Cobra Strike [Paperback]

Book Info: Genre: Military Science-fiction Reading Level: Adult

Disclosure: I received the 6th book in the series (or 3rd book in the 2nd trilogy) in exchange for an honest review; I have purchased these earlier books on my own, but am happy to provide an honest review anyway.

Synopsis: Will the COBRAs turn mercenary under Troft command? If anyone had told Jonny Moreau the Cobras would one day take orders from the alien Troft, he would have laughed without humor. He'd lost too many friends during the Troft war, though the Cobras triumphed in the end. Now, though, the Troft were trading partners - and they feared what might be a mutual danger. A new race, ruthless and tenacious, that threatened human space as well as Troft. And the offer was territory - five new planets for the overcrowded Cobra Worlds. Jonny Moreau's son Justin would carry the Moreau name to danger... and learn on Qasama that it takes more than a Cobra father to make a Cobra son

My Thoughts: This book moves its focus onto Jonny's sons - Corwin, who has followed into his father's political footsteps, and the identical twins Joshua and Justin. Again, there is an old-school sexism that amuses the heck out of me, since this is supposed to be way into the future - I guess the conservatives win! I also couldn't help but notice the anti-conservationism approach of the characters in this book toward the native wildlife on the planets they colonize. Rather than trying to find a way to live with the native species, they set out to basically exterminate them. I probably wouldn't have even noticed this back in the 1980s when they were written, as there was a very different mindset than now about this issue, but I surely do notice it now! Even scientists in this book are heard to insist: Shoot it, shoot it! However, toward the end of the book and in response to the Qasaman and mojo threat, they sort of redeem themselves in that respect.

Speaking of the mojos, those are some really interesting birds; I would have liked to have had all questions regarding them answered, but the overall situation was a bit too tenuous, so I'm happy with the outcome.

I must say I was incredibly impressed with the character of York, a Marine, and a truly brave and noble human. He endures a real trial and comes out of it with a healthy respect for his enemy - additionally, he is not afraid to admit his fear, nor is he so worried about others' perceptions of him that he would risk himself unnecessarily. All-in-all a brilliant bit of characterization; it's a pity he's not a more major character.

A fast-paced book, in which the characters face some tough decisions, and show that it is indeed possible to win a war, of sorts, without firing a single shot. Great bit of military science-fiction.

This 1986 military science fiction novel was the second book in the saga of the cybernetically and biomechanically-enhanced "Cobra" soldiers, and therefore the middle volume in the first of two trilogies written a quarter of a century apart.

The first trilogy consists of:

1) Cobra, published 1985, story begins in 2403
2) This book "Cobra Strike" published 1986, set a generation later
3) Cobra Bargain, published 1988, set in 2474.

Much more recently Zahn has revisited these stories to produce a second set of three books known as the "Cobra War" trilogy, which is set another generation later (the heroine of "Cobra Bargain" is the mother of one of the main characters in the Cobra War books). This consists of

4) Cobra War Book 1: Cobra Alliance
5) Cobra War Book 2: Cobra Guardian
6) Cobra War Book 3: Cobra Gamble (Due for publication in 2012).

"Cobra" and "Cobra Strike" were also published together in one volume as "Cobras Two" and the first three books are also available in one volume as the Cobra Trilogy.

As the first book in the series begins, some four hundred years in the future and many light years away on the frontier of human space, a group of human colony worlds are under attack from an aggressive alien race known as the Troft. The first planet they attacked was over-run in only three weeks. In a desperate attempt to stop the invaders, the Dominion of Man creates the enhanced "Cobra" guerillas: the name stands for COmputerised Body Reflex Armament.

The Cobras are indistinguishable from a normal human from the outside, but with a whole host of computer-controlled weaponry and enhancements built into their bodies and their very bones. These soldiers are deadly in combat but the process of turning a normal human into a Cobra is irreversible - which means that those who survive the war will have all manner of problems returning to civilian life afterwards. The novels examine some of the personal and social consequences of turning people into supermen - have they given up their own humanity to save humankind?

"Cobra Strike" begins a few years after the conclusion of "Cobra" and continues the story both of the world of Aventine, now cut off from the rest of human space, and of the next generation of the Moreau family. The first book told the story of Jonny Moreau who was one of the first generation of Cobra solders: the main character of this one is his son Justin, who follows him into the Cobras, and one of the supporting characters is his older son Corwin, who follows him as one of Aventine's leading politicians.

At the start of the book, an astonishing request comes from the alien Troft, who the Cobras were originally brought into existence to fight. They ask the Cobras to assist them in dealing with a world called Quasama which they say may be a threat to Troft and humans alike - and they offer Aventine five more worlds if the Cobras can deal with that threat.

It seems too good to be true: but are the Troft making a sincere offer, or playing a dastardly trick ?

This book and the other two novels in the original "Cobra" trilogy are reasonably well-written, entertaining, and exciting. Having been published in the eighties during the early days of Timothy Zahn's writing career, I don't personally feel that they are in the same league as the best of the brilliant novels which he has produced over the following decades.

If you read the first three Cobra novels expecting anything like "Warhorse," "Deadman Switch, "The Icarus Hunt" or any of the "Grand Admiral Thrawn" books set in the "Star Wars" universe, you may be disappointed.

Nevertheless if you are into Military SF it is extremely likely that you will enjoy these books, and you will also find that some of the ideas in them appear to have inspired a number of more recent books by other popular SF writers.

If anyone had told Jonny Moreau the Cobras would one day take roders from the alien Troft, he would have laughed without humor. He'd lost too many friends during th Troft war, though the Cobras triumphed in the end. Now, though, the Troft were trading partners... Jonny Moreau's son Justin would carry the Moreau name to danger...