Book Review: The Age of Odin by James Lovegrove - 4thwallfly

Welcome to the Fly on the 4th Wall. Today we'll have a review of:
The Age of Odin - James Lovegrove

Cover art copyright of Solaris.

Before we start though, a brief word of warning. The book contains a large amount of profanity. This is because the main character is an ex-army soldier, and the book is told from his point of view.

'Gideon Coxall was a good soldier but bad at everything else, until a roadside explosive device leaves him with one deaf ear and a British Army half-pension. So when he hears about the Valhalla Project, it's like a dream come true. They're recruiting former service personnel for excellent pay, no questions asked, to take part in unspecified combat operations.

The last thing Gid expects is to find himself fighting alongside ancient Viking gods. The world is in the grip of one of the worst winters it has ever known, and Ragnarök- the fabled final conflict of the Sagas - is looming.' The Age of Odin - James Lovegrove 

The Age of Odin follows Gideon Coxall as he experiences the worst winters that Britain has ever known, driving through a storm towards as far north in England as you can get before 'Och-aye-the-noo' land. He travels with a stoner and ex-army friend with the unfortunate nickname "Abortion." From a modern perspective, the world setting at this time would be akin to the start of an ice age, the entire world experiencing a snowy winter. 

The entire story is set from Gideon's perspective from start to finish, giving us a very personal view of the events occuring around him. Gideon is determined to be master of his own destiny, which provides an odd contrast to the fact that we (the reader) are aware that the saga of Ragnarök is exactly that, a story with a fixed number of events that occur in sequence. However, the saga only really begins after Gideon finds himself before Asgard Hall (named after Asgard, the world of the Norse gods).

From there, Gideon finds drawn into a world of fantasy that somehow blends with the reality around him. It's a world so very different from our own that there are times that Gideon himself initially struggles to come to terms with the facts of his situation. Although part of that struggle is the struggle to accept that the world he thought he lived in was not the real world.

The Age of Odin is one of the many books written by James Lovegrove that have begun the 'Godpunk' genre. In fact, the entire collection is being referred to as the 'Age of Godpunk.' Godpunk is derived from the term 'Steampunk.' Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that refers to (most commonly) an alternate Victorian-era Earth in which steam-powered machinery represents the height of human achievement within industrialised nations (that would resemble the Western powers at their heights during the Industrial Revolutions they experienced.

Godpunk has so far referred to a curious blend of mythology and the post-modern reality (here meaning a future not too far removed from our current existence). The Age of Odin for example, sets the saga of Ragnarök as a shadow to our own world's machinations, ending with a dramatic climax that shapes the course of the otherwise ignorant world. On the other end of the spectrum though, Age of Ra and Age of Aztec (to name two of Lovegrove's other works) reveal worlds where the mythology is a fact of life, where the world is ruled by the Egyptian and Aztec gods in turn, hence Godpunk. 

Ragnarök is part of Viking mythology and depicts a series of future events that will culminate in the effective destruction of life as we know it and restart the world afresh. It's detailed in several poems and can be treated, if you will, as an event similar to the judgement day of the bible. However, unlike judgement day (which concerns mankind alone), Ragnarök involves the Norse (Norweigian) gods in a climatic battle that ends with the death of most of the Viking pantheon and the nine-worlds in which they live. In Viking mythology, Earth (called Midgard) is just one part of nine worlds that are the totality of creation.

Click below for the full synopsis (click to open/close):

The opening of the book concerns itself with Gideon and his friend Abortion's journey up to the north of England. They are travelling by car, at a snail's pace, thanks to the harsh winter and storms lashing the country. The original idea to join the Valhalla Mission was Abortion's, though Gideon admits freely he was too stubborn to back down from the plan now that they had embarked upon it. Fortunately, what makes the decision easier is that 'clean history and health are not a priority' which means, for a man who's lost 80% of his hearing thanks to an IED (improvised explosive device) and another man who has a penchant for weed, that this was an opportunity that could not be ignored.

After stopping to fill up on gas and get a small bite to eat, Gideon finds himself too tired to drive a car and does the one thing he would not do under any other circumstance. He trusts Abortion to drive for him while he rests. Naturally, placing the trainwreck that is Abortion results in a carwreck, the two of them now finding themselves effectively lost in the cold, both injured from the crash.

