Reviews

Dorsai Spirit: Dorsai!/The Spirit of Dorsai by Gordon R. Dickson, David Drake

tstevens3's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

gabrielrobartes's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

"Interesting scrapings from the barrel"

canadajanes's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I didn't hate it. Two fairly interesting sci-fi stories that didn't feel very related.

smiorganbaldhead's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I loved these stories. The first story, Amanda Morgan, ties in closely with the end of Tactics of Mistake. Amanda herself is an interesting character, and a notably unconventional protagonist for this type of story (essentially Red Dawn in Space) as an elderly woman. She is not the cartoon action hero, but rather physically frail. This fact highlights the story's theme about the importance of moral strength over physical strength.

Brothers ties into important events in Dorsai and Soldier, Ask Not. The focus (but not the POV) here is Ian Graeme and his reaction to great personal loss. I loved this exploration of his character, and how he exemplifies another aspect of the spirit of Dorsai of the book's title.

This is my favorite of the Childe Cycle since the first book, Dorsai. It also enhances the books it ties into. It's probably not the place to start with this series, but if you've read the earlier Childe Cycle books, definitely pick this one up as well.

mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

What a long setup. I don't know that I've ever read this series straight through in order. I remember bits. I certainly remembered the first story here Amanda Morgan concerning the defense of the Dorsai planet. It was nice to finally see female characters taking a major active role with the implication that they always had. The second story Brothers concerning the death of Kensie Graeme I had not remembered. And I didn't like it all that much until near the end. And the whole book came together and I realized how much it was trying to set the stage for the end of the series. I wasn't all that impressed with the art, though it was fine. In some ways this book wouldn't be a bad starting point for the series. And on to the next.

katmarhan's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

9/10
An interesting interlude that retells the events surrounding the death of Kensie Graeme and the attack on Dorsai by Dow deCastries from a different point of view than in the earlier novels. And the listener is Hal Mayne from the Final Encyclopedia, a poet who apparently is much more, and about whom I expect to read more in the rest of the Childe Cycle.

oleksandr's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This is a first volume of quite lengthy (10 volumes, 50+ years in writing) mil-SF series. I decided to read this book because it was nominated for Hugo for the Best Novel in 1960, losing to [a:Robert A. Heinlein|205|Robert A. Heinlein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192826560p2/205.jpg]’s [b:Starship Troopers|17214|Starship Troopers|Robert A. Heinlein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614054412l/17214._SY75_.jpg|2534973].

The story is set several centuries into future, with mankind spreading over 14 star systems, each system with one type of society, a usual trope in SF. One of the worlds is Dorsai, Sparta-like libertarian society that supplies best mercenary warriors to the rest of the worlds. The story follows Donal Graeme is Dorsai, a young man (story starts when he is 18 years old, getting his first assignment to the worlds beyond), born of Dorsai parents, but with some mixture of so-called Exotics, a society of gene-modding humans from The Exotics were two planets full of strange people, judged by the standards of the rest of the human race—some of whom went so far as to wonder if the inhabitants of Mara and Kultis had developed wholly and uniquely out of the human race, after all. This, however, was speculation half in humor and half in superstition. In truth, they were human enough.

As story goes, he meets a strange extremely rich and powerful man, William, Prince, and Chairman of the Board of that very commercial planet Ceta, one of ‘behind the curtain’ rulers of the world, and his entourage, a young female Exotic Anea Marlivana and depressed man from Newton - ArDell Montor, a specialist in social dynamics. Donal intuitively feels that William is very wise and dangerous. Intuition plays a paramount role in the story, for the hero has a stellar military career because he sees what other don’t due to his gift.

The story reminded me a great deal of [b:Dune|44767458|Dune (Dune, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555447414l/44767458._SY75_.jpg|3634639]. It was written earlier, and I can guess that [a:Frank Herbert|58|Frank Herbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591018335p2/58.jpg] has read it when he thought over his masterpiece. In this book there are no desert planets, worms or spice, but there is an idea of superman as the next evolutionary step, but instead of Bene Gesserit it is brought by Exotics, who also err in their calculations. The hero as well doesn’t want to be a leader and messiah… even simplification of weapons is similar – here soldiers have a handgun and knife in addition to his regular armament; but they were infantry, spring-rifle men. Weapon for weapon, any thug in the back alley of a large city had more, and more modern firepower; but the trick with modern warfare was not to outgun the enemy, but carry weapons he could not gimmick. Chemical and radiation armament was too easily put out of action from a distance. - Quite similar to Nukes and blades in Dune. ArDell Montor may be (one of several) inspiration for Mentats, wise but socially inept.

While the story is interesting, the prose is rather weak, the military part (for me) was less interesting that e.g. humility in gene manipulation: could a congress of gorillas, gathered to plan the breeding of the supergorilla, plan a human being? Discard the line of development of mightier muscles, stronger and longer teeth, greater specialization to master their tropical environment?


rpbperry's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

It had been a long time since I last read this book, the first book in Dickson's "Childe Cycle", and it was a pleasure to do so. In my opinion Gordon R. Dickson has not received much recognition outside of a core fan base in the Sci-Fi community, not in the same way that Clarke, or Herbert, or Heinlein, or Asimov have -- and that may actually be a good thing. I shudder to think how these classics could suffer from misdirected popularity.

Dorsai! is a great beginning for a far-reaching foundational series, and a great stand-alone science fiction novel in its own right. Follow the progress and development of Donal Graeme from lowly Cadet to a position of prominence among the known planetary systems, and discover along with our protagonist his many hidden talents. It's an action book, but with a constant undercurrent of Dickson's vision of humanity always running through it. Recommended reading for Sci-Fi and military buffs alike.

bookcrazylady45's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

As good as I remembered but not amazing :-) Yes, Donal was odd. Way back when it was enough to launch me into buying the series and that says it all. I used to write the date I first read a book on the inside front cover. January 8, 1977 and my name and phone number.

bookcrazylady45's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

First Amanda defending Dorsai for Cletus. Second Amanda in love with Ian, detailed story of Kenzie's death. Hal M. asks third Amanda to come to the Final Encyclopedia. Easy reading and nice fill in of previous stories.