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Dilbia #1-2
The Right to Arm Bears
HUMANS OR HEMNOIDS:
AN UNBEARABLE CHOICE
Planet Dilbia is in a crucial location for both humans and their adversaries, the Hemnoids. Therefore making friends with the Dilbians and establishing a human presence there is of the utmost importance, which may be a problem, since the bearlike Dilbians stand some nine feet tall, and have a high regard for physical prowess. They're not impressed by human technology, either. A real man, er, bear doesn't need machines to do his work for him.
But Dilbians "are" impressed by sharp thinking, and some have expressed a grudging admiration for the logical (and usually sneaky) mental maneuvers that the human "shorties" have used to get themselves out of desperate jams. Just maybe that old human craftiness will win over the Dilbians to the human side. If not, we lose a nexus, and the Dilbians will learn just how unbearable Hemnoids can be....
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2000
26 people are currently reading
507 people want to read
About the author
Gordon R. Dickson
587 books376 followersGordon 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 4, 2011
One of the funniest SF books I've read in a while. The characters of the "bears" (actually Dilbians, alien inhabitants of another planet who happen to resemble brown bears here) are a lot of fun, and the human characters are too. There are actually three stories in this book - call two of them novellas and the third a short story - about the developing relationship between humans and Dilbians (who refer to humans as "shorties", since size-wise humans are to them as hobbits would be to humans.)
Most of the plotting revolves around the best kind of plot twists, the ones you don't see coming but which make perfect sense in hindsight. My only question is about the book's title and cover illustration, because it doesn't really come into any of the stories - I guess it was just a pun and picture an editor couldn't resist.
Most of the plotting revolves around the best kind of plot twists, the ones you don't see coming but which make perfect sense in hindsight. My only question is about the book's title and cover illustration, because it doesn't really come into any of the stories - I guess it was just a pun and picture an editor couldn't resist.
February 13, 2017
Humor and adventure, October 13, 2016
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This review is from: The Right to Arm Bears (Kindle Edition)
Two short novels and a short story by sci-fi great Gordon Dickson. The attention grabbing title really has nothing to do with the stories of the huge, bear-like, "primitive" Dilbians who seem to be able to consistently maneuver the "shorties", as they call humans, into outcomes which favor the Dilbians. There are hints of Keith Laumer's Retief in these stories but without the sharp edge and without the incredible incompetence of the Galactic Diplomatic Corps. The book combines humor and adventure in an entertaining blend.
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Right to Arm Bears (Kindle Edition)
Two short novels and a short story by sci-fi great Gordon Dickson. The attention grabbing title really has nothing to do with the stories of the huge, bear-like, "primitive" Dilbians who seem to be able to consistently maneuver the "shorties", as they call humans, into outcomes which favor the Dilbians. There are hints of Keith Laumer's Retief in these stories but without the sharp edge and without the incredible incompetence of the Galactic Diplomatic Corps. The book combines humor and adventure in an entertaining blend.
August 22, 2008
Gordon Dickson's Dilbian stories are some of the most entertaining in the SF world.
February 5, 2022
[4 stars = I probably will read again]
The Right to Arm Bears combines humor with puzzle solving in the context of interacting with alien species, the Dilbians, which have some resemblance to bears. It is really a set of three stories with a common theme where intuition, bluster, and empathy are used to circumvent an unwinnable situation. The plot is carried forward like a mystery, uncovering what the real motivations are. It's not quite fast paced, because the Dilbians like to talk a lot.
I like the name that the Dilbians give each other, and the Shorties (humans).
The Right to Arm Bears combines humor with puzzle solving in the context of interacting with alien species, the Dilbians, which have some resemblance to bears. It is really a set of three stories with a common theme where intuition, bluster, and empathy are used to circumvent an unwinnable situation. The plot is carried forward like a mystery, uncovering what the real motivations are. It's not quite fast paced, because the Dilbians like to talk a lot.
I like the name that the Dilbians give each other, and the Shorties (humans).
July 16, 2012
El libro tiene momentos graciosos y personajes entrañables como The Hill Bluffer, el responsable cartero de Dilbia, o el mismo Gulark-ay, cruel embajador Hemnoid. El problema es que está compuesto por tres historias con el mismo argumento y termina siendo repetitivo, especialmente en los momentos en que vuelven a relatar lo que ocurrió en la historia previa o a presentar personajes.
