Tech World (Undying Mercenaries) MP3 CD – Unabridged, January 6, 2015

The plot of this book is a big U-turn from the first two books, since now the legion is moving away from being mercenaries to government troops trying to maintain order as the Empire (we assume) has started its collapse. It also it introduces the squids as the new antagonist in the series. As for McGill, he continues to save the day as the officers of the legion for the most part continue to be incompetent and lazy. Which bring up a question that the author has not addressed yet; how can the legions continue to succeed against the squids, etc. when the offices are incompetent and lazy? The books say that most of them are, but since they can’t be killed or removed how are the legions going to reform themselves so that Earth can survive? The McGill should be on the fast promotion track, but because no one dies there are no slots open for promotion. I hope the author starts to address this critical question.

This is the third installment in the "X-World" series by Larson (Steel and Dust Worlds being #1 and #2.) The usual cast of characters, McGill, Harris, Graves and the odious Primus Turov (who gets herself a fine promotion, the scheming thing she is.) The action is set on Tech World, a planet of technology and frankly mercenary (as in grab-a-buck) economy where bribes and slick tricks rule and the down-and-out get shunted to the bottom rung of society--so low that there isn't even enough oxygen. Hey, who said air had to be free?Again, Larson draws from themes we've seen before from Robert A Heinlein, but puts his own style on the adventures of the mercenary (now police force) battles. The aliens have a bit more fleshing out--the Nairb and others have more culture, less creepy-crawly.But as far as it goes as a novel, I preferred Steel World and Dust World to this book. It's not bad, but not quite up the excitement of the first two. I wouldn't read it first, is my recommendation, but it rounds out the series nicely.

Mr. Larson is a writer who does not disappoint in any respect. Although the "Undying Mercenaries" is firmly planted in the mil sci-fi sub-genre, his command of story, character, and action is so good that it seems unfair to pigeon hole these books. So far, we have seen human mercs battle dinosaurs on "Steel World", and lost human colonists AND the squid-things trying to enslave them on "Dust World", while trying to retain Earth's place in a Galaxy run by a supremely powerful empire. One means of imperial control is to restrict Earth's exports to one thing: mercenaries, albeit mercs who have purchased expensive alien tech and none more so than the revival machines that make them virtually immortal.In "Tech World" they run up against the most frightening opponent of all, nerds! Greedy tech-savvy aliens and the conniving Adjunct Claver of Germanica Legion combine to make another exciting chapter in the series.Unlike some other series who feature commanders or Hornblower-like future commanders, the heart of this one is James McGill, a Specialist, one small level above recruit, who yearns to become a non-com Veteran. He was taken in by Varus Legion because he has a quality no other legion would allow, independent thinking. However, his chain of command repeatedly finds that McGill's willingness to ignore orders goes well beyond even the looser limits of their tolerance; even though that quality is always what ends up saving the day. This is the template of the series -- and McGill is a bit of a skirt-chaser -- and it works remarkably well.

5 Stars!I just finished Tech World (and the rest of the series) and loved every page. This has been one of the most engaging and entertaining series I have read. Character development is first rate and the multiple plot lines pull you in and often keep you guessing. Dialogue, both public and internal provided many laugh out loud moments. My only problem with the Undying Mercenary series is that it has stopped rather abruptly at the end of Tech World with many questions unanswered and several issues unresolved. BV has solicited ideas from readers for future worlds to be visited by Legion Varus so here is mine. Forgotten World, a long-abandoned Galactic outpost world in Frontier 921 covered with dormant Galactic tech. Rediscovered almost simultaneously by humans and the squids, Legion Varus is dispatched to the planet with the Galactic key to unlock tech desperately needed for the upcoming war with the squids. This scenario could lead to some interesting plot lines and pose some serious questions. Will Legion Varus get to the planet first? Will they be able to unlock the right tech to offset the squids' numerical advantage? Will McGill be lured/forced into more trysts with Turov? Will Kivi, Natasha, and Anne throw McGill out an airlock? Will McGill achieve veteran status? Will the real Claver crash the party and try to sell the tech to the highest bidder? Will Carlos ever learn to shut up? The possibilities are endless. I'm sure BV's vivid imagination could easily expand this germinal idea into another fabulous Varus adventure. Come on, all you avid readers, write your reviews and submit your own ideas so Legion Varus can soldier on (bad pun, I know) and keep those regeneration machines running at capacity.

