Resnick, M. (2001). The outpost. New York: TOR.

07/11/08 to 08/04/08
**

"Whatever your grievances, I'm sure we can address them without resorting to war," persisted Argyle....
"Nonsense," said the alien. "Do you know how many laborers and industries we'd put out of work if we were to stop the war just because a few bleeding hearts think we can talk out our grievances?"

This book follows a large group of characters ("heroes"). The conceit is that they have all gathered at a bar at the end of the galaxy where they exchange stories, get caught up in a war, and then exchange stories re the battle. I was a bit disappointed in the book. I have come to expect great things from Resnick and didn't feel this quite did the trick. It was interesting to read the actual deeds of the characters and then laugh at how they "improved" the stories at the later retelling. But each section felt too long and there were far too many characters. So much so that I never felt particularly attached to any of them. A few die during the alien invasion and I couldn't even really be bothered to feel bad. Another, perhaps more worthy criticism is that the stories approach women, even the women supposedly telling their own stories, as sexual objects and little more. All the women are either busty beauties or they once were, and the majority of the stories told by the women revolve around their sexuality. Of course, at times it's a powerful sexuality, but it felt two-dimensional nonetheless. All in all, there were a few funny moments, but I would go with the Santiago or Oracle series any day.