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A Boy And His Tank
by Leo Frankowski
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Baen (1999-03-01)
ISBN: 0671577964
EAN: 9780671577964
Dewy Decimal #: 813.54
Hardcover: 288 pages
SKU: BX004-060815015
Condition: Used: Very Good Firs
Comments: Stated First Printing March 1999. Clean and shiny. Very light dustcover wear, not pricecut, book like new. Pgs crisp, clean, tight, unmarked. No remainder mark.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com Review
Leo Frankowski, author of the popular Conrad Stargard series, postulates a future in which the former Yugoslavia is still torn by civil war between Serbs and Croats. But now they've taken their endless conflict to space, and wars between minority factions are fought by starving workers symbiotically bonded with Mark XIX Main Battle Tanks. These sentient tanks provide for all their human pilots' needs (and we do mean all their needs). Our hero, Mickolai Derdowski, is a Polish Kashubian who chooses to be inducted into the Croat branch of the army and bonded with a sexy female tank in lieu of being reduced to his organic components and used as fertilizer in the hydroponic vats. The real forces behind the war are the Tokyo Mining and Manufacturing Company, which makes money off the hapless Kashubians unfortunate enough to have colonized a brutal, barren metallic hunk of a planet, and the Wealthy Nations Group, which squeezes water from turnips all over the galaxy. Like most military SF, the lighthearted Boy and His Tank is full of guns, girls, and galactic adventure, and Frankowski throws in a surprise ending that will make you either laugh or cry. --Adam Fisher
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Customer Reviews
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When you live in hell WAR is paradise!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2003-01-14
1 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
The planet of New Kashubia is a ball of heavy metals in orbit about a pulsar that bakes the planet's surface with deadly radiation. The people are the poorest in the universe, having to import carbon, oxygen and even dirt. They live in tunnels drilled into the layer of gold because it is the LEAST dangerous metal to their health, giving birth is a crime and they go around naked because they can't afford clothes. You would think being inserted into a smart tank that will feed you, take care of you and allow you to do almost anything you want in virtual reality would be a good thing when compared to being sent to the hydroponic vats.
And it was a good thing...till you and your tank had to face REAL combat.
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Plot Had Potential, But Frankowski Doesn't Make It Work
Rating  (1)
Date: 2002-11-26
4 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is the first book I have read from Leo Frankowski. The only reason I came across it is that due to some genealogical research I recently found out I am 25% Kashubian and so have become somewhat obsessed with finding anything pertaining to that particular region/ethnic group. My opinion of the book is if you are a high school male interested in military sci-fi, and can fantasize about making love to a tank (literally), you probably think it's great.
The part that bothered me the most is that the book's core plot actually had some potential, but was very poorly written. It should have taken place in an entirely different setting. Mr. Frankowski thinks it is important to perpetuate racial stereotypes and conflicts, even hundreds of years into the future. In fact, the whole book is based on the Wealthy Nations Group giving each minority its own planet. Well, after all those people are given their own planet, who the heck is left in the Wealthy Nations Group?? He never does explain. The Japanese, who are one of the wealthiest nations in the world is not part of the group, although they apparently live on Earth. The American Blacks are given a planet by the name of Soul City (puh-lease Mr. Frankowski, this is pitiful!), but he never explains what happens to the African Blacks, or any of the Hispanic or Native Indian cultures. However, we do know that the Chinese, Kashubians, Croats, and Serbs are all given their own planets.
But then the rules get even more confusing. He states that even if a person is one-sixteenth Kashubian that they have to go to New Kashubia, which results in both blacks and Chinese ending up on New Kashubia because someone in their background is Kashubian. So, why could they not go to the Black or Chinese planet?? They apparently have a higher percentage of those ethnic groups in their background. And if you are required to move with only one-sixteenth of a minority bloodline in you, well, as I said before, very few people would be left on Earth.
This is definitely a male fantasy book. The only thing I found to fantasize about, as a female, was the picture of Mickolai on the cover. If all male Kashubians looked that way, I'd speed up my planned trip to Kaszuby. Heck, I'd even spend the time to learn the Kashubian dialect! But, alas, the picture is probably only indicative of how Kashubians look in Frankowski's Dream World.
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Light and human military SF
Rating  (4)
Date: 2002-06-24
4 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
New Kashubia is a planet of almost pure wealth. When its star went nova, the lighter elements were blown away leaving a complete planet of molten metal--which then cooled in neat layers. New Kashubia is a miner's delight, an industrialist's best dream, and the worst possible nightmare for any colonists unlucky enough to be sent there. With no oxygen, no hydrogen, no organic chemicals, essentially nothing to support life, the Kashubian population is condemned to slowly starve--while living in their gold-lined caves. When they discover that the industrialists left a vast array of military equipment, the Kashubians see a ray of hope--they can become mercenaries, exchanging their equipment and soldiers for the organics they require. Of course, without enough volunteers, it is tempting to resort to stripping the prisons--hence tank operator Mickolai. The warring clans of the former Yugoslavia form ideal targets for mercenaries. The Kashubians sell their services to all sides and prepare for a friendly time with plenty of shooting and no casualties. Unfortunately for their plans, the Serbians discover that the divisions they paid for are severely undermanned and take over the largely automated tanks themselves. As a result, the hoped-for cake walk turns into real battle. Author Leo Frankowski follows the tradition of Robert Heinlein more than that of David Drake with a personal adventure and coming of age story--yet he certainly doesn't neglect the battles. Frankowski's descriptions of the future tanks is a reasonable extrapolation from modern trends, which makes his story more compelling and interesting. I did think that Mickolai's relationship with Kasia went a little too easily and the romantic conflict between the tank, the boy, and the girl could have been more fully developed, but this is a small quibble. A BOY AND HIS TANK is fun light reading.
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A Boy and His Tank
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-04-19
1 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Best book in my collection I just hope there will be a sequel coming out soon. the ending leaves you wonting more and then you find out that your not going to get it. Can't ask for a better cover.
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Good for what it is...pulp, pulp, pulp
Rating (4)
Date: 2001-06-22
3 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a 4-star rating for books in this genre, not 4 stars against my other rated books. That said, this is really good pulp sci-fi. It's a fast read (2 hours or less), with a moving story, interesting premise, and good characters. I thought the ending was a bit bizarre, (and I'm DYING to read the hardcover ending that everyone has so-far panned) and could well be the weakest part of the book, but I didn't mind. It was a nice mental diversion, and probably something I'll re-read on some other summer afternood with nothing to do.If you enjoyed Alan Cole and Chris Bunch's STEN series, you'll probably like this. It's basically military sci-fi, with plenty of sexual imagery thrown in for good measure. High-tech tanks and other weaponry are well described for the enthusiast, and the action is pretty quick in coming (most of it actually occurs in a virtual environment called the Dream World). The protagonist is a wry, worldly fellow with more-than-average mental skills (a common formula for this genre), and is easy to like. The book lulls a bit toward the end, with a short pick-up and a final let-down. You won't care. Read it; it's not supposed to be high art.
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