Status Updates From Riding the Red Horse

Sucker Punch imagines what could happen if a conflict we fear today were to unveil two devastating, world-changing tactics just barely out of reach tomorrow.

Solid, down-to-business writing with dialogue and style reminiscent of Louis L'Amour westerns.

Moving slowly through. The article on intelligence was good. However, Tell it to the Dead didn't do much for me, as I don't know the series it relates to. The collection as a whole is slow going in places.

I enjoyed reading the story about the maiden voyage of the crazy AI from The Stars Came Back. Less interested in either Thermodynamics or Battlefield Lasers.

However, it has to be said that on the evidence of the Editors' introductions to the pieces, both of them seem to be pretty unpleasant individuals.

However, it has to be said that on the evidence of the Editor's introductions to the pieces, Vox Day is a truly unpleasent individual.

So, the first two pieces are both more military than SF. And I'll admit, I found the article on Fourth Generation Warfare interesting, albeit he seemed to ignore some obvious examples of what he was trying to say. I have the impression that it was written before the rise of ISIS - it seems more from the end of the Iraq war.

William S. Lind, "Understand 4th Generation War" - while unable to comment on the controversy, Lind makes some good reflections for the layman to ponder. If there are errors, it's in the technical details. His large scale outline is incredibly compelling.

Eric S. Raymond, "Sucker Punch" - Quite good, though assumes some ability of the reader to make connections that are perhaps a little military-technical. But really, what can you expect with what the book is?

The chapter on thermal dynamics and Sci-Fi was extremely enlightening about near tech space travel and how most books get it so very wrong.