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Ship’s Boy: The David Birkenhead Series Book 1 by Phil Geusz
Midshipman: The David Birkenhead Series Book 2 by Phil Geusz
Lieutenant: The David Birkenhead Series Book 3 by Phil Geusz
Commander: The David Birkenhead Series Book 4 by Phil Geusz
Captain: The David Birkenhead Series Book 5 by Phil Geusz
Commodore: The David Birkenhead Series Book 6 by Phil Geusz
Admiral: The David Birkenhead Series Book 7 by Phil Geusz
SERIES REVIEW
While the series is High Space Opera Military genre, the theme is about slavery and overcoming the slavery mindset, both in the individual and in the culture. While some may think that we can never go that way again, the only way to make certain that happens in reminding ourselves and future generations. I find the series again and again touches on things I have learned over the years about cultures which have slavery and the transition times to remove it. A great series.
Overall, I find the flavor and pacing of the series similar to Kris Longknife (by Mike Shepherd).
Ship’s Boy: The David Birkenhead Series Book 1 by Phil Geusz
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Once upon a time there was a boy named David, who slew a terrible foe…
David Birkenhead might have been only twelve years old, but his entire life was already laid out for him. First his father was supposed to teach him how to run a starship’s engine room. Then, when the time came, he’d take over the job himself. This was the way of things for slavebunnies like David; luxuries like career-choices were reserved for humans only. Not that David was complaining– compared to the farmbunnies or domestic-servant rabbits, he had it made. There was even a pretty doe waiting for him in the wings.
Then the ships of the Boyen Emperor arrived on David’s homeworld and nothing could ever be the same again. Great Houses of Nobility would contest for power, kingdoms would teeter on the edge of oblivion…
…and out of the resulting vortex young David would bring peace and justice to a thousand worlds.
MY REVIEW
Book 1 of the David Birkenhead series, The Ship’s Boy, was free on Amazon. Without that offer I would not have found this gem of a book and series. I have gone on to buy the balance of the series and am losing my sleep this week reading through them.
Okay, I admit initially the fact the main character was a bunny put me off. Don’t let it!! If you like good solid worldbuilding, where the consequences of slavery and living in a slave society have true-to-life impact, then this books is for you. The first “Master” of the book came across as very Thomas Jefferson to me. The first book is good – the rest just get better.
Because of book 3 “Lieutenant”, I cannot call this a juvenile series. Though many juvenile series have similar situations.
Midshipman: The David Birkenhead Series Book 2 by Phil Geusz
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For centuries noble houses have struggled with the problem of what to do with their younger, non-inheriting sons. It’s even tougher when one of these younger sons is a Rabbit and therefore by definition a former slave.
In this second volume of the David Birkenhead series, our young hero has been adopted into the powerful House of Marcus. But… what can be done with a former slave-boy who’s earned his kingdom’s highest award for bravery, but who also can’t shed his Rabbithood no matter how hard he tries? Send him to the Naval Academy, of course, where he must battle loneliness and prejudice as well as the rigors of military discipline.
David’s courage has already been proven beyond question, and it is said that the hottest furnaces produce the finest steel. Yet… how can a mere Rabbit survive such pressure?
Will David crack? Or will he stand taller and prouder than ever, winning great victories for his kingdom and his fellow slave-species along the way?
MY REVIEW
Book 2 of the David Birkenhead series, The Midshipman, finished pulling me in. Book 1 was good enough for me to spend 99 cents on book 2. I have since read books 3 and 4 and bought the balance for the full set of 7. Sleep, who needs sleep before going into work?
In Midshipman, David’s near-adoption into a ruling house activates his loyalty and honor and finds him joining the military as a result. The second book of this series still has the character acting as a youth instead of adult (I really like the series having the character truly mature through both his experiences and just growing up). And like any freed slave or lower class working above their station in a stratus society, he faces tremendous peer and cultural pressures to return to his proper place. Only his Honor of Promises Made pushes him past the worst of it.