Las tres historias cuentan con un protagonista humano que sin haberlo planificado termina en el planeta Dilbia en una misión dudosa en donde no sabe a ciencia cierta en quién confiar y cuyo objetivo es rescatar a uno o más humanos que se encuentran en poder de algún oso dispuesto a llegar a un combate a muerte para determinar quién tiene la razón.
La otra observación que debo realizar es que el título y la portada del libro nada tienen que ver con su contenido, seguramente se habrá tratado de una estratagema de la editorial para hacerlo más atractivo. De hecho, los personajes de Gordon R. Dickson ponen en manifiesto varias veces que los habitantes del planeta Dilbia menosprecian las herramientas en general y uno de ellos, el viejo More Jam, menciona que no usan ropa como nosotros los humanos.
Las tres historias cuentan con un protagonista humano que sin haberlo planificado termina en el planeta Dilbia en una misión dudosa en donde no sabe a ciencia cierta en quién confiar y cuyo objetivo es rescatar a uno o más humanos que se encuentran en poder de algún oso dispuesto a llegar a un combate a muerte para determinar quién tiene la razón.
La otra observación que debo realizar es que el título y la portada del libro nada tienen que ver con su contenido, seguramente se habrá tratado de una estratagema de la editorial para hacerlo más atractivo. De hecho, los personajes de Gordon R. Dickson ponen en manifiesto varias veces que los habitantes del planeta Dilbia menosprecian las herramientas en general y uno de ellos, el viejo More Jam, menciona que no usan ropa como nosotros los humanos.
September 22, 2019
Originally read "Operation Space Paw," (the middle story of this book) as a teen. It was sold as a stand alone paperback. I remembered really liking it. It was a humorous departure from Dickson's "Dorsai" novels, a refreshing change. I'm not sure if the story has held up for me over the years. Basically, humans ("shorties") and another race ("fatties") are competing against each other for influence on a new frontier world, populated by very large bipedal bears (Dilbans). The bears have unique attitudes and solutions that mostly revolve around tearing each other apart in one-on-one combat. Our human hero gets drawn unawares into politics and is expected to undertake hand-to-hand combat with a local Dilban champion. Human ingenuity, alien-bear-craftiness and primitive (no guns or lasers) combat all work together to resolve the story.
I still liked the middle/main story, but the flanking stories were just repetitive, didn't bring anything new (different human-hero tossed in over his head to resolve bear-battles).
Like I said, I'm not sure these stories stand up as well as they did 40-50 years ago. But there's fun to be had here.
I still liked the middle/main story, but the flanking stories were just repetitive, didn't bring anything new (different human-hero tossed in over his head to resolve bear-battles).
Like I said, I'm not sure these stories stand up as well as they did 40-50 years ago. But there's fun to be had here.
May 1, 2021
This is a relatively new omnibus of two short novels and a short story that were originally published in the 1960's. "Spatial Delivery" originally published in 1961 by Ace Books, "Spacepaw" 1969 and "The Law Twister Shorter" 1971 by Ben Bova.
The title and the picture are merely a joke, and have nothing at all to do with the story. The Dilbians feel that fighting using weapons is sissy; they only respect one on one combat using only the weapons that nature gave them.
These are very enjoyable stories with a lot of humor, but it's also hard science fiction as it presents alien species in a very realistic way, and details the problems of understanding alien species because they don't think the same way that humans do. There is a lot of psychology involved as the protagonists seek to understand how the alien Dilbian minds work.
The stories revolve around the efforts in furthering the diplomatic relations with the inhabitants of the planet of Dilbia. This planet is positioned in a vital staging area for future Terran expansion and there is fierce rivalry with another race, the Hemoids.
Dilbians are ursine in appearance, resembling a nine foot tall Kodiak bear that had slimmed down and decided to walk on two legs. Their culture is that of mountain men, in which physical strength and rugged individualism are prized traits. They tend to be insular and for the most part have little interest in anyplace outside of their beloved hills and valleys, where 90% of the population lives. They are iron working tool users with little interest in technology. They use tools, such as axes, but never for fighting, which is a very popular Dilbian past time. They love nothing more than a good scrap, but only respect hand to hand combat, except in the case of the lowlands where they fight using swords and shields. For this reason, the Lowlanders are viewed as lazy and soft by the Uplanders who comprise the vast majority of the planetary population. They prefer to live their lives as honest frontiersmen.
