The Tank Lords (BAEN)

I know I’ve read some Drake. He’s prolific enough he’s inescapable. But I’m not sure that I’ve ever read more than a story or two from Hammer’s Slammers. Released on the Baen “First One is Free” policy, The Tank Lords is three decent short stories and one mediocre novella.

The basic premise of the series is that the Slammers are interstellar mercenaries, an armored regiment formed around hover-tanks and hover-APCs, and paid by one side of planetary wars to stomp the other side. The best of these stories bring home the themes of the sublime absolute of firepower, the bonds between soldiers, and the incommensurable gap between soldiers and civilians.

But the stories are weaker on characterization, on showing that the civilians have any kind of point of view. And the novella, rather than using its length to do something interesting, is one long rolling firefight based on the Tet Offensive.

So first one is free, but I’m going to let someone else point out which books in the series are actually good before committing to any more.