Product Description
In the sequel to The Final Encyclopedia, Bleys Ahrens, raised alone by his unhappy Exotic mother and cast out from society, finds his niche in life with Dahno, his half-brother. Reprint. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good but not terribly exciting
I have a feeling Dickson really had no idea how he was going to cap off his epic "Childe Cycle" and what conclusion to come to.The last two books, The Final Encyclopedia and Chantry Guild, both end in what can politely be called an anticlimax, both leaving a sort of cliffhanger for the next book to deal with.However, instead of wrapping it up after Chantry Guild, Dickson decided to focus on Hal's nemesis Bleys Ahern in the next novel (and the one after that) and show his more formative years.In one sense, this was a good idea, since Bleys (and the Others) really came out of nowhere, showing up in the beginning of the Final Encyclopedia and then making various appearances throughout that and the next novel, without us ever really finding out much about him.So this does strip away some of the mystery and gives us a look into what formed his main opposition to Hal, his view that humanity should retreat to Earth and regroup.Dickson unfortunately makes both arguments fairly reasonable and so it really doesn't seem to matter much how wins, except that all the characters get fairly hysterical over the potential outcomes.It hardly seems wrestling with the Universe over.As for the novel itself, it helps fill in the gaps, shows more of Bleys' brother Dahno (who we only saw very briefly in the Final Encyclopedia) and how Bleys got control of the Others organization and used it to further his own plans.This, alas, is where the lack of excitement comes in.Like most of Dickson's characters, most things come very effortlessly to Bleys.Since the prose is very readable and the story moves along fairly quickly you don't really notice it but it definitely takes out a lot of the drama of the book and gives you no real compelling reason to read further.Bleys is faster and smarter and just heads and shoulders over everyone else, and so the book is just victory after victory.Plus since you know he appears in the Final Encyclopedia intact, there's no real sense of "is he in danger?" because you know he lives.The most dramatic moments come at the end, when Dickson reenacts the attempt to capture Hal at the beginning of the Final Encyclopedia, which didn't really go well.That moment manages to capture the mystery and danger that highlighted that first appearance but it comes right at the end and most readers have seen it before anyway.So in retrospect, it probably would have been better for Dickson to move ahead with the Cycle instead of stepping back (and for two entire novels, Other is a sequel to this book) but it makes for an entertaining, if not totally memorable experience, for those who are fans of the series.For those who aren't, by all means, start elsewhere and work your way to this.The true riches in this series lie earlier.

Interesting viewpoint of sci-fi and religion rolled into one
I have never read any of Dickson's other books but I feel this book was very entertaining. All I know that there are 15 planets and that the religons are split into 3 counter cultures. This was very interesting to me because I come from a religious background. It reminds me of the 3 major religons of our world which are christianity, judism & muslim. I know this book is part of the Childe Cycle series but who cares. I loved Bleys Arhens who questioned the views of religon. Even though he seems powerful & becomes a genius at what he does, it didn't seem boring that he won all the time. I was rooting his him all the way. When I got to the end I was shock to find that Bleys was supposed to be a adversarial foe to Hal Mayne. So who the heck is Hal Mayne? This book got me so curious about Dicksons universe that I will find out and try to read his other books.

Continuing the Childe Cycle
The novels "Young Bleys" and "Other" tells the story of Bleys Ahrens, founder of the Others, who has set himself against Hal Mayne and his plan to unite the splinter cultures.Both novels are verylong with not that much happening.If they were cut considerably andcombined in one book, it would have been a lot more interesting.

Dickson struggles to give the Childe Cycle some depth.
Like many writers, Dickson has been unable to escape the success of one of his early novels, in this case Dorsai. Young Bleys is the second novel to fail to finish the Child Cycle which grew out of the Dorsai trilogy sinceFinal Encyclopaedia was supposed to (Final Encyclopaedia and Chantry Guildappear to have been reissued as Final Encyclopaedia 1 & 2).

