Bellevuean dactosauroids:
are the size of a man's hand;
have fangs, jewel-like scales, skin wings and long tails with diamond-shaped rudders;
live in nests;
hiss;
fly near a man's face;
bank and glide;
eat insects;
are eaten by red-tailed hawks.
(Google has pictures of red-tailed hawks but not of dactosauroids.)
See Mixed Ecology.
I admit to being less interested in the close details of military life and organization but nevertheless can unreservedly recommend SM Stirling's and David Drake's The General series, of which The Hammer is Volume II, to fans of military sf.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember those dactosauroids! Fascinating beasts. They took the place of our Terrestrial on Bellevue.
And I was interested in the details Drake/Stirling gave us of military life, training, organization, etc., in THE HAMMER. And I recall Raj grumbling to himself that running an army was like being mayor of a city.
And one of the problems Raj had to overcome was the disdain many in the elite dog mounted cavalry had for the infantry. Jorge Menyez and Center had convinced him of how valuable well trained and led infantry could be. But most cavalry officer had to learn that from personal experience.
And army politics was another problem for Raj. Some of the unit commanders were men he did not trust but could not easily rid himself of due to them politically well connected.
Sean
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