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falderol's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
4.0
jmoses's review
3.0
Eh. A couple good stories, the rest mildly entertaining. And I'm sorry, Pern *isn't* sci-fi. Not even a little.
lizabethstucker's review
4.0
This is a collection of short stories, edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg. It contains the best of the best in military-centric hard science fiction short stories. I'm in the middle of reading this one, so this will be more than one posting. The listing of authors are a who's who in this SF sub-genre: Poul Anderson, Philip K. Dick, Joe W. Haldeman, Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card (his Ender's Game, the short story that started a book series), David Drake (a story from his Hammer's Slammers universe), Harry Turtledove, Cordwainer Smith, George R. R. Martin, Gregory Benford, Walter Jon Williams, C.J. Cherryh, and the wonderful Anne McCaffrey (a short story from her Pern series).
I'm about half-way through the collection and loving it. I was never a reader of hard science fiction, although I found myself watching that in my movies and television series. But when I did play with hard sci-fi, it was usually Space Opera, not military. Therefore it came as a shock when I first discovered David Weber's Honor Harrington series. It is pure military sci-fi and as engrossing as hell. Check it out, again, read it from the beginning. It works better that way.
One of my favorites in this collection was Ender's Game. It is a disturbing short story that later evolved into a book and from there a series of books. I haven't read anything other than this short story, but I think I will try the book. The basic premise, for those who haven't read it, is that a long war has decimated the young men who are usually fighting. Desperate, the Powers-That-Be take children with a potential for strategy and train them for war in space. One particular child, nicknamed Ender, seems to have that talent and is considered one of the best at the war games despite the fact that he is only 11 years old and has been doing it since he was 6. It has a twist ending that you have to read to believe, but believe you will.
It was also my first time reading in David Drake's Hammer's Slammers series, about mercenaries. It wasn't a pleasant story, but it was engrossing. I don't know whether I'll try for this series or not. I prefer my soldiers to be somewhat heroic, even if they are mercenaries. However, there was a reality to the actions taken. Perhaps I don't care for that much reality in my stories.
Well, I've finished this collection of short stories (some not so short) and would definitely say that it was a worthwhile purchase. My absolute favorite story would have to be The Scapegoat by C. J. Cherryh, but I wish published fiction did what fanfiction does, give a hankie warning at the beginning. I cried buckets at the end of this story. This one alone was worth the purchase, but there were some really fantastic stories here, many by writers that I've never tried before. Night of the Vampyres by George R. R. Martin had this child of the 1960s remembering another time and place with his fine mix of paranoia and reality.
Even if you've never considered reading military sci-fi, try this book out. It truly gives you a glimpse into the many ways that this sub-genre can be handled, from gung-ho to fascist to sad to heroic.
I'm about half-way through the collection and loving it. I was never a reader of hard science fiction, although I found myself watching that in my movies and television series. But when I did play with hard sci-fi, it was usually Space Opera, not military. Therefore it came as a shock when I first discovered David Weber's Honor Harrington series. It is pure military sci-fi and as engrossing as hell. Check it out, again, read it from the beginning. It works better that way.
One of my favorites in this collection was Ender's Game. It is a disturbing short story that later evolved into a book and from there a series of books. I haven't read anything other than this short story, but I think I will try the book. The basic premise, for those who haven't read it, is that a long war has decimated the young men who are usually fighting. Desperate, the Powers-That-Be take children with a potential for strategy and train them for war in space. One particular child, nicknamed Ender, seems to have that talent and is considered one of the best at the war games despite the fact that he is only 11 years old and has been doing it since he was 6. It has a twist ending that you have to read to believe, but believe you will.
It was also my first time reading in David Drake's Hammer's Slammers series, about mercenaries. It wasn't a pleasant story, but it was engrossing. I don't know whether I'll try for this series or not. I prefer my soldiers to be somewhat heroic, even if they are mercenaries. However, there was a reality to the actions taken. Perhaps I don't care for that much reality in my stories.
Well, I've finished this collection of short stories (some not so short) and would definitely say that it was a worthwhile purchase. My absolute favorite story would have to be The Scapegoat by C. J. Cherryh, but I wish published fiction did what fanfiction does, give a hankie warning at the beginning. I cried buckets at the end of this story. This one alone was worth the purchase, but there were some really fantastic stories here, many by writers that I've never tried before. Night of the Vampyres by George R. R. Martin had this child of the 1960s remembering another time and place with his fine mix of paranoia and reality.
Even if you've never considered reading military sci-fi, try this book out. It truly gives you a glimpse into the many ways that this sub-genre can be handled, from gung-ho to fascist to sad to heroic.
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