Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still A Classic!!, May 22, 2002
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?
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Cycle picks up speed, May 28, 2003
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.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An outstanding piece of military science fiction, March 18, 1999
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.
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by Gordon R. Dickson
by Gordon R. Dickson
by Gordon R. Dickson
by Gordon R. Dickson
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