Asreaders of Final Encyclopaedia will know, Hal Mayne, Dickson's hero (ascience fiction equivalent of Moorcock's "eternal champion" whois in his third incarnation) is the leader of one side in an epic battlefor the future of Human Evolution. The human race has separated sincedeparting Earth into three "Splinter Cultures" -- Exotic(mystic), Dorsai (soldier), and Friendly (religious fanatic) and theseraces must be reunited so that the resulting Ubermenschen can fulfill theirdestiny among the stars.

Young Bleys is the story of Mayne's nemesisBleys Ahrens. I can only assume that this is a devious attempt to deal withthe ideological conflict at the end of Final Encyclopaedia in which Hal andBleys discuss their differences in a truce: in a nutshell, Bleys believesthat the human race is too screwed up to spread out like a tumour acrossthe universe, and should return to Earth and sort itself out beforeproceeding. This sounds like a pretty sound idea to me, and regardless ofHal's arguments there is no way to show one side's ideas to be naturallysuperior to the other's.

How does Young Bleys shed light on this? Atfirst, it seems that this book will resemble Solder, Ask Not (Dickson'sbest novel, by far) in that it will portray the redemption of a selfishgenius, but Bleys' story, starting with his leaving his mother as a child,his teenage years on his Friendly uncle's farm, his desperate search forGod, his relationship with his hulking but brilliant brother Dahno, hisrise to power in Dahno's interstellar organisation of Others, is a lazilywritten, shapeless bore with occasional bouts of characterassassination.

The saddest aspect of this novel is how banal it is. Bleysis constantly stated to be brilliant -- he reads really quickly (what,we're never told), speaks persuasively (his speeches are omitted, we mustaccept that they're brilliant), figures things out through sheer genius(the explanations defy description, so the author doesn't bother). Thecharacter is pathetically superior -- taller, stronger, faster, smarter,and more perceptive than anyone else. A lot like Hal Mayne. Indeed, likeHal Mayne (and many religious gurus), his greatest "insights"occur while hallucinating (he is fasting, Hal was delirious).

Here atlast we have it, Dickson -- having created an argument he cannot win hasdecided to go ad hominem, and attack his Bleys' person rather than hisarguments.

All told, Dickson is digging the Child Cycle hole deeper anddeeper, telling in four books (so far) a story that isn't going anywhere.

Childe Cycle must read
Read all of the following: Dorsaii, Necromancer, Final Encyclopedia, Young Bleys, Other, Chantry Guild in that order. You will enjoy Other's story of the not-so-evil Bleys Ahrens and the evolution of the first Others. The Others in the Final Encyclopedia are viewed by an impressionable young teenager albeit a brilliant one. Once you get the more complex view from the other side you understand why Hal is later pursued, Bleys' personal motivations, and why the Hal/Bleys relationship is so important to the series. You will want to read this book for information and event that happen up to just prior to the Final Encyclopedia. You will keep reading it because it is a riveting story in and of itself. A lot of new information about Bley's life is presented and the development of events key to the creation of the Other empire that you are not aware of in the Final Encyclopedia. The next book in the series you should read is Other which picks up at the end of Young Bleys. [If you read Dorsaii/Necromancer first then it will be obvious why continuity flows better by skipping up to Final Encyclopedia then falling back to Young Bleys and Other.] ... Read more

Product Description
Feared and respected as the most effective soldiers humanity has ever known, the Dorsai find their reputation at risk when an invader attacks their planet, inhabited only by the Dorsai women who are left behind to defend it. Reprint. AB. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

for the betterment of mankind
Mr. Dickson is well known in science fiction circles as a good writer, so I bought this book.It is interesting.The Dorsai are the inhabitants of a planet humans have colonized in their expansion across the galaxy.There is little to survive on, so the wherewithal to survive has to be imported and what is exported are mercenaries.
The book starts with a introduction to a female of a certain family, Amanda, and an off world questioner.He is curious about the history of the planet and she is the one with the answers.Her ancestors helped save and create the legacy the planet lives on.
The first story is how the planet retained its independence.They were to be brought under the rule of Earth because the actions of one of the mercenaries was to be arrested as an excuse.The planet was inhabited by old, infirm, young, etc. (the healthy young were off fighting other's battles), yet they defeated the invaders.
The second story is of the death of one of the more famous mercenary and how his twin brother exacted justice for him.The crux of the story is that some things need doing by certain people to further the ends of some esoteric group that hires the mercenaries for client planets.It is all for the betterment of mankind, but some bad things do need to happen to facilitate the path to greater good.