They struggle onwards only to find themselves being hunted by wolves, their strength flagging. Before long, they are surrounded, an easy meal. They haven't managed to reach Asgard Hall, their destination. They are convinced that this is the end for them. Abortion saves Gideon from death before the wolves get him, leaving the former ex-army corporal soon to face his maker. However, help comes in the form of three snowmobiles with armed riders who scare off the pack and take him, the sole survivor away, away to Asgard Hall.

We then get treated to some of Gideon's backstory in the form of a flashback. We experience his family relationship (or lack thereof) because of his lifestyle. Gideon was a corporal in the British army, frequently overseas, most recently in Afghanistan. His wife became estranged as time went on, growing distant with him as did his son who really only saw his father very rarely, and more often as a mere signature on a card than in the flesh.

He comes to in a hospital ward inside Asgard Hall, under the attention of a kind older lady named Frigga. This is an anglicisation of Frigg, the Norse goddess who was wife to Odin (The "All-Father") and queen of Asgard. As might be expected of a British ex-army NCO, he laughs at the name and is unaware of the events in which he is now immersed. During his recovery, he meets Odin, who he considers eccentric and discovers the Asgard Hall has neither access to the internet nor telephones. A little more exposition is revealed as Gideon reads through the autobiography of President Lois Keener, the current president of the USA. However, as we get a glimpse into the mind of President Keener, we also begin to realise that the world may share many similar names with ours, but is by no means to be considered a mirror copy.

Following his recovery, Gideon is taken around Asgard Hall and shown Yggdrasil, the world-tree, where Odin attempts to convince Gideon as to the reality by showing him the spot where Odin had once hung himself, nailed to the tree. This is based on the origin story for the runic alphabet in Norwegian mythology. Gideon then finds himself introduced to Thor, the God of Thunder and sees for himself the army of men assembled by Odin. For what reasons he cannot fathom yet because Gideon cannot bring himself to believe what Odin is telling him. Following a brawl with Thor, despite a bum leg, Gideon is introduced to the story's love interest, Freya (the Norse goddess associated with gold, beauty, fertility and war). However, Freya has no time for him, despite his desires to the contrary.

Gideon has a brief encounter with Heimdall before going on to make friends amongst the more 'normal' personages around Asgard Hall. We are treated to a light bit of comic relief in the form of Braggi's poems before he finds himself in a brief encounter with a still very icy (pun intended) Freya as well as a strange squirrel named Ratatosk. Freya indicates that Ratatosk is a caretaker for Yggdrasil. Gideon, naturally still under the impression that the people in Asgard Hall are about as loopy as can get, decides to make an escape from the Hall on an automobile only to discover the hard way about the truth of the matter. How? By being captured by Frost Giants who aren't at all happy with his current affiliations.

His escapades only worsen as Gideon finds himself battling for his life in a duel versus a Frost Giant, however, he is rescued by a party of Einherjar, the humans battling alongside Freya. What follows is an effective opening of Gideon's eyes as he then goes along with Thor and Freya to capture trolls. However, it is here that the story begins to explain something of the world around him as Odin reveals that faith sustains them and the legends surrounding them. Odin is not the god of myth, because few people believe in him or his story enough for him to be that god anymore, and that has meant adapting to the times. We see this in the form of Sleipnir, the eight legged horse with wings that is now a Chinook helicopter by the same name. Gideon talks with Odin about God (as in the Christian concept of God) only to be told by Odin that Odin has neither met God (if he exists) nor would he believe in him (if he didn't).

It is here and later during Gideon's meeting with the Norns that the most interesting aspects of the book come to the fore, the concept of free-will and self-determination versus fate. The Norns are a trio of soothsaying sisters, for the past, present and future. Like the Greek Moirai, they state rather boldly that there is no real thing as free-will, not when they have weaved every man's fate. Although of course, the loom is every so out of date by now. Bluray DVD players ought to do the trick. However, for heroes, the future is but a buzz of static, as even the Norns, who Odin fears, cannot predict what they will do with their allotted time.

The last half of the book concerns itself with Ragnarök itself, the revelation that the true enemy of all mankind is President Lois Keener, though in truth it is Loki in the guise of President Keener. Loki, brother of Thor, is the trickster god thrown out of Asgard for his crime in arranging the death of one of his brothers (Balder). This puts a rather dark understanding of President Keener's claim that the light of God filled her one day and directed her to take control of the United States of America. She is, to all intents and purposes, a right wing religious zealot who has turned the United States into a warmongering country in her two terms of Presidency. It is when Gideon puts Lois Keener together and realises it is a play on 'Loki' that the proverbial boot finally drops.

