Kren of The Mitchigai
Leo Frankowski
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Baen Books; (March 1, 2004)
ISBN: 0743471822
http://www.bane.com

This latest storyof the New Kashubia series which started with A Boy and His Tank followed by The War with Earth, finally gives us a look at the species that destroyed humanity.
The Mitchegai are a cannibalistic society ruled by ruthless creatures that can live vastly longer than humans by the simple act of eating their younger.
They don’t love and have emotions very different from humans in other areas as well.
They are a nasty, masterly created enemy that outnumbers humanity almost a 100,000 to one.
While I have enjoyed many of Frankowski’s books over the last few years, this one did not really catch on with me.
This is a bad thing to do, but I have to tell you a secret about this story.
It is at it’s heart nothing more than a grabber to read the next book.
Now, while this is not a problem with a Comic Book, or even a TV show where you have to wait a week or even a few months for a resolution, in a book or movie it actually sucks.
Come on..We paid twice to see one movie, “Kill Bill” and only after that happened did we realize that what so many reviewers were saying was correct, that the biggest reason to split that film up was to make more money off the public. When we watched the first Matrix, at the end we hoped for a sequel. At the end of the second one, we hoped the first one would be re-released. True, we only had to wait a few months, but what if we had had to wait several years?
Yes, Star Wars takes years between installments. But, what other film can you think of that basically ended with “To Be Continued” has been successful after a wait of more then a year in the last 30 years?
Most of us have no idea when the next book in this series is going to come out. It may never come out, anything could happen.
Kren of The Mitchigai is simply a 384 page introduction to the next book in this series.
To me, that is unfair. Sure, I like a cliffhanger. But this is not a cliffhanger, it is someone hanging off the side of the Empire State Building while monkey’s hang on his back.
Give us a complete story that ends with a cliffhanger and at least it will be satisfying.
This strikes me like a cheap lap dance. I get an ‘ending’ if I keep stuffing dollar bills in her panties.
Come on. The greatest writers of Good Science Fiction never had to stoop to something like this to sell a book.
Robert Heinlein always left you wanting more, but still gave you an ending. Same with Keith Laumer, Harrison, Clarke, Asimov and countless others.
Frankowski is an excellent writer. As a very good example, take a look at the other books in this series. Or better yet, look at “The Two-Space War”. This is a fantastic example of great writing ability.
I finished reading that one begging for more.
With Kren, I decided that the next book in the series, I will wait for either the paperback edition and save about $20 or the book club edition and save about $25.
I’m sorry to say that I can’t tell you to read this one new. While the story was good, and the characters worth reading about, at over $25 it is not worth it just to read an introduction.