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Star Destroyers: Big Ships Blowing Things Up
BIG SHIPS BLOWING THINGS UP
IN SPACE, SIZE MATTERS!
Boomers. Ships of the Line. Star Destroyers. The bigger the ship, the better the bang. From the dawn of history onward, commanding the most powerful ship around has been a dream of admirals, sultans, emperors, kings, generalissimos, and sea captains everywhere. For what the intimidation factor alone doesn’t achieve, a massive barrage from super-weapons probably will.
Thus it was, and ever shall be, even into the distant future. From the oceans of Earth, to beneath the ice of Europa, to the distant reaches of galactic empires, it is the great warships and their crews that sometimes keep civilization safe for the rest of us—but sometimes become an extinction-level event in and of themselves.
In “Superweapon” by David Drake, a fight for possession of an ancient alien warship will determine the fate of two vast interstellar powers. Then in “Hate in the Darkness” by Michael Z. Williamson, a team of libertarian Freeholders must think outside the box to do battle with the might of the United Nations and its powerful navy. And in “A Helping Hand,” Jody Lynn Nye posits an interstellar submarine on a rescue mission behind enemy lines—with the fate of an entire species hanging in the balance.
Big, bold, and edge-of-your-seat space opera and military science fiction from David Drake, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Michael Z. Williamson, Steve White, Robert Buettner, Susan R. Matthews, Dave Bara, and many more!
Complete contributor list: David Drake, Michael Z. Williamson, Mark L. Van Name. Steve White, Jody Lynn Nye, Brendan DuBois, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Susan R. Matthews, Mike Kupari. J.R. Dunn, Robert Buettner, Christopher Ruocchio, Dave Bara, Joelle Presby, Gray Rinehart.
About Star Destroyers:
“. . . spectacular space battles and alien contacts . . . themes of military ethics, the uses of artificial intelligence, and the limits of the capacity of the human mind. . . . it is the human interactions and decisions that ultimately drive the stories. . . . will appeal to fans of military and hard science fiction and any readers fascinated by the possibilities of space travel.”—Booklist
“. . . stories of giant spaceships at war, at peace, and in the often-gray areas between. . . . a worthy addition to a long tradition of ship-based fiction, and its authors portray captains, arcane astrogators, and civilian child passengers with equal depth. It’s recommended for fans of military SF and space adventure.”—Publishers Weekly
“. . . you’d probably expect some tight, action-filled space opera stories of giant space battles . . . and there’s some of that. But there are also espionage stories, rescue missions, political conflicts, alternate histories, even a few humorous tales. . . . each author took the premise in a different direction . . . if I had to identify one common feature to all the stories, it would be that they’re all fun. . . . Like it says, big ships blowing things up. What’s not to like?”—Analog
Introduction / Tony Daniel and Christopher Ruocchio --
Superweapon / David Drake --
A sudden stop / Steve White --
Another solution / Mark L. Van Name --
The magnolia incident / Mike Kupari --
A helping hand / Jody Lynn Nye --
Boomers / J.R. Dunn --
Hate in the darkness / Michael Z. Williamson --
The stars are silent / Gray Rinehart --
Excerpts from two lives / Sharon Lee & Steve Miller --
Icebreaker / Dave Bara --
Try not to kill us all / Joelle Presby --
Skipjack / Susan R. Matthews --
Homecoming / Robert Buettner --
Not made for us / Christopher Ruocchio --
A tale of the great trek war aboard the starship Persistence / Brendan DuBois.
IN SPACE, SIZE MATTERS!
Boomers. Ships of the Line. Star Destroyers. The bigger the ship, the better the bang. From the dawn of history onward, commanding the most powerful ship around has been a dream of admirals, sultans, emperors, kings, generalissimos, and sea captains everywhere. For what the intimidation factor alone doesn’t achieve, a massive barrage from super-weapons probably will.
Thus it was, and ever shall be, even into the distant future. From the oceans of Earth, to beneath the ice of Europa, to the distant reaches of galactic empires, it is the great warships and their crews that sometimes keep civilization safe for the rest of us—but sometimes become an extinction-level event in and of themselves.
In “Superweapon” by David Drake, a fight for possession of an ancient alien warship will determine the fate of two vast interstellar powers. Then in “Hate in the Darkness” by Michael Z. Williamson, a team of libertarian Freeholders must think outside the box to do battle with the might of the United Nations and its powerful navy. And in “A Helping Hand,” Jody Lynn Nye posits an interstellar submarine on a rescue mission behind enemy lines—with the fate of an entire species hanging in the balance.
Big, bold, and edge-of-your-seat space opera and military science fiction from David Drake, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Michael Z. Williamson, Steve White, Robert Buettner, Susan R. Matthews, Dave Bara, and many more!
Complete contributor list: David Drake, Michael Z. Williamson, Mark L. Van Name. Steve White, Jody Lynn Nye, Brendan DuBois, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Susan R. Matthews, Mike Kupari. J.R. Dunn, Robert Buettner, Christopher Ruocchio, Dave Bara, Joelle Presby, Gray Rinehart.