Lieutenant: The David Birkenhead Series Book 3 by Phil Geusz
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“Whatever you do, please don’t throw me in that brier patch!”
Rabbits have been outwitting their enemies for as long as rabbits have had enemies, and that’s a very long time indeed. But few bunnies have ever found themselves in as tight as a spot as recent Academy-graduate David Birkenhead, assigned to Graves Registration work and trapped far behind enemy lines by the unexpected outbreak of war. Nor have many lapines been forced to make-do with such a miserable brier patch– the highly strategic (and aptly-named) Zombie Station, already twice-crushed by Imperial forces and now garrisoned only by rotting corpses.
David’s superior officers are incompetent or worse. The guns don’t work. His only effective troops are illiterate slavebunnies. No one would reasonably expect an officer in his position to hold out against a major Imperial offensive for as long as five minutes.
But, as the universe is about to learn, there aren’t any other officers like David Birkenhead.
MY REVIEW
In book 3, Lieutenant, David Birkenhead leaves childhood behind and more adult themes come into play. Best of the series by far. I have read the series to the end and the first three books make an excellent grouping by themselves. The final four books take on the more adult themes and follow a mature sentient, therefore are not quite as lively as a result.
Note this book covers sexual abuse, starvation, and using just about anything around to win a battle, even respected dead corpses. The sexual abuse is very lightly touched on and happens off screen; thereafter the only mention is stuff like “Nestor once had something bad happen”.
I am enjoying how each military adventure becomes gradually more of a thought/strategy challenge to the main character. Each book concentrates on one military exploit of High Space Opera genre. The book also gave me insight into a little touched upon military aspect – cleaning up battlefields and retrieving the dead for burial with honors. The MacGyver solutions David (the rabbit) brings to defending a twice-defeated and presently unmanned space station makes the book a classic for people who love this sort of thing!
Commander: The David Birkenhead Series Book 4 by Phil Geusz
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“We have not yet begun to fight!” John Paul Jones once declared not long before snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. But even the immortal Captain Jones might’ve flinched at the prospect of a months-long odyssey through the heart of Imperial space in command of a thin-skinned converted merchantman. In this fourth volume of the “David Birkenhead” series, the newly-promoted Commander Birkenhead is forced to zig when he should’ve zagged and finds himself in what any lesser officer might well consider a hopeless situation. Cut off from all contact with friendly forces, short on supplies and in command of a ship that most of the navy’s brasshats consider a waste of resources, the Hero of Zombie Station must once again make do with what he has rather than what he might wish for.
This time, in so doing he will shake the Empire to the core.
MY REVIEW
Book 4, Commander, has David Birkenhead beached for a little while. The book is slow going during the political behind-the-scenes maneuvering, but returns to its High Space Opera Military genre best when David does a milk-run to the capital to drop off his adopted human uncle. (Yes, David is a rabbit -get over your herbivore bias or get run over.)
The milk-run gets redirected. Piracy and giving the bad guys a huge black eye follows. I am not going to give any spoilers.
David continues to fight the stigma of being the member of a genetically engineered slave race. During one investigation into his past, he talks to a gene engineers who compares her status as a woman in science to his ex-slave status. I’ve had seen similar reactions from black males when a white woman compares their situations – mostly a “huh?” and “you don’t understand slavery, girl”. Again the series keeps the sociological worldbuilding spot on!
Captain: The David Birkenhead Series Book 5 by Phil Geusz
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The king is dead! Long live the king!
David Birkenhead never expected that his adopted brother James would have the throne handed to him on a silver platter. But even David, veteran of some of the most brutal and merciless battles ever fought, is shocked at the layers upon layers of intrigue and double-dealing that he finds upon his return to the capital world. Warfare, David has learned, is a despicable waste of lives and resources. Yet… Might politics be even worse?
