Supreme Commander George

Supreme Commander George, Markus Thyme, Wesoomi Publishing, 1999

A thousand years from now, mankind has spread throughout the galaxy and universal peace has been achieved. It is as if the human race has forgotten the meaning of the word War. That is, until, one day, an alien race called the Paranians land on one of the outlying colony planets. They take many captives, and interrogate them about their defenses. They slaughter everyone else, and then kill the captives when they tell the Paranians nothing. A second and third human planet is attacked, with no sign of any Earth defenses.

That's because there are no Earth defenses. The Commonwealth Council, led by a man named Fair Daryl (all of the humans have names like that) is at a loss as to how to respond. Fat William, a resident of a Custodial Care Center (a place for misfits and others who don't fit into society) and a student of military history, has a bold idea. Using mankind's considerable technical knowledge, create the most spohisticated android ever; one that must be able to eat, move and bleed like a human. The android will be programmed with the personality of General George Patton. Only a few people will know that he isn't human.

Snow Rose, his "creator," falls in love with Patton. While he is away for long periods of time, building an army from nothing, Rose lives in his apartment. She totally neglects her own work and becomes more and more emotionally unglued. One day, after Patton rejects her, she totally loses it and tells him that he's not human.

Despite this, Patton continues with his plans against the Paranians. Mankind is slow to respond, both technically and in terms of building an army, but eventually gets going. With new types of weapons and tactics against them, the Paranians find themselves nervously looking over their shoulders, wondering when and where the next attack will occur. After the war ends, Patton plans on continuing into space, not returning to Earth. He knew that if he returned, he would get shut off, like any other machine.

Fans of military science fiction will really enjoy this novel. For everyone else, this belongs somewhere in that large gray area of Pretty Good or Worth Reading.