The Hero
by John Ringo and Michael Z. Williamson
ISBN: 0-7434-8827-X
Publisher: Baen Books
Format: Hardcover

http://www.baen.com

Review by Larry Stanley

Life in the future could be worse. Roseanne could still have a TV show. Or, we could have to deal on a regular basis with insane aliens who want to destroy our planet for our natural resources, or even some who just want to hunt humans and make the Earth their own private hunting preserve. From the way things look, at least according to Hollywood, finding Mork or even a friendly little frog looking guy like ET is not going to be the most likely scenario.

The hope is, that mankind will reach a point where equality rules all, and everyone regardless of gender, religion, race or sexual preference will be able to hold their heads high and be accepted not in spite of differences or even because of differences, but just –because-.

But the odds are that even if this situation does happen to come about, humanity will still find someone, somewhere to look at as different, not as good as us or simply “not us, so they can’t be us”.

A rationale that has served man well for hundreds of thousands of years.

In John Ringo and Michael Z. Williamson’s new novel, that group is called the Darhel, a warrior species conditioned to be incapable of killing. The Darhel were a slave race to another, older race who didn’t want to have to worry about their slaves revolting, so they bred them to be incapable of killing anyone else.

This didn’t set to well with humanity who had been brought into the Darhel war to fight for them. The Darhel manipulated mankind by tempting them with technology and power they had no chance of getting for centuries on their own. So, they controlled man for centuries until man got sick of this, and  defeated the Darhel in a war that almost brought the Darhel to complete extermination.

Living in a fragile peace between the races of the worlds, man and Darhel live on a system of trust based on mutual wants and needs. But there is a smaller unit that can often function like a small family or even a small nation surrounded by other nations each held back by mutual respect, fear and ability.

Not always by friendship. One of these type societies is a Military unit, especially something as dangerous and deadly as a Deep Reconnaissance Team or a DRT. Made up of some of the most dangerous and deadly of humanity, these warriors do the dirty jobs that no one else can do, or could even consider doing.

Into one of these units is placed a Darhel, the first of his race to join a DRT unit. The humans in the unit do not trust or like the Darhel, with past memories rising to the surface as well as the knowledge that the Darhel can kill, and knowing that at times their lives will depend on one of their team being able to kill.

On the side of the Darhel, he is also filled with mistrust and even his own knowledge of mankind. He knows that even among those who are to be his associates, his life is worth nothing to them.

But, on a distant planet when the Team finds an ancient object of unknown properties, it is not the alien Darhel that demonstrates a treacherous heart, but it is the Darhel that must fight to keep the artifact out of the hands of those who would use it the wrong way.

The Darhel has greater strength and speed than a human, he also has the ability to psychically follow the traitor, and the reflexes of a predator deadly cat.

The human killer has the weapons, the experience and the insanity that makes him a dangerous murderer.

But the Darhel has a secret weapon that the human doesn’t know about and couldn’t begin to understand.

 This is an excellent story about a small military unit that must depend on each other and usually will develop a camaraderie that can live beyond the battlefield. But it is also the story of what happens when someone is tempted beyond what their own rational mind can comprehend.

A killer who can keep his urges under control, but seethes inside with the desire to destroy, to murder and to kill who is suddenly given the chance to live those fantasies out to his hearts desire? How could he not take that chance, even if it cost’s him friends, family and a normal life?

In the mind of a madman, anything is worth the chance to do what he wants, and to the Devil with morality, justice or the laws of decency and honor. In some ways, they will even find a way to rationalize their actions to others, to make themselves out to be doing something good for others, even their own victims.

The Hero is also a well done book on the culture of the Darhel, and how they fit into the universe around them.