About Star Destroyers:
“. . . spectacular space battles and alien contacts . . . themes of military ethics, the uses of artificial intelligence, and the limits of the capacity of the human mind. . . . it is the human interactions and decisions that ultimately drive the stories. . . . will appeal to fans of military and hard science fiction and any readers fascinated by the possibilities of space travel.”—Booklist
“. . . stories of giant spaceships at war, at peace, and in the often-gray areas between. . . . a worthy addition to a long tradition of ship-based fiction, and its authors portray captains, arcane astrogators, and civilian child passengers with equal depth. It’s recommended for fans of military SF and space adventure.”—Publishers Weekly
“. . . you’d probably expect some tight, action-filled space opera stories of giant space battles . . . and there’s some of that. But there are also espionage stories, rescue missions, political conflicts, alternate histories, even a few humorous tales. . . . each author took the premise in a different direction . . . if I had to identify one common feature to all the stories, it would be that they’re all fun. . . . Like it says, big ships blowing things up. What’s not to like?”—Analog
Introduction / Tony Daniel and Christopher Ruocchio --
Superweapon / David Drake --
A sudden stop / Steve White --
Another solution / Mark L. Van Name --
The magnolia incident / Mike Kupari --
A helping hand / Jody Lynn Nye --
Boomers / J.R. Dunn --
Hate in the darkness / Michael Z. Williamson --
The stars are silent / Gray Rinehart --
Excerpts from two lives / Sharon Lee & Steve Miller --
Icebreaker / Dave Bara --
Try not to kill us all / Joelle Presby --
Skipjack / Susan R. Matthews --
Homecoming / Robert Buettner --
Not made for us / Christopher Ruocchio --
A tale of the great trek war aboard the starship Persistence / Brendan DuBois.
336 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2018
24 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Tony Daniel
97 books74 followersTony Daniel is an author of science fiction novels, short stories, and radio dramas.
For the comic book author, see Tony S. Daniel.
For the comic book author, see Tony S. Daniel.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 15, 2021
Star Destroyers
Author: Tony Daniel(editor), Christopher Ruocchio(editor), various authors
Publisher: Baen Books
Publishing Date: 2018
Pgs: 468
Dewey: PBK F STAT
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Heavy steel in space. Ships of the Line. Destroyers. Dreadnoughts. Super weapons. From the oceans of Earth to the icy seas of Europa and the distant lights farthest from the sky, warships and their crew carry out their duties facing the enemy wherever they may encounter them. Hurling steel and plasma and laser light across the medium of space, warfare among the stars.
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Space Opera
Science Fiction
Militaria
War
Why this book:
It's about space battleships and fleet action. It's my kind of stuff. Things blow up.
_________________________________________________
Superweapon by David Drake
The Feel:
First jump out of the gate and they are sitting at a Court of Inquiry, without lawyers or a reading of rights. Those surveyors are going to be lucky to walk out of this, monumental, historic find or not.
Favorite Character:
The giant ship is already a character in the story just from its description in the inquiry.
Least Favorite Character:
Both Balthaus and Rice. Disrespect will surely get them everywhere as Kearny slowly loses his mind trying to keep them all out of prison for just doing their jobs, but not up to Defense’s standards. Even though out in the void, the Survey Service doesn’t report to the Defense Department.
...course I don’t like any of the stuffed shirts questioning them at that Court of Inquiry either.
Hmm Moments:
Wonder if Tadeko ran fast enough to stop The Shield coming online. Wonder if The Shield would decide that instead of running and hiding it does what it's designed for and starts killing the people that sent it out into space, proactively protecting itself. All fun and games until your killing machines turn on you.
Wisdom:
Intelligence is intelligence whether it’s organic or artificial. Selling it short is a sure way to end up surprised in bad ways.
Juxtaposition:
Like the jux of the Earthlings with the ancient aliens and what could happen, what would happen, what can happen.
_________________________________________________
A Sudden Stop by Steve White
Favorite Concept:
A British Empire that flourished beyond the modern era. A world where the American Revolution had a very different outcome. An Earth where various nation-states have interstellar navies and space battleships. That’s good worldbuilding.
The Sigh:
And the helmsman/cyberpunk hero is a racist. ~isms when you are dealing with fictional species is one thing, probably not a good thing, but it’s one thing. It’s quite another when you are speaking about humans and using racial epithets that are actually in use. Rubs the wrong way and grates on the sense of the reader. And then, the excuse of “it’s what they call themselves”. Nope, not flying.
Juxtaposition:
After the great worldbuilding, the main character meets an old friend and their conversation takes a cudgel to that worldbuilding I was so enamored of earlier. They clear blue sky in their first acquaintance starts debating 100s of years of alternate history, racial relations, and the Declaration of Independence.
_________________________________________________
Pacing:
The story hits a roadblock when the main character engages in a conversational flashback on the entire history of the alternate history British Empire and its relations to its North American subjects, rebels, and whether/when slavery ended. It’s a roadblock that stops down the nascent story’s flow. If that’s the story that White wanted to tell, then that’s the story he should’ve told.
There are a couple points where the story flow has all the life sucked out of it. Almost to the degree that I’m thinking of giving up on this story and moving on to the next.
Last Page Sound:
Meh, there was potential, largely wasted. Disappointed. The story had a good hook. The worldbuilding was great.
Author Assessment:
I expected better from the guy who has been writing the Starfire series. I’ve got the next in that series on request from the library. I hope it lives up to it’s past. We’ll see. I was looking forward to reading the series associated with this short. I’m out now.
Editorial Assessment:
An editor should have questioned if that was really necessary.
_________________________________________________
Another Solution by Mark L Van Name
Meh / PFFT Moments:
Another solution is about the most un-space-battleship story and the history of space battleship stories. I guess it belongs in the collection but stuff doesn't blow up. More an A. I. or Tech-Gone-Wild story or a Foolish-Humans-Thinking-Their-The-Smartest story.
The Sigh:
Not about this short, but more about the whole collection. I've noticed that I'm about a fifth of the way through the book and I'm not getting flush-the-missile-racks and cannon fire and standing-on-the-burning-deck type stories which is kind of what I wanted.
