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The Brave Free Men (Book 2 of 3 in Durdane series, Russian translation) The land of Shant on the planet Durdane is ruled by a purposely anonymous dictator called the Anome or Faceless Man. He maintains control by virtue of the torc, a ring of explosive placed around the neck of every adult in Shant. Where the Anomes once ruled stands young Gastel Etzwane, facing a mortal threat to his homeland. Hoards of red Roguskhoi, armed by an unknown enemy, have swarmed out of the southern bogs to slaughter men, despoil women, and spread waves of terror. Through the peace imposed by the tyranny of the Anomes, men of Shant have lost the art of weaponry and war. Now Gastel must revive those skills to forge Shant's citizens into an army: an army of the free.… (more)
User reviews
Of course, some of the flaws in science fiction writing of the period are well in evidence here, in particular the notion that a young man of good character can do anything he sets his mind to. In this case, we have an uneducated musician who somehow designs a parliamentary government from scratch. Also a balloon-tender/lifelong-prisoner who trains an entire military in tactics. Where did they learn this stuff? Why does nobody else seem to know it?
The finale of the book is a huge departure from how things started out. I've seen this before in Vance's work: a provincial, often rural beginning that then thrusts the characters onto the international (or, more generally, interplanetary) stage. I think it is necessary, as the zero-to-hero story starts to sag a little on its own. In this case, it sets up the third book of the series nicely, which is a good thing because I was considering chucking the trilogy entirely after the first one.