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Superiority
"Superiority" is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1951. It depicts an arms race, and shows how the side which is more technologically advanced can be defeated, despite its apparent superiority, because of its own organizational flaws and its willingness to discard old technology without having fully perfected the new.
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First published August 1, 1951
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About the author
Arthur C. Clarke
1,647 books11.6k followersStories, works of noted British writer, scientist, and underwater explorer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, include
2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968).
This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.
He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse prize, the Bradford Washburn award, and the John W. Campbell award for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke also won the nebula award of the fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.
This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.
He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse prize, the Bradford Washburn award, and the John W. Campbell award for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke also won the nebula award of the fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
May 22, 2021
Feels like a personal attack on my Scrabble strategy. I painstakingly work my way towards landing a massive 7 letter word on a TW and simultaneously lay down a trail of misdirections for my opponent, who shows little interest in the subtle art of subterfuge - how disappointingly basic...
In due time, thanks to my infinite cunning and patience, I’m finally close enough to move in for a decisive and spectacular finish. I hold my breath in anticipation.
That’s when my opponent decides to betray a deeply depressing lack of imagination by claiming victory, based on having a “higher score” when there are “no more letters left”.
Ugh I hate it when a kick in the balls feels so quotidian... IT MEANS BORING. Whatever... I shall let my opponent feel superior, while I device a sneakier stratagem for next time.
In due time, thanks to my infinite cunning and patience, I’m finally close enough to move in for a decisive and spectacular finish. I hold my breath in anticipation.
That’s when my opponent decides to betray a deeply depressing lack of imagination by claiming victory, based on having a “higher score” when there are “no more letters left”.
Ugh I hate it when a kick in the balls feels so quotidian... IT MEANS BORING. Whatever... I shall let my opponent feel superior, while I device a sneakier stratagem for next time.
October 24, 2022
I like the message this story gives out in that it talks about how one certain side, although with a technological advantage, loses to the opposition in intergalactic war. There is a sole reason as to why Norden’s side lost. They decided to use technology that was not of their best understanding and comprehension. The technology or weapons they had designed and created had not been perfected, yet they decided to discard old weapons and to bring in the new. This ultimately led to their demise as their weapons were occasionally failures. This is a representation of how the people in the higher ups acknowledge their issues and flaws, yet they choose to ignore and disregard problems. I think that this sort of theme or message that is conveyed is very easy to understand throughout the story. It is sort of brought up indirectly, yet it is very straightforward in delivering its meaning.
One thing that I have to say though, is that the story is boring. Super, super, boring. The only action in the story are the battles that take place. However, the fact that this is a war-related story, it seems as though that battles are indeed mandatory, so it does not feel like anything has been added to it. I think if there were dialogue or perhaps some dramatic value to it, it would have been a phenomenal tale. The only real details I can remember from this were those of the weapons that were created. This is solely because of how much the weapons were talked about in their descriptions and when they were used in battle.
Overall, I think the story could have dived deeper into the side that we get the perspective of and could have had more drama as the story is just lacking in these departments, in my opinion.
One thing that I have to say though, is that the story is boring. Super, super, boring. The only action in the story are the battles that take place. However, the fact that this is a war-related story, it seems as though that battles are indeed mandatory, so it does not feel like anything has been added to it. I think if there were dialogue or perhaps some dramatic value to it, it would have been a phenomenal tale. The only real details I can remember from this were those of the weapons that were created. This is solely because of how much the weapons were talked about in their descriptions and when they were used in battle.
Overall, I think the story could have dived deeper into the side that we get the perspective of and could have had more drama as the story is just lacking in these departments, in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2023
Maybe Ignorance is a bliss, ignorance to acknowledge the fact that a better and far more superior technology lost to an underdeveloped weapon that is not as advance as the laser cutting edge technology, is possible for advance technology to lose to a primitive one.
The story is weird and kind of surprising to see how one species win the war with their primitive weapons while the other has the technology that is like another level of civilization to them, but the advanced technology managed to lose. The entire story is like playing a game with your younger brother, but you lost while your equipment is better than him, truly a traumatizing situation for one of us to be in.
By being able to create a more advance technology, but it does not mean it will overpower the primitive technology. As we can see from the story, a high-end weapon lost to a primitive weapon. Hence, the weapon of advance is being rush and only test in the lab area but not in the war which can make a huge difference between a war tested weapon which is reliable primitive, but not a technology that is being tested in a lab and needed a lot of requirements to be able to operate it.
In the end, I think this book is the best that represents how one can have such ignorance of or careless that think that they won from the start, but it is not, they needed to learn how to understand their opposite side and how to counterattack, not just wait for the cool technology to wipe them all or to wait for someone or something to help them.
The story is weird and kind of surprising to see how one species win the war with their primitive weapons while the other has the technology that is like another level of civilization to them, but the advanced technology managed to lose. The entire story is like playing a game with your younger brother, but you lost while your equipment is better than him, truly a traumatizing situation for one of us to be in.
By being able to create a more advance technology, but it does not mean it will overpower the primitive technology. As we can see from the story, a high-end weapon lost to a primitive weapon. Hence, the weapon of advance is being rush and only test in the lab area but not in the war which can make a huge difference between a war tested weapon which is reliable primitive, but not a technology that is being tested in a lab and needed a lot of requirements to be able to operate it.
In the end, I think this book is the best that represents how one can have such ignorance of or careless that think that they won from the start, but it is not, they needed to learn how to understand their opposite side and how to counterattack, not just wait for the cool technology to wipe them all or to wait for someone or something to help them.
October 30, 2023
“Superiority” by Arthur Clake is a great story. The story flows smoothly, but there is a lot of information to take in. So, it’s a little tiring sometimes when reading this story. We need to remember who is who and what just happened erewhile. However, the author did a great job of dumping all of the information for the reader. He writes it in the form of a letter so that the reader feels like all the information is needed since the protagonist is reporting to his superior. The author also didn’t forget to add some humor to his writing; at the end of the story, we find out that the protagonist is in jail with the mad scientist as his cellmate. The protagonist is begging to be transferred to a different cell since he cannot stand the mad scientist any longer.
The language that the author used is somewhat easy to read and understand. The vocabulary is not too hard. Furthermore, the idea of “Superiority” is fascinating. The idea of this story is that humans should not rely too much on advanced technology, instead, we should develop our current weapons to their full potential. Normally, most sci-fi stories will show us how great new technology is and how humans will be so powerful if we can invent new deadly weapons.
The characters in “Superiority” are not much mentioned. I feel like the story wants to focus on technology, the outcome of the war, and humanity as a whole more than a particular human. Overall, the story is easy to read and understand. I enjoyed reading this story.
Story-8, Language-7, Ideas-9, Characters-6, Enjoyment-8, Overall-7
The language that the author used is somewhat easy to read and understand. The vocabulary is not too hard. Furthermore, the idea of “Superiority” is fascinating. The idea of this story is that humans should not rely too much on advanced technology, instead, we should develop our current weapons to their full potential. Normally, most sci-fi stories will show us how great new technology is and how humans will be so powerful if we can invent new deadly weapons.
The characters in “Superiority” are not much mentioned. I feel like the story wants to focus on technology, the outcome of the war, and humanity as a whole more than a particular human. Overall, the story is easy to read and understand. I enjoyed reading this story.
Story-8, Language-7, Ideas-9, Characters-6, Enjoyment-8, Overall-7
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 28, 2023
This story wasn’t that bad, one of the few science fiction stories that I think is actually pretty interesting. I was very impressed with Arthur C. Clarke and his vivid imagination. You can’t help but be amazed with thing ideas that he came up with. They were so complex and didn’t make sense to me, but that is what I thought was kind of cool.
Like I don’t exactly remember, but he came up with a weapon that could basically make something invisible. He explained it in so much detail that if I were to wake up from a 10-year coma and didn’t have the knowledge of the technological advancements in the world, I would definitely have thought that the weapon was actually real and so is the “science” behind it.
“Superiority” also gives us an insight on how being too reliant on technology can cause harm to you. In the story, the general kept trying to make new weapons in order to defeat the enemies. Though yes, they did create new weapons which is cool and all, but they shifted their focus away from producing weapons. This then caused a huge disadvantage for them when the new weapons failed since they now have less resources to fight with the enemy. Even though the enemy had less developed weapons, they were still able to win the war due to their old school tactics.
One thing that I really didn’t like about the story was that other than the cool inventions, the story was kind of boring. I think that there could’ve been more use of diolauge in order to enhance the story a bit more.
Overall, it was a good read.
Like I don’t exactly remember, but he came up with a weapon that could basically make something invisible. He explained it in so much detail that if I were to wake up from a 10-year coma and didn’t have the knowledge of the technological advancements in the world, I would definitely have thought that the weapon was actually real and so is the “science” behind it.
“Superiority” also gives us an insight on how being too reliant on technology can cause harm to you. In the story, the general kept trying to make new weapons in order to defeat the enemies. Though yes, they did create new weapons which is cool and all, but they shifted their focus away from producing weapons. This then caused a huge disadvantage for them when the new weapons failed since they now have less resources to fight with the enemy. Even though the enemy had less developed weapons, they were still able to win the war due to their old school tactics.
One thing that I really didn’t like about the story was that other than the cool inventions, the story was kind of boring. I think that there could’ve been more use of diolauge in order to enhance the story a bit more.
Overall, it was a good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2025
They need some test engineers tbh
October 23, 2022
Today, weaponry is a booming business. For better or worse, countries and companies develop better weapons to scare off rival nations. Then other groups buy and sell these weapons all over the globe, creating a vicious cycle.
It’s true that weaponry plays a major role in winning wars and other campaigns of violence. But a weapon is only as good as its maker and its wielder.
This is where the short story Superiority by science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke comes in.
This short story takes the form of a written statement (possibly a speech) by an unnamed commander of a defeated military faction. The statement recounts the process of a war with an enemy military, in which at first the narrator’s faction holds the upper hand. However, after winning a particularly difficult battle, doubt of victory begins to set in.
At a military conference of the narrator’s military (which I will refer to as “Force A”), the highest brass consults their newly appointed Chief of weapons R&D, Professor-General Norden. Norden’s shocking new approach is, instead of improving on tried-and-true weaponry as usual, introducing completely new technologies to blow the enemy (which will be dubbed “Force B”) out of the water.
Norden is an excellent salesman, and immediately sways the brass with various cutting-edge inventions. Tempted by the prospect of overwhelming victory each time, Force A spares no effort implementing each invention into their forces: the Sphere of Annihilation (destructive field generator), the Battle Analyzer (tactical supercomputer), the Exponential Field (spatial distortion system).
However, each invention was an imperfect prototype, and lack of time causes technical problems and sluggish responses to enemy attacks-further degrading any advantage Force A had held. In the end, Force A, crippled by its arrogant reliance on new technology, is completely overwhelmed and defeated by Force B, who had steadily built up their forces with traditional weaponry.
The narrator accepts all blame and punishment for Force A’s defeat, but simply begs to be transferred away from his cellmate, the disgraced Professor Norden.
Superiority is a story about hubris. Norden haughtily dismisses the previous generation’s technology as obsolete and markets his shiny new toys to Force A’s top brass with enthusiasm. The brass, their arrogance overblown by Force A’s dominance, are easily tempted by an easy and grandiose victory. All this eventually results in the underdog Force B gaining enough breathing room to muscle up, and soon Force B overpowers the heavily weakened Force A.
The hare was leading the race till the golden apple rolled to his feet. Such a thing never changes.
It’s true that weaponry plays a major role in winning wars and other campaigns of violence. But a weapon is only as good as its maker and its wielder.
This is where the short story Superiority by science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke comes in.
This short story takes the form of a written statement (possibly a speech) by an unnamed commander of a defeated military faction. The statement recounts the process of a war with an enemy military, in which at first the narrator’s faction holds the upper hand. However, after winning a particularly difficult battle, doubt of victory begins to set in.
At a military conference of the narrator’s military (which I will refer to as “Force A”), the highest brass consults their newly appointed Chief of weapons R&D, Professor-General Norden. Norden’s shocking new approach is, instead of improving on tried-and-true weaponry as usual, introducing completely new technologies to blow the enemy (which will be dubbed “Force B”) out of the water.
Norden is an excellent salesman, and immediately sways the brass with various cutting-edge inventions. Tempted by the prospect of overwhelming victory each time, Force A spares no effort implementing each invention into their forces: the Sphere of Annihilation (destructive field generator), the Battle Analyzer (tactical supercomputer), the Exponential Field (spatial distortion system).
However, each invention was an imperfect prototype, and lack of time causes technical problems and sluggish responses to enemy attacks-further degrading any advantage Force A had held. In the end, Force A, crippled by its arrogant reliance on new technology, is completely overwhelmed and defeated by Force B, who had steadily built up their forces with traditional weaponry.
The narrator accepts all blame and punishment for Force A’s defeat, but simply begs to be transferred away from his cellmate, the disgraced Professor Norden.
Superiority is a story about hubris. Norden haughtily dismisses the previous generation’s technology as obsolete and markets his shiny new toys to Force A’s top brass with enthusiasm. The brass, their arrogance overblown by Force A’s dominance, are easily tempted by an easy and grandiose victory. All this eventually results in the underdog Force B gaining enough breathing room to muscle up, and soon Force B overpowers the heavily weakened Force A.
The hare was leading the race till the golden apple rolled to his feet. Such a thing never changes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2021
This book revolves around war and how weapons will develop in the future due to advanced technology. The story itself is quite fascinating even though I don't really read war-related books, when I read the story, I clearly understood the hidden message which the author was trying to convey: the true dangers of using technology to develop weaponry without considering any of the side effects. The message in the story somewhat surprised me as the problem with governments investing in developing new weaponry is a problem that is still going on today yet the author addressed this issue years before - this shows that it's an obvious issue yet people of higher power choose to ignore it. The story is quite easy to understand and follow along as the concept is pretty straight forward but the details within the story didn't stick in my mind that much, the only interesting details were the descriptions of all the weapons. The description shows how imaginative and creative this author is due to the fact that this book was published in 1951 yet the ideas sound like ones people in the present would think of. The characters in this story are well developed which allowed me to connect with the story more as I'm able to put myself in the protagonist's shoes and understand his way of perceiving the events that occur. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories like star wars or just likes to read about war in general. I think the detailed descriptions of events in the story enhance the reader's understandings of the story and are supposed to make the story more fun but I don't really connect with books revolving around war so there were times where I'd just scan the details.
November 7, 2021
The themes about new innovation vs old reliability. While trying to win a war that was practically over the winning side decided to make the foolish mistake of innovation, during a WAR. This is what led to their downfall in the end, innovation that causes too much time and resources to be taken up, innovation that is ... unnecessary. Creating new ideas while, yes, miraculous is about finding the correct balance of sacrifices necessary for those ideas to be come reality. Want to create lets say a weapon? How much time is required? How many people does it need to function? how many resources does it consume? These are all important questions required for innovation. Why else does multiple new ideas in the modern world require sufficient funding? Its because that is what is REQUIRED FOR INNOVATION TO WORK. The way Arthur C. Clark expresses these themes is super inspiring since it is done so in a way that keeps the viewer engaged with the story. And seeing the slow decline of once side because of their desire to innovate was very gratifying, little by little they lose ground until it was all too late. Overall it was a very solid story and due to it being a short story I says its worth the time to read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2021
The clear theme I see in this story would be 'warfare and weaponry'.
Deploying new inventions and technologies into the battlefield without sufficient testing.
I think Clarke’s message in writing this story would be even if you’re superior, being careless and too bold would lead to mistakes. This was inferred from the story’s deployment of newly invented weapons with advanced technology into the war but ended up making a mistake that cost them their victory. Improving old technology won’t always benefit if the new technology isn’t completely thoroughly tested yet.
Overall, a good story I would give it a 10/10 for the lesson it teaches, not so much for the character arcs or plots.
Deploying new inventions and technologies into the battlefield without sufficient testing.
I think Clarke’s message in writing this story would be even if you’re superior, being careless and too bold would lead to mistakes. This was inferred from the story’s deployment of newly invented weapons with advanced technology into the war but ended up making a mistake that cost them their victory. Improving old technology won’t always benefit if the new technology isn’t completely thoroughly tested yet.
Overall, a good story I would give it a 10/10 for the lesson it teaches, not so much for the character arcs or plots.