_________________________________________________
The Magnolia Incident by Mike Kupari
Hmm Moments:
I love letters home from the front stories. And this one was well written.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The fight is 95% off screen.
Wisdom:
The fear of annihilation makes Man seek security at the expense of freedom. That is nationalist barbarism.
_________________________________________________
A Helping Hand by Jody Lynn Nye
The Feel:
I love the alien ocean trope. Especially when I like the submarine/starship similarity genre too.
Favorite Character:
The Deeps. Alien whales who look like giant bacteria with solid bodies.
Least Favorite Character:
Samwa the alien who they are there to rescue who doesn’t want to be rescued. He has good reason for what he does. But he’s going to get all of them killed and worsen an already hot war.
Hmm Moments:
I like the dive and hide and run and strike aspects. The sitting duck aspect of it is maddening...and I’m not inside the submarine in an alien ocean being depth charged to hell and gone.
The Unexpected:
This one has that “Captain there be whales here” feel. I love that.
Missed Opportunity:
I wanted Nurys and the Colorado to blow hell out of all of them. At least she got that mothership.
Last Page Sound:
Favorite of the collection, so far.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
Seems like all out war between the Lits, the Glicks, Humans and the Turuchs is a foregone conclusion in this universe.
_________________________________________________
Boomers by J. R. Dunn
Favorite Concept:
Commando ship boarding party, nice.
Hmm Moments:
US vs USSR in space. Well...US vs derelict Soviet spacecraft with nuclear weapons onboard post fall of Communism. ...with some KGB deadender crews wanting to bring back the glory of the Fatherland. Flashback-ish.
A runaway impulse vessel that was supposed to be one place but was halfway across the system from its intended destination.
Of course, it’s the KGB.
_________________________________________________
Hate in the Darkness by Michael Z Williamson
The Feel:
This one has an odd feel to it. The command and control of the Freehold ship is odd...un-Navy like.
Least Favorite Character:
Metzger. Mr I-have-to-eat/I-have-to-sleep after a whole 30 seconds or page and a half of action. Meh.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The bridge crew conversations on both the aggressor and the defenders ships were a bit too cardboard for me.
Editorial Assessment:
An editor should have stood a bit closer to this story.
_________________________________________________
The Stars are Silent by Gray Rinehart
Hmm Moments:
So, the Tigris got her ass kicked by the Kellador in a surprise attack.
Their orbit is going to betray them a long time before they get a chance to fix their C-Drive. They’re in trouble. And an invasion force is emerging beyond the star that is hiding them, for the moment. Damn. That’s good stuff.
WTF Moments:
Ambush or full on invasion. The crew of the injured Tigris looks to be in for hell.
Last Page Sound:
Favorite story so far.
Things I’d Like to See:
Wish we got more of this story.
The new skipper recovered from his shellshock. And the ongoing war against the Kellador.
_________________________________________________
Excerpts from Two Lives by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Juxtaposition:
Love story...tragedy...death.
The Unexpected:
Didn’t see that coming.
_________________________________________________
Icebreaker by Dave Bara
Favorite Character:
Ramos is Ahad. You don’t realize that until halfway through.
Hmm Moments:
An overmatched sub hunt in the seas of Europa. Nice.
Questions I’m Left With:
You are left with a pretty big question at the end of this one.
_________________________________________________
Try Not to Kill Us All by Joelle Presby
Favorite Concept:
Humans building their next level civilization on recycled bits of alien tech and material left behind is wholly within character. The aliens trying to recycle anything left behind so that no aliens get ahold of said tech makes sense too. The two ideals crashing into each other makes for good drama.
Hmm Moments:
That’s good worldbuilding. The human cultists worshipping aliens makes total sense, knowing humans. I’m looking at you Ancient Astronaut Theorists.
With as badassed as they built the cleaners up to be, these people should probably hit the gas and get the hell out of that system. But intelligence isn’t humanity’s strongest attribute in most sci fi stories.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
With only 5 stories to go to the end of the collection, yes, stuff has blown up. But there hasn’t been very much ship-to-ship combat. And no fleet action to speak of.
Last Page Sound:
I liked this one. Well done.
_________________________________________________
Skipjack by Susan R Matthews
Hmm Moments:
Something is off about the Skipjack’s crew. Even beyond their happy gas environment.
Last Page Sound:
That’s sneaky and wonderful and tragic. Warriors with honor subservient to faceless nobodies without honor and the onrushing end where the nobodies got fooled.
_________________________________________________
Homecoming by Robert Buettner
Favorite Quote:
“I know what it means. I’m a drunk, not illiterate.” Greatness.
Favorite Concept:
Referring to the brass as chair commandos is great.
Last Page Sound:
That’s a good story.
Questions I’m Left With:
No mention of what happened to and with the Wiechesian Separatists both on the ship and back on the Ice Age world the refugees had escaped.
_________________________________________________
Not Made for Us by Christoper Ruocchio
Favorite Concept:
Deep sleep soldiers going hotspot to hotspot putting down insurrection and invading and such in a Roman-esque setting amongst the stars.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The joining up that Carax did, purportedly for his wife and son doesn’t wash when placed in context to his being a popsicle out of time and touch with that family he left behind. Them probably being long dead as he cold sleeps his way through the years between battles.
Juxtaposition:
Aren’t a soldier’s enemies always demons when they are described in the heat of battle? Heroes and villains, good guys and bad guys, angels and demons...all comes down to who survives and who writes the history.
Get Off My Lawn:
I don’t know...the whole life is life motif when they’d just found a human who’d been cooked and put on the dinner table. I don’t know about that peace gesture Carax was engaging in before the other centurions caught up and saved his ass.
_________________________________________________
A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence by Brendan DuBois
Favorite Concept:
Mutiny and generational war between members of the crew, tribal, bringing the conflicts of earth with them into the stars and the distant future. Humans being humans.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
That doesn't belong in a book called Star Destroyers. Sigh
The Unexpected:
Oh geez, that's what TREK is? Damn.
Get Off My Lawn:
That's what they're killing each other over? Really?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Meh / PFFT Moments:
Considering that this was called Star Destroyers there needed to be more stuff blowing up and ship to ship fighting.
Last Page Sound:
There were good shorts peppered throughout this collection. Some were meh. But mostly there were good. Some, even, great.
I like the collection. By and large it wasn't about star destroyers. There were ships in every story. Some good. Some great. Some meh
_________________________________________________
Author: Tony Daniel(editor), Christopher Ruocchio(editor), various authors
Publisher: Baen Books
Publishing Date: 2018
Pgs: 468
Dewey: PBK F STAT
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
Heavy steel in space. Ships of the Line. Destroyers. Dreadnoughts. Super weapons. From the oceans of Earth to the icy seas of Europa and the distant lights farthest from the sky, warships and their crew carry out their duties facing the enemy wherever they may encounter them. Hurling steel and plasma and laser light across the medium of space, warfare among the stars.
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Space Opera
Science Fiction
Militaria
War
Why this book:
It's about space battleships and fleet action. It's my kind of stuff. Things blow up.
_________________________________________________
Superweapon by David Drake
The Feel:
First jump out of the gate and they are sitting at a Court of Inquiry, without lawyers or a reading of rights. Those surveyors are going to be lucky to walk out of this, monumental, historic find or not.
Favorite Character:
The giant ship is already a character in the story just from its description in the inquiry.
Least Favorite Character:
Both Balthaus and Rice. Disrespect will surely get them everywhere as Kearny slowly loses his mind trying to keep them all out of prison for just doing their jobs, but not up to Defense’s standards. Even though out in the void, the Survey Service doesn’t report to the Defense Department.
...course I don’t like any of the stuffed shirts questioning them at that Court of Inquiry either.
Hmm Moments:
Wonder if Tadeko ran fast enough to stop The Shield coming online. Wonder if The Shield would decide that instead of running and hiding it does what it's designed for and starts killing the people that sent it out into space, proactively protecting itself. All fun and games until your killing machines turn on you.
Wisdom:
Intelligence is intelligence whether it’s organic or artificial. Selling it short is a sure way to end up surprised in bad ways.
Juxtaposition:
Like the jux of the Earthlings with the ancient aliens and what could happen, what would happen, what can happen.
_________________________________________________
A Sudden Stop by Steve White
Favorite Concept:
A British Empire that flourished beyond the modern era. A world where the American Revolution had a very different outcome. An Earth where various nation-states have interstellar navies and space battleships. That’s good worldbuilding.
The Sigh:
And the helmsman/cyberpunk hero is a racist. ~isms when you are dealing with fictional species is one thing, probably not a good thing, but it’s one thing. It’s quite another when you are speaking about humans and using racial epithets that are actually in use. Rubs the wrong way and grates on the sense of the reader. And then, the excuse of “it’s what they call themselves”. Nope, not flying.
Juxtaposition:
After the great worldbuilding, the main character meets an old friend and their conversation takes a cudgel to that worldbuilding I was so enamored of earlier. They clear blue sky in their first acquaintance starts debating 100s of years of alternate history, racial relations, and the Declaration of Independence.
_________________________________________________
Pacing:
The story hits a roadblock when the main character engages in a conversational flashback on the entire history of the alternate history British Empire and its relations to its North American subjects, rebels, and whether/when slavery ended. It’s a roadblock that stops down the nascent story’s flow. If that’s the story that White wanted to tell, then that’s the story he should’ve told.
There are a couple points where the story flow has all the life sucked out of it. Almost to the degree that I’m thinking of giving up on this story and moving on to the next.
Last Page Sound:
Meh, there was potential, largely wasted. Disappointed. The story had a good hook. The worldbuilding was great.
Author Assessment:
I expected better from the guy who has been writing the Starfire series. I’ve got the next in that series on request from the library. I hope it lives up to it’s past. We’ll see. I was looking forward to reading the series associated with this short. I’m out now.
Editorial Assessment:
An editor should have questioned if that was really necessary.
_________________________________________________
Another Solution by Mark L Van Name
Meh / PFFT Moments:
Another solution is about the most un-space-battleship story and the history of space battleship stories. I guess it belongs in the collection but stuff doesn't blow up. More an A. I. or Tech-Gone-Wild story or a Foolish-Humans-Thinking-Their-The-Smartest story.
The Sigh:
Not about this short, but more about the whole collection. I've noticed that I'm about a fifth of the way through the book and I'm not getting flush-the-missile-racks and cannon fire and standing-on-the-burning-deck type stories which is kind of what I wanted.
_________________________________________________
The Magnolia Incident by Mike Kupari
Hmm Moments:
I love letters home from the front stories. And this one was well written.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The fight is 95% off screen.
Wisdom:
The fear of annihilation makes Man seek security at the expense of freedom. That is nationalist barbarism.
_________________________________________________
A Helping Hand by Jody Lynn Nye
The Feel:
I love the alien ocean trope. Especially when I like the submarine/starship similarity genre too.
Favorite Character:
The Deeps. Alien whales who look like giant bacteria with solid bodies.
Least Favorite Character:
Samwa the alien who they are there to rescue who doesn’t want to be rescued. He has good reason for what he does. But he’s going to get all of them killed and worsen an already hot war.
Hmm Moments:
I like the dive and hide and run and strike aspects. The sitting duck aspect of it is maddening...and I’m not inside the submarine in an alien ocean being depth charged to hell and gone.
The Unexpected:
This one has that “Captain there be whales here” feel. I love that.
Missed Opportunity:
I wanted Nurys and the Colorado to blow hell out of all of them. At least she got that mothership.
Last Page Sound:
Favorite of the collection, so far.
Conclusions I’ve Drawn:
Seems like all out war between the Lits, the Glicks, Humans and the Turuchs is a foregone conclusion in this universe.
_________________________________________________
Boomers by J. R. Dunn
Favorite Concept:
Commando ship boarding party, nice.
Hmm Moments:
US vs USSR in space. Well...US vs derelict Soviet spacecraft with nuclear weapons onboard post fall of Communism. ...with some KGB deadender crews wanting to bring back the glory of the Fatherland. Flashback-ish.
A runaway impulse vessel that was supposed to be one place but was halfway across the system from its intended destination.
Of course, it’s the KGB.
_________________________________________________
Hate in the Darkness by Michael Z Williamson
The Feel:
This one has an odd feel to it. The command and control of the Freehold ship is odd...un-Navy like.
Least Favorite Character:
Metzger. Mr I-have-to-eat/I-have-to-sleep after a whole 30 seconds or page and a half of action. Meh.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The bridge crew conversations on both the aggressor and the defenders ships were a bit too cardboard for me.
Editorial Assessment:
An editor should have stood a bit closer to this story.
_________________________________________________
The Stars are Silent by Gray Rinehart
Hmm Moments:
So, the Tigris got her ass kicked by the Kellador in a surprise attack.
Their orbit is going to betray them a long time before they get a chance to fix their C-Drive. They’re in trouble. And an invasion force is emerging beyond the star that is hiding them, for the moment. Damn. That’s good stuff.
WTF Moments:
Ambush or full on invasion. The crew of the injured Tigris looks to be in for hell.
Last Page Sound:
Favorite story so far.
Things I’d Like to See:
Wish we got more of this story.
The new skipper recovered from his shellshock. And the ongoing war against the Kellador.
_________________________________________________
Excerpts from Two Lives by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Juxtaposition:
Love story...tragedy...death.
The Unexpected:
Didn’t see that coming.
_________________________________________________
Icebreaker by Dave Bara
Favorite Character:
Ramos is Ahad. You don’t realize that until halfway through.
Hmm Moments:
An overmatched sub hunt in the seas of Europa. Nice.
Questions I’m Left With:
You are left with a pretty big question at the end of this one.
_________________________________________________
Try Not to Kill Us All by Joelle Presby
Favorite Concept:
Humans building their next level civilization on recycled bits of alien tech and material left behind is wholly within character. The aliens trying to recycle anything left behind so that no aliens get ahold of said tech makes sense too. The two ideals crashing into each other makes for good drama.
Hmm Moments:
That’s good worldbuilding. The human cultists worshipping aliens makes total sense, knowing humans. I’m looking at you Ancient Astronaut Theorists.
With as badassed as they built the cleaners up to be, these people should probably hit the gas and get the hell out of that system. But intelligence isn’t humanity’s strongest attribute in most sci fi stories.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
With only 5 stories to go to the end of the collection, yes, stuff has blown up. But there hasn’t been very much ship-to-ship combat. And no fleet action to speak of.
Last Page Sound:
I liked this one. Well done.
_________________________________________________
Skipjack by Susan R Matthews
Hmm Moments:
Something is off about the Skipjack’s crew. Even beyond their happy gas environment.
Last Page Sound:
That’s sneaky and wonderful and tragic. Warriors with honor subservient to faceless nobodies without honor and the onrushing end where the nobodies got fooled.
_________________________________________________
Homecoming by Robert Buettner
Favorite Quote:
“I know what it means. I’m a drunk, not illiterate.” Greatness.
Favorite Concept:
Referring to the brass as chair commandos is great.
Last Page Sound:
That’s a good story.
Questions I’m Left With:
No mention of what happened to and with the Wiechesian Separatists both on the ship and back on the Ice Age world the refugees had escaped.
_________________________________________________
Not Made for Us by Christoper Ruocchio
Favorite Concept:
Deep sleep soldiers going hotspot to hotspot putting down insurrection and invading and such in a Roman-esque setting amongst the stars.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The joining up that Carax did, purportedly for his wife and son doesn’t wash when placed in context to his being a popsicle out of time and touch with that family he left behind. Them probably being long dead as he cold sleeps his way through the years between battles.
Juxtaposition:
Aren’t a soldier’s enemies always demons when they are described in the heat of battle? Heroes and villains, good guys and bad guys, angels and demons...all comes down to who survives and who writes the history.
Get Off My Lawn:
I don’t know...the whole life is life motif when they’d just found a human who’d been cooked and put on the dinner table. I don’t know about that peace gesture Carax was engaging in before the other centurions caught up and saved his ass.
_________________________________________________
A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence by Brendan DuBois
Favorite Concept:
Mutiny and generational war between members of the crew, tribal, bringing the conflicts of earth with them into the stars and the distant future. Humans being humans.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
That doesn't belong in a book called Star Destroyers. Sigh
The Unexpected:
Oh geez, that's what TREK is? Damn.