What comes next is a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of the original Ragnarök tale. The US army attacks, unveiling giant mechanised suits, labelled Jotun (the frost giants of Viking myth) and Surt (the Norse fire demon, King of Muspelheim, the World of Fire). Following their first battle against Loki's forces, Gideon has a brief encounter with Hel, the goddess of death who has sided with her father (Loki). In desparate need of allies, the humans fighting for Odin start collecting trolls and even attempt to undergo negotiations with the Frost Giants at Utgard, the capital of Jotunheim (one of the nine worlds). To the amazement of all, he successfully manages to convince the Frost Giants that there would be a valid reason to form an alliance, unfortunately, it goes badly wrong, leaving Gideon and his squad to fight their way out. The event leaves Gideon with the suspicion that there is a traitor amongst them.

The beginning of Ragnarök is timed with the arrival of Lois Keener to the United Kingdom. She appears before the bifrost bridge (the rainbow bridge) and taunts the gods, as is rather typical of most villains. It is during this period that Gideon discovers that the gods only die at their appointed time, revealing that they are the gods of the Vikings but also gods of myth, summed up by Bragi with the phrase: "They think us, therefore we are."

From this point on is a series of battles, crafted around the lore of Ragnarök. The first major event being the arrival of Fenrir in the form of an incredibly large battle tank. Fenris of the Viking myth is a giant wolf, so large and strong that the only way the Aesir (the Viking gods) could stop him was through a trick that bound him with a ribbon. Though one of the lesser gods, Tyr, lost his arm to the wolf, leaving his sword impaled inside Fenrir's maw. Loki has produced a man-made equivalent to take Fenrir's place in the ballad. It is here that Odin dies, deep in the belly of the world-wolf.

The next major battle is the arrival of Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent. It comes in the form of a massive tunneling vehicle that begins racing towards Asgard Hall. The Jormungand of legend had breath that could kill and it is only fitting that the man-made equivalent has a tremendously powerful sonic weapon. However, the serpent is stopped by Sleipnir crashing down on its back, the helicopter leaving the other vehicle immobilised but not disarmed. Jormungand proceeds to fire its weapon at Asgard Hall, damaging the keep with such intensity that Thor charges the serpent, using his hammer to attack it. As in the legend, Thor dies after defeating Jormungand, silencing its deadly weapon.

On the heels of the death of the All-Father and his son, comes the arrival of the Frost Giants who have decided to throw their lot in with Loki (who is himself a Frost Giant). Their attacks are repelled on two separate occasions, though a mistaken attempt by some of the defenders to desert was greeted with a show of no quarter from the Frost Giants. Of Gideon's original squad of humans, only Cy and 'Backdoor.' The third attack has already signalled the beginning of the end for the Aesir and their mortal allies and before long the defenders are fighting a desparate battle within the Hall itself. Can their fate get any worse? The arrival of Nagelfar, Loki's last war machine, makes certain the defenders know it can get worse. The original Nagelfar was a ship covered entirely with finger and toe nails (like fish scales) and crewed by the dead, while the modern equivalent comes in the form of a gigantic airship armed to the teeth. The arrival of Nagelfar sees the deaths of Vali, Vidar and Tyr, the last remaining sons of Odin.

The remaining survivors find themselves trussed up in the shadow of Nagelfar, awaiting whatever penalty Loki in the guise of President Lois Keener will devise. Gideon manages to bargain with the trickster god for the freedom of the mortals with him but the price that Loki asks for is that Gideon will not make any attempt to escape and volunteer himself for the punishment Loki has in mind for him. Loki had been waiting to make a spectacle out of Gideon ever since their first meeting early in the book at Bifrost bridge where Gideon had mistakenly thought he could speed up events by shooting Loki (that was the point mentioned early where Odin stated that the gods had to die as they had been foretold by mankind to die).

With Gideon left alone in a hastily adopted cell aboard the Nagelfar he asks a last request from Loki. Two actually. The first is a brief visit from Freya with whom he had fallen in love for, and vise versa, though the stern goddess had never admitted it. The second was for the ability to punish the traitor he suspected in their ranks. Gideon had come to believe by this point that it was 'Backdoor' who had betrayed them all.