November 3, 2021
I thought the writing style made the book quite tiring to read, but I give it a four because I enjoyed the theme and meaning behind it, and how it used real issues in life exaggerated to reperesent that. It lessens the tone that would've been much more tense if he wrote about a war that could really happen cause I assume that would hit too close to home for alot of people. I also liked the creativity put into the technology he imagined cause trying to imagine a futuristic weapon myself was pretty difficult for me.
November 3, 2021
I am personally not a big fan of military sci-fi and advanced technologies, but it was definitely creative. His style of writing wasn't just for me. Although I enjoyed the meaning behind it and how it can reflect society. The humans underestimated the aliens and convinced that with new technology, they were superior. If you start relying too heavily on new technology and allow arrogance to set in, you open yourself up to defeat by your enemy who continued to advance with his old-fashioned and inefficient technology.
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November 3, 2021I feel that this story gives a very good lesson for having a good life. But I also think that I enjoyed the story. Maybe I just like stories that include fight scenes. Seeing the humans trying to have the advantage over the aliens because of their high ego reflects how society is today, where people will try to be superior to others so that they can accomplish their selfish needs. Also, the most important lesson is that don't underestimate anybody. Having high ego and be overconfident will only lead to a downfall.
October 29, 2023
Superiority is a story with flaws, it is great in some places but has some places that drag the story down significantly. The one thing that really stood out to me in this was the weapons. The weapons are creative, complex, and very well explained. But the story and dialogue really drag it down.
The story goes like this. A former commander of a great allied space fleet sends a letter to the court saying that it was not the fault of their inferiority but their superiority that they lost. He goes on to explain that they lost because of their newer but more faulty technology.
The main idea of the story really is just that newer technology is not necessarily better than older technology. Older but more reliable and refined tech is better than newer but less reliable technology. That theory is far less reliable than in practice. In some ways this is a cautionary tale. To consider all possibilities for failure before putting something into action.
The weapons are what elevated the so-so and dialogue to they were all creative and original. The explanations of the weapons were also clear and concise. The exponential field was the most memorable to me. The idea of stretching something to the point where it becomes invisible is to me, a science buff, infinitely interesting. I could spend all day thinking about how it would work and the effects of it on objects that it would be used on from the strain it would have to how it would have to atomic particles every time. The downsides of exponential field and the other weapons were realistic, making the story a smidge more believable.
The dialogue and story itself were very meh. It was not special, and the dialogue was rigid. The story is to be honest bland. The main character is more like a blank slate rather than a character with emotions.
Overall, 4.5/5 good and creative weapons. meh story though
The story goes like this. A former commander of a great allied space fleet sends a letter to the court saying that it was not the fault of their inferiority but their superiority that they lost. He goes on to explain that they lost because of their newer but more faulty technology.
The main idea of the story really is just that newer technology is not necessarily better than older technology. Older but more reliable and refined tech is better than newer but less reliable technology. That theory is far less reliable than in practice. In some ways this is a cautionary tale. To consider all possibilities for failure before putting something into action.
The weapons are what elevated the so-so and dialogue to they were all creative and original. The explanations of the weapons were also clear and concise. The exponential field was the most memorable to me. The idea of stretching something to the point where it becomes invisible is to me, a science buff, infinitely interesting. I could spend all day thinking about how it would work and the effects of it on objects that it would be used on from the strain it would have to how it would have to atomic particles every time. The downsides of exponential field and the other weapons were realistic, making the story a smidge more believable.
The dialogue and story itself were very meh. It was not special, and the dialogue was rigid. The story is to be honest bland. The main character is more like a blank slate rather than a character with emotions.
Overall, 4.5/5 good and creative weapons. meh story though
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2023
"Superiority," a by Arthur C. Clarke, is one of the more imaginative and grounded cautionary tale about the consequences of relying too heavily on machine rather than man. The narrative focuses on a technologically superior side facing unexpected failures in their advanced weaponry. While the story lacks elaborate character development and in-depth plot, it delivers a clear and simple message about the dangers of overlooking simple solutions and the importance of careful consideration when implementing advanced technology.
