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daveruff's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Terribly dated military sci-fi from the 50's, it's far, far worse than Heinlein or other contemporaries, even taking out the horrible sexism and the weird politics. Just structurally bad speculative fiction, or any fiction, as the protagonist is an ubermench--literally considered a "Superman" towards the end, even walks on air briefly--where there is zero room for growth, no tension, no learning, no interest. All conflicts are solved through his super intuition that makes Ender Wiggins look like a buffoon.
pjonsson's review against another edition
2.0
This book caught my interest because it was said that it, together with Starship Troopers, is considered as a classic that are responsible for the rise of military science fiction. Well, for Starship Troopers I can perhaps understand such a statement. For this one, not so much. Actually, to me, this was a rather mediocre book.
The book tells the story of Donald Graeme as he becomes a rising star as a military expert (genius) and mercenary from the planet Dorsai, renowned for “breeding” the best military personnel in the galaxy. Sounded pretty okay to me.
Unfortunately the book does not exactly impress me. First of all it does not really feel like a book with a single coherent story from start to finish but rather as a sequence of loosely connected episodes. For most of the book there was really not any real development of neither story nor character, it just went from one assignment to another which, of course, Donal managed with apparent ease.
Second, for being considered as being cause of the rise of military science fiction there was not really that much hard code military material and a lot of it was naïve and nonsensical. It was rather apparent that the author hade little to zero military knowledge.
When not solving his “military” assignments with one hand behind his back Donal mostly engaged in various political and philosophical discussions. I cannot say that much of it felt very engaging. As I wrote before, the whole the book mostly felt like a string of rather superficial short stories.
This is not a series that I will continue reading.
The book tells the story of Donald Graeme as he becomes a rising star as a military expert (genius) and mercenary from the planet Dorsai, renowned for “breeding” the best military personnel in the galaxy. Sounded pretty okay to me.
Unfortunately the book does not exactly impress me. First of all it does not really feel like a book with a single coherent story from start to finish but rather as a sequence of loosely connected episodes. For most of the book there was really not any real development of neither story nor character, it just went from one assignment to another which, of course, Donal managed with apparent ease.
Second, for being considered as being cause of the rise of military science fiction there was not really that much hard code military material and a lot of it was naïve and nonsensical. It was rather apparent that the author hade little to zero military knowledge.
When not solving his “military” assignments with one hand behind his back Donal mostly engaged in various political and philosophical discussions. I cannot say that much of it felt very engaging. As I wrote before, the whole the book mostly felt like a string of rather superficial short stories.
This is not a series that I will continue reading.
sirlancelot2021's review
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
fbone's review
2.0
This book doesn't hold up well. To me it seems more like a 1950s comic book with short stories, little action, and lots of dialogue. A little philosophy was thrown in. I was waiting for the lesson the author teaches the reader, the moral of the story. Anything thought-provoking but came up empty.
rgrove's review
2.0
Military science fiction has been around since the pulp era in the 30's. It is one of the sub-genres that is having a renaissance in today's science fiction market. It's easy to see why military action paired with science fiction world be so popular: that sense of adventure and danger that comes with military stories fits well with the exploration of space and encounters with alien worlds and races.
Great military science fiction that is doesn't over-emphasize battles and heroism is hard to find however. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman comes to mind. Alas, most writers tend to follow the formula created by Heinlein with is extremely popular Starship Troopers. I say alas because political baggage and macho posturings mar Heinleins model.
Such is the case with Dorsai. Not only is the story so overly macho, with posturing males and military heroes, but it is filled with stereotypes that almost make you laugh. The parody film adaptation of Starship Troopers is a good example, but without the parody. Dickson appears to be a true believer in what he writes about. Today we'd call his novel right-wing scifi which glorifies the John Wayne approach to war stories. I find it all boring and off putting. We've seen these type of characters and situations a hundred times. Dorsai is entirely predictable from the opening chapter to the heroic (of course) ending.
I suppose there are readers for this kind of novel. I'm just not one of them. I prefer something that is more imaginative and doesn't succumb to gender stereotypes and dominating male posturing.
Great military science fiction that is doesn't over-emphasize battles and heroism is hard to find however. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman comes to mind. Alas, most writers tend to follow the formula created by Heinlein with is extremely popular Starship Troopers. I say alas because political baggage and macho posturings mar Heinleins model.
Such is the case with Dorsai. Not only is the story so overly macho, with posturing males and military heroes, but it is filled with stereotypes that almost make you laugh. The parody film adaptation of Starship Troopers is a good example, but without the parody. Dickson appears to be a true believer in what he writes about. Today we'd call his novel right-wing scifi which glorifies the John Wayne approach to war stories. I find it all boring and off putting. We've seen these type of characters and situations a hundred times. Dorsai is entirely predictable from the opening chapter to the heroic (of course) ending.
I suppose there are readers for this kind of novel. I'm just not one of them. I prefer something that is more imaginative and doesn't succumb to gender stereotypes and dominating male posturing.
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