Better to Beg Forgiveness...

by Michael Z. Williamson

Book Overview

1. Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold has a sell through of 87% to date. 2. Williamson will appeal to the huge audiences of David Drake and John Ringo. 3. Williamson's military experience gives him the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416591516
• ISBN13: 9781416591511
• Release Date: February 2009
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 4.2" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent and Action-Packed

Better to Beg Forgiveness... I just finished reading this book last night. It is well-written, seems more military action, even though the main characters are all now mercenaries except for the president they are protecting. Lots of action, blow-em up, charge through 'em... the good guys follow their guts and it all works out in the end. One strong woman with the group of mercenaries. Dry humor. I want another one like this one, or even better.

Beyond the Call of Duty

Better To Beg Forgiveness (2007) is the third SF novel in the Freehold universe, following The Weapon. It is set several centuries in the future in an era of interstellar colonization. It appears to take place before the timeframe of the two previous novels. The Colonial Alliance includes many interstellar colonies and the UN controls others. One colony -- Celadon on Salin -- has been a haven for terrorists and pirates. Now the colony is occupied by the UN Peace Forces, but is not yet pacified. Balaji Bishwanath has been appointed as temporary president of the Celadon Colony by the UN and the Colonial Alliance. In this novel, former Captain Alex Marlow, USMC, is Agent in Charge of an Executive Protection Detail from Ripple Creek Security. This trip to Salin is his first time offplanet and he finds the situation in Celadon to be very different from his past experiences. Naturally, the UN Peace Forces are much the same, but the colony natives -- skinnies -- are quite unusual. Aramis Anderson, former Lieutenant, USA, is second in command of the EPD team. He did well at the Academy, had some Earthside combat experiences, and is very bright. Unfortunately, he still hasn't recovered from his Infantry indoctrination. Jason Vaughn is another EPD team member. A former UNPF trooper from Grainne Colony, Vaughn took up bodyguarding after retiring from the military. He has a wife and kids back on Grainne Colony. Eleonora Sykora is also a team member. A Czech demolition specialist, Elke has experience with many kinds of conventional explosives and some familiarization with nuclear devices. She also is quite handy with various firearms. Bart Weil is another EPD team member. A German wet-navy vet turned bodyguard, he probably has more actual security experience than anyone else in the team. Unhappily, much of it has been with typically self-centered music stars and other entertainers. Another team member is Horace "Shaman" Mbuto, the team medic. He had extensive experience in combat medicine during the Third (or Eighth) Liberian Civil War. He is also familiar with using rigger tape, rags and a pocket knife to perform surgery. Any patient operated on by Shaman is likely to survive, but the scars may require reconstructive biosculp. Major Lee Weilhung is commander of the UNPF Long Range Reconnaissance troops assigned to the Presidential Palace. He has four platoons under his command and a political colonel as his superior. He is rather cynical about the whole situation. Aerospace Force Tech 1 White is liaison between the EPD team and the AF intelligence detachment in the palace. She provides sitreps and contact with the supporting aerial and space units. Snow White has bugged every room in the palace and is often guarded by an AF Security NCO with Buckley on his nametag. In this story, the RC team is contracted for protection of the incoming president of the colony. They are responsible for immediate security of the president and

Better To Beg For More

I have stumbled upon a great book with some light political in-humor, massive amounts of explosives, and good guys whose "good" can be questioned and bad guys who make the worst of us seem like angels. Williamson's latest book, taking place in the Freehold universe (though at an earlier date and not necesarily "linked" to Freehold), tells an exciting, action packed tale of a group of contractors whose primary was left for dead on the hell planet of New Celadon by the United Nations (sounds oddly familiar...). With all contact broken off by the UN, who ordered their contract broken, the contractors (fancy word for mercenaries) decide to stick with the man they were guarding, Pres. Bishwanath, whose integrity and resolve they come to respect. Their goal: get the man off-planet, alive, before one of the various factions get to him first. Oh, and bring the explosives. I loved this book, mainly because after Freehold and The Weapon, I wanted to see something that would be a little bit of a lighter read. The politics in the book, while there, take a back seat to the action, which is, as usual, amazingly well-written. The characters aren't cardboard cutouts, which a lot of authors do to secondary characters who aren't "that important" to the overall story. The story's pace is solid, and nothing in the story actually drags it down. I enjoyed it, as the read was fast and light, and am eagerly awaiting the next book "Mad Mike" puts out. Definitely recommended. Oh, and by the way, ask the author about the ostrich-like creature sometime. There is a hilarious in-joke there...

Halfway between now and Freehold...,

... New Caledon is a mess. This book is set around 250 years from now. The setting for MadMike's first couple of books, Grainne, is still Grainne Colony, and not yet the Freehold. The UN is out among the stars, in all its festering putridity. The diplomats and bureaucrats are worthy of Keith Laumer's (Retief!) bitterest mockery. The military forces guarding the mission are encumbered by political correctness, stifling rules of engagement, and "smart" guns. So, who can handle the job of keeping the incoming president alive? Contractors, of course. When reading MadMike's material, I have a checklist. I expect any of his books to contain certain items, and here I've found them. Food for thought? Check. Humor? Check. A gorgeous lady or two? Check. Explosions? Check. Satire? Check. In-jokes? Tons. Suspense? You got it. Favorite quote? "Oh -- there's no friendlies left in the palace, then..." Persons who have had the dubious pleasure of spending part of their lives in various hell-holes around the world, will thoroughly enjoy parts of this book. Specifically, there's lots of noxious people getting shot, and lots of nasty real estate getting blown up. If you liked Freehold and The Weapon, You'll like this one.

The Future of Peacekeeping

This is a pretty awesome action/adventure story and I think Elke in particular is a wicked cool character. No doubt some people are going to draw parallels to the War on Iraq and either love or hate it based on those, but I enjoy the story for itself.