Get Off My Lawn:
That's what they're killing each other over? Really?
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Meh / PFFT Moments:
Considering that this was called Star Destroyers there needed to be more stuff blowing up and ship to ship fighting.
Last Page Sound:
There were good shorts peppered throughout this collection. Some were meh. But mostly there were good. Some, even, great.
I like the collection. By and large it wasn't about star destroyers. There were ships in every story. Some good. Some great. Some meh
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May 28, 2019
Surprisingly boring...
I wasn’t expecting that, as I really like several of the authors included. But even their stories were rather disappointing.
The first stories fit the best. They were short story length, felt complete, provoked thought and had some emotional impact. Many of the stories later in the book were a slog. They lacked centers or emotional content, or the characters and their situations were mildly unpleasant and pointless.
There were two stories I really looked forward to, but neither was very satisfying.
Sharon Lee/Steve Miller’s story I expected would be good, but I felt divorced from the main characters—they clearly loved and lusted for each other, but as they spent all their time working to become overlords for the entire human race, it was hard to like or respect them. The end was poignant, but not as strongly as it would have been had I felt any sympathy for the characters.
I bought the book for the Susan R. Matthews story, as she had dedicated her newest book to its main character. That one almost worked, but I felt there wasn’t enough character building done for the two men at the heart of the story, so I didn’t get enough of a sense of them until right at the end. That story felt like it should have been a book—it needed that much time for the plot to really engage you as deeply as it could/should have. I think I would have really liked it as a book. I am planning to reread that one to see if I was just missing something that would have it all make sense.
On other pieces: the issue is i’m not a weapons or tech person, so including lots of verbiage detailing armament, propulsion systems, etc. are words wasted on me. Several of the authors lapsed into tech idolatry and I had trouble keeping any interest in their stories. A few writers wrote stories that were a slog to read and felt like too much work for too little enjoyment.
I rarely regret buying an anthology as there’s generally somethin I’ll enjoy, but this book just left me feeling dissatisfied and tired of reading it.
I wasn’t expecting that, as I really like several of the authors included. But even their stories were rather disappointing.
The first stories fit the best. They were short story length, felt complete, provoked thought and had some emotional impact. Many of the stories later in the book were a slog. They lacked centers or emotional content, or the characters and their situations were mildly unpleasant and pointless.
There were two stories I really looked forward to, but neither was very satisfying.
Sharon Lee/Steve Miller’s story I expected would be good, but I felt divorced from the main characters—they clearly loved and lusted for each other, but as they spent all their time working to become overlords for the entire human race, it was hard to like or respect them. The end was poignant, but not as strongly as it would have been had I felt any sympathy for the characters.
I bought the book for the Susan R. Matthews story, as she had dedicated her newest book to its main character. That one almost worked, but I felt there wasn’t enough character building done for the two men at the heart of the story, so I didn’t get enough of a sense of them until right at the end. That story felt like it should have been a book—it needed that much time for the plot to really engage you as deeply as it could/should have. I think I would have really liked it as a book. I am planning to reread that one to see if I was just missing something that would have it all make sense.
On other pieces: the issue is i’m not a weapons or tech person, so including lots of verbiage detailing armament, propulsion systems, etc. are words wasted on me. Several of the authors lapsed into tech idolatry and I had trouble keeping any interest in their stories. A few writers wrote stories that were a slog to read and felt like too much work for too little enjoyment.
I rarely regret buying an anthology as there’s generally somethin I’ll enjoy, but this book just left me feeling dissatisfied and tired of reading it.
March 9, 2019
I admit, I was more than a little disappointed in this. While many of the stories were good, it wasn't what I wanted or expected. This is not a book of stories about big ships blowing things up. Yes, there were a couple of stories of ship to ship combat, the vast majority of them were not. Heck a couple of them were actually about submarines on alien worlds. I feel like I was a victim of a bait and switch and shame on the publisher for that.
June 29, 2018
I have a story in this one, “ICEBREAKER”, so my review is naturally biased.
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June 21, 2024
An anthology that is pretty much exactly what it says on the cover--big spaceships blowing stuff up.
Each story features a large warship--mostly spaceships, but two are set aboard submarines patrolling dangerous waters in alien oceans. Several of the ship-vs.-ship combat tales that are set in space are reminiscent of submarine warfare as well.
Within this premise, there is a nice variety of well-written military SF. Two tales deal with AI-controlled ships that decide to do their own thing. Two of them involve boarding parties, including a very good story told from the point-of-view of a low-ranking grunt who has no idea of what the big picture might be. There are several that deal with attempts to hijack ships, one of which effective hits themes of self-sacrifice and redemption. There's one set aboard a huge generation ship, where the crew has been locked in a shipboard civil war against one another for centuries.
In total, its a good, solid anthology that breaks no new ground in the genre, but does definitely entertain.
Each story features a large warship--mostly spaceships, but two are set aboard submarines patrolling dangerous waters in alien oceans. Several of the ship-vs.-ship combat tales that are set in space are reminiscent of submarine warfare as well.
Within this premise, there is a nice variety of well-written military SF. Two tales deal with AI-controlled ships that decide to do their own thing. Two of them involve boarding parties, including a very good story told from the point-of-view of a low-ranking grunt who has no idea of what the big picture might be. There are several that deal with attempts to hijack ships, one of which effective hits themes of self-sacrifice and redemption. There's one set aboard a huge generation ship, where the crew has been locked in a shipboard civil war against one another for centuries.
In total, its a good, solid anthology that breaks no new ground in the genre, but does definitely entertain.
