Review: A touching tale
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2014
This story is about a sentient battle tank (much like the Bolo's in Laumer's Universe) but a bit different.  We have Magnolia(Maggie) a battle tank sent all over the universe to fight mankind's battles.  Early in her career, she had human compatriots but now she has other robots in battle with her.Maggie is critically damaged and going to be used for scrap.  The story has several flash backs as Maggie is slowly taken apart and we get glimpses of her training and experiences with the Human Polity.  I like Kratman's works and his battle scenes in this book are up to par.  We get a bit more introspection and that makes this tale especially bittersweet.  The ending is appropriate and will be a bit of surprise to most readers.For those that have served in the Military, you can relate to some of the actions taken by the Humans (and Maggie at the end), good, bad and ugly.  I would like to see the history of battle tank universe expanded upon.