SOJALS rating:

Mediocre (1/5)

I first read this on the 20th December 2003.

Darius Murphy has escaped an odd religious community to join the army. Ah, so many do. However, Darius develops some feelings for a genetically-engineered human-animal hybrid "optimod" called Violet. Through battles and wild sexual adventures, he maintains his feelings and therein lies the love story, set against a backdrop of far-future corporate corruption and exploitation.

It's a war story and love story transcending the centuries, but with lots of muttering about feelings. Far too much muttering about feelings. It's the mutterer's version of "The Forever War". It fails badly in comparison.