Monday, April 3, 2023

Reviewing There Will Be War Vol. II edited by Jerry Pournelle

 


This is the second in Jerry Pournelle's anthology series There Will Be War. Each book is a collection of science fiction stories and poems about war and its effects. These books also contain practical essays about military strategy.

The stories range from present day to decades in the future to centuries in the future. Being an anthology, it is a mixed bag. You're probably not going to like every single story, but if the idea interests you at all, you'll find something to enjoy.

This is the fifth in the series I've read, and I've liked all of them so far. Honestly, though, this is not my favorite. There's a lot of good stuff in here, but it's not the best of the series.

This book was published in 1984 and it's fascinating with hindsight seeing them so concerned about the arms race with the Soviet Union . . . which was very shortly to cease to exist. Also, they didn't notice what now appears obvious to be the downfall of the U.S. as a unified polity within our lifetimes: increasing racial and ethnic diversity.

My personal favorites:

"Manual of Operations" by Jerry Pournelle about a man who finds an abandoned flying saucer that he can only operate while raging drunk

"Superiority" by Arthur C. Clarke about why a military's technological superiority brought about it's downfall

And "'Caster" by Eric Vinicoff about how much influence the news media can have on success or failure in war.

On the whole, I highly recommend the series and middling recommend this particular volume.

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