But in spite of their lack of interest in developing advanced technology, they are not at all backwards or stupid. In fact they are fiendishly intelligent and while their culture seems a very simple clan culture with very, very few rules, it is anything but.
They are not at all bearlike in personality or nature. In that regard they more closely resemble the frontiersman of our American West.
The Hemnoids are of equivalent technological level as the Terrans with a large empire of developed worlds; as do the humans; and an advanced culture. They are humanoid, and in appearance look like huge fat and jolly Buddhas standing about eight foot tall. They come from a high gravity world, and it isn't fat, it's muscle, and they are incredibly strong. For this reason, the Dilbians tend to respect the Fatties more than they do the Shorties, who seem ridiculous to them, an attitude that changes as the events unfold. Despite appearances, they have less in common with humans than the Dilbians do. For example cruelty is a culturally cherished trait by the Hemnoids, as opposed to our culture which emphasizes kindness.
For Dilbians names are very important and everyone is given a name by the Dilbians based upon the perception that society has of them or upon their past actions. This name reflects their opinion of the individual. They call humans "Shorties" and the Hemnoids "Fatties". The only recurring character is the Hill Bluffer, the Dilbian postman who in all three books is hired to carry the human protagonists to their destination; or, as he sees it, deliver him as parcel post. The Bluffer is tall and lean and powerful even by Dilbian standards, and knows all the clans and all the trails and prides himself that no one is faster on two feet. The first hero was tasked with defeating a local villain in combat. As he was dispatched in the form of a mail parcel he was henceforth known as "The Half Pint Posted" by the Dilbians. The Hemnoid ambassador Gulark-ay was dubbed "The Beer Guts Bouncer". The villain of the first book is the Streamside Terror, a fighter of repute among the Dilbians who prefers the tactic of fighting close to water in which he would attempt to drown his opponents. One female human was dubbed "Greasy Face" when a Dilbian witnessed her applying makeup one day, and another "Dirty Teeth" when she was seen while brushing her teeth.
A major problem in understanding Dilbians is because they seem simple and straightforward, but underneath they have minds like spiral staircases. For example one of the very few written laws that the Dilbians live by prohibits lying, and everything a Dilbian says is absolutely true. But they take pride in deception while telling the absolute truth, so pretty much everything they say is misleading in some way.
The clans are governed by elders called "Grandfathers" who are appointed by election. A lot of humor is derived in figuring out how the Dilbians mental processes works, which is bizarrely alien, but for them makes perfect sense. One of the lessons learned is that the traits of physical strength and courage so highly prized in Dilbian culture really isn't really that important. What is most important to them is cunning and trickery.
They make a habit of creating situations for humans to see how they solve them, and the simple mountain man image that they cultivate hides the fact that they are very deviously constantly assessing and testing us, rather than the other way around.
Really fascinating and very interesting stories by master storyteller Gordon R. Dickson.
One thing that annoys me is the typesetting by Baen has a number of mis-prints, a lot of words are incorrect, and one paragraph is half missing. I noticed that with another Baen omnibus re-printing "The Universe Twister". While I'm grateful that Baen keeps these excellent stories alive for younger generations it is nonetheless a tad irritating.
The title and the picture are merely a joke, and have nothing at all to do with the story. The Dilbians feel that fighting using weapons is sissy; they only respect one on one combat using only the weapons that nature gave them.
These are very enjoyable stories with a lot of humor, but it's also hard science fiction as it presents alien species in a very realistic way, and details the problems of understanding alien species because they don't think the same way that humans do. There is a lot of psychology involved as the protagonists seek to understand how the alien Dilbian minds work.
The stories revolve around the efforts in furthering the diplomatic relations with the inhabitants of the planet of Dilbia. This planet is positioned in a vital staging area for future Terran expansion and there is fierce rivalry with another race, the Hemoids.
Dilbians are ursine in appearance, resembling a nine foot tall Kodiak bear that had slimmed down and decided to walk on two legs. Their culture is that of mountain men, in which physical strength and rugged individualism are prized traits. They tend to be insular and for the most part have little interest in anyplace outside of their beloved hills and valleys, where 90% of the population lives. They are iron working tool users with little interest in technology. They use tools, such as axes, but never for fighting, which is a very popular Dilbian past time. They love nothing more than a good scrap, but only respect hand to hand combat, except in the case of the lowlands where they fight using swords and shields. For this reason, the Lowlanders are viewed as lazy and soft by the Uplanders who comprise the vast majority of the planetary population. They prefer to live their lives as honest frontiersmen.
