Poul Anderson's Technic History is good sf, including some good military sf, e.g., in
The People of the Wind and
Ensign Flandry. I think that the military stuff is in its rightful place: part of the history but not the entire subject matter.
Military sf is a recognized sub-genre. Some authors, including our blog correspondent, SM Stirling, are major contributors to it. Larry Niven, lacking military experience, franchised the Man-Kzin Wars period of his Known Space future history series. Thus, both Anderson's and Stirling's complete works include some Man-Kzin Wars instalments.
My question is: can anyone recommend Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet series? A hero who returns from apparent death and then confronts the negative aspects of his own legend is an excellent idea and the covers show us the content but has anyone here read much of this lengthy series?
4 comments:
H.G. Well tackled some of the same themes in THE SLEEPER WAKES.
Right.
Hemry's work is solid entertainment, for what it is, and given his background, that's not really surprising; but he's written a LOT, which tends to lead to formulaic work, even by the most gifted writer.
So if that's what you're looking for, sure; if you're looking for a "sensa wunder" type read (Jemisen?), or a "fun read" (Scalzi?)? YMMMV, but probably not.
Formulas pay the bills, of course, and nothing wrong with that ... but it generally becomes comfort food.
Kaor, Paul!
Alas, I never read THE LOST FLEET, so I can't comment, pro or con.
Anderson sort of touched on that "sleeping hero" theme in THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS, when he reused the legend about Holger Danske.
Ad astra! Sean
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