Review: Wonderful story, but once again horrible grammar/punctuation.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 21, 2013
The story is wonderful!  A young man of the TSN crash-lands on a world quite different from earth and finds himself stuck back in late twentieth-century technology.  And to add spice to the plot, battleships do not travel the seas; they travel the grasslands.  People come from 20th century earth, from those incidents during WWII where good men were dying anyway so why not grab them and put them someplace else?  Where the women come from is another question that I really did not find satisfactorily answered in the book, but the problem with the civilization this young explorer soon uncovers is that men and women can only mate with any expectation of children with one person; it's hardwired into their productive system.  That person happens to be the first person with whom they have coitus.  On top of that, women can only have four children, three boys and one girl.  That's right. Three boys and one girl, so there is a huge disparity between the sexes.  So our young explorer (I believe his name is David, but that's not all that important--but he IS a Fletcher, which I found interesting) finds a world about to go to war because one of the factions forming a nation on the planet has established a Pater Nocte policy of course with disastrous consequences.  Our young Mr. Fletcher must find a way to stop the war, do away with the bad guys and correct this terrible gender imbalance, and all he has to work with is a single cyberform and the clothes on his back. Piece of cake, right?Well, the journey is always better than the destination and though most of what young Mr. Fletcher goes through is predictable, we still have a rollicking good time as the "Grass Ghost" deals with all sorts of evildoers and sets the world aright while in the meantime discovering three additional native sentient races.So why the three stars?  Well, as others have mentioned, the punctuation and grammar of this story is utterly horrible.  Mr. Phipps has been in the game long enough to know and understand that he needs help in this area and yet he persists in writing a story that is no better punctuated that the same output of a seven-year old who has a learning disability.Mr. Phipps, go to the bookstore (Amazon will do) and pick up a copy of Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style."  It's a short little tome packed full of good information about how to punctuate, among other important elements of style in writing. And sir, you especially need help on your conversations.  When a character begins to speak, punctuate the line with an opening double quote.  If the conversation runs over into a new paragraph, leave off the closing double quote, but start the next paragraph with an opening double quote.  When that character's speaking is done, shut down the speech with a closing quote.  It looks like this:"I really am going to hit you someday, Sam," said Charlie, "if you don't stop using four letter words in church."I talked to the preacher about it and he reminded me that at least one word that should often be used in church is a four-letter word.  When I asked him what it was, he said, 'love.'""I don't know," said Sam.  "I like using four-letter words.  They make me sound tough."I recommend, Mr.Phipps, that you take a month off and review the suggested book (often affectionately called "Strunk & White"), maybe take some online courses, and perhaps review your previous work with an eye toward fixing the grammar and punctuation.  Once you are up to speed on how to fix your books, do so, and then go back to writing new stuff.  I like your work, sir, but I will like it more when I don't have to work so hard to figure out what you were really trying to say/do in a particular passage.And please, please, please find an editor.  If you had one for SOG, then fire him/her and hire a new one.  Whoever it was did a lousy, nay, not lousy, horrible job at fixing your faults.  Even the best of writers need an editor; I know that from experience.