for the betterment of mankind
Mr. Dickson is well known in science fiction circles as a good writer, so I bought this book.It is interesting.The Dorsai are the inhabitants of a planet humans have colonized in their expansion across the galaxy.There is little to survive on, so the wherewithal to survive has to be imported and what is exported are mercenaries.
The book starts with a introduction to a female of a certain family, Amanda, and an off world questioner.He is curious about the history of the planet and she is the one with the answers.Her ancestors helped save and create the legacy the planet lives on.
The first story is how the planet retained its independence.They were to be brought under the rule of Earth because the actions of one of the mercenaries was to be arrested as an excuse.The planet was inhabited by old, infirm, young, etc. (the healthy young were off fighting other's battles), yet they defeated the invaders.
The second story is of the death of one of the more famous mercenary and how his twin brother exacted justice for him.The crux of the story is that some things need doing by certain people to further the ends of some esoteric group that hires the mercenaries for client planets.It is all for the betterment of mankind, but some bad things do need to happen to facilitate the path to greater good.

Interesting supplement but not much more
The chronology I have places this book right after Dorsai proper but it really doesn't matter all that much.The best reason to read it after Dorsai is because this might spoil some of the events that happened in that novel but at the same time once you know what happened, it takes something away from the stories in this book.This is essentially two short stories with a framing sequence to give them context and they really aren't even that related.The third Amanda Morgan first tells the story of the first Amanda Morgan and this is significant because it's probably the first time Dickson has written a female character in this series who does more than serve as window dressing for the male characters.Amanda Morgan is old and stubborn and somewhat cranky but she's memorable either way.The events of the story aren't as interesting as she is, since they deal with stuff that happened in Tactics of Mistake (how a planet full of old and crippled people beat all the soldiers who were invading while Cletus was otherwise occupied) and so you know already how it ends, although Dickson does tend to take his sweet time getting there and in the end I still feel like I missed something.But Amanda Morgan stands out and Cletus was one of the better early characters so it was nice to revist that time in the series.The second story reads fairly quickly and once again involves the Graeme twins Ian and Kelsie and how Ian deals with Kelsie's death.This one I thought was well done but this is about the third time the series has dealt with Kelsie's murder and what Ian did in its wake (Soldier, Ask Not, Dorsai and now this book, for those keeping score) and since we never really got a good glimpse of Kelsie anyway . . . I would have liked to see more of the twins while both were still alive, since Dickson tells us all the time how much they complemented each other but Kelsie dies very early in every telling, or the twins are only seen from a distance.But it was a nice distraction and not terrible.The framing sequence probably could use more explanation as well, I assume it will make more sense when I read the Final Encyclopedia one of these days.The illustrations are really nice, though, and many are very striking, not just showing the scenes that Dickson is describing but taking an abstract stance and really standing out.I'm not sure if this is in print or not, but it can be bought used for like a dollar just about anywhere and if you're working your way through the Childe Cycle it makes an interesting, though not essential supplement to the whole thing.

3.5 stars for two good stories.
Unlike other Dorsai novels, this novel contains some real good short stories, and has much more in the way of character development to offer.This novel centers around the third Amanda Morgan, and what she basically does, is tell two stories.Now, the first story is about the original Amanda Morgan, and is quite interesting.It goes into great detail about how an elderly woman stopped a whole army of soldiers.Does it have a real puropse in the Dorsai universe?Not necessarily.But it is a pretty good short story.

