Tactics of Mistake

Ok, don't misunderstand me, but this book strikes me as a great, unintentional manifesto for a kind of Geek Fascism. I mean that as a (sort of) compliment. Far more than Heinlein's super-competent wise-cracking protagonists or Asimov's Hari Seldon, or any other character in SF of this type, the protagonist of this book is a kind of geek dream: emotionally controlled, superhumanly competent, supremely intelligent, so in command of his own will that he forces his body to overcome a crippling injury (twice), able to seize control of the forces of history and wrest them to his design, and utterly incorruptable and selfless in his intent.

The rest of the Dorsai books have always seemed murky to me, as if Dickson was writing towards some show more grand conclusion that only he understood and had trouble communicating, but this book is kind of a hoot, often worth a re-read. It's a quick, intense, entertainingly implausible story of technogeek wish fulfillment wrapped up in a modest amount of the teleological hoo-haw that later ballooned to the scale of The Final Encyclopedia. show less

I started the series with this book and think it's a fine place to begin the series. It's well-written, the characters are nicely drawn and engaging, there's some good action and you get a real sense for the universe Dickson is trying to create.

Let me start by saying that I think this series had some of the best promise of any during that period, and I still enjoy several of the books a lot. However, not all. Personally, I'd start with this one and then read only selected volumes. I think that: a) the quality of the later volumes is uneven and b) the larger story line that emerged later in Dickson's career (the novels were not published in chronological order) wasn't as intriguing as it seemed at first. Also, if you read the books in show more strict chronological order, I think some stories get diminished by spoilers in the form of alternate viewpoints of events found in other volumes.

My own take on it is to read: Tactics of Mistake, Dorsai!, Soldier, Ask Not, The Spirit of Dorsai, Lost Dorsai, and then quit. I think the spirit of the series is captured in that sequence and other volumes only diminish it.

Just my two cents... show less

Tactics of Mistake by Gordon R. Dickson is the Dorsai novel where it all began, so a prequel in many ways. This was a book I mooched along with Soothsayer in order to receive The Wind Crystal from a BookMoocher in Australia. All three are also registered with BookCrossing (my first experience with this). I think I will happily return Tactics of Mistake to the flow.

This book was moderately interesting, but not a keeper for me. I've read only one other Dorsai novel, which I liked well enough, though, once again, not enough to keep. These are books in the militaristic SF tradition about the ultimate warrior society. Which is to say, they are short on characterizations and dialogue, concentrating on action orchestrated by the idealized hero show more who can do no wrong.

This book features Cletus Grahame as the protagonist (straight white guy, of course) who revolutionizes warfare. What starts as a bloody contest between the Western Alliance and the Eastern Coalition (both Earth-based powers), or rather between their frontier planet catspaws, becomes the beginning of an independence movement. Not surprisingly, the Earth powers unite in an attempt to quash the outplanets. The whole thing is framed as a personal contest between Cletus and Dow deCastries (the straight white antagonist). Throw in a half-baked not particularly believable romance and some secondary characters who are turned around by our hero, and you have standard old-style science fiction. I think it also reflects the Cold War struggle as well, which adds to the sense of being dated.

There are some minorities included in the story. Melissa Khan (the love interest) and her father Colonel Eachen Khan are Afghani. They are the crux of the story, and provide Cletus Grahame entree to the Dorsai planet and its mercenary operations. The only obviously black person is Major Swahili, and his portrayal is perhaps the most negative. When Grahame starts leading the Dorsai to bloodless coups, he decamps because he loves the violence, killing, and personal risk and courage involved in warfare (in other words, he's the savage--pretty standard stereotype). Many of the names peppered through the book give it a multicultural feel: Lu May, Ad Reyes, Tosca Aras, and so on. With respect to the single female character, I will lift this quote directly from a review of Dorsai! because it applies equally well here: "Dickson also maintains his inability to write convincing female characters, is a step forward and a step backward, she's a strong, opinionated character, it's just that all her opinions are wrong and she spends most of the book making snide judgements about that clearly make her look stupid" (names changed to reflect current novel.

Perhaps the most interesting science fiction element for me is the concept of the Exotics, or the Association for the Investigation and Development of the Exotic Sciences. This group is all for revolutionizing human society by fostering "the seeds of further evolution." Our hero rejects their invitation with the observation, "You Exotics are essentially ruthless toward all men, because you're philosophers, and by and large, philosophers are ruthless people." It's a strong statement, and I'm not sure I agree with him, but I think I understand where he's coming from. This was the basic thesis in Seeing Like a State, which explores how ideas about social engineering when married to totalitarian political power lead to some truly devastating events.

So, moderately interesting, not particularly unique or original. Worth a quick read, definitely not written for female audiences (but then, how much from 1971 was?). Feels dated in many ways. Pretty classic Dickson. show less

Tactics of Mistake was recommended to me by my best friend. It was not owned as a single volume by any of my county libraries, but I was able to check out Three to Dorsai!, an omnibus volume which contains it. The interludes in the omnibus volume tell us that there were prime characters in human evolution. The protagonist of the first book in that omnibus, Necromancer was one of them. The protagonist of this book, Lieutenant-Colonel Cletus Grahame of the Expeditionary Forces of Earth's Western Alliance, is another.

