Customer Reviews

Tactics of Mistake (Childe Cycle)

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I first read this book years ago. Recently, I bought an used copy for a trip. It is still a classic!
THe plot is unusual-Grahme is a scholar/tactician assigned to a force fighting a guerilla war on one of the dozen colony worlds. Earth is divided into the Alliance/Coalition camps who fight their wars through these colonies. Grahme has some very unique ideas about fighting wars and, through deception and ruse, puts into into action and wins the war. Grahme's foil is Dow Castries, an Earth politician bent on world(s) domination. Grahme believes the new worlds should be free of Earth and chooses the Dorsai as his weapon. Grahme designs a novel training/strategy/tactics regime for the Dorsai to transform themselves into the best mercenaries in the universe. Using his Dorsai, Grahme wins several important successes that prompt Dow to unite the Earth into an all-out war. Grahme defeats Dow and paves the way for the new world's freedom.
The most interesting part of the story is not the military action-like most military amateurs Dickson is fighting the last war (Vietnam)- but Grahme's grasp and control of historical forces and his ability to manipulate people into his scheme, without their knowing it. It's a masterful attempt at persuasion and manipulation which sets in motion the novel's sequels.
Dickson, like his couterpart Grahme, has created an universe in which he controls everything according to a set scheme.
I'm just glad it's only fiction and that there's not really some super-powerful all-controlling force at work manipulating me and everyone else for its own designs. Now, where's the TV remote?

I first read this book back in the early '70's, and then enlisted in the US Army. Yes, the lessons learned were in in themselves useful, but that was only the beginning. The concepts presented in the book were so relevant to the military situation at hand that I was able to excel myself. Consider also the timeless nature of the concepts of the complete soldier that is presented such that by reading this book I was able to not only grasp what my limited role as an enlisted soldier was, but more importantly I was able to grasp the ever more important role that the competent officer's role was. It wasn't only enough for me to be competent, but even more for so for the officer in tactical control to be competent as well. Ah, but to really grasp it you have to read the book. As well as the rest of the Childe Cycle novels.

The poignant part of this is that one day, back in the mid '70's, I was in the battalion commander's office on routine duty and noticed that right there in his bookcase on the lower case, within easy easy reach of his desk, was a copy of -- you guessed it -- Gordon Dickson's "Tactics of Mistake". Oh, and at the time he already had a CMH (Congressional Medal of Honor) earned in Vietnam, and would eventually earn triple General's Stars. Yes, this was on the bookshelf of a Lieutenant Colonel who would eventually become a 3 Star General. This is serious material, even though it is only a novel.

IMHO, for anyone who is interested in military strategy, this is a "must book". This is a classic that simply MUST be read.

Tactics of Mistake (1971) is the second SF novel in the Childe Cycle, following Necromancer. In the previous volume, Walter Blunt started a revolution by his Chantry Guild to destroy the cultural basis of his society. Yet Paul Formain stopped him and sent his chief followers out to find their own destinies. When Kantele offered to stay, Paul sent her after Blunt.

In this novel, Alliance Lieutenant Colonel Cletus Grahame introduces himself to Dow DeCastries, Secretary of Outworlds Affairs for the Coalition. He also meets Colonel Eachan Khan of the Dorsai Mercenaries and his daughter Melissa, the Exotic Outbond Mondar, and Pater Ten of DeCastries's staff. Then Cletus leads Dow into a conversation and demonstration that causes the Coalition official to lose face to Grahame.

When the ship reaches Kultis, Pater Ten uses the ship-to-planet lines heavily, so much so that none are available to Cletus. When they debark the shuttle, Mondar offers Cletus a ride to the town of Bakhalla in the command car with Colonel Khan and Melissa. On the way, guerrillas ambush the command car and ignore the following bus. Grahame uses a gambit to counter-ambush the guerrillas.

Reporting to the commanding general, Bat Traynor, Cletus offers his services as tactical advisor. When Traynor disparages his usefulness, Cletus mentions the upcoming infiltration of a guerrilla attack group through Etter Pass. While Bat is still doubtful of Grahame's contributions to the Alliance effort, he does send a company of troops under a marginally competent commander to intercept the infiltrators. Captain Athyer is ordered to listen to Grahame's tactical advice.

After Grahame and six men capture more than three dozen guerrillas, while Athyer and his men capture none, Traynor gives Cletus permission to set up a tactical briefing facility. Athyer is reassigned as liaison to the Exotic library at Grahame's insistence. Cletus goes on to capture a large number of men and supplies before they can infiltrate into the town, using the Alliance Navy detachment in Bakhalla harbor. The Navy wants more opportunities to capture guerrillas.

In this story, Grahame defeats every move by DeCastries and the guerrillas and eventually captures a large portion of the Neulander Colony regular troops. Cletus resigns from the Western Alliance military and emigrates to the Dorsai. There he starts training a new kind of soldier. He and DeCastries are fated to meet again.

