Customer Reviews

The Sharp End

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Drake's work is more subtle than a first reading would suggest. If you were to read just one Hammer story, or one Belisarius, you might think he was rubbing your nose in the blood and gore like so many of today's movies do, just to get a gut reaction and celebrate the carnage. However if you read the books a second, and a third time, and reflect on some of our recent history, you begin to understand that while the characters entertain the background of blood and gore reflects the brutal reality of human conflict the characters must act in, and survive. War is ugly. The characters that evolve and survive are forever affected by this ugliness. A tremendous amount of history is created in conflict. We are a product of that history and that brutality - David Drake wants to make sure we remember that and that we don't forget the human nature of the people who undertake the most brutal of human occupations. I would recommend his books to anyone who wants to serve their country, or who wants to be responsible for sending sons and daughters to war. There is a rough side to that business, and David Drake does an excellent job of reminding us of the ugly, the profound - and most of all the human sides of war. And,
it's a rollicking good read!

The Sharp End is an absolute classic. It had believable
characters, a fast paced and well thought out story, and it's a
reflection of the Slammers at its height. Heroes are -men-,
and not a conglomeration of ideals.

If you want military action, adventure, and an attention to
detail that could only come from someone who's been there,
then don't miss out. Expect everything you've come to know
about David Drake to come out at its best.

I loved it, it my favorite from the series! I've been waiting to find out more about the egnimatic Major Joachim Steubben for ages. This book is also the only one (so far I think) in this series that is only 1 book, as the others are a collection of stories.

This is very much a book in the Slammers series. This might be slightly superior to the others since all the main characters are introduced separately in a short story each, obviating the need for a long drawn-out bloodbath as in most Slammer stories. For most of the book the actual combat vehicles are missing, although these make a surprise entrance in the last chapter, apparently more for sentimental reasons than for the sake of the story.

In short: if you like the Slammers buy this. If you don't know what the Slammers are leave it in the bookstore.

_The Sharp End_ by David Drake is an interesting departure from his standard Slammer's story. He changed his focus in this book from the armored tactics involved with the massive combat capabilities of his heavy tanks and combat cars, to small unit insurgency tactics and the recovery of psyche for his squad of characters. He borrows heavily from, and puts a new spin on, a well known plot that originally appeared in Dashiell Hammett's first novel, _Red Harvest_, in which a Continental Operative pits two small time crime families against each other in a midwestern town. This plot has become well known to the point of standardization thanks to Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbu and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars. However, David Drake's treatment of this plot is refreshingly competent, and the plot's familiarity allows the reader to focus on more interesting aspects of the story, namely the re-growth of his Slammers characters. The brief shorts outlining each character's failure and resulting breakdown are fascinating, seeming true to Drake's harsher stylings, which readers of _From Hell_ might find familiar. All in all, this book might not be Drake's very best work, but it is still an excellent story by an excellent writer, who deservedly dominates his niche in the sci-fi market.

Excellent addition to the Slammers series. Actually, they are no longer the Slammers in this story, which takes place after the final story in the original Slammers book, when Hammer ascends to power over Niew Friesland. So the Slammers are now the FDF (Friesian Defense Forces), but the still kick butt across the stars. The book was (as all the Slammer's stories) a well developed set of characters in an understandable conflict who "whup" butt and (maybe) come to know themselves better in the process.

Dave Drake takes the "Hammer's Slammers" Series in a new direction, giving us an acknowledged reworking of the storyline of Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest" (also the source for "Yojimbo", "A Fistful of Dollars" and the Bruce Willis/Walter Hill "Last Man Standing").

His structure of the book is interesting, in that he begins at the Personnel Center of the Nieuw Friesland Army (Hammer and the Slammers having seized power on their home world the Army and the Slammers have been integrated; under President Hammer, Nieuw Freisland's main export is still mercenaries).

Several soldiers whose careers have taken a bad turn, for reasons ranging from serious injury to psychological trauma to screwing up by the numbers to simply being too scary for the troops they served with, have been assigned to a survey team, being sent in to determine whether one of the two sides in a planetary power struggle might be interested in hiring the Slammers (pardon me, "troops from Nieuw Friesland").

What follows, once they reach the planet of interest, is pretty much the "Red Harvest" story, but told in Drake's unique fashion from his unique viewpoint.

The most interesting variant on the original story is the sequence involving the local man whose wife is being held by one of the drug lords. Sort of. The pivotal Nieuw Frieslander in this particular sequence is the scary soldier i mentioned; i'm still not sure whether Drake has given us a literal reincarnation of the creepiest character he has ever created {and that is saying something...}.

After reading this, you might want to hunt up Drake's collection "The Tank Lords", and read the novel contained therein, "Rolling Hot", for a look at the Slammers doing what they do best.

All is not fair in love and war. Lines are not clean and easy to deliniate. Join Hammer's eclectic survey team on a mission to solicit business for the most lethal and successful mercenery force in the galaxy.