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There Will Be War #7
Call To Battle!
Stories and essays about the future of war and conflict discuss tank warfare, alternative future histories, weapon systems, and the Soviet Union.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
40 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Pournelle
263 books546 followersDr Jerry Eugene Pournelle was an American science fiction writer, engineer, essayist, and journalist, who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte, and from 1998 until his death maintained his own website and blog.
From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.
Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.
Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.
“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”
Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.
From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.
Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.
Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.
“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”
Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 4, 2024
Call to Battle! There will be War, Volume VII.
A TOR Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
Cover Art by Les Edwards
ISB number: 0-812-54963-5
First edition September 1988
It is difficult to rate a book with so much short stories and my Rating (average) 3.5 Stars.
The Tank Lords
Written by David Drake.
****Star Rating
List of characters:
Hammer’s Lammers, 4-piece tank division.
Colonel Hammer
Lieutenant Kiley
Sergeant Commander Rudy Grant.
Curran, tank driver.
Sparky.
Baron Hetziman.
Lady Miriam, the barons’s wife.
Sarah, Chief maiden.
Elisha, page.
Wolfitz, the Chamberlain
Murphy, Chief of the baron’s soldiers.
We Hold these Rights
Written by Henry Melton
*** Star Rating
List of characters:
The Monarch, belters mining craft.
Willis, engineer and beam controller.
Quail, owner of the Monarch.
Marine, Quails wife.
Toby and Emme, their children.
Clement Ster, shipmate.
Battle Cry
Written by Tim Sarnecki.
A war poem.
****Star Rating, especially: “My rivals of a thousand wars Have come to watch me die”
Test for Tyrants
Written by Edward P. Huges.
** Star Rating. Shallow story.
List of characters:
Liam McGrath, Master of The Fist and Lord of Barley Cross.
Eileen, his wife.
Kate Monaghen, a loose woman.
General Larry Desmond, protector of The Fist.
Madame O’Malley, mother of Brege O’Malley.
Christie Kennedy, Brege’s husband to be.
Kevin Murphy, vetenarian(?).
The Roman Centurion’s Song
Written by Rudyard Kipling
****Star Rating.
A poem about a Roman Officer who is ordered home but his hart is lost to Britain and asks to be ordered to stay.
The Islanders
Written by Rudyard Kipling
**(*) 2,5 stars.
Another “Low Dishonest Decade” on the Left.
Written by Peter Collier and David Horowitz
No Rating
An extensive historical description of the evolution of Left side politics in the America’s during the second part of the last century. The influence of Cuban politics on the Mid- and South American countries and the influence of American politicians and lobbyists on Cuba.
As an European mildly interesting to read but I cannot validate the mentioned facts and I certainly have no connection to politics in general at all. Therefore, it is not possible for me to rate this statement exposition.
Also, interesting Editor’s Introduction.
The Last Article
Written by Harry Turtledove.
A short story telling the occupation of India by German Troops after defeating the English (and other nations) in Europe during the Second World War.
**(*) 2.5-Star Rating.
List of characters:
Field Marshall Walter Model.
Major Dieter Lasch, aide.
Field Marshal Auchinleck, British Army of India.
Ghandi, political leader.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghandi’s follower.
Brigade-commander Jürgen Stroop.
Wizard Weapons
Written by Stefan T. Possony, Jerry E. Pournelle and Francis X. Kane.
A soldiers Best Friend.
Written by Eric Vinicoff
What will the future hold if a soldier is directly connected to an automatic rifle with AI capabilities? An impressive short story by Eric Vinicoff.
****Star Rating.
List of characters:
Ranger patrol in Alaska:
Sergeant Vic Rhine and Cochise his AI weapon.
Corporal Pena.
Private Kelly.
Private Ernesto Alvarez.
Private Dutch, communications.
Private Kowolski.
Private Polk.
Private Daley.
Who’s in Charge Here?
Written by Stefan T. Possony.
No Rating
An extensive article about the organisation structure of the USSR during the second part of the previous century. The Nomenklatura.
The Iron Angel
Written by Don Hawthorne.
Binary Biological Agent Yo-Devyatnatsat, The Gas-Bug.
The world is different when a detergent is set loose, which disables the use of fuel.
****Stars.
List of characters:
The Soviet Fifth Guards Armored Engineers:
Lieutenant Aleksei Alexandrovitch Rostov.
Senior Sergeant Mikhail Zorin.
Colonel Ivan Podgorny, Commander.
Blaustein, civilian doctor.
Captain Martin Wren of the United States Naval Intelligence.
Zimyanski’s, dealer of goods in exchange for fuel, a black marketeer.
Corporal Katchin, Zimyanski’s guard.
KGB operating the MBBR, the Moscow-Byelorussian-Baltic-Railway:
Private Kurga.
Colonel Maksim Fyodor Serafimov.
Sergeant Sokolov.
Corporal Katchin.
Gyrich, Ukrainian and one of the P-38 steam locomotive engineers.
Pilkanis, Lithuanian engineer.
PSI-REC, I Gladiator.
Written by Peter Dillingham
*Star, I cannot find any reason at all.
Specialisation in War
Written by Reginald Bretnor.
A well written essay about specialisation in weaponry and specific employment of personnel looking at history and at the same time exploiting the possibilities in the future.
***Star Rating.
Were-Tigers
Written by Rob Chilson.
A marine tells about his war on the jungle where he was teamed up with augmented war-tigers.
****Star Rating.
Remember the Alomo
Written by T. R. Fehrenbach, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret).
An alternative outcome of The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution.
***Star Rating.
List of characters:
Lieutenant Colonel William Baret Travis of the Texas Forces.
Colonel James Bowie.
Colonel Davy Crockett.
John Ord, a Britainer.
Valhalla for Hire
Written by Lee Brainard
*Star Rating, doesn’t compute for me.
Debating SDI: Opinion or Fact?
Written by Doug Beason.
No Rating
It doesn’t matter what you call SDI (Strategic Defence Initiative)-let’s make sure it is accurately portrayed and studied in a rational manner. Then let’s make a decision whatever it may be.
Consequences
Written by Walter John Williams.
****Star Rating.
List of characters:
Captain Derec SuPashto of the Birdwing.
Lieutenant Facer.
Levett, ship’s wizard.
Sandor, helmsman.
SuKrone.
Randem, ship’s signaler.
Macroyen, Marine Lieutenant.
Prince Jeng, Zhir heir to the throne.
A TOR Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
Cover Art by Les Edwards
ISB number: 0-812-54963-5
First edition September 1988
It is difficult to rate a book with so much short stories and my Rating (average) 3.5 Stars.
The Tank Lords
Written by David Drake.
****Star Rating
List of characters:
Hammer’s Lammers, 4-piece tank division.
Colonel Hammer
Lieutenant Kiley
Sergeant Commander Rudy Grant.
Curran, tank driver.
Sparky.
Baron Hetziman.
Lady Miriam, the barons’s wife.
Sarah, Chief maiden.
Elisha, page.
Wolfitz, the Chamberlain
Murphy, Chief of the baron’s soldiers.
We Hold these Rights
Written by Henry Melton
*** Star Rating
List of characters:
The Monarch, belters mining craft.
Willis, engineer and beam controller.
Quail, owner of the Monarch.
Marine, Quails wife.
Toby and Emme, their children.
Clement Ster, shipmate.
Battle Cry
Written by Tim Sarnecki.
A war poem.
****Star Rating, especially: “My rivals of a thousand wars Have come to watch me die”
Test for Tyrants
Written by Edward P. Huges.
** Star Rating. Shallow story.
List of characters:
Liam McGrath, Master of The Fist and Lord of Barley Cross.
Eileen, his wife.
Kate Monaghen, a loose woman.
General Larry Desmond, protector of The Fist.
Madame O’Malley, mother of Brege O’Malley.
Christie Kennedy, Brege’s husband to be.
Kevin Murphy, vetenarian(?).
The Roman Centurion’s Song
Written by Rudyard Kipling
****Star Rating.
A poem about a Roman Officer who is ordered home but his hart is lost to Britain and asks to be ordered to stay.
The Islanders
Written by Rudyard Kipling
**(*) 2,5 stars.
Another “Low Dishonest Decade” on the Left.
Written by Peter Collier and David Horowitz
No Rating
An extensive historical description of the evolution of Left side politics in the America’s during the second part of the last century. The influence of Cuban politics on the Mid- and South American countries and the influence of American politicians and lobbyists on Cuba.
As an European mildly interesting to read but I cannot validate the mentioned facts and I certainly have no connection to politics in general at all. Therefore, it is not possible for me to rate this statement exposition.