The next day, Gideon is brought out where the remaining survivors have been gathered along with the Frost Giants and a few of the US mercenary forces to witness his demise. A large and elaborate construction has been raised for his benefit. As Gideon is brought up onto the stage, the Norns appear, indicating that this is the end of Ragnarök and the future of the nine worlds was unclear. Loki, true to form, allows Gideon to have Backdoor executed in the same manner he would be and then drops the bomb that Backdoor wasn't the saboteur. The trickster revels in Gideon's anguish over sentencing an innocent man to death before revealing the true saboteur, none other than Cy. Cy begins to taunt Gideon up on the stage, revealing that Cy had been Loki's agent since the beginning. As this is going on though, Gideon spots movement from the Hall's ruined tops, a figure with a rifle is readying a shot. That figure is Heimdall, wounded by Jormungand and otherwise ignored by their enemies at the time. Loki is assasinated after Gideon buys Heimdall time by questioning Cy about his motives and goals. In the confusion, Cy escapes aboard the Nagelfar, followed closely by Gideon as the Aesir and mortals rise up to take advantage of the situation.

Gideon finds his way to the Nagelfar's bridge and murders the command crew, only to realise he had inadvertently sunk the massive airship as it required at least two men to operate. As the ship begins to crash down, aimed at Yggdrasil, the world tree, Cy and Gideon fight their final showdown. Aboard the vessel, Gideon finally defeats Cy just as the Nagelfar crashes into Yggdrasil.

He wakes to the sound of Abortion's voice coaxing him, telling him a chopper would come to rescue them from the car crash site. Recovering in hospital, Gideon is left wondering if he'd just made up the entire event in his mind, confirmed in part by the way some of the gods had made leading comments (such as Odin's reference that every death was an apocalypse on a personal scale, for every man suffers their own private Ragnarök). At least until two final things occur. The first being a news report that President Lois Keener had suffered a major stroke in the Oval Office, her cause of death being described as 'catastrophic intracranial haemorrhage' and the appearance of a squirrel that salutes him before disappearing.

And it is here that the story ends.

Food for thought:

At first glance, this book appears simply to be a high-octane military thriller. However, this book is about more than that. The Age of Odin, like James Lovegrove's other books is about the power of faith, about the quandary of fate and free-will, and ironically, about the strength of humanity.

The book has a plot which is over-the-top. The conceptual idea is fascinating, and despite all the profanity within the novel, I felt it had captured the spirit of a 'standard' British Army soldier quite well. The profanity and snarky humour works because Gideon Coxall is exactly that, a man who has 'cocked up everything' (Coxall get it?) and is left a somewhat bitter but defiant person. He's not normal in any meaningful way because of his penchant for violence which seems at odds with our understanding of today's society. 

The trouble with Age of Odin is a simple one. Gideon. Gideon is a self-admitted 'loser' in the sense that he can't manage to hold a job, can't live a civilian life nor manage to be a good father/husband. At the same time though, if he were a classical square-chinned Hero of Hollywood movies sort, this book wouldn't work, it'd be boring. It does mean though that the reader is left with the sense that Gideon had been awkwardly shoved into his various roles in the story.

That said, I find I can forgive this because Ragnarök itself originates from a massive epic that was unrealistic anyway (as is always the trend with mythological stories). There is no way to condense it without making the story itself feel rushed and disjointed. Many of Ragnarök's monsters and villains are strange and weird but again, this is to be expected. It is a shame to see Gideon adopting such an important role in the plot but again, I understand this as a narrative necessity to ensure the reader is able to experience as much of the Ragnarök tale as possible.

However, this book has a number of interesting concepts. The best of which is Gideon questioning Odin about God (as in with a capital G, the God that Christians believe in). Most books won't touch God because of how it can be percieved. Odin merely states that he has never met God, if he exists, but then goes on to state that if he didn't exist, Odin wouldn't want to believe in him. This is a bone of contention that is often missed from the Christian perspective. God is a model citizen (and Jesus too if you will). We are expected to emulate God to be better people, that is the nature of God. 

The gods of the Viking people were attributed all sorts of powers and credited for a great many things, but they were still human and this was because Aesir (Viking gods) were flawed creatures, prone to jealousy, anger, fear, selfishness as much as any mortal was. God is not human and from the Viking perspective, God was cruel. The Viking gods are not omnipotent, nor omniscient. The flaws in the world are just as much their fault as man's. God however, is both omnipotent and omniscient. Doesn't this imply that He was well aware what would happen in the Garden of Eden? On some level, does this not imply that He in fact sets man up for their fall from grace? 