But in spite of their lack of interest in developing advanced technology, they are not at all backwards or stupid. In fact they are fiendishly intelligent and while their culture seems a very simple clan culture with very, very few rules, it is anything but.
They are not at all bearlike in personality or nature. In that regard they more closely resemble the frontiersman of our American West.
The Hemnoids are of equivalent technological level as the Terrans with a large empire of developed worlds; as do the humans; and an advanced culture. They are humanoid, and in appearance look like huge fat and jolly Buddhas standing about eight foot tall. They come from a high gravity world, and it isn't fat, it's muscle, and they are incredibly strong. For this reason, the Dilbians tend to respect the Fatties more than they do the Shorties, who seem ridiculous to them, an attitude that changes as the events unfold. Despite appearances, they have less in common with humans than the Dilbians do. For example cruelty is a culturally cherished trait by the Hemnoids, as opposed to our culture which emphasizes kindness.
For Dilbians names are very important and everyone is given a name by the Dilbians based upon the perception that society has of them or upon their past actions. This name reflects their opinion of the individual. They call humans "Shorties" and the Hemnoids "Fatties". The only recurring character is the Hill Bluffer, the Dilbian postman who in all three books is hired to carry the human protagonists to their destination; or, as he sees it, deliver him as parcel post. The Bluffer is tall and lean and powerful even by Dilbian standards, and knows all the clans and all the trails and prides himself that no one is faster on two feet. The first hero was tasked with defeating a local villain in combat. As he was dispatched in the form of a mail parcel he was henceforth known as "The Half Pint Posted" by the Dilbians. The Hemnoid ambassador Gulark-ay was dubbed "The Beer Guts Bouncer". The villain of the first book is the Streamside Terror, a fighter of repute among the Dilbians who prefers the tactic of fighting close to water in which he would attempt to drown his opponents. One female human was dubbed "Greasy Face" when a Dilbian witnessed her applying makeup one day, and another "Dirty Teeth" when she was seen while brushing her teeth.
A major problem in understanding Dilbians is because they seem simple and straightforward, but underneath they have minds like spiral staircases. For example one of the very few written laws that the Dilbians live by prohibits lying, and everything a Dilbian says is absolutely true. But they take pride in deception while telling the absolute truth, so pretty much everything they say is misleading in some way.
The clans are governed by elders called "Grandfathers" who are appointed by election. A lot of humor is derived in figuring out how the Dilbians mental processes works, which is bizarrely alien, but for them makes perfect sense. One of the lessons learned is that the traits of physical strength and courage so highly prized in Dilbian culture really isn't really that important. What is most important to them is cunning and trickery.
They make a habit of creating situations for humans to see how they solve them, and the simple mountain man image that they cultivate hides the fact that they are very deviously constantly assessing and testing us, rather than the other way around.
Really fascinating and very interesting stories by master storyteller Gordon R. Dickson.
One thing that annoys me is the typesetting by Baen has a number of mis-prints, a lot of words are incorrect, and one paragraph is half missing. I noticed that with another Baen omnibus re-printing "The Universe Twister". While I'm grateful that Baen keeps these excellent stories alive for younger generations it is nonetheless a tad irritating.
December 22, 2010
A collection of 2 novellas (or short novels) and a short story about the Bearlike Dilbians, and Human interaction with them, and the interference of a third interstallar race - the high-g Hemnoids.
Humourous in tone, but not laugh out-loud funny.
The three stories follow a similar theme - that of Human's (Shorties) being "captured" by Dilbians and then a solitary Shorty being sent to rescue them, whilst being kept almost completely in the dark...
The "Bears" are not in any real sense armed, so the title is a little misleading, as is the cover. In one story the Lowlanders use swords and shields, but this is not the norm amongst the Dilbians.
Humourous in tone, but not laugh out-loud funny.
The three stories follow a similar theme - that of Human's (Shorties) being "captured" by Dilbians and then a solitary Shorty being sent to rescue them, whilst being kept almost completely in the dark...
