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The Battle At The Moons Of Hell (Helfort's War book 1) by Graham Sharp Paul
02/02/2008 . Source: RJ Barker 
pub: Del Rey/Ballantine Books. 372 page paperback. Price: $ 7.99 (US), $10.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-345-49571-6). Buy The Battle At The Moons Of Hell in the USA - or Buy The Battle At The Moons Of Hell in the UK  er blurb are the sort of thing that you subconsciously imagine read in the gravelly tones of the man who does film trailers, 'And Michael Helfont will be damned if he'll let his family rot on the moons of hell'. The cover seems to show a soldier on the frontline surrounded trenches. I was expecting a fast-paced, pulpy novel full of action but that's not what you get. This is actually quite a slow, tech heavy, tale of war in space, nearly all of the action is ships facing off against each other. The first half of the book is somewhat reminiscent of Orson Scott Card's 'Enders Game' as we follow Helfont through training and into his first posting.
The other problem with this book is God. Sharp Paul has set up a believable theocracy in the Hammers. It's brutal and I suspect is meant as some form of allegory for Islamic Fundamentalism. There is nothing new in the Hammers but as bad guys they work. The Federated Worlds create more of a problem. There is a good mix of names from every culture on Earth, some Arabic, some European, some African and nearly every action sees them saying at the beginning 'go with God' or some variant. This somewhat destroys the nastiness of the Hammers and makes the allegory to current politics rather clumsy and, more importantly, reduces the conflict to a 'my God's better than yours'. It also seems that in this far future everyone is Christian. This isn't overt, it's not slammed down your throat but the only deities mentioned are 'God' and 'Christ' and this seems incongruous. At least with such a mix of cultures you would expect religion to have become a similar mix. Even with these flaws the clash of religions could still be made fascinating but it comes across as an afterthought. Where the Hammer's religion has been thought about, the Federated Worlds religion just seems stuck on, everyone seems to believe in God but there's no priesthood and no mention of churches or temples. At the start of the book it's not a problem but, as the action hots up, the mentions of 'God' come thicker and faster and it really does start to jar.
Having said that, I still enjoyed this book. Politics and theology are clearly not the real interests of Sharp Paul. What Sharp Paul is interested in is weaponry. Where he's clumsy with the social parts of the story, he's razor sharp with his battle scenes. They are a joy to read and verge at times upon weapon porn. The author has a navy background and it shows in the way he describes life aboard ships as claustrophobic and confining. The battle scenes themselves are taught, pacey and believable and make the book worth reading. However, I can't help thinking this won't be a hit. The presentation won't attract the people who would really appreciate the tech and the people who pick it up expecting a pulpy read are going to be disappointed with what they get.
RJ Barker
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