Highly recommended for Dickson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of military tactics, political intrigue, and a touch of romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

The apparent second book in the Childe Cycle (I've never seen a really definitive version of the order) is a notable improvement over Necromancer, which while interesting overall wasn't exactly engaging at times. We shift ahead some years here and encounter humanity that has begun to splinter into several groups, most notably the Exotics, the Friendlys, and the warrior Dorsai. Into this walks Cletus a slightly crippled military scholar who is writing a series of books on tactics and strategy and decides to prove just how right he can be. What follows a series of battles where Cletus wins easily due to his better powers of manipulation and strategy, although in every instance nobody seems ready to believe things are the way he says they are. Eventually he takes on the task of remolding the Dorsai into a more efficient fighting force, setting the stage for more fun stuff to come. Like Paul Formain from the last book Cletus can be a bit insufferably in that he's always right which kind of sucks any dramatic tension from the novel since basically Cletus explains what is going to happen and then you get to watch as it turns out just as he said (though there's a nifty sequence that shows this from the other guy's perspective) but thanks to Dickson's talent he manages to make every sequence memorable and entertaining. Also, it helps that unlike Formain, Cletus has a sense of humor and you find yourself rooting for him even as there's really no doubt. What makes this book so exciting are the constant manipulations and manuverings, which can be hard to follow at times. The charactization still suffers somewhat, Cletus is a little more developed than most but the only other major female character is a total cipher, existing only in the beginning to say "You're wrong! Whatever you say is wrong because . . . because it just is!" to which she looks silly every single time. And yet from the first "I hate you!" you know where her heart belongs. Their relationship never feels real and it's clear Dickson doesn't know what to do with it either, bringing her up only when convenient (Melissa's last line in the book however, is neat). Fortunately it's not the heart of the book and the novel skips along nicely, laying out the varied Universe (far more interesting now than in the previous book) and intermingling philosophies. We're still in the "ground laying" stage here but it stands well on its own and makes for fast, entertaining reading (I finished it while waiting at jury duty). Not a classic, but an integral part of the cycle in its own right.

The main character starts the fireworks almost from the first page and proceeds to rewrite the book on small unit tactics, as well as stratetic planning. A great insight into the roots of the Dorsai. I read this book several years ago and I still find myself using it as a 'ruler' by which to judge other scifi offerings. Most don't measure up.

Gordon Dickson combines military knowledge with a fast moving story line that keeps you captivated.

Many of the concepts written about in "The Tactics Of Mistake," can be found in the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu. If your looking for a good combination of action, a coherent story line, and 3 dimensional characters with real war tactics, you'll devour this well written Sci-Fi adventure.

There is destiny painted on canvas with fine stokes of military strategy which is revealed in a manner of boiling kettle of Asimov's Foundation series' psycho-history. If you have read the Foundation series, you know the thrill how to anticipate the next turn in the strings of history. That history is being written by clever to-be Dorsai planet leader Cletus Graheme, who tricks an earth politician -- his opponent -- to underestimate his visions, using his strategy impetus.

This book was written in 1971 and is not in rust at all, notwithstanding a light verdigris. Some review complained about "treatment of women, it's assumption of Vietnam-style conflicts, it's cardboard ubermensch heroes". A little southern 'Gone With the Wind' romance is not harm at all to the story. It brings humanity to otherwise military plot line. The characters didn't feel like cardboarded. They have emotions, albeit caricatured, but those are not dwelled further because bigger strategic picture is set at front of the reader.

Four (4) stars are well earned. Not a shoot-em-up book but full of convincing military strategy, implications on planetary wide earth politics, raise of "Dorsai Empire", and a sacrifice story for greater good. At the end, the Cletus wife's, Melissa's, words -- in this otherwise hard military space world -- are difficult to be matched in any book published. A testimony of the writer's skill to wrap up story where hope still lives. Very good book even for those who don't usually read military stories.

"Tactics of Mistake" is the second novel (chronologically at least) in Dickson's well-regarded "Childe Cycle" series. Written during the Vietnam War period, it reflects the politics of that time to at least a limited extent. Following the events in "Necromancer," mankind has begun settling habitable worlds in nearby stellar systems, and the "Younger Worlds" are still largely under the political control of Earth. Specifically, the "Alliance" (corresponding somewhat to the North Atlantic Alliance) and the "Coalition" (which appears to be the old Soviet Bloc, more or less).

The story takes place in the context of a struggle on the planet Kultis, which Childe Cycle fans know to be one of the two Exotic Worlds. However, at this time the Exotics have not yet gained control of Kultis. Cletus Grahame (more or less the founder of the Graeme family on the Dorsai) is sent to Kultis by the alliance to act as an advisor to the commander of the Alliance forces, which are aiding the Exotics colony. In doing so, Grahame plants the seeds of the eventual development of the Dorsai Splinter Culture, and the independence of the Younger Worlds from the nations of Earth.

This is a superb story, and one of the very best Childe Cycle novels. One of the things that I liked about this novel is that it is set far enough in the future such that we can see the emergent Splinter Cultures taking form, but at the same time Earth politics of the 20-21st Centuries are still visible, providing a neat transition. Further, Dickson's characterizations in this novel are pretty good. Overall, there is a lot to like in this novel, and every fan of Dickson's "Childe Cycle" will want to read and probably own it.

'Tactics of Mistake' is a really enjoyable book. As Sci-Fi goes, this is one of the best - grand galactic epic writing. It is similar in scope to the E.E."Doc" Smith and the Perry Rhodan books, though far more serious than either. There aren't any aliens, but the mixture of strategy, politics and philosophy is pretty unrivalled. I'd say that if you liked Peter Hamilton's 'Night's Dawn' books and the Uplift saga from David Brin, then you should enjoy this!

When I reread this book a couple of years ago I was completely dumbfounded. I slapped my head and laughed out loud. If any of you out there have ever read any of the Miles Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold (which are great fun reads) - and then pick up this novel and read it - you will meet Miles precursor in the form of Cletus Grahame. Anyway - The Childe Cycle novels stand right up there with the best that Science Fiction has to offer alongside the Dune series by Herbert. Classic novels of the genre and Tactics of Mistake is a classic of the Childe Cycle.