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bsparks2112's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I liked this anthology for its variety and the multiple perspectives on a shared theme that the stories here offer. As these tend to go for me, I found that it had its up and downs, depending on how well I got on with the particular authorial voice of each story; some really made an impression on me, while others were just kind of there. I didn't outright dislike any of them, though. As a collection of meditations on the psychological cost of war and violence, it's pretty effective, and even moreso when considering the impact of rapidly-changing technological and societal factors as the stories reach into their own speculative futures. A lot of these get into pretty dark territory, although all things considered, it's maybe not as violent or action-packed as you might imagine, with some pieces having more of a ruminative quality. But despite the ups and downs, it averages out into a solid collection that anyone with a passing interest in military sci-fi should be able to get something out of.
morgandhu's review
4.0
One of the many contradictions in my life is that I am somewhat of a pacifist (short version: only violence as a last-option self-defense response) who sometimes enjoys reading milsff - both the fantasy/historical fantasy type and the harder science fiction type.
Most of my favourite milsff has been written by women, and some of it has been milsff that is deeply critical of war and its consequences. One such author is Karin Lowachee, whose military sf trilogy (Warchild, Cagebird, Burndive) is a powerful examination of the phenomenon of the child soldier.
In fact, it was Lowachee's name in the ToC of the milsff anthology War Stories: New Military Science Fiction, edited by Jaym Gates and Andrew Liptak, that made me decide to read it. And I am glad I did, because this is a collection of very good war stories, told with an awareness of the costs and consequences of war.
War Stories is a crowd-funded anthology, published by Apex. Part of the project description from the Kickstarter page says:
"War Stories isn't an anthology of bug hunts and unabashed jingoism. It's a look at the people ordered into impossible situations, asked to do the unthinkable, and those unable to escape from hell. It's stories of courage under fire, and about the difficulties in making decisions that we normally would never make. It's about what happens when the shooting stops, and before any trigger is ever pulled."
The anthology opens with the award-winning story Graves by Joe Haldeman, which serves as a kind of theme piece for the remainder of the book. Haldeman, himself a veteran of the American military involvement in Vietnam, tells a story about an American Vietnam vet whose job was to collect and process the bodies of fallen American soldiers for return to the U.S., and the circumstances of one particular incident that has lived on in his nightmares for 20 years.
The other stories are divided into four themed sections - Wartime Systems, Combat, Armored Force and Aftermath. What binds them all together is a focus on the characters, their motivations for and reactions to those impossible, unthinkable, inescapable situations. The stories are told from varied perspectives - front-line warriors and support personnel, officers and grunts and solitary specialists, victors and vanquished, participants and civilians, the occupied and the occupiers, those who came home and those who did not (and those who, having come hone, could not stay), those who went to war and those who waited behind. And all written with clarity and power.
saphirablue's review
4.0
As always with anthologies - there are some stories I love, some I didn't like and some that I like/are okay.
I really liked that the stories are separated into themes. I personally love the stories in the "Armored Force" and "Aftermath" sections the most but some of the stories in the other sections are also incredible.
I really, really love that there are so many different/diverse characters and backgrounds. There are female and male soldiers. There are near future to distant future stories. Same-sex and opposite-sex couples (and even stories without lovestory/couples). Stories set on Earth and on distant planets. There are white and non-white characters. Stories in which it is easy to tell if you are reading about the "bad guys" or the "good guys" and stories in which it is not to tell at all. Stories that are perfect just the way they are and stories that make you long for more. There are stories that scare you because they could happen in reality and stories that scare you because you are reading a good science fiction story.
I love that sometimes "war" doesn't mean battles and firefights and so on. War can also be something happening on a computer screen or in your head/mind/feelings. War impacts everyone on a different level and just because someone doesn't have visible scars doesn't mean that they aren't there.
Some of these stories will stay with me for a while.
I really liked that the stories are separated into themes. I personally love the stories in the "Armored Force" and "Aftermath" sections the most but some of the stories in the other sections are also incredible.
