Gordon R. Dickson (1923–2001)

Sometimes good science fiction is about nothing more than the tale well told. The tale within this book is not profound, the characters do not have extremely deep inner issues, and there are no existential discussions about life, the universe, and everything. Instead there is a story that maintains entertainment without dumbing down – a story that is fun but still requires the firing of a few brain cells.

As any good action story should, this book throws us right into the middle of things show more as we join Cully When in prison. (That's not a typo; I'm not saying that we are joining Cully when he is in prison. His name is "Cully When", and we are joining Cully When at the point in which he is imprisoned. Okay, maybe the names aren't great...) A series of events frees him and, in the course of gaining that freedom, we learn that he is a legend for his role in freeing the New Worlds. And we learn that he has been imprisoned because of betrayal. And we learn that there are aliens out there. And while Cully thought he was out of the rebellion business, he gets drug back in as the New Worlds have come under the sway of a conniving group of criminals and the Old Worlds think they can use the New Worlds as a bargaining chip.

Any science fiction novel worth its salt should have interesting aliens. And Dickson has done a good job here. We don't really understand the aliens and they don't understand us. It has led to a war of sorts (surprise, surprise). But the inability for the species to understand each other may lead to more than war – it is the foundation for the Old World's misguided attempt to use the New Worlds as a bargaining chip, and it may not pan out as planned. It is Cully's job to try and intervene, try to understand the aliens, and try to save the New Worlds.

Yes, in that quick synopsis, this sounds like a hundred other science fiction novels you may have read. And, in some regards it is. But, first, Dickson has always been a first-rate writer and, even with the passage of more than forty years, his writing – his characterizations, his dialogue, and his world-building – still stand up. Not perfect, but still darn good.

And where it all really shines is in those aliens. Dickson does an excellent job of portraying the alienness of their thinking, making it just human enough that the reader can get a grasp of how that thinking is impeding the mutual understanding that might exist between the two species.

The only time this book feels "old" is when it falls into the "as-you-know-Bob" syndrome; too many times exposition of understanding is accomplished by characters explaining what they should already know. But it is not overly obtrusive, and it does serve its purpose (if with a slight bit of "clunk".)

A fun read, a nice example of Dickson, and worth the effort. show less

“Dorsai!” by Gordon R Dickson: thirty five years ago I loved this. Now it seems very thin

In 1957, two years before the first version of “Dorsai!” was serialized in in “Astounding Science Fiction”, Peter Graham coined the phrase: “The Golden Age of Science Fiction is twelve.”

I started reading science fiction in the sixties when I was ten but I didn’t get to “Dorsai!” until my early twenties. I was still a twelve-year-old at heart and most science fiction excited me. I show more loved the puzzle-solving, the removal of constraints, the triumph of optimism. I was already being lured towards a different, more socially-based sensibility by writers like Ursula K Le Guin and her “Left Hand of Darkness” but I was still up for hard-core space opera when I read “Dorsai!”

At the time, I found it literally astonishing: the idea of a military race, bred to fight and lead and win, producing a genius who would shape the fate of many world’s by fighting as little as possible was new and fresh. The pace was brisk, The plot turned on its heals at lightning speed and the ending caught me completely by surprise. It was a celebration of what I was looking for in Science Fiction at the time.

So, when I saw the audio version on audible.com, I thought it would be fun to relive all of that.

It turns out, I’m not twelve any more. I was not thrilled. The plot is still clever and the pace is still brisk but how had I not seen how shallow the characters were, how ridiculously male-dominated the book was, how morally bankrupt the politics was and how dishonestly bloodless the fighting was?

“Dorsai!” is well read by Stefan Rudnicki and offers a pleasant way to while away the hours. It is a book of its time but that time is no longer mine. show less

The set up here is that each contributing author has a short narrative to begin, and they must finish the story from there - the given narrative has a character going into a government administered euthanasia center and accepts his fate. But what fate? The best of the stories comes from [[Poul Anderson]], a surprise for me because I haven't otherwise enjoyed his work. Anderson takes the character through multiple, ever-changing iterations of an after-life - the purpose, to learn from these show more varying waters how to keep the destabilizing world on track. [[Harlan Ellison]]'s take was near undigestible altogether. The other three were passable, if a little strained for working too hard at the tasking. On balance, I expected more from these luminaries.

2 bones!! show less

The clue is in the name - Hoka. This is in fact hokum - a humorous stringing together of a series of formulaic stories about a planet of 'teddy bear'-like creatures who are highly intelligent but lose themselves completely in what amount to earth-inspired role-playing games.

Yes, behind it is a satire of the Star Trek type (pre-Trekkie since the collection was published in 1957) of benign Federation-type Earthling imperialism and so, ultimately, of the actually existing United Nations and US show more of the day, but it is mostly just a rather amusing romp.

What is more interesting than the satire perhaps is that Anderson, the highly intelligent 'teddy bear' of post-war science fiction who was never averse to straddling the scifi/fantasy or any other divide for that matter, has anticipated RPG culture and the complete seriousness of its 'play'.

The binding framework is a young ensign whose success with handling the Hoka is the source of the satire as he gets into a series of colonial pickles that could be career-ending but actually keep moving him up the bureaucratic ladder because the Hoka flummox everyone else.

But the fun lies in the stories which do have some laugh-out loud moments as the Hoka pick up some bit of Earthling popular culture (as seen from the 1950s) and then create a complete world out of it which they then insist on acting out as if it was real.

Since earthling popular culture is itself wish-fulfilment fantasy (cowboys and injuns, the plots of the opera, 'space patrol', sherlock holmes, pirates and 'beau geste') something close to disaster nearly ensues rescued only at the last minute by the hero's ability to manipulate the game.

It is a fun and enjoyable book. It only fails to get a higher rating because it is not a coherent novel but just a series of similar adventures. My recommendation is that you read it but separate the stories out and enjoy them individually in sequence over a longer period of time.

If you only have time to read one story, read the one dedicated to the Hoka's discovery of 'Space Patrol', the 1950 kids' version discovered by the Hoka because they were only allowed to watch children's TV by the Earthling administration lest they start to make serious RPG mischief.

The unintended consequences of Earthling paternalism as Earth tries to build its 'colonies' into something like a Commonwealth (led by Earth, of course. The final official communique (no spoiler) at the end of the book suggests just how doomed the project is.

Needless to say, the Hoka do manage to make serious mischief regardless (in space as in every story). The hapless attempts of the hero Jones to manage the chaos only make things worse until some stroke of manipulative genius that requires in every story he enter into Hoka expectations.

In the 'space patrol' case, the Hoka almost cause and then end an intergalactic war without having any notion that their fantasy world has had any real universe consequences which rather strikes me as a good analogy for the conduct of international relations in any case.

It could be argued that, especially with the involvement of largely unaccountable psychological operations unit, the current Ukraine crisis is the result of our political elites being terribly serious RPG players not much different from the Hoka.

There is much amusement and satire to be had in these stories, not excluding the inevitable moment when Jones is forced to become Watson to a Hoka Sherlock Holmes or the quite hilarious application of the plot of 'Don Juan' to poor Ensign Jones' misunderstood love life.

Personally, I found the book fitted my own and many other's 'wish-fulfilment fantasy' (never to be achieved) - the prospect of being able to live like a 'teddy bear' Hoka (their appearance is part of the humour) in a viable RPG in which reality could be shunted entirely to one side.

From that point of view Anderson creative realisation is close to genius - taking the impulse towards fantasy away from specific narratives 'out there' in texts or films and bringing it into the world. Again, he is prescient since is the internet not bringing this closer to possibility?

It is the implementation that stops it from being one of the greats of fantasy (frankly, it is only pretending to be science fiction) because there is no development although Anderson writes exceptionally well and engagingly.

One amusing coincidence showing that God is perhaps a jester, Anderson's daughter is married to another science fiction ... Greg Bear!

As someone who really does not like his science fiction mucked up with comedy and is wary of too much of it in fantasy, this is one of the few works that have won me over to its possibilities. It has certainly encouraged me to read more Anderson, although not, I am afraid, more Hoka. show less