James must be crowned, or all the progress that has recently been made towards a peaceful, just universe will be cast away and lost forever. In warfare, the ends can and quite often do justify the means. Can the same be said of politics?
And when it’s all over and done, will David ever be able to look himself in the mirror again?
MY REVIEW
Book 5, Captain, moves David Birkenhead from the space fighting arena to the political arena. I don’t think he went into space once during this book, and the lack of on-the-edge zing reflects the change. Yes, the military strategy needed to pull off the change in King comes REALLY CLOSE, but isn’t quite there.
Political belief discussion between characters at the beginning – I do not assume it is the author’s beliefs, but does reflect the beliefs of those growing up in the Monarchy system. According to the studies done in this Democratic/Republic system, the information the characters understand is wrong – but we may be bias as well. Reviewing this book could lead to interesting discussions on best government forms for a book club. For slaves, a monarch system would be comfortable.
Commodore: The David Birkenhead Series Book 6 by Phil Geusz
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“War is cruelty,” General William Tecumseh Sherman famously asserted. “There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
David Birkenhead is not by nature a cruel Rabbit. Yet he’s been assigned one of the most miserable missions an officer can ever receive—to bring two renegade Houses of Nobility back into the fold, by force if necessary. And he’s in a terrible hurry as well; the Imperials are certain to strike again at any moment. Will David once again manage to make do with what he has instead of what he might wish for and somehow prevent a civil war and Royal catastrophe?
Even if he has to face the entire Imperial Fleet along the way?
MY REVIEW
Book 6, Commodore, of the David Birkenhead Series continues to display one of the three things I LOVE about this series. The character’s attitudes and abilities change as he gets older and gains experience.
He has hit his mid-thirties in this book (a guess – actual age isn’t mentioned) and has left behind the fire of his youth. Before, as a youth, he just changed the world to win – didn’t build it, direct it, channel it – he just changed it. Change could be for better or worse. Now older, wiser, he plans the changes and makes compromises to make the change possible with the least amount of damage TO OTHERS. Compromise always damages one self. He has learned as you change the world, it also changes you.
From the first book where he was a kid, to the second book as a teen, to now, the character not only grows based on experience – but also reflects actual changes sentient beings go through in their thinking process. Great worldbuilding/character building many books lack.
Of course the action of the youth books has diminished in the older books. But David is back in space, and that is a good thing. Rocking Military Space Opera is the second thing I love about this series.
Third is the sociological worldbuilding of a slave culture. Strangely as the series has moved more into the political non-action end of things, the slave culture items have faded. I did love the war bunnies drill of welcome scaring the crap out of the Empire’s military staff. Nothing like realizing your opponent is about to tap a potential to double military numbers if you give them time.
Admiral: The David Birkenhead Series Book 7 by Phil Geusz
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By now David Birkenhead has all but defeated the Boyen Emperor, whose strength is but a shadow of what it was before the Battle of Wilkes Prime. His fleet has been shattered and with it his dreams of conquest. Yet the Emperor and his court fight desperately on, and the price of invading Imperious Prime remains too terrible to contemplate. Is there another, less-bloody way of ending the war besides invasion? And if so…
…what will it cost David personally? Should anyone, anywhere be expected to pay such a price?
MY REVIEW
Book 7, Admiral, finds David Birkenhead finishing the war in the same manner as he waged it – with as little bloodshed as possible. The book is a solid ending to the series.
Again the sociological worldbuilding shines. I wished every emancipation had leadership in place to educated and integrate the newly freed sentients into society. It wasn’t the case in Egypt, it wasn’t the case in Rome, and it sure wasn’t the case in America.
I think I will be rereading this series someday and hope the publisher releases all the books in print form. … with better editing. Some misspellings and dropped words got to me.
I am so glad I decided to have taken this trip with a Rabbit – and my name isn’t even Alice. But then David isn’t exactly the March Hare.
Book Cover from Amazon