler thoughts:
ToB had to balance what surely had to look impossible at first. First, make the wolves flawed and forced to adapt or wither so that they are an actual faction of characters and not plot devices - and do this without resorting to character assassination. Second, create an SLDF/Star League that is not just Clan Wolf cosplaying. Third, balance the competing interests of Foxes, Ravens, Falcons, nuJags, and Wolves in a way that gives fans of the factions a fun time. Last, find a way to give something back to Republic fans who were/are justifiably angry at the treatment of their faction at the hands of HotW. Or at least throw them a bone.
All that while laying groundwork for an era. No biggie.
Did it accomplish all this? No. Does it accomplish most of this? Yes, and that’s a hell of an achievement because balancing all of those things would need a Atlas Shrugged style tomb that drags on. It makes the novel manageable by leaving a lot of the nuJag, Falcon, Fox, and Raven stories for iKEO or the series of books I just listed upthread. It focuses on the SLDF and how they relate to Terra and the Wolves, which was - after reading - I think the right choice.
Okay. Spoiler thoughts going forward. Starting with characters.
Darren Wolf - He’s our ground level point of view character like Dan Allard and Andrew Redburn were in Warrior trilogy. The human element showing the effects of the grand sweeping decisions of khans and house lords. In that aspect, he succeeds. The B-plot that is meant to make him memorable ends up being the weakest part of the book for me. This may be a personal taste thing, but I do not care about a character’s lineage or parents unless it’s plot relevant. Isolated to this book, the big reveal of who his geneparents are pretty much goes nowhere. There’s a lot of back of forth about the worth of a Kerensky, but it’s isolated essentially wholly from the rest of the book.
Anastasia Kerensky - For people who were already fans of Anastasia, I think this book is likely a treat. She comes off like one of only two Wolves of significant influence that have a clear head. She’s pragmatic, effective, still supremely selfish, and you see a clear divide between her, Alaric, Chance, and even Noritomo. Unlike most of the Wolves, she is looking at secondary and tertiary effects of the actions of the ilClan and Star League.
For people who didn’t like her pre-ToB, it feels weird. It may be me, but she doesn’t feel like the Anastasia I’m familiar with. If this had been a new character from scratch, she’d be near the top of the list for Wolf characters for me. The baggage of odd and inconsistent characterization makes her feel really, really weird in this role.
Noritomo Helmer - The most interesting Wolf in Trial of Birthright isn’t a wolf. He’s engaging because while he is a clanner, he understands he needs people with other points of view and differing expertise in running Terra than himself. A clanner willing to seek out and ask for help without a figurative or literal gun to his head is refreshing.
Alaric Ward - He was a forgettable character pre-HotW and a terrible one in it. ToB doesn’t dig him out of the HotW hole in one go, but you can see some narrative lumber being tossed into that hole for Alaric to build a way out. There’s groundwork laid and progress made toward him at least being a good vehicle towards an interesting, engaging era. The biggest thing that's improved is the obnoxious internal monologue of “I’m the Best!” on repeat of too many Wolf protagonists is smashed with a hammer.
Okay. Spoiler thoughts on the factions as they are characters unto themselves. Now, admittedly, I have some strong opinions on Clan Wolf, the fall of Terra, and end of the RotS. I’m going to try and split plot quality from personal satisfaction here
Clan Wolf - They come off pretty bad in ToB, but not in a way that feels like character assassination. Politics are dividing their focus, capable warriors are moved because they make ‘non-clanlike’ moves. It really feels like the ‘ultra-pragmatist’ wolves have gotten high on their own supply as ilClan and expect too many things to just work now that Alaric's got the crown. Their responses to problems are too heavy handed, ill-thought out, and overall ineffective. It demonstrates a difference between conquering and ruling that I think is needed to give wolves a real flaw instead of them continuing to breeze through every problem.
Personal comments on wolves: Wolves aren’t getting the easy, lazy wins that defy setting logic anymore. That alone is a huge, huge improvement for their writing. While I still don’t find them an interesting faction, the steps are laid to get them to be one.
Republic Resistance - For 70% of the book, the Republic resistance operates functionally as much as anyone could hope. Belters strike at shipyards and cell structured mech units only meet up at targets and flee quickly. The Wolves are shown to be suffering some effects of it. Swapping to energy heavy loadouts, using dialed down laser weapons instead of more conventional ballistic weapons during infantry/ground ops training. The main issue comes around that 70% mark when the resistance starts crossing lines and gets much, much more bloodthirsty. An informed reader can fill in gaps about a closing window to accomplish anything and the pressures of being an insurgent causing the resistance to start mentally cracking, but the book is covering a lot of ground and the character arcs in the resistance aren't really laid out. Someone casually reading might have a “whaaaat?” moment.
Personal feelings: The early parts of the novel covering the resistance is great. Including some pretty funny dramatic irony over the Wolves being incredibvly angry that someone would dare kill a wolf warrior after a battle. The Stonehearts are the unit leading the resistance. We learn this at that same 70% mark when they snap and start targeting civilians. It’s so far out of character for any RAF but Ghost Knights that it feels forced, even with considering the full context. There’s also the issue of reconciling their Shrapnel entry with this novel. For full context, Ciaravella wrote both that entry and ToB, so this isn’t some author with an ax to grind. There’s logic here behind choosing the Stonehearts that I don’t see yet.
Star League Defense Force - This is the most complicated faction to evaluate. There’s a cautious cynicism behind it’s creation and division from Wolves proper. A worry that Alaric and the Wolves don’t actually know how to build a lasting league. So, Anastasia is hammering together a force to be there to win hearts and minds. The new SLDF take efforts to render aid in disasters, show mercy to enemies, and keep making the Wolves look like murderous, shortsighted monsters. That said, there’s no easy, free ride. Through six months, they forge a whopping one regiment and a second is announced near the end. This force seems to be built with ex-RAF as the backbone, along with solamha, politically inconvenient clan warriors, and a few nuJags and Falcons who want in on it. It does ring like a force earning the name “League.”
Personal: I don’t know yet, If you scratch at the surface, you’ll sniff out what’s meant to be a place for Republic fans. But those same RAF are welcoming of Falcon and nuJags without seeming to have issue with two groups they should be all measures despise. There’s a contradiction that I’m not entirely sold on. I need to be clear: this is far from me crapping on the new faction. If anything, I like the new SLDF much more than I expected.
Unrelated spoilery thing: There’s some commentary on Stone that I’m going to come back and read later. I’m not sure how I view it now.