The "Bears" are not in any real sense armed, so the title is a little misleading, as is the cover. In one story the Lowlanders use swords and shields, but this is not the norm amongst the Dilbians.
January 5, 2023
This book held three stories of varying lengths. The last was the shortest, whilst Spacepaw was the longest. They make sense to be together and in the order they are in. Imagine going to a world with nine foot tall grizzly bears. Sentient grizzly bears. Sentient with a strong set of customs and moral code, where might is more highly prized than intelligence. This book shows the advantages and disadvantages to that. I'll probably reread this one. It holds one's attention well.
May 19, 2013
Agree with James, except I didn't find it funny so much as fun. Good characters, apparently impossible situations, good twists. 2 novellas and a short story (read them in order). I was a little surprised that the short story is copyright Ben Bova: There wasn't the slightest hint that this was written by someone else.
May 14, 2023
The Right to Arm Bears—aka the Dilbian Trilogy—is one of the most novel contributions to SF exobiology in the annals of the genre. The Dilbians, for those wondering, are a race of bipedal giant bears who combine the highlander’s clannish distrust of outsiders with the American Indian’s love animist lore.
For some reason humans in the distant future see this strange and proud race as integral to their successful diffusion of homo sapiens throughout space. Also for some inexplicable reason, another race—called the Hemnoids—are also eager to establish a separate peace with the Dilbians. The Hemnoids (always makes me think of “hemorrhoids”) combine the repulsiveness of the Harkonnen with the martial spirit of the Sardaukar. And if you get that reference, chances are you’re probably nerdy enough to enjoy this relatively-thick-yet-somehow-slight-omnibus.
The books, in order, are Spacial Delivery, Spacepaw, and The Law Twister Shorty. To describe the plot of one would be to describe the plot of all. Dickson put a heck of a lot of thought into his alien anthropology here, but alas, seemed to shirk a bit in the plot department.
Each tale follows the same basic formula. A human—called “shorties” by the Dilbians—arrives on some quest, sent by an intergalactic federation. The ursine natives regard the human as puny, weak, and beneath contempt. The human is then pitted in combat against the Dilbian, and, knowing he’d be slaughtered in a standup fight, finds a way to outwit the furry megafauna. This results in the Dilbians moving slightly closer to the humans—though never forming an outright alliance—while drifting further from the ultra-sadistic Hemnoids. It never gets (too) old or stale, though, as the Dilbians, despite their ogrish ways, also have a more complex social hierarchy—and wit—than it at first seems.
The best of the three tales is Spacepaw, which is sandwiched between the other two tales. The shortish novel follows the travails of a shortie who is the unwitting pawn of a greater human plot. He thinks he’s among the Dilbians in order to teach them new methods of terraforming, agriculture, and husbandry. The big bears apparently think something similar, as soon after the human lands in his “big box,” they Christen him “Pick-and-Shovel.” It’s only in the final act, though, that the protagonist realizes he is here because he is able to pass a kind of psychological Dilbian Turing Test. Whether he’s meant to infiltrate the Dilbians for peaceable purposes or is a sort of shorty Trojan Horse is just something you’ll have to find out for yourself. Imagine a John Le Carré spy novel crossed with one of those little illustrated Berenstein Bear children’s books and you’re in the ballpark (or at least as close as you’re gonna get when trying to make this unwieldy thing fit an “x meets y” template.)
The folkways of the bears are fascinating, as are their tribal councils, which, while not democratic, at least are not ruled by caprice or outright tyranny. I wish that the planet had been better described, that the worldbuilding was commensurate to Dickson’s eye for cultural and folkloric detail. As it stands, we only get a thumbnail sketch of an unspoiled arboreal land, a bit like America before the arrival of the great ships carrying Arabian steeds and cuirassed conquistadors.
I imagine that analogy is not only apt, but pretty much what Dickson had in mind when he created the tales. Tepid recommendation for fans of slighter, more jokey SF in the vein of Doug Adams, although this is even a bit frothier and insubstantial than that.
For some reason humans in the distant future see this strange and proud race as integral to their successful diffusion of homo sapiens throughout space. Also for some inexplicable reason, another race—called the Hemnoids—are also eager to establish a separate peace with the Dilbians. The Hemnoids (always makes me think of “hemorrhoids”) combine the repulsiveness of the Harkonnen with the martial spirit of the Sardaukar. And if you get that reference, chances are you’re probably nerdy enough to enjoy this relatively-thick-yet-somehow-slight-omnibus.
