War is an Orphanage

Orphanage, Aspect publishing, $7.99 paperback edition

Burbrink's Library Rating: 4.5/5

Jason Wander stands in front of the Judge; behind him is a military officer. After a destructive streak that started with his last living parent being killed in a massive explosion that destroyed Indianapolis, he is now given the same choice as many who came before him. Go to jail, or join the Army. Robert Buettner writes the captivating story of Jason Wander in the beginning of the five book series, “Orphanage.”

In the book Buettner uses his military intelligence background to write a novel that combines accurate military formations with a deep human aspect to it. After joining the military, Wander begins a series of adventures that takes him from the brink of despair to the heights of glory. As a last resort to the projectiles, foot soldiers like 18-year-old Jason Wander are put on a ship scavenged from scrapyards and armed with weapons from wars past on a voyage to fight an enemy that does not know the concept of defeat.

The format of the novel is one that draws in readers from the start. Buettner uses the first person narrative to have Jason Wander tell the story to the reader as if he is the one writing the book. Page one opens the story halfway into the book’s plot line, then throws the reader to how it all started in the closing of the chapter. The end of the book holds a twist for the reader by how the format of the writing changes.

The character development in this story is very quick, Buettner forges feelings in the reader for characters in a way that personally made me tear up a bit when anything bad happened to them. Buettner balances this with action so that the entire novel is not just character development.

Military novel lovers will enjoy the accuracy of the military elements that are included and how Buettner uses his own military background in the story. The average reader can enjoy reading about the characters that are brought forward, laughing and crying with the main character. Personally I enjoy how Buettner pays homage to another favorite novel of mine, “Starship Troopers.”

Pick up this novel if you are interested in hearing what happens when countries set aside war to work together to fight an enemy that threatens to send Earth into an ice age. The book is a very quick read at 336 pages.

This book is so full of positives that the only negative that I was able to find was when it got into story matter that may be too dark for some readers. If you like war stories that may hit too close to home at times, go out and pick this book up immediately. You can buy it from a local bookstore or on Amazon by following this link.