Green Zulu Five One and other stories from the Vyptellian War by Scott WhitmoreMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you want the short version of my review, here it is: I loved this story.
Now for more: The first line of Green Zulu 51’s jacket copy is “A war of millions is fought by individuals,” and this gets right to the center of the brilliance that is speculative fiction author and former US Navy officer Scott Whitmore’s military science fiction novella. I enjoy a good space battle—with fighters contesting not only enemies, sometimes aliens, and incredible futuristic weapons, but also the zero-g properties of outer space, the distance scales that ensure rescue from outside could never happen, and the uncertainties and unknowabilities of things like dark matter and wormholes—as much as the next person, but at the end of the day, no story can really keep my imagination occupied for long if the people living that story aren’t interesting, authentic, and "real." Whitmore is a master at painting the stories he tells with vivid clarity and attention to every little detail, as well as bringing the people within them to dramatic life. The characters in GZ51 are all people you'll feel like buying a drink for and spending hours with just listening to their war stories. They are each unique, interesting, surprising, and deeply substantive, which is a pleasant turn for a story that isn’t quite novel length about an intergalactic war.
GZ51 is told in a style that puts readers directly inside the minds and boots of its main characters, a hotshot fighter pilot who isn’t even old enough to drink legally, a grizzled war veteran with more survival instinct in her little finger than most platoons have in their full ranks, and a tired administrative clerk who faces a losing battle that has nothing to do with guns and tactics. Whitmore engages all the senses and brings his battle scenes flying off the page, while skillfully weaving in the psychology and histories of his characters, leaving readers feeling almost as if they’ve been there, done that right beside each of them.
For such a relatively short tale, GZ51 leaves no stone unturned in exposing the intricacies of war from its zoomed-out view of historical, political, and cultural genesis, to the zoomed-in and intimate view of the goals, hopes, and fears of each of its characters, who must fight it in their own ways. Incredibly entertaining and highly recommended. I wish I could give it 10 stars.
Side note: The Devil’s Harvest, the author's alternate steampunk history—with zombies!—of WWI is equally brilliant and a rollicking good read! And bonus, here's an interview I did of Scott talking about writing in steampunk and paranormal genres a while back, too.
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