June 6, 2018
Meh... typical Short story compilation. Some good, some bad, some boring.
July 14, 2024
Good collection- though the cover title is somewhat inaccurate. I usually don't like anthologies and frequently rate them low. Furthermore, Scifi military stories I usually don't find enjoyable... the action sequences frequently don't make up for poor writing, forced scenarios, tenuous graps of physics and engineering and poorly developed characters. This book surprised me. While it has its share of average stories, a few were quite good. In particular I enjoyed "Boomers" by JR Dunn, "The Stars are Silent" by Gary Rinehart (perhaps my favorite story), "Excerpts from Two Lives" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (perhaps the strangest story- but with a hard hit at the end) and "Icebreaker"(Dave Bara). Honorable mention goes to the stories "Hate in the Darkness" (Michael Williamson), "Skipjack" (Susan R Mathews), "Homecoming"(Robert Buettner) and "Not Made for Us" (Christopher Ruocchio) who is also one of the editors of this book (this story is also part of his "Sun Eater" universe). The other tales are just OK but not bad.
Solid. Note that if you like blazing action and worlds blowing up, you will not find that in many of these stories. These tales are more intimate - no Deathstar's here, despite the title so you may be disappointed.
Solid. Note that if you like blazing action and worlds blowing up, you will not find that in many of these stories. These tales are more intimate - no Deathstar's here, despite the title so you may be disappointed.
March 21, 2018
The cover promises "Big Ships. Blowing Things Up." and the short stories in this book deliver. I bought it because it includes "Excerpts from Two Lives" a dreamy interlude from my favorite authors, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, but there are others worth reading as well. I particularly liked Brendan DuBois' "A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence," which gives us a ship so big that the crew divides into factions to fight over scarce resources, and Dave Bara's "Icebreaker," a classic David-and-Goliath battle with a satisfying conclusion.
May 3, 2022
The title promised a little more than some of the contributions to this anthology delivered. While you won't find the sorts of close-quarter epic space battles we've all come to know and love from the likes of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Babylon-5, the contributing writers do pay a great deal of attention to how real-world space battles would probably be fought, both in terms of tactics on the large scale, and in a few of the stories focusing on the small-scale. I'd like to see more from some of these authors' worlds.
February 13, 2022
I didn't realize this was a book of short stories that I ordered from the library so it was a surprise. I also was not sure I was going to like the book that seems to be listed as military science fiction. But I did like it. The stories played out in many different ways around the theme of "war" and conflict. They were very different with surprising endings and interesting stories This book introduced me to some new writers in science fiction.
June 20, 2018
Not a bad story in the book.
I'm a fan of using anthologies to find new writers (new to me), and this gem provided several.
Overdrive and my library don't seam to have any of Williamson's novels, just more shorts in various collections. Kind of disappointing.
Robert Buettner is another writer under represented by my library system.
A good read.
I'm a fan of using anthologies to find new writers (new to me), and this gem provided several.
Overdrive and my library don't seam to have any of Williamson's novels, just more shorts in various collections. Kind of disappointing.
Robert Buettner is another writer under represented by my library system.
A good read.
April 11, 2018
A solid choice, if you are a fan of military scifi. I found the selection of stories to be of unusually high quality and really enjoyed many of them. I think my favorites were "A Helping Hand" and "Homecoming" although there was not really any story I didn't like.
July 8, 2018
Enjoyed all of the stories. My favorites were Boomers (Dunn), Hate in the Darkness (Williamson), The Stars Are Silent (Rinehart), Try Not to Kill Us All (Presby), Skipjack (Matthews), Homecoming (Buettner), and Not Made For Us (Ruocchio).
February 17, 2022
There were some decent sci-fi stories in here. I think it was worth reading. That said, the name is wildly misleading. Most of the stories involved ships trying very hard to *not* blow things up. I only recall one that was a fairly straight-up space navy action story.
June 18, 2023
This was a great anthology. I really enjoyed the diverse authors and their take on what it takes to be a ship in outer space. The term ship is kind of loose on this book sometimes. I really enjoy the the stories and I recommend this book.
March 30, 2018
Subtitled: "Big Ships Blowing Things Up" Truth.
June 17, 2018
Surprisingly there's a lot of great stories in here...a couple are not-so-great but overall it's a good collection.
They all run very hard sci-fi.
They all run very hard sci-fi.
October 27, 2018
Excellent stories all! Great writing! Very enjoyable!
December 20, 2019
Give it a go if you're a fan of military sci-fi.
My favorites were the Williamson and DuBois entries.
My favorites were the Williamson and DuBois entries.
January 19, 2021
Picked this one to see new authors. The ones I like don't have their books at the local library and I have not room to keep buying books. Even the used book store does not have them.
March 11, 2021
Think the title is mis-leading, it is not a complete single story arc / novel but an anthology of short stores of ships in space/crews and similar. Enjoyed some, skipped through others.
August 9, 2022
An excellent collection of short stories. I enjoyed each one, although my favorite was "Hate in the Darkness" by Michael Z. Williamson.
November 5, 2022
Pretty solid collection of military ‘hard’ sci fi short stories. None are less than competent and a few are really quite good. 3.4 stars.
March 15, 2023
Collection of short stories centering around the theme of "very large space ships."
November 6, 2025
A very few good stories; the rest is a collection of duds.
August 4, 2020
Superweapon (David Drake): Long ago, aliens built a ship’s AI that was so self-sufficient it decided that its survival was more important than actually fighting in a war.
A Sudden Stop (Steve White): After her English ship is about to be boarded by anti-empire Muslims, Jane Grenville uses her pilot skills to save day.