The other interesting part of the book is the question on fate and free-will. Ragnarök is a very grim time for Odin and the other gods, not because they are fighting for their lives, nor because this marks the end of days. It is grim because Odin and the other gods are constructs of mankind's faith. They are gods because they were believed to be gods. Effectively, this means that they know when and how they die, but at the same time, they cannot do anything to change that. It raises the quesiton of free-will neatly. Odin indicates in the story that the Aesir came about because people believed in them long ago, he also indicates that the gods can only die at the right time and place. For Odin it was in the belly of Fenrir, for Thor is was in the jaws of Jormungand. On the one hand, they have no free-will, their fates are already known, told and written down long before the modern era, but on the other hand, they do not see themselves as lacking free-will because their characters are such that the alternative could not be considered. This can be extended to mankind. 

Free-will is predicated on the concept of having a choice, getting to determine your own fate. However, on some level, we cannot ever be truly free because there are some things our consciousness or inner character would not let us do. Classic arguments of free-will are often extreme examples such as: "If I can guide my own fate, I can, for example, choose to jump off a bridge." But we can use a less extreme example, "If I can guide my own fate, I can, for example, choose between eating a chocolate or a fruit." In my own case, I love chocolate and nine times out of ten the answer would be: the chocolate. In which case, do I have free-will? Or merely the illusion of it? I'm not being forced to take the option I want, but I do not necessarily consider that there is an option at all. 

To use an example from the book, at any point does Gideon have any free will? The Norns state that to a Hero there are any number of paths, but Gideon is a man built by the life he has lived (as demonstrated by the Norns), and so, was there really any other path than that which he chose?

The final food for thought is this concept of the strength of humanity. This book involves gods of all shapes and sizes, but is ultimately about mankind. Here, Odin has revealed that effectively, mankind is the ones who create gods, mankind fashions them in our image. The turning point of Ragnarök is not the gods themselves but the humans serving under them. When Loki needed to bring the tools of Ragnarök to bear, he did not take the real Fenrir, Jormungand or Nagelfar, he instead preferred to use their man-made mimics. To quote Shakespeare:

'All the world's a stage, 

And all the men and women merely players.'

The whole story works as a play on that concept. Ragnarök is almost literally a stage, it's a Viking myth with a set of pre-conceived events. The players on the stage (here the Aesir) have no choice regardless of how they feel, but to act out the play to its fulfilment, and on some base level, it implies that gods and devils arrange themselves for our (mankind's) sole amusement. 

Thanks for reading!

Book Review: Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein - 4thwallfly

The film left me terrified as a child, the book was nonetheless enjoyable. Welcome to the Fly on the 4th Wall where we shall review one of the 'classic' science fiction books:
Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein

Cover art copyright of James Warhola

Synopsis:
 "Join the army and see the universe! In one of Robert Heinlein's most controversial bestsellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe - and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against mankind's most alarming enemy!" - Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein [1959]

The story follows Juan Rico (or "Johnnie") through his career within the Terran Mobile Infantry from a fresh faced recruit to the veteran and officer he later becomes. His career is set against mankind's struggle with the dangerous 'Pseudo-Arachnids', a race of insectile aliens. Alien here is for once the right word, since the Pseudo-Arachnids (or "bugs") have a completely non-human existence. This does make them hard to empathise with, but the narrative tells the story only from Rico's perspective so it isn't long before the bug becomes 'the enemy' to the reader. The story is told strictly in a 'flashback' method, frequently revealing exposition of the world, society and Rico's own life, through events in his life. 

Rico lives in what would be considered a dystopian future. His world is a society where the ruling party are formed solely of "Sky Marshals" (the highest rank of the armed forces which combines the disciplines of both the Infantry and Navy). The novel mentions that to be a citizen of this future every man or woman must complete a term of service in the armed forces.
It lends itself to an almost Roman society. The Roman Empire was famous for granting land and citizenship to those who were not born Roman citizens but had undergone terms of service within the Roman army. 
However, non-citizens of the Federation do benefit from a number of rights (such as freedom of speech and political assembly), but only citizens ('veterans') were entitled to vote and hold public office.


Click below for the full synopsis (click to open/close):

The start of the book opens with Rico about to enter his first combat drop as a non-commissioned officer of the Terran Mobile Infantry aboard the Rodger Young, a corvette. He is part of Rasczak's Roughnecks, a platoon formerly headed by Lieutenant Rasczak, who is revealed to have died by this point. Rico's drop will pit him against the 'skinnies,' a race of humanoids who happen to be allied with the Pseudo-Arachnids. The platoon makes a brief and successful sortie with only a single casualty, a Dizzy Flores (who died during their retrieval).

