Other Times Than Peace

by David Drake

In the past, the present, or the future, life is grim and often short for the few who protect the many, usually for little pay, less gratitude, and dim prospects of growing old.
A squadron of fighter spacecraft, their mother ship destroyed, are lost in the interstellar void. They have little hope of finding their way home, and that home may already have been destroyed.
A Roman soldier, serving both his emperor and creatures beyond his comprehension, must destroy a usurper who is the catspaw for beings from another world with very unpleasant plans for this one.
Two battle-scarred Vietnam veterans battle the insectoid horror abducting humans for a purpose to which death is infinitely preferable.
The alien enemy at war with humans and their allies has blown up Halley's comet. Can Earth uncover the reason for this apparently meaningless act before it's too late?
And two new Hammer's Slammers adventures. And more. Soldiers battling throughout space and time, as only David Drake can portray them, doing what they have to do to keep the darkness away from hearth and home, even if they have little chance of surviving to return there.

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Anthologies, Alternate History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good collection of eleven (mostly) military sf stories. There are three Hammer stories, a novella set in his Ranks of Bronze universe, another ancient Rome story featuring Dama and Vettius, a nice collaboration with Larry Niven set in the Fleet universe, a good modern horror story, etc. It's a very well-rounded selection. My favorite was A Grand Tour, a novella set in David Weber's Honorverse, but it's really a look at the 19th century archaeological policies of Great Britain; it read more like one of his Leary & Mundy novels. The book has a really awful cover, a cloudy thing that looks like a constipated and confused gorilla dressed as a centurion waving a zombie head in one hand and a sword stub in the other, but the contents are really worth overlooking it. Drake also contributes interesting notes about each story and a nice introduction.

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little collection of stories from the author, set in various times and places ranging from the past, to today, to the future.

My favorite story was, by far, the last one, set in the Honor Harrington universe.

[Dirk D · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories by the author. Like many such collections some are better than others leaving the reader with a mixed bag but mostly good. The stories show something of a wide range (three are set in ancient Rome, two from Drake's Hammer's Slammers series, even one from David Weber's Honorverse) but all are definitely Science Fiction in some way. What makes this collection sweet is that Drake writes a quick summary at the end of each story detailing how each story was conceived and imagined. He was very much a member of the Sci-Fi author's community during the times the stories were written. Great stuff!

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collection of short stories

[Amanda]

If David Drake wrote it, I'll read it, the man is amazing. But this has been nice, because with as busy as I've been, I haven't had the time to read like I normally do, so an anthology series that I can pick up and put down has worked out well. Each story is strikingly unique in terms of setting, characters, and events, but united by themes of war. 'Lambs to the Slaughter' was actually a novella, and the concept of Crassus' defeated legions being sold to alien mercenaries and fighting alien wars was made stunningly believable, and those 80 pages have got me sold on finding the full novel he wrote on the event. I've not hit a chapter I didn't like yet, so this will stick with me during the semester.

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good Drake anthology of short work. This is an area that he's particularly good at. The way that he does characters, who tend to be deep, but not evolving, shines in this kind of format. About the only drawback to the book is that there's little theme to anything other than "there's fighting" in every story.

Not groundbreaking, not revolutionary, and not his best work, but still very good and worth a read. Especially if you like Drake or Mil Sci-Fi

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally a huge fan of Drake's, however this one left me out in the cold. Some of his older stuff got pulled in that really wasn't his best work. Still an entertaining read to zip through. A number of the ideas from some of these shorts carried into much larger and better stories/series from Drake.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eleven short stories and novellas,
The best are:
‘Lambs to the Slaughter’ (appears also in Foreign Legions),
‘The Day of Glory’,
‘The Hunting Ground’ and ‘The False Prophet’ are similar to Killer,
‘A Grand Tour’ (a revised version appears in Weber’s More Than Honor).

[Charles JunkChuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Drake is a master of making slick, character-driven science fiction look easy, and this collection of shorter works is no exception. Several excellent "Hammer's Slammers" tales are woven into a tapestry of other stories that range from ancient Rome to the stars.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

11 short stories - SF military mostly.
Good, crisp writing - very good character development.
And very entertaining.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing, some early work mixed in, all good!

[Grifter327 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! I enjoyed every single story. It ends with David writing in Weber's Honorverse which I found strange at first but he really pulls out a great story.

[Joe AuBuchon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-treads -- some are ok -- check out at the library.