The books, in order, are Spacial Delivery, Spacepaw, and The Law Twister Shorty. To describe the plot of one would be to describe the plot of all. Dickson put a heck of a lot of thought into his alien anthropology here, but alas, seemed to shirk a bit in the plot department.
Each tale follows the same basic formula. A human—called “shorties” by the Dilbians—arrives on some quest, sent by an intergalactic federation. The ursine natives regard the human as puny, weak, and beneath contempt. The human is then pitted in combat against the Dilbian, and, knowing he’d be slaughtered in a standup fight, finds a way to outwit the furry megafauna. This results in the Dilbians moving slightly closer to the humans—though never forming an outright alliance—while drifting further from the ultra-sadistic Hemnoids. It never gets (too) old or stale, though, as the Dilbians, despite their ogrish ways, also have a more complex social hierarchy—and wit—than it at first seems.
The best of the three tales is Spacepaw, which is sandwiched between the other two tales. The shortish novel follows the travails of a shortie who is the unwitting pawn of a greater human plot. He thinks he’s among the Dilbians in order to teach them new methods of terraforming, agriculture, and husbandry. The big bears apparently think something similar, as soon after the human lands in his “big box,” they Christen him “Pick-and-Shovel.” It’s only in the final act, though, that the protagonist realizes he is here because he is able to pass a kind of psychological Dilbian Turing Test. Whether he’s meant to infiltrate the Dilbians for peaceable purposes or is a sort of shorty Trojan Horse is just something you’ll have to find out for yourself. Imagine a John Le Carré spy novel crossed with one of those little illustrated Berenstein Bear children’s books and you’re in the ballpark (or at least as close as you’re gonna get when trying to make this unwieldy thing fit an “x meets y” template.)
The folkways of the bears are fascinating, as are their tribal councils, which, while not democratic, at least are not ruled by caprice or outright tyranny. I wish that the planet had been better described, that the worldbuilding was commensurate to Dickson’s eye for cultural and folkloric detail. As it stands, we only get a thumbnail sketch of an unspoiled arboreal land, a bit like America before the arrival of the great ships carrying Arabian steeds and cuirassed conquistadors.
I imagine that analogy is not only apt, but pretty much what Dickson had in mind when he created the tales. Tepid recommendation for fans of slighter, more jokey SF in the vein of Doug Adams, although this is even a bit frothier and insubstantial than that.
April 18, 2024
Spacial Delivery
Spacepaw
"The Law-Twister Shorty" (1971, Ben Bova) - There's zero indication this was written by Bova except the copyright page (making this a very small shared universe), and almost making me chew out Dickson for reusing the same formula a third time. As is...congrats on the chameleon routine, I guess? It fits very well with the novels preceding it, and continues the development of the path of strength augmented by trickery, to trickery with a side of strength, to all trickery in this last story. It doesn't really offer an explicit conclusion to the "saga", such as it is, of Human-Hemnoid struggle for favour on Dilbia, but it does suggest that A) humans will have a better understanding of Dilbian culture as a result of this episode, and B) that Dilbians are more than capable of manipulating things to their own ends, so things will probably work themselves out. Despite the blindingly obvious solution to the problem, the explanation that its resolution was in fact proof that it was exactly as hard as it seemed, redeemed the entire story. The "I know that you know that I know that you know that I know" exchange actually got a laugh out, and I find that these "humorous" scifi stories are so rarely actually funny.
Spacepaw
"The Law-Twister Shorty" (1971, Ben Bova) - There's zero indication this was written by Bova except the copyright page (making this a very small shared universe), and almost making me chew out Dickson for reusing the same formula a third time. As is...congrats on the chameleon routine, I guess? It fits very well with the novels preceding it, and continues the development of the path of strength augmented by trickery, to trickery with a side of strength, to all trickery in this last story. It doesn't really offer an explicit conclusion to the "saga", such as it is, of Human-Hemnoid struggle for favour on Dilbia, but it does suggest that A) humans will have a better understanding of Dilbian culture as a result of this episode, and B) that Dilbians are more than capable of manipulating things to their own ends, so things will probably work themselves out. Despite the blindingly obvious solution to the problem, the explanation that its resolution was in fact proof that it was exactly as hard as it seemed, redeemed the entire story. The "I know that you know that I know that you know that I know" exchange actually got a laugh out, and I find that these "humorous" scifi stories are so rarely actually funny.
