Weekly Reader: Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier by Charles Crabb; Action and Robot Soldier Are Highlights of Political Military Thriller

 

Weekly Reader: Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier by Charles Crabb; Action and Robot Soldier Are Highlights of Political Military Thriller

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Charles Crabb's political military thriller, Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier, is for those who like a good military action book, the kind of thing that Tom Clancy might have written in the 1990's. The type of book with plenty of soldiers, action, and patriotism.

In the book, the NSA has revealed that China is building a quantum computer. Once online, it would knock out power in the United States with a few quick keystrokes. Well, the United States government won't stand for that, no way! They send for Seal Team 11, a secret elite team of soldiers to investigate and knock out this quantum computer before it strikes. 

The Team has as their commander, Roger Henderson, who is brace, tough, adaptable, and capable of surviving most obstacles. Hey, if his personality seems a bit bland and robotic, well there's a reason for that. He is in fact a robot or humbot. He earned praise in the previous book (unread by me) when he killed another humbot, Adam, who vowed to destroy the human race. Now Roger is put in command of an elite team of rough and ready soldiers to destroy the quantum computer.

This book is definitely for those who like their books filled with action and clearly defined lines between good and bad characters. There are some pretty tense suspenseful passages when Roger and his team are in precarious situations facing their Chinese counterparts. 

There are also some fascinating moments where characters are revealed to be spies. The lengths that these spies go through to disguise their identities and gather information is impressive.

There isn't much depth to this book beyond themes of patriotism and loyalty to one's country and fellow soldiers. The most fascinating character is certainly Roger. When people are wondering whether automation will replace humans in jobs, this book suggests that the best way to defeat a supercomputer is to rely on another AI.

While Roger is a robot soldier, he is not a blunt instrument who only obeys orders and kills on command. He's a strategic planner and thinker, able to understand the subtle analysis of whether a plan can come to full fruition or not. He also struggles with emotion especially when it comes to putting his human fellow soldiers in danger. 

Seal Team 11 Quantum Soldier is a suspenseful action novel in which you pretty much know what will happen. However, the paths leading up to those points are still exciting. However, Commander Roger Henderson is the definite star of this book.