The story then flashes back to Rico graduating high school and his decision to do Federal Service (i.e. to sign up and earn his citizenship). However, his father, a wealthy businessman objects and disowns him. This is the only section of the novel that reveals details of Rico's civilian life. He and two friends sign up, undergo physical tests before being separated. Rico ends up in the Terran Mobile Infantry.

From there, the story focuses on Rico's experiences of Camp Arthur Currie where he begins his career as a recruit. He encounters a particularly rough drill sergeant in the form of "Sergeant Zim" who turns him and the other civilian recruits into something more closely resembling soldiers. During Rico's stint in the camp a couple of notable events occur. There is the flogging of a man who struck his superior officer during a 'Freeze' training exercise and his bad conduct discharge (and this is revealed to be a blessing as the true sentence would normally have been death). Rico himself is given five lashes for negligence in a simulated exercise involving nuclear weapons that would have caused the death of one of his squad mates, while a deserter was hanged for the death of a little girl. During Rico's time in training, the world outside changes from 'peace' to a state of emergency and by the time he has graduated from the training programme, war has begun.

Despite allusions to prior police actions and border skirmishes, the 'war' is only really begun after the destruction of Buenos Aires by the Pseudo-Arachnids. It is later revealed that Rico's mother was there on holiday during the attack. Following mankind's disastrous counter-attack on Klendathu, the novel falls into detailing the routines involved in military life and Rico's relationships with his senior officers and non-commissioned officers, the war having reverted to raids similar to the one at the start of the book.

After some time, Rico decides to become a career soldier and later applies and is accepted into Officer Candidate School (on the advice of his fellows in the Roughnecks). En route to the school Sergeant Rico (as he is now) meets his father, now Corporal Rico who had volunteered following the death of Rico's mother. Despite being separated for so long the two reconcile but go their different ways.

Rico eventually is commissioned as a third lieutenant (pending final approval by his commanding officer, a Captain Blackstone) and takes part in Operation Royalty. Operation Royalty is a large scale operation designed to capture 'Brain Bugs' and/or 'Queens', the ruling castes of the Pseudo-Arachnid society. The Operation was a success though it cost Rico a great number of his men, the third lieutenant feeling he had mismanaged the men assigned to him (and therefore failed them). However, Captain Blackstone feels he had done a good job and Rico is promoted to 2nd Lieutenant.

The book ends showing Rico aboard the Rodger Young once again, serving as Captain Rico of Rico's Roughnecks as he prepares for a combat drop on Klendathu with his father, now senior NCO (non-commissioned officer).

Food for thought:
Starship Troopers is a book that skirts around fascism through most of the story. Certain topics in schools can only be taught by citizens for example (this meaning 'military veterans').
Heinlein is considered to channel much of his own personality and opinions through Dubois (Rico's teacher) and expounds heavily on the concept of violence as a necessary part of mankind's existence, though this is nothing too surprising as this was written in the 1960s, when war with the Soviet Union was a very real threat. The idea of channeling aggressive impulses into sacrifice for 'good' ideals is not entirely shocking in this respect. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson

However, the film (called the same name) attempted to satirise the underlying fascism in the book's setting through an overly obvious link to the Nazi Party. Officers in the film wore black leather trenchcoats (of the sort commonly associated with the Nazi SS), Rico and the recruits swearing the oath of allegiance wore SA uniforms (Sturmabteilung), a vaguely eagle shaped motif was selected as the Federation's logo (to represent the twin-headed eagle) and the film was cast as if it were a propaganda film with the frequent allusions to the Federation's control of broadcasting.

This does raise my final food for thought. In the film, we see the Arachnids as monsters. Giant insects who rather messily disassemble people in various ways. But perhaps that is the point of the film (and in some respects the book too). By portraying an enemy repulsive and impossible to empathise with, we the reader (and audience of the film) are drawn into supporting the 'good guys' who are the product of a fascist state.
An argument could be made that it is easy for people to support fascist principles and see it as 'good' provided we are convinced the other, the alien, is not something to be understood but an enemy to be destroyed.

And yet... we know they can be understood. The Pseudo-Arachnid was an ally of the Skinnies after all.