September 27, 2018
A coworker received a pile of books as gifts and didn't want them, so he offered any of them to me. This was one of my choices because of the title, for its cleverness and the idea of putting weapons in to a bear's paws. This contained 3 stories, all of which were similar, with one recurring character to sort of tie them together. A human is sent to the Dilbians (the bear-like aliens) under some false premise in order to further human understanding of the Dilbian species. The Dilbians... can I just call them bears? Not just normal bears either, but those hilarious scared bears (and one very angry bear) from the Naughty Bear video games (it is about violence, not whatever it sounds like). Anyways, the Bears solution to these problems the humans come up with is always a duel to the death. A human is not winning against a 9-foot Bear. So the human comes up with some clever way to outwit the Bear. Same formula for all three stories. And yet, they were all equally entertaining. The best part of these stories were the names of the Bears and the names the Bears call the humans.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2020
This is an entertaining collection of science fiction yarns written during the Cold War. It was more optimistic than most of them. There is no actual war or even proxy war. But, like the first few decades of the Cold War, the main players are jockeying for the support of less developed planets out in the sticks. The good news is it did not drag any notions of the simple "capitalism vs communism" or "freedom vs stalinism" conventions into future science fiction cold wars. Dickson understood that Cold Wars are about Size and Territory: The professed ideologies of the combatants merely incidental.
April 29, 2019
I've always wanted to read this book from my father's collection. The Dilbians are a larger, ursine species with a unique tribal culture that defines masculinity based on one's ability to fight without armor or weaponry. Humans and Hemnoids court the Dilbians hoping for an alliance, but the Dilbians don't take the "Shorties" as seriously as the "Fatties" until a couple of men demonstrate human superiority through cleverness.
I loved reading these two stories. At first, I didn't understand why the second one was so similar to the first one, but that's my only major critique.
I loved reading these two stories. At first, I didn't understand why the second one was so similar to the first one, but that's my only major critique.
May 15, 2024
I couldn't finish this collection of three novellas. The style is very awkward with repeated phrasing and stilted dialog that literally made me shake my head it was so incomprehensible at times. Worse, the cover image sells a very different book. This is not military sci-fi with heavily armed bear-like aliens. It's an attempt at sci-fi action comedy. If you're going to read Dickson, read his Dragon series, it's much better.
September 3, 2019
Awesome. Old-time science fiction at its best. In this case, the stories were originally written in the 1960's. Before I realized that, I kept thinking that the descriptions of the Dilbians was like Chewbacca, so why didn't the author just say so? Oh! I get it now! This was written before Star Wars.
March 3, 2021
Well, it ended before I was done!
Similar and yet very different to the Hoka series, still enjoyed the stories very much. It contains 3 different stories; Spacial Delivery, Space Paws and Twister Shorty. There's also 3 or more completely different viewpoints as to how things really are, keeps ya thinking and laughing at the same time.
Similar and yet very different to the Hoka series, still enjoyed the stories very much. It contains 3 different stories; Spacial Delivery, Space Paws and Twister Shorty. There's also 3 or more completely different viewpoints as to how things really are, keeps ya thinking and laughing at the same time.
April 14, 2023
A fun book, part of a fun series, and good for the entire family. But not merely fun.
This book is definitely on my 'humour' shelf, but there are a lot of very serious points in it. Indeed many of the points fly in the face of today's orthodoxy, as they involve old-fashioned gender roles in their psychological context.
Not a 'must read', but definitely highly recommended.
This book is definitely on my 'humour' shelf, but there are a lot of very serious points in it. Indeed many of the points fly in the face of today's orthodoxy, as they involve old-fashioned gender roles in their psychological context.
Not a 'must read', but definitely highly recommended.
August 9, 2017
I'm willing to bet that someone, somewhere challenged Gordon Dickson to write a novel starring grizzly-bear aliens. He did, and then they said he couldn't do it twice. The two novels and a short story are combined here, slightly far-fetched, but a whole lot of fun.
February 14, 2023
I was curious about the author’s works. The first story wasn’t too challenging. The second story was almost a photocopy of the previous one; at this stage I gave up. Perhaps, I would have enjoyed it more had I been a 12 year old.
