The Fortress in Orion
Dead Enders Book I
Mike Resnick
Pyr Books
Trade Paper $18.00, 300 p.
Ebook $11.99 Kindle Nook
Audiobook $19.95
audio clip (15 min.)

Mike Resnick is one of the most prolific and honored people in the science fiction and fantasy field.  It’s easy to understand why.  The man’s work is innovative, engaging, and one heck of a good story.

Probably his most significant body of work is the Birthright Universe, which first saw light in the 1970s in Birthright:  The Book of Man.  This was an outline of roughly 18,000 years, culminating in mankind’s extinction.  That’s a lot of room to play in.  Not surprisingly, most of Resnick’s novels and many of his short stories are set in this universe.

The Birthright Universe is divided into five periods, based on the political structure of the time:  Republic, Democracy, Oligarchy, Monarchy, and Anarchy.  The Fortress in Orion is set during the Democracy.  It’s the start of what promises to be a solid series.

Colonel Nathan Pretorious is the kind of special forces operative you turn to when it’s already too late.  He’s tasked with putting together a team to try and infiltrate the Traanskei Coalition, specifically a particular fortress in Orion.  Once there, he and his team are to replace the leader, General Michkag, with a clone.  If they can get out, they bring the original with them.  If not, they kill the original Michkag and leave the clone in his place.  The clone has been thoroughly trained to take over and will end the war within a year. Continue reading →