War Stories: New Military Science Fiction

War Stories knows precisely what it is. This is an anthology of infantry stories: bleak stories about mud and dust and void, moral ambiguity, and psychological trauma. Grouping the stories into Wartime Systems, Combat, Armored Force, and Aftermath is a wise editorial choice. The usual technological suspects are all here: drones, powered armor, combat drugs and cyborg soldiers. However, the stories are of universally high quality and each of them manages to say something interesting about the technology of warfare. This is military science fiction at its most thoughtful. When reviewing an anthology, I always like to lift out a couple of exceptional stories, and I loved “Warhosts” by Yoon Ha Lee and “War Dog” by Mike Barretta as eerie, imaginative, biopunk inspired meditations on combat, surviving, and winning.

That said, thematic coherence is a two edged sword, and while I agree with the stance that this anthology takes towards warfare, by the end I wanted a little more diversity. Jaym Gates and Andrew Liptak aimed to deconstruct the Starship Troopers/Baen machismo typical of the genre, but I think there’s still space for a little humor, absurdity, even glory in the future of war. And if you don’t like the politics I’ve laid out at the top of this review, you’ll hate this collection. Forewarned is forearmed. My second criticism is that while the grunts are the heart of war, they aren’t the only people who fight. We could’ve used a little more on pilots, sailors, officers, strategists, diplomats, and drill sergeants. Don’t let these minor gripes turn you away: this is an amazing book, and a worthy companion to The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century.