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The Military Dimension: Mark II
In an alternate world during the Vietnam War, an armored battalion is forced to confront a deadly alien enemy that is older than humanity itself, and when they storm its prison camp, they learn about a fate worse than death. Original.
- GenresScience Fiction
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
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48 people want to read
About the author
David Drake
307 books887 followersDavid Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 25, 2022
Fantastic
A very fine assortment of David Drake's short fiction. All are military themed but vary from horror to sci-fi to military fiction. The settings range from Vietnam to far future wars. All have elements of some kind of horror. David Drake was drafted out of Duke law school and sent to Vietnam where he was assigned to an armored cavalry unit as an interrogator. His very realistic military science fiction nearly always contains at least some of the horror of war.
Interestingly, the ships in the first story in the collection are named after murderers and Lady Bird Johnson. I do not know that Lyndon Johnson's wife was a criminal but she was certainly married to one. Drake's introduction and afterwards make his feelings about LBJ and Robert Strange McNamara pretty clear. His opinions of that pair, Vietnam and war in general more or less mirror my own. Pro soldier. Anti-slimy politicians.
A very fine assortment of David Drake's short fiction. All are military themed but vary from horror to sci-fi to military fiction. The settings range from Vietnam to far future wars. All have elements of some kind of horror. David Drake was drafted out of Duke law school and sent to Vietnam where he was assigned to an armored cavalry unit as an interrogator. His very realistic military science fiction nearly always contains at least some of the horror of war.
Interestingly, the ships in the first story in the collection are named after murderers and Lady Bird Johnson. I do not know that Lyndon Johnson's wife was a criminal but she was certainly married to one. Drake's introduction and afterwards make his feelings about LBJ and Robert Strange McNamara pretty clear. His opinions of that pair, Vietnam and war in general more or less mirror my own. Pro soldier. Anti-slimy politicians.
June 6, 2024
This is a somewhat revised and expanded version of Drake's 1991 collection, The Military Dimension. Drake is best remembered for his excellent military science fiction, particularly his Hammer's Slammers series (which is represented in this book most notably by The Tank Lords), but this collection presents a good sample of his other military-themed work including fantasy, horror, some shared-world pieces, etc. One of the most moving pieces included is a previously unpublished story he wrote in 1971 which has no sf element called The Way We Die. He does of good job of showing how different religious, political, economic, and philosophic problems affect the combatants and the civilians who can't escape the conflicts.
January 23, 2016
No question that David Drake is one of the pre-eminent military SF writers out there, and this book is a microcosm of what makes him so great. Realistic action, gritty characters, and a quick moving story make these stories some of the better examples of Drake writing out there.
Some of these stories are based on Drake's own experience in Vietnam, all but one with a SF twist (will talk about that later). Others are about combat in the future, but from a grunt's perspective, so they still involve the soldier putting his neck on the line in closing with and destroying the enemy.
Notable standouts that will stay with me for a while are "Something Had to Be Done," about a vampire who gets drafted into the Army, and "The Way We Die." The latter is the only non-SF story in the book (at least I couldn't detect an SF element). It's about the officer-enlisted relationship and how it can go horribly south from an enlisted man's point of view. As a military officer myself, the lesson hit home.
Unlike many books, the Introduction and Afterword are both worth reading as well, as they speak to Drake's motivatio for writing, and provide a background which make the stories that much more believable.
Overall, Drake fans will get more of what they love, and newbies to Drake's work will come back for more.
If you don't find this review helpful, please leave a comment as to why so I can improve future reviews.
Some of these stories are based on Drake's own experience in Vietnam, all but one with a SF twist (will talk about that later). Others are about combat in the future, but from a grunt's perspective, so they still involve the soldier putting his neck on the line in closing with and destroying the enemy.
Notable standouts that will stay with me for a while are "Something Had to Be Done," about a vampire who gets drafted into the Army, and "The Way We Die." The latter is the only non-SF story in the book (at least I couldn't detect an SF element). It's about the officer-enlisted relationship and how it can go horribly south from an enlisted man's point of view. As a military officer myself, the lesson hit home.
Unlike many books, the Introduction and Afterword are both worth reading as well, as they speak to Drake's motivatio for writing, and provide a background which make the stories that much more believable.
Overall, Drake fans will get more of what they love, and newbies to Drake's work will come back for more.
If you don't find this review helpful, please leave a comment as to why so I can improve future reviews.
August 8, 2009
3 and a half stars. Short stories of various kinds but all involving military action. There are some top of the line stories here worth 5 stars, and some others that aren't quite as good.
August 6, 2022
A banger collection of mil-sf by the always-reliable David Drake.
April 9, 2025
David Drake SF
Love the variety of David Drake's Science Fiction with fantasy, horror, space opera, hard military stories and more! Great reading!
Love the variety of David Drake's Science Fiction with fantasy, horror, space opera, hard military stories and more! Great reading!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews