Saturday, April 14, 2007

Book review: Blackcollar: The Judas Solution by Timothy Zahn

Timothy Zahn is best known for his Star Wars books. He has written other Science Fiction. My favorite Timothy Zahn story is “Pawn’s Gambit” published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1982. It was a Hugo nominee and was republished in Distant Friends and Others.

The Blackcollar stories are in a universe where humans were conquered by the Ryqril. Once conquered it is hard for humans to rebel. The Ryqril were able to develop a drug which turns humans into slaves. The Judas Solution is the third in the series.

The heroes in the story are Blackcollars, men who have been given a special drug which makes them excellent fighters. Their reflexes are twice as fast as the average human. They also have extensive training. There is a lot of martial arts fighting.

In The Judas Solution the heroes travel back to Earth and to Khala. On Earth the Blackcollars are trying to strengthen the resistance. They have a drug which counteracts the Ryqril slave drug. But the resistance has stayed very passive. It takes some time before the Blackcollars understand why the resistance hasn’t done more. On Khala the Blackcollars are trying to destroy a Ryqril complex, but the Blackcollars have their own hidden agendas.

The Judas Solution is the third book in the series. It could be the conclusion, but it does open up new plot lines. If you enjoyed the earlier Blackcollar stories, this is worth reading. If you haven’t read the first two, my suggestion is you read the earlier two books before reading this one.


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