In this special edition of War Dogs , adapted specifically for a younger audience, Rebecca Frankel offers a riveting mix of on-the-ground reporting her own hands-on experiences in the military working dog world, and a look at the science of dogs’ special abilities―from their amazing noses and powerful jaws to their enormous sensitivity to the emotions of their human companions. Her narrative gives us insight into the world of dogs in combat and the touching aspect of the relationship between soldiers and their dogs. So I shrugged and enjoyed it when he did a Hari Seldon prequel. I shrugged and tried to pray that a Star Wars novel was not selling out. And then I grew despondent when a novelist of his caliber started writing Halo novels and other for-market stuff. Thrillers? They were okay, but not great. Where's his out-there stuff? So I took a break. Ben-Hur' remake likely won't be able to topple 'Suicide Squad' at the box office". Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2016.

Plot 'Looseness'. I think the issue is that the author tried to do too much and ended up with a mess. I think the book would work better with a tighter focus and some of the repetition removed. Protagonist's inner dialogue: It's awful. Full of cliches, tropes, faux-deep thoughts that logically make little sense, etc. And the profanity: I'm no Puritan and curse plenty myself. But too many times he seems to be like a 12-year-old who curses for its own sake, without the benefit of any humor or cleverness. Suicide Squad' Holding No. 1 Turf; 'War Dogs' & 'Kubo' In Staring Contest; 'Ben-Hur' Crashing". Deadline Hollywood. 22 August 2016. Frankly the less than stellar rating on my part comes partly from the fact that I wasn't in the mood for a heavier somewhat self righteous read. This isn't space opera, neither is it a military read in the sense that we deal with actual military situations. I’ve found the perfect contract for us,” Diveroli said. “It’s enormous — far, far bigger than anything we’ve done before. But it’s right up our alley.”The Stoner Arms Dealers: How Two American Kids Became Big-Time Weapons Traders". Rolling Stone. March 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018 . Retrieved July 8, 2016. The guard dog was incorruptible; the police dog dependable; the messenger dog reliable. The human watchman might be bought; not so the dog. The soldier sentinel might fall asleep; never the dog. The battlefield runner might fail...but the dog, to his last breath would follow the line of duty. A. Lincoln, Ross (May 19, 2015). " 'The Accountant', 'Project XX', And More Get Release Dates". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved May 23, 2015. The Truth Behind the Movie "War Dogs" ". November 19, 2019. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020 . Retrieved December 9, 2019– via Youtube.

Basically, this is a story about the memory of what happened to a Skyrine (Sky Marine) on his last mission on Mars. The book at this point seems to be heading towards one of those Alamo-type moments, with our brave band of heroes about to make a last stand against overwhelming odds. I guess it would be unfair for me to say more about the plot at this point, other than War Dogs leads to an ending that is really more complex than I expected and quite clever, which takes the book from being mere mil-SF to something more SF. It doesn’t quite hold together in its latter half, but it was a pleasant surprise to end up somewhere I didn’t think I was going to go. Readers need to be warned, though, that there is no happy ending that ties things up neatly, and I was left at the end expecting more resolution than I got. The other crowd that's likely to be approaching this is the group that recognizes that Bear has contributed a great deal to the sci-fi genre. Two of his works are printed in the SF Masterworks imprint, which are meant to celebrate formative works in the genre that were highly influential or mind-blowing. This group is likely to think that Halo novels represent Bear "selling out," or "doing lazy writing," and are disappointed when he doesn't blow the lid right off their craniums every time. Starts off with a very believable shortage-of-air situation, although one questions whether an elite fighting force would really send its people out so strongly depending on their separate gear for life. It's like giving a scuba diver a five-minute tank and assuring him that another is waiting at the bottom. In the winter of 1939 in the cold snow of no-man's-land, two loners met and began an extraordinary journey together, one that would bind them for the rest of their lives. One was an orphaned puppy, abandoned by his owners as they fled the approaching Nazi forces. The other, a lost soul of a different sort - a Czech airman, flying for the French Air Force but soon to be bound for the RAF and the country that he would call home.Shooting Begins on "Arms & the Dudes" ". businesswire.com. March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021 . Retrieved March 17, 2015. We are "told" up front about the Gurus, we are "told" that they showed up and that they gave humanity technology. Then their enemies arrived and we had to help them. This is all related in a few paragraphs and then we jump into the survival on Mars part of the book. Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (Aug 18, 2016). "The gun-running true story War Dogs is all bark, no bite". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 18 August 2016.

Ann Bausum writes about history for readers of all ages from her home in southern Wisconsin. Her works often focus on under-told stories from the past, and she frequently explores issues of social justice. a b "War Dogs (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019 . Retrieved December 19, 2021. The book proceeds from there through what is discovered, uncovered and....exposed. There is some political pontificating but it comes across as thoughtful musings on the part of the narrator. The combat itself is, as expected – at times exciting, at others scary and often rather confused, as snafu after snafu on the part of command and deployment makes the soldier’s job harder. There’s a few big weapons flung around, but the book is more of a reflection on the importance of the person in this role. Greg gets the slightly-sardonic tone right, that snarky world-weariness that is created by just having to cope and get the job done, despite everything that goes wrong. And if you're upset about Bear writing Halo novels, just remember that lots of writers you know have done Star Wars, Star Trek, and a metric craptonne of comics, because guess what? They have to pay the rent. Those novels sell, whether you like them or not, and if they make some money doing those, even if it seems to you they're "beneath their talents," then they can keep writing the stuff that does blow your mind that you have to convince people to buy and nobody ever really appreciates until you're dead.Author Rudyard Kipling who wrote the classic children’s novel “The Jungle Book” once quoted man’s timeless relationship with a dog: “When the Man waked up he said, 'What is Wild Dog doing here?' And the Woman said, 'His name is not Wild Dog any more, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always.” Centuries later as mankind evolved, so too did its sacred kinship with “Man’s Best Friend.” Nowhere is that partnership more vital than on the battlefield engaged in a never-ending conflict of good versus evil as Military Working Dog teams serve on the tip-of-the spear outside the wire; keeping America’s servicemen and women safe from enemy insurgents and the most feared weapon of all, the Improvised Explosive Device. Now, investigative reporter Rebecca Frankel delves into the reclusive and often sensationalized world of Military Working Dogs and their devoted handlers. Enter “War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History and Love,” a veteran columnist covering the exploits of MWDs since 2010, Frankel now takes the reader on a journey inside the realm of Uncle Sam’s Top Dogs. I can't say this book is objectively bad. This is the first Bear book I've read, and he's clearly a talented and knowledgeable writer. I just really, really didn't like the style of this book for the following reasons: Pace: it's too slow. You know from the outset that Bear isn't going for a Heinlein-like political commentary, which is totally fine. But, absent that substance, I'd prefer the book to move well. It doesn't. Just trods along until a twist ending that failed to land with me because I was so tired of the book. It's not Moving Mars by a long shot. It's pure popcorn, and while there are a lot of great books similar to this, Bear is far from being simply average at it. He has the writing chops to amaze and put us in the hot seat. :) Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club had misgivings about the film's slant and biographical omissions, writing: "One might quibble with the way Phillips limits responsibility on the Pentagon deal by painting AEY as better businessmen than they actually were [...], while avoiding the darker sides of the story..." [34] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film two out of four stars, stating: " War Dogs is a film about horrible people that refuses to own the horribleness." [35] See also [ edit ]