Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century [Paperback]

Harry Turtledove (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Explosive and provocative battles fought across the boundaries of time and space--and on the frontiers of the human mind.

Science fiction's finest have yielded this definitive collection featuring stories of warfare, victory, conquest, heroism, and overwhelming odds. These are scenarios few have ever dared to contemplate, and they include:

¸  "Superiority": Arthur C. Clarke presents an intergalactic war in which one side's own advanced weaponry may actually lead to its ultimate defeat.
¸  "Dragonrider": A tale of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, in which magic tips the scales of survival.
¸  "Second Variety": Philip K. Dick, author of the short story that became the movie Blade Runner, reaches new heights of terror with his post apocalyptic vision of the future.
¸  "The Night of the Vampyres": A chilling ultimatum of atomic proportions begins a countdown to disaster in George R. R. Martin's gripping drama.
¸  "Hero": Joe Haldeman's short story that led to his classic of interstellar combat, The Forever War.
¸  "Ender's Game": The short story that gave birth to Orson Scott Card's masterpiece of military science fiction.
. . . as well as stories from Poul Anderson o Gregory Benford o C. J. Cherryh o David Drake o Cordwainer Smith o Harry Turtledove o and Walter John Williams

Guaranteed to spark the imagination and thrill the soul, these thirteen science fiction gems cast a stark light on our dreams and our darkest fears--truly among the finest tales of the 20th century.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's not merely a task that's thankless--it's impossible. How can you hope to pick out the best of anything, let alone from such a contentious category as SF (and military SF, at that)? But this 13-story collection really does pull together at least some of the best short stories penned for the genre in the last century. Thanks to editors Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg, you'll find some of science fiction's biggest names--and most influential shorts--in this expertly chosen anthology.

Chronologically, the entries range from '50s pieces like Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety" and Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority" to more modern ruminations on war like "The Scapegoat" by C.J. Cherryh and "To the Storming Gulf" by Gregory Benford. But rather than quality (all these stories are of inarguable pedigree) or even breadth, what might recommend these most to readers new to them are the ideas and other works they later inspired: Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonrider" and Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" both gave rise to phenomenally successful series, Joe W. Haldeman's "Hero" preceded The Forever War, and Philip K. Dick's "Second Variety" became the SF thriller Screamers. The collection also gives you a glimpse of what dark thoughts were rattling around the heads of prolific writers like David Drake and George R.R. Martin in the '70s. --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century, edited by Harry Turtledove with Martin H. Greenberg, musters 13 tales by such top brass of this popular subgenre as Orson Scott Card, David Drake, George R.R. Martin, Arthur C. Clarke and editor Turtledove, who provides an introduction. SF military addicts won't need a direct order to seize a copy of this one.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345439899
• ISBN-13: 978-0345439895
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not military, sometimes not even scifi., August 1, 2007

By 

XSiberia (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century (Paperback)

Don't judge a book by it's cover is an aphorism that cuts both ways. I was fooled by the graphics on this one, but I hope you won't be. The book is edited and introduced by Harry Turtledove, an excellent author is his own field. Unfortunately, that field has more to do with alternate history and far less to do with military combat: gripping or otherwise.

The introduction itself is an excellent survey of the genre: highlighting the notable contributions to this corpus by such authors as Heinlen, Pournelle, Drake, Card and Webber. I have the feeling, however, that to make the list you largely had to have several credits to your name. One hit wonders such as John Steakley's "Armor" don't make the cut, although neither is David Feintuch's "Seafort Saga" to be found.

The stories themselves are varied, but rely mostly upon a military backdrop for a more pedestrian space-opera tale. There are a few exceptions. David Drakes's "Hangman" is a treatment of tank combat and "Ender's Game" presents Card's classic story in its short form. Halderman's "Hero" is also presented as the short-story that gave birth to "The Forever War." However, if you buy this book you've probably read "The Forever War," in which case you've wasted some cash as "Hero" is merely the opening chapters of the larger tome.

Turtledove's own contribution, "The Last Article" is an excellent example of the nature of this anthology. It is an alternate history story wherein the Germans are winning World War II. Somehow we must assume that this makes the story "scifi." The only combat that occurs is between German soldiers and unarmed civilians engaged in passive resistance. But, since there are guns involved, I must suppose that this is why it is considered "military."

The strangest inclusion is actually the one given the most space: a hundred+ page novella by Anne McCaffrey set in her Pern universe. Although the story is about dragon riders who write in ink on hide dried hide skins and who never engage in a single military act, this has been included apparently because a long, long time ago these people were 'space colonists' and because the story's 'bad-guy' is a meteor shower. Perhaps an excellent addition to her canon, but here it seems to have little purpose but to sell copies with a powerful name.

In conclusion, none of these stories were bad. In fact, they were all quite good judged in their own right. But judged by the standard of military science fiction they almost universally fall short of the mark. This is a dud that appeals to you with powerful industry names and a nice cover. Don't be fooled.

Those looking for superior offerings would be wise to cull the science fiction works from the Marine Corps (or Navy) recommended reading lists.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe not all the "Best," but still quite good., February 21, 2002

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century (Paperback)

"The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century" contains 13 stories spread out over 544 pages of text. At least two of them, Joe Haldeman's "Hero" and Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" were later expanded into full length novels. Editor Harry Turtledove's "The Last Article" falls more into the "Alternate History" category (a volume of which he also recently edited), but the saga of Ghandi's attempt to free his native India from Nazi occupation is still quite compelling. Superbly chilling is Phillip K. Dick's, "Second Variety," and its scary post-apocalyptic battlefield. One can see that this is where the idea for the "Terminator" movies came from.

The rest are more of a mixed bag. Gregory Benford's "To the Storming Gulf" is a decent post nuclear war saga, while Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority" is an excellent philisophical war story. Some of the others are less compelling. Anne McCaffrey's novella "Dragonrider," for example, takes up over 100 pages, and is more of a fantasy story than military science fiction.

Overall, this is a decent collection, worthwhile for fans of these types of stories. I would recommend it with the caveat that you can skip over any of the tales that are not to your taste.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good collection, December 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century (Paperback)

This is a good collection containing many of the important stories from this field. If you're new to SF this book will serve you well. If you're a long time reader (like me) then you're probably already familiar with many of these classic stories like Second Variety, Haldeman's Forever War, Ender's Game, Scapegoat. Still even I got something out of the book. Some of the stories I didn't know before helped me to make up my mind that I don't want to read anything else from their authors. :)