The second short story deals with Ian and Kensie Graehme.Now this is a unique story, because it details how the one brother dies, and what happens in the aftermath.You get to take a look at how efficient the Dorsai soldiers are, and how they place duty and honor above all else.This short story was neat, because it showed another example of the superior mental and physical ability the Dorsai possess.

Overall, this book does not have a lot of importance to the Dorsai series, but it does shed some light on prior history to the Dorsai world.The two stories are interesting, and there is enough character development to make the story more interesting. Perhaps the best part in this book happens to take place if you own an old trade paper version of the book.The book is filled with some outstanding artwork that needs to be seen to be appreciated.If by some odd chance you come across one of these old books, pick it up and enjoy from a literary sense and an artistic sense.

Details and character development GALORE!
This book explains how did the old men, women and children defended the Dorsai world by themselves without Cletus Graeme in 'Tactics of Mistake', then fast forwards to the details of Kensie Graeme's Death and Ian Graeme's revenge of his brother in 'Dorsai!'.

It also introduces us, by way of conversation, to Amanda ap Morgan, Hal Mayne, and the Final Encyclopedia.

This book should be read after Dorsai!, and Tactics of Mistake for best enjoyment. ... Read more

Product Description
One hundred years into the future, the first expedition from Earth reaches Alpha Centurai III and discovers that all life, including humankind, is governed by the Throne World and Earth is only a primitive outpost, but one man from Earth will show the High-Born something unexpected. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

An engaging book with a thoughtful plot
A very good book that will make the reader think about mankind and where we are ultimately headed. As a consequence this book stays with you even after you finish it. Exciting plot with unforeseen twists, lively flow and pacing, intriguing characters, I didn't want it to end. I liked it so much that I gave it to my husband to read. He in turn enjoyed it as well.This is a though provoking book that any science fiction fan will enjoy reading.

A fun adventure
Not a serious book.Not the most weighty or best book written by Gordon R. Dickson, but a good book and an enjoyable read.

I ran across this book a few years ago and I enjoyed it very much.A fun adventure.The basic plot is an old standby:Human beings are an outcast, unknown race that has recently been discovered by members of the Galactic Federation.Though disrespected, some members of this wolfling race are surprisingly capable and able to do much more than the stodgy older races expect.Through ingenuity and luck and effort and a few surprises, the upstart humans are able to win through and start to develop a place for themselves in the galaxy.I don't want to go into too much detail, since there are a few surprises, but overall, I'd say this book falls into the category of "wish fulfillment" and what's wrong with that?

Wonderful, ImaginativeScienceFictionBookforAdults
A novel of the future where human beings encounter a race that outmatches mankind in every way.Has one of the most imaginative plots of any science fiction book that I have ever read.I have read hundreds of science fiction books and this is among my favorite top five. A wonderful, imaginativesciencefictionbookforadultsand also for older teenagers.

Sci Fi adventure of man's near future.
This is a short novel about man's near future when we encounter the "Galactic Empire" we are a lost colony of.More fantasy adventure than sci fi, this is a quick read and would be good for thereader looking for a break from Star Trek/Star Wars novels.

I loved this book, I want a Wolfling of my own!
Ever imagined a situation where you were outmatched in every way?The perfect race has come along and Earth needs to form a good relationship with its new neighbors.The problem is that they are so superior to Humans that we aren't taken seriously - we are so primative that we are thought of as little wild creatures --wolflings.But we have some natural racial protection in our genepool for this kind of event - the Wolfing, who becomes our ambassador.He will learn to survive and maybe save the rest of us.The story is an excellent adaptation of the common sci-fi theme but with aliens that don't just think they are better than humans but can prove it to us.L.Ron Hubbard did the same theme in his multi-thousand page story, Dickson does it quite satisfyingly in less than 350 pages ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Hokey!
Light as air fluff contains vignettes about an alien world of sentient teddy bears who enjoy American popular culture. Not as entertaining as it sounds, and even the opportunity for parable style social criticism is wasted.

silly, but yes, mildly enjoyable
Hoka is a silly book about an alien race, the Hoka.Their unique characteristics are that they resemble our Earth teddy bears, and they have an absolutely wild and hypnotic imagination.Upon discovery by Earthlings, the Hokas are unwittingly exposed to and greatly influenced by human culture.This often leads to humerous results.