I really, really love that there are so many different/diverse characters and backgrounds. There are female and male soldiers. There are near future to distant future stories. Same-sex and opposite-sex couples (and even stories without lovestory/couples). Stories set on Earth and on distant planets. There are white and non-white characters. Stories in which it is easy to tell if you are reading about the "bad guys" or the "good guys" and stories in which it is not to tell at all. Stories that are perfect just the way they are and stories that make you long for more. There are stories that scare you because they could happen in reality and stories that scare you because you are reading a good science fiction story.
I love that sometimes "war" doesn't mean battles and firefights and so on. War can also be something happening on a computer screen or in your head/mind/feelings. War impacts everyone on a different level and just because someone doesn't have visible scars doesn't mean that they aren't there.
Some of these stories will stay with me for a while.
conalo's review
4.0
War Stories is a group of well written short stories that are all related in some way to War or related activities. There are stories within that should appeal to many fans of this genre, including several that I would love to read additional stories or novels about. As in most collections, you will find some stories that appeal to you more than others and this is the case as I made my way through this. I especially enjoyed Light and Shadow by Linda Nagata, In the Loop by Ken Liu and Suits by James L. Sutter but they were certainly not the only enjoyable material in this collection.
4 Stars for enjoyable reads and perfectly suited for any fan of the military or military SF genres.
4 Stars for enjoyable reads and perfectly suited for any fan of the military or military SF genres.
jameskemp's review
5.0
I really loved this fantastic collection of short stories. They are well laid out with a set of general themes, and they cover a wide range of perspectives and points of view.
What first attracted me to this was that there was a short story by [a:Linda Nagata|578581|Linda Nagata|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1293931881p2/578581.jpg] set in the same universe as her [b:The Red: First Light|17605440|First Light (The Red #1)|Linda Nagata|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363059827s/17605440.jpg|24561453] novel. I'd enjoyed that so much that I was keen to read more, hence funding the kickstarter.
Having read it I think I'll need to go look up some more of those authors and add them to my reading list. Not one of the stories in the collection seemed like it didn't belong there, and all of them had something novel and engaging about them.
Themes covered were wider than I would have expected as well. From memory these included dealing with the aftermath, deliberate commission of genocide, post-traumatic stress, genetic enhancement of people conscripted, wars fought at a distance with the civilian population at home unaware. Also the last one, which I only read on the way into work this morning was about cyber warfare, which I thought was particularly inspired, because it had a heavy psychological element.
Also many of the stories passed the Bechdel test, there were many female characters (perhaps even a majority of leads, but I haven't counted) and also a fair number of orientations and preferences on show. A handful of characters were identified as from ethnic minorities, and a fair number of others were ambiguous in that regard. So anyone looking for fiction that represents the population at large (and not purely the white male perspective) might find this worth a look on that respect. Although the excellent quality of the fiction should be enough on its own.
Overall I'd recommend this very highly to anyone that enjoys speculative fiction or military stories.
What first attracted me to this was that there was a short story by [a:Linda Nagata|578581|Linda Nagata|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1293931881p2/578581.jpg] set in the same universe as her [b:The Red: First Light|17605440|First Light (The Red #1)|Linda Nagata|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363059827s/17605440.jpg|24561453] novel. I'd enjoyed that so much that I was keen to read more, hence funding the kickstarter.
Having read it I think I'll need to go look up some more of those authors and add them to my reading list. Not one of the stories in the collection seemed like it didn't belong there, and all of them had something novel and engaging about them.
Themes covered were wider than I would have expected as well. From memory these included dealing with the aftermath, deliberate commission of genocide, post-traumatic stress, genetic enhancement of people conscripted, wars fought at a distance with the civilian population at home unaware. Also the last one, which I only read on the way into work this morning was about cyber warfare, which I thought was particularly inspired, because it had a heavy psychological element.
Also many of the stories passed the Bechdel test, there were many female characters (perhaps even a majority of leads, but I haven't counted) and also a fair number of orientations and preferences on show. A handful of characters were identified as from ethnic minorities, and a fair number of others were ambiguous in that regard. So anyone looking for fiction that represents the population at large (and not purely the white male perspective) might find this worth a look on that respect. Although the excellent quality of the fiction should be enough on its own.
Overall I'd recommend this very highly to anyone that enjoys speculative fiction or military stories.
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