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Summary: Unrivalled Science Fiction!
Review: 'Tactics of Mistake' is a really enjoyable book. As Sci-Fi goes, this is one of the best - grand galactic epic writing. It is similar in scope to the E.E."Doc" Smith and the Perry Rhodan books, though far more serious than either. There aren't any aliens, but the mixture of strategy, politics and philosophy is pretty unrivalled. I'd say that if you liked Peter Hamilton's 'Night's Dawn' books and the Uplift saga from David Brin, then you should enjoy this!
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Summary: foreshadows the Dorsai...
Review: ...and Donal; I liked the novel but could have wished for Cletus to be more different from Donal than he was.
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Summary: Great
Review: A reprint, this book is wonderfully set in the Dorsai! universe. What's great about Dickinson's Dorsai! novels is that they never dry out. If you haven't read any of them, start with Dorsai! (its a classic after all) and then hit Tactics...you won't be dissapointed.
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Summary: The Story that started the Dorsai saga!
Review: Although Necromancer is technically the first Dorsai novel, it is in Tactics of Mistake that I believe Dickson's series first finds it's stride. the technical battlefield scenarios are well written and believable, and Cletus Graheme truly made me a believer in his tactics. Well written and well paced, a recommended start to the Dorsai saga.
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Summary: Reminiscent of "Sun Tzu The Art Of War"
Review: Gordon Dickson combines military knowledge with a fast moving story line that keeps you captivated.Many of the concepts written about in "The Tactics Of Mistake," can be found in the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu. If your looking for a good combination of action, a coherent story line, and 3 dimensional characters with real war tactics, you'll devour this well written Sci-Fi adventure.
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Summary: This book made me a Gordon R. Dickson fan
Review: Herbert changed Dune in latter editions... Dickson changed the Dorsai in later books too. Books like "Alien Art" and " The Tactics of Mistake" should be read to understand why we bought everything he wrote for years! In later years he faltered and was dead intellectually before he died in fact. The idea that a people like the Scots mercenaries could become "super" people by generations of breeding and training: the environment and culture could combine to make superior humans was what made the Dorsai/ Childe series, but this book was all about how just one man could change a situation... win against the odds. With Microsoft taking it's case to the Supreme Court we sometimes feel that the forces of the evil empire have won. That the odds are stacked against us, but the Dorsai gave us hope!
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Summary: dated, best for teens
Review: I bought this based on the other Amazon reviews and was sorely disappointed. The book was written a long time ago and shows it in its treatment of women, it's assumption of Vietnam-style conflicts, it's cardboard ubermensch heroes, etc.
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Summary: Still A Classic!!
Review: I first read this book years ago. Recently, I bought an used copy for a trip. It is still a classic!
THe plot is unusual-Grahme is a scholar/tactician assigned to a force fighting a guerilla war on one of the dozen colony worlds. Earth is divided into the Alliance/Coalition camps who fight their wars through these colonies. Grahme has some very unique ideas about fighting wars and, through deception and ruse, puts into into action and wins the war. Grahme's foil is Dow Castries, an Earth politician bent on world(s) domination. Grahme believes the new worlds should be free of Earth and chooses the Dorsai as his weapon. Grahme designs a novel training/strategy/tactics regime for the Dorsai to transform themselves into the best mercenaries in the universe. Using his Dorsai, Grahme wins several important successes that prompt Dow to unite the Earth into an all-out war. Grahme defeats Dow and paves the way for the new world's freedom.
The most interesting part of the story is not the military action-like most military amateurs Dickson is fighting the last war (Vietnam)- but Grahme's grasp and control of historical forces and his ability to manipulate people into his scheme, without their knowing it. It's a masterful attempt at persuasion and manipulation which sets in motion the novel's sequels.
Dickson, like his couterpart Grahme, has created an universe in which he controls everything according to a set scheme.
I'm just glad it's only fiction and that there's not really some super-powerful all-controlling force at work manipulating me and everyone else for its own designs. Now, where's the TV remote?
Rating:
Summary: execllent prequele to Dorsai
Review: I have read and reread this story countless times. The structure of this book is very similar to dorsai right down to embarrassing moments on a spaceship. The perspective is very different though. Cletus is a gimpy war veteran with an desk job in the western alliance and some strange theories about warfare. What is he doing goading one of the leaders of the eastern alliance into a personal battle of wits?.
Rating:
Summary: execllent prequele to Dorsai
Review: I have read and reread this story countless times. The structure of this book is very similar to dorsai right down to embarrassing moments on a spaceship. The perspective is very different though. Cletus is a gimpy war veteran with an desk job in the western alliance and some strange theories about warfare. What is he doing goading one of the leaders of the eastern alliance into a personal battle of wits?.
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