I found myself initially turned off by the unsophisticated and simple short story format.I was expecting more development.These stories just kinda dive right in.But, the book grew on me and I got a few good chuckles from it.For big science fiction fans, it probably won't satisfy your craving for a good sci-fi book.But, for anyone wanting to kill some time reading something a little off the wall, you won't be dissapointed.Probably a good book for kids.It's a quick read, too.

Hilariously funny!
Orbiting the G2 star, Brackney's Star III, is the earthlike planet Toka. And, inhabiting the world of Toka are the Hoka, a small, teddy bear-looking race, who are surprisingly strong for their size. Unfortunately their longsuffering human plenipotentiary, Alexander Jones, the Hoka are the most imaginative race in the galaxy, as soon as they discover a new book of fiction, they adopt the roles and live the story...invariably with comedic results!

This book is a collection of short stories about the Hoka and the unfortunate Alexander Jones. Each story is literally laugh-out funny, and the illustrations peppered throughout add a lot to the humor of this wonderful book. With most short story collection there are good and not-so good stories, well that is not the case with this book, they are all hilarious. This is a great book, one that I highly recommend to everyone!

In case you are curious, there are 5 stories in this book. #1) Joy in Mudville tells the story of the Hoka baseball team (the Teddies), and their quest for the Sector Pennant. (No one can stand before the Mighty Casey, right?) #2) Undiplomatic Immunity finds Alexander Jones and a delegation of Hokas on Earth to request that Toka's status be upgraded. Unfortunately for Jones his Hokas have discovered the spy novel! #3) Full Pack (Hokas Wild) describes what happens when the Hokas discover the Jungle Books, and meet up with a group of aliens that look like a tiger, a gorilla and a snake (or should I say Shere Khan, the Banderlog, and Kaa?). #4) In the Napoleon Crime, Hokas across the planet are suddenly introduced to military history with potentially disastrous consequences; can Jones save the day yet again? #5) The Bear That Walks Like a Man is not a Hoka story per se, but a faux-leftist intellectual's look at the Hoka.

Teddy bears and SF
If you like teddy bears and science fiction you will love "Hoka". Hoka is a planet discovered by Earth explorers whose inhabtants look exactly like teddy bears. Anderson and Dickson use thispremise to expound on human legends and tall tales with hilarious results.A must read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another Dorsai novel
This is another Dorsai novel that further follows the image created by Dickson of a superior military warrior.This novel centers around the Dorsai warrior Corunna El Mann.He is supervising the transport of an important dignitary to a planet that is undergoing some internal conflict.When El Mann gets to the planet, political chaos occurs.

It seems that the soldiers that were trained to defend a fort have deserted to help the revolutionaries.As a result, this leaves a handful of people left to defend this fortress.There are a total of five Dorsai, one of which is opposed to using weapons.This person is named Michael, and he is in charge of the band.

As the days unfold, this novel is really a book centered around the development of characters.There is not much action going on this this novel, except for the final battle scenes.This novel acutally plays more on in the internal conflict of one individual who battles what his morals are, and what his training would have him do.As a result, the book is a great study in socio-ethical conflicts located within an individual.It is easy reading, without a lot of intense descriptions.Overall, it was just an average novel.

The book also contained the short story "Warrior".The story is very easy to read, and should be used in conjunction with other Dorsai novels.The main purpose of this story is to develop the character of Ian Graeme, and further solidify his image.Again, this is easy reading, but you catch a glipse of the unique and intelligent thinking processes that Ian contains. ... Read more

Product Description
Science fiction by a master. Hugo Award Honorable Mention. First paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Space bureaucracy thriller
Gordon Dickson put a huge amount of NASA research into this book and it shows.There are a lot of good insights into the weasely personalities and politics of space flight as well as the willingness to take risks.Note:this was written before the two Shuttle crashes.

