Failure To Obey

Novella by John G. Hemry

JAG...IN SPACE!

On the one hand, it isn't actually a bad concept and the first 1/3 or so of the story is some very well written military SF. On the other hand, the other 2/3 of the story are the trial, which drags on, and on, and on, and on, ...

I have to say that it wasn't that impressive of a courtroom drama either. The verdict was obscenely predictable, I never thought for a moment that it would go the other way once the trial was started. Just no tension at all. And once they started getting into the evidence, it became clear that all the charges were just specious, and the only reason it had been brought to trial at all was a misguided quest for revenge and the vagaries of bureaucracy. Additionally, he takes the dead horse message of "unquestioning obedience to orders is wrong" and beats it into a bloody equine pulp.

Finally there are a ton of references to books I haven't read. Not earlier Analog stories, NOVELS. I'm not going to buy a novel to understand the 1.5 out of every 5 pages you spend talking about things that have no relevance on the story.