Combat SF

by Gordon R. Dickson, Vincent Di Fate (illustrator)

Collection of 16 war stories from top SF writesr

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy, Anthologies

266 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Gordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author. He was born in Canada, then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a teenager. He is probably most famous for his Childe Cycle and the Dragon Knight series. He won three Hugo awards and one Nebula award.

Reviews

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I slogged though this, not liking many of the stories, regardless of whether or not they were using war, weapons, blood, and death to make a point. There was simply too much of it. I liked Author C. Clark's funny punch line at the end of his story. There were several stories where we are not impressed with the cruelty of humans fighting aliens, and it turns out that was the point, so I liked those very much. James White's story comes to mind: a lot of not-so-subtle misdirection there, but the ending put humanity in a better light. There are some real gems here, like Poul Anderson's, "The Man Who Came Early, and Fred Saberhagen's, "Patron of the Arts."

[Al "Tank" · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of SF combat short stories by some of the giants of the genre.

Some were superb. Some were okay. None were bad.

I have no idea how Patricia Biggs got credit for this book on Amazon's site. Dickson supposedly put it together and his name is the only one on the copyright page. I didn't see her name anywhere in the book.

[Bruce Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had several classic stories that are a must to read. Some seemed a bit of a stretch being classified as combat. But over all, worth a read.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite of the Future war type anthologies. This one came out even before the "Future at War" series and probably influenced that, and the later "There Will Be War." Excellent stories, including the usual suspects, Drake, Anderson, Clarke, and a wonderful little story by Dickson called "Richochet on Miza."

[David Haddon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of sci-fi short stories. The kind that got me hooked on science fiction when I was a kid. Lots of scientific foundation, creative stories, nice plot twists.

I read this collection probably forty years ago, but still recognized a handful of the stories that caught my fancy way back when, and enjoyed all over again.