What is a Dorsai? The Dorsai are the people of the planet of the same name. Their specialty is producing elite mercenaries, so much so that Dorsai is a synonym for mercenary throughout the inhabited planets of the Dorsai universe.
So then what is a "lost Dorsai?" The author explains, "It (the term lost Dorsai) was reserved for those of Dorsai heritage who seemed to have chosen their life work, whatever it was, and then—suddenly and without explanation—abandoned it." The lost Dorsai of the title is Michael, who, "had graduated from the Academy with honors; but after graduation he had abruptly withdrawn his name from assignment and left the planet [Dorsai], with no explanation, even to his family." Michael explains his feelings to another Dorsai, "When I graduated and had to face going out to the worlds as a fighting officer, I finally had to make that decision [about the 'killing part']. And so I did. I can't hurt anyone. I won't hurt anyone—even to save my own life, I think."
Michael's true love is music and he is a talented musician. He became a military band leader on the planet Ceta working for El Conde, the titular ruler of Nahar. He likes his job and is happy in his life. But all good things must come to an end and El Conde is facing a revolution and Michael finds himself the only thing that stands between the revolutionaries howling for El Conde's blood and certain death, as all of El Conde's soldiers have deserted, including the members of Michael's military band and all the workers at the fortress that El Conde and Michael are holed up in.
Will Michael take up arms to protect himself and El Conde? Or will he stand by his refusal to harm another human, even if it means his own death and the death of that defenseless old man, El Conde?
I enjoyed this story more than I did that of the previous Dorsai story I recently read. For one thing, it didn't have as much politics and battles as the other book. It was more about a small group of people facing insurmountable odds with courage and loyalty to each other.
Still, even though I did like the book, I have no intention of reading any of the other books in the Dorsai series. Two was enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment