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Title: Old Guard: A Bolos Anthology: Book 5 by Keith Laumer, Bill Fawcett ISBN: 0-671-31957-4 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: January, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.62 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Send in the Bolos!
Comment: I enjoyed the three stories contained in this book. having not known that before I read the book, it was interesting to discover it. I believe the stories gave an impression of the flow of war, and that Bolos provides protection, or at least a menance to the Concordiate's enemy on all fronts.
The Bolo's and their commanders see alot of action in and around the Delas system by a horde of attacking Kezdai - creatures that resemble bird-like reptiles. Hellbores away! Infantry, tanks, and and full scale battles rage over the planet systems. And the book shows that Bolos should be left alone to do their jobs - to protect humanity.
The book earned a 4 stars instead of 5 stars because the first story - seems like it was cut off. 3 characters were introduced, and two at great length, but each had no impact on the story's ending. It seemed the story was cut off. In the second story, a Concordiate Officer ignores his Bolo, and the result is death and and some destruction to a Concordiate task force. The commander, supposedly academy trained, is told to "just forget about it" and to get back into the war because "he did a good job" because he came up with a good idea prior to his terrible orders. Only one sentence was givin to a possible court martial. I wanted the character to be punished, not patted on the back. I believe the first two stories dragged a little when they went into the Kezdai personal worlds, except for one plot line.
The third story, the shortest - was marvelous. And the final moments of the the battle should have been made into artwork for the book cover with the vivid descriptions of the battle.
Rating: 3
Summary: A look into the future
Comment: This book is a compilation of short stories by different authors. What I found uniqe was the fact that all of the short stories take place on the same planet. A look at the future of AI and future applications in war. The star of the books, of course, are the Bolos. A self-aware robotic tank with a long distinguished history. Some of the story lines move to fast, so as to not be developed to my taste. But I assume that is the problem with short stories in this series....
Rating: 1
Summary: No, no, no, no, no. This should not be!
Comment: I am sure that the Bolos books were a good read. It is unfortunate that I happened to begin with the dregs of short stories written by different people. This is obviously an attempt to captialise on what must have been a good series.
This book does not stand on its own. As far as I can tell the Bolos are just very big tanks that can do a bit of thinking for themselves. After that it's a case of bang bang flash, ten year old kid's stuff with ray guns. No characterisation, no empathy with the characters, who they defend or the "dreaded" enemy. Nothing. This is cheap thin cardboard and is just the kind of rubbish that should not be published.
Whoever the editor and publisher are - shame on you. There are too many good books waiting to be published to put this trash on the shelves. Go hang your heads in shame.
There is so little substance in this book, it is impossible to really attack it. How can you attack something without substance. I want my money back!
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Title: LAST STAND: BOLOS 4 by Laumer ISBN: 0671877607 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Bolos II: The Unconquerable by Keith Laumer ISBN: 0671876295 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1994 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Bolo Strike by William H. Keith ISBN: 0743435664 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Honor of the Regiment by Keith Laumer, David Drake, S. M. Stirling ISBN: 0671721844 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: September, 1993 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Cold Steel (Bolos Book 6) by Keith Laumer ISBN: 0743435494 Publisher: Baen Books Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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