The Best of the Bolos: Their Finest Hour

Bolo #best of

by Hank Davis (Editor)

The Best of the Bolo Stories, Including Stories by David Weber, Mercedes Lackey, David Drake, S.M. Stirling and More.
Military Science Fiction at Its Best.

Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable. Their artificial intelligences were designed to make them selflessly serve and protect humans throughout the galaxy and made each Bolo the epitome of the knight sans peur et sans reproche , and often far more noble than the humans who gave them their orders.

Created by Keith Laumer, the saga of the Bolos has been extended by several of the best writers in science fiction. Now, the best stories of the saga are collected in one Omni-Trade volume, including work by New York Times best-selling writers David Weber , Mercedes Lackey and S. M. Stirling , military science fiction grand master David Drake , and Laumer himself, who recount the exploits of the dauntless Bolos in Their Finest Hour .

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Military Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those total gambles which did take me by surprise.

So let me explain - the term Bolos has been thrown around within the SF circuit for some time and has become synonymous with the ultimate armoured fighting machine. Like may great ideas it rapidly became a shared idea with many authors adding to the Bolos legacy.

The result of which that the term is often referred to without really understanding where it came from (reminds me of the phrase used on Gort - how many can place it but so many recognise it). And so I went digging and found this book.

This book consists of a number of Bolos stories covering their illustrious history and from a wealth of famous and influential authors. However what you find is rather than a collection of mechanised war stories glorifying the use of technology and machinery to perfect the art of killing and destruction.

No you find a series of stories where a machines (okay AI) interpretation of principled commands often lead to more noble actions than the humans they were made to protect and serve would make.

This is not a book of morals or statements on war - it is more a case of what if a gun could talk and in some cases think and contemplate in its existence - what would it say and do.

The history of the Bolos is long and varied and this book tries to take a look at them through the centuries. As such you have an almost infinite spectrum of stories to tell and looking at the authors and the stories they have contributed they certainly have - although I suspect there are plenty more to add as well.

So to go to the beginning again - this was a gamble and one I am very impressed with. It may not be to everyones taste but it certainly got me thinking.

[Ilona Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a lover of the stories about Bolos (giant war machines)since I read my first one many years ago. When I found this anthology of them by different authors I couldn't resist adding it to my collection.

Many of the stories in there can be found elsewhere but it was great having so many in one book. The foreword by David Weber summed up my own opinion about the stories and warns (for those who aren't in the know) that there is absolutely no continuity to the Bolo universe, not even by the original author Kieth Laumer. These things aside if you like military science fiction then this anthology is a must read.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction is helpful, warning the reader to abandon all sense of continuity because the Bolo stories are wildly inconsistent. This collection contains the best of the Bolo stories from previous works, including my personal favorite "A Time to Kill".

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't seem to get enough of these books full of short stories by Keith Laumer and various authors who write in his style, epic and unique he definitely has a imagination many authors can only wish they had.

[Jonathan Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Bolo stories. This volume seems to have a number of stories
one might call "infinite repeaters"; they appear in more than one collection.

[K.A. Ashcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of stories featuring Bolos which are weapons/tanks with sentient AIs. Keith Laumer's stories are from the sixties, and the rest are from the nineties. Most of them center on some military situation Bolos involved (hence the name), revealing titbits from the backstory, history, and the world around the tanks.

I would have liked a better knowledge of the world while I read the short stories. It wasn't because they were badly written. It was because it would have deepened my connection to the world and the characters. But despite that, I liked the book. It is good pulp military sci-fi and surprised me with the quality, diversity, and criticism towards humans. (Okay, most military sci-fi examinates humanity from a critical perspective, and I shouldn't have been so surprised.) The main characters ranged from female to male to different ethnicities to personalities, making the stories more alive. That said, I felt most sympathy towards the war machine than the humans, but often enough that was the point. Bolos weren't the ones making the war. It was humans and their counterparts.

One story featuring a "dumb" Bolo, sitting center of the town got to me. It was one of my favorites. There were poetry and play of contradictions in it with a bittersweet ending. I'm glad my husband "forced" me to read my first Bolo collection. I understand why he loved them while growing up. They are good military sci-fi and a lot deeper than you would expect from pulp fiction.

Thank you for reading!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Bolo stories since my teens, some 40 years. This volume still satisfies.

[Alex Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in the Bolo series. A mix of different ones this includes things from throughout time and space in war between humans machines and a variety of alien species. The first in the selection that introduces the giant war machines known as bolos, the first story was of a bolo coming to awareness in a hostile laboratory and breaking out in a display of power that characterizes the self aware nuclear weapon systems throughout the series. Another story was from after "The Final War" where a human civilization, who believe themselves to be all that's left of the human race, awaken a heavily damaged bolo that has been repairing itself for 70 years. This bolo, unit D-1097-SHV or shiva, becomes peaceful claiming that even machines can grow tired of killing and negotiates with a group of aliens who were believed to be evil and were pushed to extinction against the humans in the final war. All said and done this was a good collection of stories in a series that I wish to continue.