Also, interesting Editor’s Introduction.
The Last Article
Written by Harry Turtledove.
A short story telling the occupation of India by German Troops after defeating the English (and other nations) in Europe during the Second World War.
**(*) 2.5-Star Rating.
List of characters:
Field Marshall Walter Model.
Major Dieter Lasch, aide.
Field Marshal Auchinleck, British Army of India.
Ghandi, political leader.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghandi’s follower.
Brigade-commander Jürgen Stroop.
Wizard Weapons
Written by Stefan T. Possony, Jerry E. Pournelle and Francis X. Kane.
A soldiers Best Friend.
Written by Eric Vinicoff
What will the future hold if a soldier is directly connected to an automatic rifle with AI capabilities? An impressive short story by Eric Vinicoff.
****Star Rating.
List of characters:
Ranger patrol in Alaska:
Sergeant Vic Rhine and Cochise his AI weapon.
Corporal Pena.
Private Kelly.
Private Ernesto Alvarez.
Private Dutch, communications.
Private Kowolski.
Private Polk.
Private Daley.
Who’s in Charge Here?
Written by Stefan T. Possony.
No Rating
An extensive article about the organisation structure of the USSR during the second part of the previous century. The Nomenklatura.
The Iron Angel
Written by Don Hawthorne.
Binary Biological Agent Yo-Devyatnatsat, The Gas-Bug.
The world is different when a detergent is set loose, which disables the use of fuel.
****Stars.
List of characters:
The Soviet Fifth Guards Armored Engineers:
Lieutenant Aleksei Alexandrovitch Rostov.
Senior Sergeant Mikhail Zorin.
Colonel Ivan Podgorny, Commander.
Blaustein, civilian doctor.
Captain Martin Wren of the United States Naval Intelligence.
Zimyanski’s, dealer of goods in exchange for fuel, a black marketeer.
Corporal Katchin, Zimyanski’s guard.
KGB operating the MBBR, the Moscow-Byelorussian-Baltic-Railway:
Private Kurga.
Colonel Maksim Fyodor Serafimov.
Sergeant Sokolov.
Corporal Katchin.
Gyrich, Ukrainian and one of the P-38 steam locomotive engineers.
Pilkanis, Lithuanian engineer.
PSI-REC, I Gladiator.
Written by Peter Dillingham
*Star, I cannot find any reason at all.
Specialisation in War
Written by Reginald Bretnor.
A well written essay about specialisation in weaponry and specific employment of personnel looking at history and at the same time exploiting the possibilities in the future.
***Star Rating.
Were-Tigers
Written by Rob Chilson.
A marine tells about his war on the jungle where he was teamed up with augmented war-tigers.
****Star Rating.
Remember the Alomo
Written by T. R. Fehrenbach, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret).
An alternative outcome of The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution.
***Star Rating.
List of characters:
Lieutenant Colonel William Baret Travis of the Texas Forces.
Colonel James Bowie.
Colonel Davy Crockett.
John Ord, a Britainer.
Valhalla for Hire
Written by Lee Brainard
*Star Rating, doesn’t compute for me.
Debating SDI: Opinion or Fact?
Written by Doug Beason.
No Rating
It doesn’t matter what you call SDI (Strategic Defence Initiative)-let’s make sure it is accurately portrayed and studied in a rational manner. Then let’s make a decision whatever it may be.
Consequences
Written by Walter John Williams.
****Star Rating.
List of characters:
Captain Derec SuPashto of the Birdwing.
Lieutenant Facer.
Levett, ship’s wizard.
Sandor, helmsman.
SuKrone.
Randem, ship’s signaler.
Macroyen, Marine Lieutenant.
Prince Jeng, Zhir heir to the throne.
June 17, 2010
Some great short fiction in here. Were-Tigers, The Iron Angel and Consequences make the book pretty good without reading any of the rest of it. The non-fiction is pretty dry; I confess I skimmed or skipped most of it except for the Kipling poems, and those I'm glad I took the time to read. Worth picking up a copy!
January 6, 2025
Good set
A good series of tales and opinion pieces that have mostly stood the test of time. The style and dynamics make for good reading
A good series of tales and opinion pieces that have mostly stood the test of time. The style and dynamics make for good reading
July 31, 2009
Seventh volume. Also one of the better ones.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews