It occurred to me over the weekend that it was odd that I was updating books I had recently read on a book site like goodreads, given that all I’m doing by entering data on their site is blogging someplace that not even I remember to read. I’m therefore going to move all of that stuff over to here, and then try to remember to blog about books I’ve read recently in the future. Don’t worry though, I don’t get much time to read in between work, study and kids, so it wont be too many posts.
Dad got me this and the second volume for my birthday last year, and they were awesome. The books are about a future tank squadron which takes on mercenary jobs, none of which ever seem to be clean or simple. Along the way you end up learning that they’re all just misfits who haven’t managed to find any other job which is a better fit for them. Worse than that, I’m left with the impression that in the back of their minds they all realize that they’re running on borrowed time. David Drake has a unique position to comment on what its like to fight in a war, given he is a Vietnam veteran. These stories are fantastic science fiction, and often leave you with a realization that war often isn’t simple, or fair. I first encountered David’s writing when I was a kid reading a remaindered anthology called “Battlefields Beyond Tomorrow”, which was a collection of short war science fiction stories. Luckily for me 15 or so years after I first encountered them I still think they are great stories. These books are highly recommended.
Stories included:
- Under the Hammer
- Supertanks
- The Butcher’s Bill
- The Church of the Lord’s Universe
- But Loyal to His Own
- Powerguns
- Caught in the Crossfire
- Backdrop to Chaos
- Cultural Conflict
- The Bonding Authority
- Hangman
- Table of Organization and Equipment, Hammer’s Regiment
- Standing Down
- Code-Name Feirefitz
- The Interrogation Team
- The Tank Lords
- Liberty Port
- Night March
- The Immovable Object
- The Irresistible Force
- A Death in Peacetime
[isbn: 189238969X]