The central tension runs around an international mission to Mars, which is overloaded (to the danger point) with science experiments.The science experiments need to be done to keep national cohesion, but they emperil the mission.

Why I disliked the book:It really dragged and many too many pages were spent on the intricate conversations of the various political representatives.I ended up skimming the book.The actions on the ship were more interesting and intrinsically tense.Shortening the book to half the length, might have made the whole thing more interesting.

Better books by Dickson:Way of the Pilgrim, Time Storm ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

not great
I agree with the customer who said that Arcturus Landing is not Dickson's best, but it wasn't the worst book I've read recently either.

The concept was good. Humanity makes contact with an advanced alien civilization, only to be told it is not ready to join the Federation yet, and must prove its readiness by achieving faster-than-light travel capability. In addition, the aliens have imposed a time limit, and if humanity fails to achieve an FTL drive within that time limit, the aliens will break contact completely and let Earth fall back into isolation and economic collapse.

The problem with this book is that the characters are much too thinly constructed and stereotypical (and in some cases so outlandish as to be caricatures, such as the protagonists' completely unbelievable alien friend Peep). The events and dialogue are childish and implausible, and nothing is ever explained to great detail (the few explanations are awkward), leaving you with the feeling that this was Dickson's freshman effort. I don't know if it was.

Still, Arcturus Landing is mercifully short, has plenty of action, and kept me mildly entertained for a few hours.

Humanity's Landing
This out-of-print chestnut from the golden age of SF is an enjoyable story if you happen to come across it in a library or used book store. But on the other hand there's no need to search too hard, because Gordon Dickson did better in his books that are still in print. This one is a fairly typical future/outer space action yarn about the human race's quest to invent a faster-than-light device, without which the planet will continue to be quarantined by a federation of much more advanced aliens. However, the heroic inventor and his stereotypical sidekicks run into sabotage and obstructionism from a powerful corporation that has a stake in keeping the human race isolated and primitive. That's the one unique aspect of this otherwise typical novel, as Dickson explores themes of power, knowledge, and control. His future technologies and the personalities of his alien races are also engagingly creative. But unfortunately the novel doesn't try too hard to break out of the pattern of action and suspense that was typical for SF at the time, and the story wraps up too quickly for the important themes to be explored in any real insightful way. [~doomsdayer520~] ... Read more

Product Description
The Frontier Rebellion has long been won, thanks in part to the efforts of Culihan O'Rourke, the best hijacker the Rebels ever had. When he is greeted upon his return to Earth with beatings, torture, and interrogation, Cully learns the hard way of the ultimatum issued to Earth by the Moldaug: evacuate the Frontier or be destroyed. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not the best Dickson novel
A Dickson-brand, but not one of his best.

Cully When lands in a prison on charges soon to be learned--a plot with aliens to overturn Earth's council. Cully decides to prove them right, only he plots with the freed earth colonies.

Not really insightful, aliens not quite convincing (compared to Cherryh, as the master of credible alien cultures, Dickson is a baby), the story ends suddenly and the style is ... not bad , but not good either.

Maybe a fanatic of Dickson's would like it better. I did not. ... Read more

Product Description
There are many legends on the planet of the Dorsai, the breeding ground for heroes. Here are two of them.

Lost Dorsai: The New Dorsai Companion contains the Hugo Award winning novella, Lost Dorsai, and Dickson's classic short story "Warrior."

Plus, the New Dorsai Companion contains, for the first time ever, an all new Concordance of the Childe Cycle--a roadmap of Dickson's massive and brilliant creation. The Concordance will let you know not only in which books or stories a person or place is mentioned, but will give you a brief history or biography that explains their significance in the Cycle. It's a Who's Who of the future--and no science fiction reader should be without it.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Very different Dorsai book
If you are working your way through Dickson a must read.But stands on it's own too although the main Dorsai characters have been in a number of books in teh series.