Significantly better writing and story construction than the previous two books. A couple of the events defied logical progression a bit, but not enough to ruin the book. Though it seems like some of the character are turning out to be more two-dimensional than they could have. Still, it was a net gain overall compared to the others. But if it loses steam after this, I'll be very disappointed.

This is volume three of the Undying Mercenaries series. Before you get started on this one, you very much need to read the two previous volumes because otherwise you might find it a bit hard to connect to what is happening and to some of the interactions between the characters. There are typically three components in a great book: a good plot, an interesting world setting and well-drawn characters. Here again, I found that the characterisation was the weak point, and an even weaker one than in the previous instalments.As some other reviewers, I found it hard to empathise with the seemingly egocentric and totally uninhibited hero. Worse, it simply did not find him or some of his actions believable, especially towards the end of the book where, as it is getting to be usual by me, he “saves” everything and everyone single-handed only for someone else to take the credit for it. I also got rather tired of the hero’s rather pointless and immature womanising, in particular his rather incredible affair with somebody out to kill him. The other characters are not much better. All of them are rather shallow. Some are stereotypes, such as a certain Centurion who is tough as nails and perhaps the only character in the whole series for which I had some sympathy.Fortunately, the two other features partly make up for this. The relatively fast-paced plot involves some interesting relationships with Germanica, another of the human mercenary Legions, and with aliens on a super-space trade station set up in orbit of their planet and where just about any technology can be found (the so-called “Tech World). Some actions, such as a certain firefight in front of a bank, are simply great.The inhabitants of the space station are possibly among the most grasping that you can imagine. This leads to a couple of amusing scenes, but it also allows the author to exploit their total absence of scruples and engage in all sorts of trafficking. A was a bit disappointed however because I was expecting multiple displays and descriptions of alien technology when Natasha, one of the techs of Legion Varus, gets around to go shopping. The problem, of course, is that she never gets the chance to do so because the whole planet station almost literally blows up and Legion Varus, which is supposed to be enforcing “law and order”, has more than its hands full. As a result, and with the exception of a couple of artefacts found in a cache, you in fact get very little detail about alien technology.Three stars for a title which I found to be the weakest of the three, largely because of the tiresome antics of the main character. Having mentioned this, I will nevertheless still read the next volume to learn what happens next…

Reading Steel World I was hooked after the first three first three pages. I have now read the last in the series, Machine World and because I could not put the Kindle down to the very last page er' indoors 'jobs to do around the home' got ignored thanks to McGill and Mr. Larson. However, I am now on 'catch up' and the matrimonial situation is becoming less frosty by the hour. Thanks Mr. Larson, for the best read I have had for many years and may McGill and Varus appear again sometime soon.

The third volume in an impressive series which has developed from the usual space mercenaries into a retelling of the fall of the Roman empire told from the part of a local solider (read local space Legion from earth) as the galactic empire crumbles and withdraws. Lots of action, the mcguffin of rapidly reincarnated soldiers and some nice interpersonal narrative between the hero protagonist (McGill) and his squad mates and superiors. Nicely done.

Got into Larson's book by accident from a sample audio book.Great sci-fi yarns that became addictive for me very quickly.This series of books has something better than the Star Force series, that are great as I say, but in my opinion it's the humour from the Undying Mercenaries books that adds something.The "family" of characters are established early so we're interested in their journey and I really like the idea of natural human behaviour in such unnatural environments. Yes, there's a bit of Starship Troopers about it, but that's no bad thing.I will keep reading this series for as long as they come. Keep popping those stories out Larson, people are waiting for them.My advice is start with Steel World and enjoy the ride.

Great space opera, great literature it isn't but if you like your sf to be fast paced with interesting plot twist and turns this is well worth the effort of reading. I discovered the series about two weeks ago and have now worked my way through all of them. I can only hope that B.V. Larson will continue with the next installment soon.