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I
didn't mean to read this book.
Awhile
back I downloaded all of the free e-books offered through the
Baen Library, which included THE TANK LORDS by David Drake.
These got carefully sorted into the rest of my personal
e-library, which includes purchases and digital back-ups of
books I own in hardcopy.
I remember that I was looking for a
digital copy of Asprin's MYTH-ION IMPROBABLE because I'd left
the paperback copy I was reading at home. I remember discovering
that I didn't have it in my e-library.
I
have absolutely no memory of changing directories, opening up
THE TANK LORDS, and beginning to read. But I must have, because
a few minutes later I was hooked.
THE
TANK LORDS is a collection of short stories written between 1979
and 1997. It includes "Under the Hammer",
"Rolling Hot", "Night March",
"Code-Name Firefeitz", and "The Tank Lords".
What
these stories all have in common are Hammer's Slammers, a
company of mercenaries led by Colonel Hammer across a
post-Diaspora galaxy of strife and turmoil. The Slammers'
calling cards are their super-tanks -- monstrous, hovering
arsenals of fusion-powered firepower.
The
result, informed by Drake's own experience in
Vietnam
, is an addictive example of what military SF is capable of: A
far-flung future provides a perfect backdrop for all the drama,
excitement, wonder, and tragedy inherent in humanity's passion
for war. Drake excels not only in vividly portraying his
action-packed battle sequences, but also grounds his stories in
the profound impact those battles have upon the individuals
caught in their midst.
These
stories, although at times deeply moving, are not profound or
life-changing works. I'm not going to declare them literary
triumphs. But they deliver, hard and true. I was
compelled to keep the pages turning, and now that I've finished
THE TANK LORDS I'm hungry for more. The only question is whether
I hunt down the Baen paperbacks or wait for the hardbacks being
released by Night Shade Books.
GRADE:
B+
(Particularly
notable in this collection is “Rolling Hot”, which I would
give an A-.)
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