Not bad for a dollar
In short, the novella Lost Dorsai was gripping and believable, but the short story Warrior was too vengeful and the plot was too hard to swallow.Lost Dorsai and Warrior were the first two for me, but apparently Dickson wrote several of these Childe Cycle stories.The absence of fantasy and magic reminds me of SciFi I read, and liked, in the 60s.Warrior is dated 1965, while Lost Dorsai is dated 1980.

But unlike, say, the grunts of Starship Troopers, the Dorsai are military savants who are too superior to be seriously challenged by their opponents. Dickson writes them into situations where they are overwhelmingly opposed, but they are still somehow in control.But even though they are very close to being comic book superheroes, in Lost Dorsai they have a certain dignity and restraint that makes it all sort of work.In Warrior, I couldn't sympathize with the "mission."

Highly entertaining addition, but not required reading
Like "The Spirit of Dorsai" before, this volume fills in some elements of the overall Cycle and gives us some insight into some of the smaller details, but if you skip it you really won't be missing out on too much when you consider the overall picture.Basically this is two stories, one fairly long and the other fairly short.The first one "Lost Dorsai" is actually quite good, showing the flipside of the Dorsai philosophy, about a warrior who refuses to fight, but Dickson makes the interesting argument that being a Dorsai isn't a switch you can flip on and off and sometimes having to fight doesn't mean you need to use weapons.It's one of the best written portions of the series and even if it has little bearing on the rest of the books, the book is worth the read just for that story.Also, the tale finally delves into the relationship between the famous Graeme twins, Ian and Kensie.In other reviews I've pointed out that Dickson almost milks the brother Ian to death, showing us how he suffered in the wake of his brother's death, without really showing us what he was like while Kensie was still alive.Finally we get a story that not only has both of them alive but working together and while they are still kept at arm's length to some extent, it's a better look than we've had before and more than welcome.I doubt they'll be anymore Ian/Kensie stories but this one was just about what I was looking for.The other story in the book "Warrior" mostly showcases Ian (again, before his brother died, so while he's gloomy, he's not the epitome of death he would become later) going about his duty and dispensing some justice.It's good insight into the way his mind works, although it relies too heavily on a lot of weird things happening and Ian going, "Well I planned for all of that to happen" which is a rather annoying Dorsai trait.I do have to admit his plan is clever and shows some good insight into human psychology.So while it's not essential at all, it's an entertaining way to spend a half hour or so (that's all it took me to read that story).The illustrations that accompany the first story are also interesting, and help set the mood without literally depicting what's going on on the page.My version also has a medium size essay by a SF critic that is mostly gushing praise (some of it deserved, though at points it gets a little much) but also makes an attempt to bring up themes and such in the Cycle that even Dickson might not have originally envisioned.Oh, it also has an excerpt of "The Final Encyclopedia" but I'd rather just read the book itself.So overall, like I said, it colors in some of the lines of the series and showcases those always entertaining Graeme twins, but as far as the main thrust of the book is concerned, it's not exactly essential.That doesn't mean it isn't good (it is) but don't expect any major revelations or twists.That's all.

a compilation for the fans....
....crowned by "Lost Dorsai," the story of a warrior who will not fight--and yet triumphs.

It's a great addition to the amazing Childe Cycle series
The series is extremely well written, as well as the book.Much better off reading the whole series first. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Combat SF
This book contains short stories from some of the greatest minds in SF, Including a Dorsi novela that appears no where else.Quite simply a must for all warriors of the future. ... Read more

Product Description
This edition reprints the previous paperback original publication from Ace Books (1978). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Back Cover Description
Professional... that was Harb Mallard.A hardened pro, able to shift the direction of developing alien cultures any way he needed to, with just a few well-placed punches to the tender spots.The Expansion Service depended on men like Mallard to boost potentially useful planets out of the Dark ages, and they put an even dozen backward worlds into his capable hands.Eleven of them were doing just fine under the supervision of Mallard's subordinates.But the last one needed something extra - the kind of dangerous action that coudl only be risked by a real PRO. ... Read more