There Be War #05

War and Science fiction together in a collection of shorts by multiple authors. For some people it doesn't get any better than this. Influenced and not in a good way by Pournelles execrable 80's Reaganite politics but this doesn't detract from the overall entertainment value of this fine collection of stories.

Jerry Pournelle has long been known as one of the most hawkish of all science fiction writers, which makes him ideal as an editor of collections of science fiction stories dealing with the conditions and aftermaths of wars. This collection has two of the best science fiction stories that I have ever read. The best is "The Road Not Taken" by Harry Turtledove. It is based on the premise that powered interstellar flight is so simple that even nearly pre-industrial societies can do it. Such a society, with flintlocks and cannons as their most powerful weapons, mounts an "invasion" of Earth in the twentieth century. Obviously, they are easily defeated, which is a new twist on the mighty invaders from outer space concept. The second quality story is "House Of Weapons" by Gordon R. Dickson. In this story, mighty aliens invade from outer space, easily defeating the forces of the Earth. The principal of the story is a human who serves as a translator for the aliens. Considered a beast by the aliens, in a fit of passion, he has started a fledgling opposition movement. As a consequence, he is forced to tread an extremely fine line, because he knows that any direct confrontation between humans and the aliens will lead to the total defeat of the humans. Nevertheless, he feels that the opposition is necessary, in order to maintain his humanity. However, Pournelle has proven to be very poor at selecting stories about the current(1986) military situation that existed on Earth. The story "Delusions of Soviet Weakness" by Edward N. Luttwak describing the incredible military might of the Soviet Union now does nothing but point out the delusions of the author. Everything in the article has proven to be wrong. Containing some of the best and worst stories appearing in a collection about war, this book is still worth reading.

This book is a collection of eleven science fiction short stories, five short treatises on war or warriors, and several short poems (including one by Rudyard Kipling). The short stories were all very well written, with The Road Not Taken by Harry Turtledove being an absolute gem.I found the treatises quite boring and out of date, the book having been published in 1986. In particular the one entitled Delusions of Soviet Weakness seems the most laughable now. Overall, though, this is a very good book, and I recommend it to you.