Grahame is a scholar of tactics and strategical considerations. He plans to write twenty volumes on the subject. He's working on the fourth. Grahame does not appear to advantage in the first page or two of the book, show more particularly not to those seated at a table he comes to: Dow deCastries (Secretary of Outworlds Affairs for Earth's Coalition of Eastern Nations), Pater Ten (who has an eidetic memory), Mondar (an Exotic human), Colonel Eachan Khan, and his daughter, Melissa Khan.

NOTES:

Chapter 1: Colonel Eachan notes a medal that Lieutenant-Colonel Grahame wears.

Chapter 2: Grahame brings up the tactics of mistake, which is what's in the book he's currently writing. This is where he plays the shell game.

Chapter 3: Colonel Khan was a lieutenant-general in the Royal Army of Afghanistan before the revolution 12 years ago. He left to join the Dorsai after the new government enforced their death penalty for anyone who sang the old Afghanistani [as stated in the book] anthem. His daughter wants them to go back to Earth and wants deCastries' help.

Chapter 4:

a. The command car Grahame and others are in is attacked.

b. The rest of that verse about the nail is '...For want of a rider, the battle was lost. For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.'

Chapter 5: Grahame refers to Arvid Johnson as a first lieutenant, then some pages later, as a second lieutenant.

Chapter 6:

a. Grahame has an interesting experience when he goes to Mondar's study. It appears to involve Paul Formain of Necromancerand Sir John Hawkwood.

b. Mondar talks about the Chantry Guild and some events from Necromancer, mentioning Walter Blunt and Paul Formain.

Chapter 7: Grahame uses an electric horse to good effect.

Chapter 13: Grahame meets some guerillas.

Chapter 17: Foolish Bill Athyer angrily responds to advice from Grahame.

Chapter 18: Grahame proposes.

Chapter 19: The wedding doesn't quite go as originally planned.

Chapter 20: Reading Grahame's writings has changed Athyer.

Chapter 22: Grahame has a 3-month-old son.

Chapter 24: Look here for two lines of a sad song composed by an Ap Morgan family member who died in a campaign before Grahame was a Dorsai.

I didn't like Cletus Grahame off and on during the book, but I did enjoy the ways he outwitted various opposing forces on various planets. I did like his ideas for the Dorsai. I'm not a big fan of science fiction military books, but by the end I liked this one. show less

Reread, 2024

For me, this is still one of the best military SF books, hand in hand with Glen Cooks Shadowline, Hammers Slammers, and Miles Vorkossigan early mercenary era stories. If you have not read it yet, do yourself a favor and read it (and also other books in series). This is the story of the rebirth, or re-establishment, of Dorsai. They started as fierce mercenary nation, and under Cletus, they have become infintely more, almost super-human mercenary force, one that will try to set humanity free to thrive amongst the stars.

Highly recommended.

Original review, 2010

Cletus Graeme is a military prodigy, man so immersed into warfare and strategy that he has devised his own combat system using experiences from numerous conflicts in the show more past. His approach is what might be called holistic - he takes all parameters into account (cultural/social, psychological and of course military) and using them he "enters the opponents mind" (very much like Admiral Thrawn will do in Star Wars universe) and claims victory.

He is aware that human colonies have to break from Earth domination and he seeks the most successful way to do that. He finds a perfect tool for his ultimate goal in Dorsai, already fierce mercenaries that get even better and more efficient when they accept to learn from Cletus. In order to reach Dorsai he manipulates everybody he comes across in a very successful way (although mostly in a manner that everything available must be used as a tool to achieve ones goals).

Story concept is very similar to the one found in "The Man Who Never Missed" - attempt to help human kind to prosper and achieve its maximum and letting numerous colonies to develop (in every possible way) by themselves by removing the bounds in form of centralized government that stalls progress . Both books (or series if you like) take groups of highly motivated professionals on quest of setting human society free (although I have some doubts regarding this everyone-for-themselves approach).

Very interesting book, the true beginning of Dorsai [as they are to be known in later novels].

Recommended. show less

Sometimes a science-fiction author gets an idea, and attempts to flesh it out by placing the reader in a world where the full extent of the idea can be examined. (Such as Null-A, Foundation, etc..)
The idea of this story is that there is a gap between the expectations of reality and reality. The hero, Cletus Graeme, uses these gaps to win battles, both in war and personal life. As an example, in one battle the Dorsai have captured a n outpost, but their employers refuse to pay. Cletus promises no harm to the citizens, but goes on to ask the employer if the employer is willing to bet his career on Cletus' word.
This book is one of my favorites (more than the rest of the series), and continues to be of use to me as a lesson in the danger show more of assumption. show less

Although this book has some interesting ideas, like the tactical use of underwater bulldozers, some of the tactical situations boil down to 'Grahame is a genius, therefore whatever he guesses about the enemy's tactics will be correct'.

Real life really isn't that simple.