February 18, 2023
The three storrys in this books are neither really funny like the "Hoka" tales, for that the bears here are just too big, nor is there much suspense. Oh, granted, they are all well written and not unpleasant to read. However one would wish that Gordon R. Dicksons last book were more memorable.
June 25, 2023
A fun and fantastic read. The story is rich and entertaining. Plus the fact that the entire plot serves as the punchline for a joke at the end... I laughed about this book's ending for a solid twenty minutes (an intentional and conscious effect from the Author).
September 9, 2019
Contains
1 Spacial Delivery
2 Spacepaw
3 The Law-Twister Shorty
1 Spacial Delivery
2 Spacepaw
3 The Law-Twister Shorty
July 26, 2021
Absolute blast to read . Not universe altering but just a great fun read from one of Sci fi's best authors ! Want a great bunch of short stories check this one out and prepare to have lots of fun !
December 6, 2022
Amusing and clever SF trilogy from the 1960's but the storytelling is overstuffed.
February 25, 2017
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, written and posted on the San Francisco Book Review Site (http://sanfranciscobookreview.com/).
The nine-foot tall, bear-like natives of planet Dilbia prize strength and sharp thinking over technology, which puts the relatively puny humans that have come to their world seeking an alliance at a disadvantage. And if that isn’t bad enough, Earthers aren’t the only aliens interested in a partnership. The dreaded Hemnoids—a bulky race with a nasty cruel streak—also have their eyes on the planet. Fortunately, creative problem-solving comes easily to certain humans. Humans like John Tardy, Bill Waltham, and Malcolm O’Keefe, each of whom is thrust unceremoniously into their own Dilbian socio-political messes with only their quick wits and bendy thinking to help them prove to the Dilbians that humans are a race to be taken seriously.
Other than the blunt, good-natured disposition of the Dilbians themselves, The Right to Arm Bears doesn’t provide much to get attached to. The book is a collection of three separate stories, each featuring a different human hero, who manages to finesse his way out of a thorny, politically-charged problem. Unfortunately, the individual stories lack a cohesive thread, each female character is pigeon-holed into either a damsel in distress, or a nagging shrew, and the three protagonists are completely indistinguishable from each other.
The nine-foot tall, bear-like natives of planet Dilbia prize strength and sharp thinking over technology, which puts the relatively puny humans that have come to their world seeking an alliance at a disadvantage. And if that isn’t bad enough, Earthers aren’t the only aliens interested in a partnership. The dreaded Hemnoids—a bulky race with a nasty cruel streak—also have their eyes on the planet. Fortunately, creative problem-solving comes easily to certain humans. Humans like John Tardy, Bill Waltham, and Malcolm O’Keefe, each of whom is thrust unceremoniously into their own Dilbian socio-political messes with only their quick wits and bendy thinking to help them prove to the Dilbians that humans are a race to be taken seriously.
Other than the blunt, good-natured disposition of the Dilbians themselves, The Right to Arm Bears doesn’t provide much to get attached to. The book is a collection of three separate stories, each featuring a different human hero, who manages to finesse his way out of a thorny, politically-charged problem. Unfortunately, the individual stories lack a cohesive thread, each female character is pigeon-holed into either a damsel in distress, or a nagging shrew, and the three protagonists are completely indistinguishable from each other.
September 6, 2017
A cool take on encountering an alien race. Also does a good job of poking holes in the notion of judging intelligence based on technology or physiognomy.
September 9, 2016
While I used to really enjoy this book, it hasn't aged well for me. The manipulations and "twists" aren't very compelling and there pages upon pages of "dead air" that make it a slog at times.
Dickson's books are always pretty readable, but hit-or-miss on quality, and this one has moved down more to "miss" for me. It is mildly amusing, though, so it's a good light sci-fi themed read that won't strain too many brain cells but isn't numbingly stupid or childish either.
Dickson's books are always pretty readable, but hit-or-miss on quality, and this one has moved down more to "miss" for me. It is mildly amusing, though, so it's a good light sci-fi themed read that won't strain too many brain cells but isn't numbingly stupid or childish either.
November 14, 2008
An entertaining yet insightful romp of science-fiction, one that explores the social nature of human-to-bear interactions with a serious emphasis on adventure. The only flaw is that the 3 stories involved all follow the same basic formula. Otherwise this is classic stuff from an oft overlooked master.
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