By having a war backdrop, it effectively conveys a cautionary tale about the consequences of blind faith in technological superiority, which mirrors many historical tales of war. The general tried making weapons that just did not work and was a waste and lead to a lack of resources to continue the fight, leading to their eventual defeat at the hands of a technologically inferior enemy who perfected their old-school tactics and put their resources to good use. The repetitive cycle of introducing new technologies and their failures highlights the story's moral lesson of rushing into untested advancements that can lead to disastrous outcomes, warning against overconfidence and negligence, and to aim for a balanced approach between innovation and understanding. While some readers, including me might find the lack of intricate plot disappointing, Clarke does make the story quite immersive in the sense that in a short story like this he was able to portray a believable story and world although more dialogue would be appreciated, overall, the story's message and insights make it somewhat a worthwhile read.
By having a war backdrop, it effectively conveys a cautionary tale about the consequences of blind faith in technological superiority, which mirrors many historical tales of war. The general tried making weapons that just did not work and was a waste and lead to a lack of resources to continue the fight, leading to their eventual defeat at the hands of a technologically inferior enemy who perfected their old-school tactics and put their resources to good use. The repetitive cycle of introducing new technologies and their failures highlights the story's moral lesson of rushing into untested advancements that can lead to disastrous outcomes, warning against overconfidence and negligence, and to aim for a balanced approach between innovation and understanding. While some readers, including me might find the lack of intricate plot disappointing, Clarke does make the story quite immersive in the sense that in a short story like this he was able to portray a believable story and world although more dialogue would be appreciated, overall, the story's message and insights make it somewhat a worthwhile read.
October 29, 2023
Superiority a short story written by Arthur C. Clarke, in my opinion, is a good sci-fi story but not really an interesting one. The story runs around the concept of new technologies and the obsession on it leading to catastrophe (which I find to be ironic). Though it also reflects our actions (like for instance our military technical failure), I feel like the only element that makes this story considered as sci-fi are the advance technologies and not really the plot itself. Many other sci-fi stories that I like involved some kind of plot that is not just advance technologies (I find advance technologies as a set up to the setting of the story rather than the plot of the story.) Sure, the author can center their stories around advance technologies to make it science fiction, but he or she could at least elaborate more; like, ok, I get that new technologies leads to catastrophe but is there more than that?? This story only focuses on the message of “not all advance stuff will guarantee victories.” Plus, this story also centers around military skills and tactics to how they went to war and why it was a failure (which I think the author gave us the same example 3 times; “oh look, here’s a new technology! Whoops, it failed” and then, “oh look here’s a newer one with so much potential,” “whoops, it failed again,” and yet again “oh look, this new technology won’t disappoint!” “We don’t believe you anymore! But hey, that looks promising! We’ll give it a shot!” “Whoops it failed again.” Ok, ok, I get it, don’t rush new technologies, it wouldn’t end well. Done, that’s all the story has. I feel like this is more of a moral story rather than a story to read for entertainment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2023
Ok let me get started on what the story about, Ill sum it out in 3 words Quantity over quality! This may be the author's personal experience and as a history nerd I'm going to explain to you why I think this correlates with WW2. First, they discuss how they tried to use new technology of guns and warships well and got overwhelmed by the enemy force! Well guess what happen to the German in WW2. They built the Bismark, the most advanced battleship in the Atlantic. On 24 May 1941 HMS battlecruiser hood was on patrol with another ship and was detected by the Bismark. Like in the story, the Bismark 15-inch aims and fires at the hood, hitting its armor rack, setting it aflame and sinking it immediately (like in the story where they strike a decisive blow to the enemy). When Churchill, the prime minister, heard this news he sent 100 ships (Estimate). On May 27, 1941, the Bismark got hit by the ship King George the 5th countless times and under attack by torpedoes from both cruisers and aircraft carriers. The Bismark later sunk that day due to the overwhelming force. (I am not going to spoil the book here, but you will see how it correlates once you read it!) The other instance is the disappearing tool! In WW2 the Germann invented the Ho 229 which was the first aircraft with a jet engine. It was the first plane with features in its design that can be referred to as stealth technology, to block the ability of radar to detect the plane. The aircraft have issues however and flame up and killed the pilot on the test flight! This show similarity to the story device of rush technology and guess what Germans lost the war and so does the story faction. I rate this story a nine out of ten due to its historical correlation and great story telling! The joke at the end was funny also!
