Review: Cobra

Cobra by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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: Earth’s only hope was the COBRAs.

The colony worlds Adirondack and Silvern fell to the Troft forces almost without a struggle. Outnumbered and on the defensive, Earth made a desperate decision. It would attack the aliens not from space, but on the ground - with forces the Trofts did not even suspect.

Thus were created the Cobras, a guerilla force whose weapons were surgically implanted, invisible to the unsuspecting eye yet undeniably deadly. But power brings temptation...and not all the Cobras could be trusted to fight for Earth alone. Jonny Moreau would learn the uses – and abuses – of his special abilities, and what it truly meant to be a COBRA.

My Thoughts: Timothy Zahn follows a fairly typical military science-fiction meme in this story – the military creates a superman to win a war, and when that superman goes back home, he’s … not welcomed. He’s considered dangerous, and then the government has to find a way to keep the superman out of the view of the ordinary citizens who, of course, want to destroy that which they do not understand.

I know military science-fiction is not for everyone, but it’s a genre I’ve learned to enjoy. There is always a lesson buried underneath the action – or not so buried, in the case of Zahn’s work. Although every time the soldiers are called Cobras I had to giggle a bit, thinking of G.I. Joe. I wasn’t sure whether to be offended or amused over the fact that, apparently, even in the 25th century Zahn couldn’t see women in the military. Being as I hate being offended all the time, I decided to be amused at his old-school ways.

An interesting and well-written piece of military science-fiction, taken into account the fact that it was originally written in the mid-1980s. If you enjoy military science-fiction, then be sure to check out Zahn’s Cobra series.



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