Legend of the Galactic Heroes

About

1-Sentence Summary

LOTGH tells the story of a galactic conflict between two superpowers: the Galactic Empire, an absolute monarchy modeled after 19th-century Prussia that's rotting from the inside out, and the Free Planets Alliance, a nominal democracy that's losing sight of its democratic values.

Reflections

I really like the story and love (!) the world building. Very realistic in its progression and despite being an older release, it does hold up in terms of its sci-fi elements. For a space opera about galactic warfare, the books actually focus more on politics and military strategy instead of action. It also presents the story in a very "history book"-like manner. This results in some spoilers on who wins certain conflicts before battles unfold (kind of like when you read a history book on WW2 and the book expects you to already know who won the war). I personally don't mind this and I actually enjoy some of the post-war commentaries by side-characters and fictional historians that are sprinkled into the story and that put what happens into perspective. There is, for example, an admiral in the Galactic Empire that's rarely involved in what's going on, but you're still aware of him, because of his post-war commentaries and memoires, often cited throughout the story.
Another thing I enjoyed were the occasional German words that are used in context of the Galactic Empire (I just didn't expect to read words like 'Kaffeeklatsch', 'Reichsbank' or 'Graf/Gräfin' in an English release).

My Favourite Quotes

Narrator:

"In every age, in every place, the deeds of man remain the same."

Yang Wen-li (Free Planets Alliance):

"The 'freedom not to get involved'. It's perhaps the most valued freedom we have in this country."

"The Empire, with a few nobles ruling the masses, is bad government. The Alliance, with a government chosen by the people, is badly governed. Which one do you think is wrong?"

"Everyone has to display a certain loyalty to their paycheck. I was the same way. It isn't just a piece of paper, but a chain that binds people."

Alexander Bucock (Free Planets Alliance):

"The collapse of a government is the sin of its rulers and leaders. The collapse of democratic rule is the sin of every citizen!"

Reinhard von Lohengramm (Galactic Empire):

"Something that's supposed to die and doesn't... will eventually rot away, whether it's a man or a nation."

"There is great satisfaction in fighting for the sake of gaining power, but it is joyless to fight for the sake of maintaining it."

"Those who don't insist on their rights act as accomplices when the rights of others are taken away."

Oskar von Reuenthal (Galactic Empire):

"Regardless of the colour of eyes or skin, the colour of blood is the same for everyone, isn't it?"