November 3, 2021
This book is suitable for people who found the combination of military and innovation interesting. In my personal opinion, the idea that this book is trying to convey isn't deep and complex, I guess since this is a military-based story, so there's nothing deep to say about that. The whole story is very straightforward and easy to keep up with what's going on, there's no plot twist at all, which makes the story quite boring. You can probably guess what will happen next after reading this for a while.
However, the overall story is good and the innovation idea was interesting.
However, the overall story is good and the innovation idea was interesting.
November 4, 2021
Although the main idea of the story is not that deep or complex, it is still interesting nonetheless. If you think about it, this idea can relate really well to our reality where people are constantly competing with each other. Some try (a bit too much) to be ‘unique’ or ‘superior’, resulting in them falling behind instead. I also think that the author is quite creative in coming up with the futuristic weapons, even explaining some of them in detail. The only downside is that, in my opinion, I feel like the plot is not that interesting.
November 9, 2021
I found the concept and the technology in the story intriguing, as there were detailed scitific explanations about it, making the devices sound very realistic and believeable. The theme of how the newest might not always be the best made me think of the various technological advances that large companies are trying to achieve nowadays and wondered if it really is necessary. The idea that being too reliant on one thing can lead to a downfall also stood out to me. The writing style was formal, which made some scenes boring for me to read, but it was an okay experience overall.
November 3, 2021
I enjoyed the story and the themes that they explore, and situations they have in the story. The weapons are very sound in theory and also scientifically, and they also sound like they would be good war weapons, and yet they also have a very good reason for failing, that have grounds in science.
I do think that the way of telling the story is a little dry however, but it does make sense as the narrator seems to be summarizing what happens in the war.
I do think that the way of telling the story is a little dry however, but it does make sense as the narrator seems to be summarizing what happens in the war.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2021
The theme of this story is military sci-fi, weapons, and advanced technology which is great! but I, personally, am not a big fan of. Though, I think the idea of "trying a bit too hard" (in this case is winning the war by improving weapons in as many ways as possible to fail) could be applied or relate to anything in real life. I don't really get his style of writing. I sometimes kind of lost when he starts talking about the scientific theory of the weapon and all kind of that stuff.
November 7, 2021
This book is quite interesting. It's for a person that's in love with War and new hi-tech weapons or a person who is interesting in futuristic weapons. I personally think this is a great book, but I have seen Ender's Game before. The fact that I have watched Ender's game might have pushed my standard on warlike sci-fi up by a little. Although the ideas of the weapons were great and I manage to understand most of the books. From the start till the end, the book is cool, and yeah that's all. :)
November 3, 2021
I personally like military sci-fi of all kinds, so this really nice to read. I like the weapons he created in this story, the explaination is also kind of believable. I like how the story is just one commander of some sort defending himself in a trial. New technology, spaceships go boom, they lost the war.
November 3, 2021
This is a book that literature teachers would call amazing, the story is told in a very concise manner, yet it still manages to hammer its point home and make us think. Normal readers, would call it meh. Although it is told very well, the story that's being told isn't that interesting in my opinion.
November 3, 2021
I rated it a three because I found the story's message intriguing, as well as how it relates to real life. I believe the story's plot could be improved in some way. The futuristic weapons in the novel intrigue me, and I think it's really interesting. I would recommend it to anyone interested in historical events such as the World War and other such occurrences.
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November 3, 2021I think this stories is nice. I like how it is simillar to the WWII period when German building 1 perfect tank but the Russians were throwing 1000 crappy tanks at the German. I like it when it says the war can't win by technology
November 4, 2021
To be honest, the notion itself is a bit tedious for me. But the writing compensated for it. Arthur's fascinating weapons, with all those explanations, 'oh lord, that was incredible. The plot is fairly simple and easy to follow. Overall, it was an interesting story to read.
November 5, 2021
I loved the futuristic weapons he created, it really made things interesting. His explanations of each weapon really puts things into perspective and makes you think that it might become true. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves military sci-fi.
September 5, 2022
New is not always better. The ending was unexpected and funny. It reads like an old post-war news bulletin. I can't believe this is more than 70 years old and still relavent.
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