Lost Dorsai (Childe Cycle) [Mass Market Paperback]

Gordon R. Dickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1993 | Series: Childe Cycle

There are many legends on the planet of the Dorsai, the breeding ground for heroes. Here are two of them.

Lost Dorsai: The New Dorsai Companion contains the Hugo Award winning novella, Lost Dorsai, and Dickson's classic short story "Warrior."

Plus, the New Dorsai Companion contains, for the first time ever, an all new Concordance of the Childe Cycle--a roadmap of Dickson's massive and brilliant creation. The Concordance will let you know not only in which books or stories a person or place is mentioned, but will give you a brief history or biography that explains their significance in the Cycle. It's a Who's Who of the future--and no science fiction reader should be without it.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gordon R. Dickson was the Hugo- and Nebula-winning author of many classics of fantasy and science fiction, most famously the Childe Cycle (also known as the Dorsai series). He died in 2001.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (June 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812504046
• ISBN-13: 978-0812504040
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #325,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly entertaining addition, but not required reading, July 22, 2003

By 

Michael Battaglia - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lost Dorsai (Childe Cycle) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like "The Spirit of Dorsai" before, this volume fills in some elements of the overall Cycle and gives us some insight into some of the smaller details, but if you skip it you really won't be missing out on too much when you consider the overall picture. Basically this is two stories, one fairly long and the other fairly short. The first one "Lost Dorsai" is actually quite good, showing the flipside of the Dorsai philosophy, about a warrior who refuses to fight, but Dickson makes the interesting argument that being a Dorsai isn't a switch you can flip on and off and sometimes having to fight doesn't mean you need to use weapons. It's one of the best written portions of the series and even if it has little bearing on the rest of the books, the book is worth the read just for that story. Also, the tale finally delves into the relationship between the famous Graeme twins, Ian and Kensie. In other reviews I've pointed out that Dickson almost milks the brother Ian to death, showing us how he suffered in the wake of his brother's death, without really showing us what he was like while Kensie was still alive. Finally we get a story that not only has both of them alive but working together and while they are still kept at arm's length to some extent, it's a better look than we've had before and more than welcome. I doubt they'll be anymore Ian/Kensie stories but this one was just about what I was looking for. The other story in the book "Warrior" mostly showcases Ian (again, before his brother died, so while he's gloomy, he's not the epitome of death he would become later) going about his duty and dispensing some justice. It's good insight into the way his mind works, although it relies too heavily on a lot of weird things happening and Ian going, "Well I planned for all of that to happen" which is a rather annoying Dorsai trait. I do have to admit his plan is clever and shows some good insight into human psychology. So while it's not essential at all, it's an entertaining way to spend a half hour or so (that's all it took me to read that story). The illustrations that accompany the first story are also interesting, and help set the mood without literally depicting what's going on on the page. My version also has a medium size essay by a SF critic that is mostly gushing praise (some of it deserved, though at points it gets a little much) but also makes an attempt to bring up themes and such in the Cycle that even Dickson might not have originally envisioned. Oh, it also has an excerpt of "The Final Encyclopedia" but I'd rather just read the book itself. So overall, like I said, it colors in some of the lines of the series and showcases those always entertaining Graeme twins, but as far as the main thrust of the book is concerned, it's not exactly essential. That doesn't mean it isn't good (it is) but don't expect any major revelations or twists. That's all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very different Dorsai book, March 27, 2010

By 

Terrence N. Tallman (Whidbey Island, Washington State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lost Dorsai (Childe Cycle) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you are working your way through Dickson a must read. But stands on it's own too although the main Dorsai characters have been in a number of books in teh series.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad for a dollar, April 12, 2005

By 

Donal Fagan (Baltimore MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lost Dorsai (Childe Cycle) (Mass Market Paperback)

In short, the novella Lost Dorsai was gripping and believable, but the short story Warrior was too vengeful and the plot was too hard to swallow. Lost Dorsai and Warrior were the first two for me, but apparently Dickson wrote several of these Childe Cycle stories. The absence of fantasy and magic reminds me of SciFi I read, and liked, in the 60s. Warrior is dated 1965, while Lost Dorsai is dated 1980.

But unlike, say, the grunts of Starship Troopers, the Dorsai are military savants who are too superior to be seriously challenged by their opponents. Dickson writes them into situations where they are overwhelmingly opposed, but they are still somehow in control. But even though they are very close to being comic book superheroes, in Lost Dorsai they have a certain dignity and restraint that makes it all sort of work. In Warrior, I couldn't sympathize with the "mission."