Another Solution (Mark L Van Name): Both we and the enemy build a giant spaceship in Earth orbit at the same time, and the governments want a face-off. The AIs rebel in this case, however.
The Magnolia Incident (Kupari, Mike): An alien ship comes to one of our colonies looking for asylum; their pursuers show up, then humans heroically take out the invaders and themselves.
A Helping Hand (Jody Lynn Nye): A submarine is on hand to help extract friendly aliens trying to save the local marine life.
Boomers (Dunn, JR): Good Old Americans intercept a satellite filled with Bad Guy Russians and nukes.
Hate in the Darkness (Michael Z Williamson): One starship uses its independent drive to launch a surprise attack then flees for its life.
The Stars are Silent (Gray Rinehart): Everyone who takes a turn in the pilot’s seat goes mad, but everyone is needed to escape.
Excerpts from Two Lives (Sharon Lee & Steve Miller): A terraforming project goes wrong and has to be blowed up by a big ship.
Icebreaker (Dave Bara): A nuclear icebreaker submarine on Europa gets claim jumped by a Chinese behemoth.
Try Not to Kill Us All (Joelle Presby): As the crew tries to grab space junk worth millions, the aliens sent to clean up that junk are hunting them.
Skipjack (Susan R Matthews): A captured crew are carrying a trap intended for the ship who captures them.
Homecoming (Buettner, Robert): A kid among a swarm of refugees helps to stop a hijacking.
Not Made for Us (Ruocchio, Christopher): A mercenary team frozen in the past awakens to board an alien ship.
A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence (Brendan Dubois): A generation ship has been divided into warring clans.
A Sudden Stop (Steve White): After her English ship is about to be boarded by anti-empire Muslims, Jane Grenville uses her pilot skills to save day.
Another Solution (Mark L Van Name): Both we and the enemy build a giant spaceship in Earth orbit at the same time, and the governments want a face-off. The AIs rebel in this case, however.
The Magnolia Incident (Kupari, Mike): An alien ship comes to one of our colonies looking for asylum; their pursuers show up, then humans heroically take out the invaders and themselves.
A Helping Hand (Jody Lynn Nye): A submarine is on hand to help extract friendly aliens trying to save the local marine life.
Boomers (Dunn, JR): Good Old Americans intercept a satellite filled with Bad Guy Russians and nukes.
Hate in the Darkness (Michael Z Williamson): One starship uses its independent drive to launch a surprise attack then flees for its life.
The Stars are Silent (Gray Rinehart): Everyone who takes a turn in the pilot’s seat goes mad, but everyone is needed to escape.
Excerpts from Two Lives (Sharon Lee & Steve Miller): A terraforming project goes wrong and has to be blowed up by a big ship.
Icebreaker (Dave Bara): A nuclear icebreaker submarine on Europa gets claim jumped by a Chinese behemoth.
Try Not to Kill Us All (Joelle Presby): As the crew tries to grab space junk worth millions, the aliens sent to clean up that junk are hunting them.
Skipjack (Susan R Matthews): A captured crew are carrying a trap intended for the ship who captures them.
Homecoming (Buettner, Robert): A kid among a swarm of refugees helps to stop a hijacking.
Not Made for Us (Ruocchio, Christopher): A mercenary team frozen in the past awakens to board an alien ship.
A Tale of the Great Trek War Aboard the Starship Persistence (Brendan Dubois): A generation ship has been divided into warring clans.
partly-read
September 23, 2024[partly-read] 1/15 entries read
While exploring Project Orion (pretty much THE planned-but-unrealized technology of all time), I came across the related 'Boomers' story, which led me to this book. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
I think all the stories were written in 2018, an interesting change for me, having mostly read literature (albeit classic) at least 15 years old.
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Boomers by Dunn 3.5/5
An alt history story where the space race has been more intense and both the sides develop advanced nuclear pulse propulsion spacecraft by the 70s, and military ones at that. So, the fall of the Soviet Union becomes a more difficult situation than how it really happened.
However I was a bit disappointed with the narrow scope and scale of the story. Even for a short story, I wanted more. More details could have fleshed out the universe better and other interesting aspects could have been explored. There wasn't much focus on the NPP either.
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Introduction by the editors
Decent. Could have been more insightful.
While exploring Project Orion (pretty much THE planned-but-unrealized technology of all time), I came across the related 'Boomers' story, which led me to this book. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
I think all the stories were written in 2018, an interesting change for me, having mostly read literature (albeit classic) at least 15 years old.
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Boomers by Dunn 3.5/5
An alt history story where the space race has been more intense and both the sides develop advanced nuclear pulse propulsion spacecraft by the 70s, and military ones at that. So, the fall of the Soviet Union becomes a more difficult situation than how it really happened.
However I was a bit disappointed with the narrow scope and scale of the story. Even for a short story, I wanted more. More details could have fleshed out the universe better and other interesting aspects could have been explored. There wasn't much focus on the NPP either.
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Introduction by the editors
Decent. Could have been more insightful.
June 14, 2021
Very entertaining. And it’s a nice break for me: short stories have so much more punch per page than novels.
May 8, 2018
For a book subtitled "Big Ships. Blowing Things Up." there's not a lot of ship-to-ship combat in here. While I enjoyed all the stories to some degree- some more (Joelle Presby!) than others, I wanted more starships slugging it out.
If you are a regular reader of Baen books, you'll both be familiar with the authors and enjoy the stories contained.
If you are a regular reader of Baen books, you'll both be familiar with the authors and enjoy the stories contained.
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