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Old Guard | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Keith Laumer | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Bolos | Last Stand, Old Guard, Bolo Brigade, Bolo Rising, Bolo Strike | ||
The war against the Melconias may be the largest, most destructive war humanity has ever fought. But even as that war rages there are other, smaller wars against other alien races that demand the attentions of the enormous supertanks called Bolos. One of those wars is against the Kezdai, who have invaded the frontier planet Delas. They fight hard, they're persistent, and they learn from their mistakes. But they don't have Bolos.
This is another anthology, but consisting of only four stories - two long and two short. Since they're all concerned with one specific invasion, albeit different aspects of it, the book as a whole is much more consistent within itself. There aren't multiple stories claiming that this is the first and only time a Bolo has gone rogue in any way, for instance. The authors were obviously given a bit more direction to work with than just a theme, and I'd say it was a big help. Not that everything was perfect. The fourth story has a little problem with its model numbers, and there's a few tidbits here and there between stories that didn't quite match up. But overall it was a big improvement.
The shorter stories, though - especially the first of the two - seem a bit fast and sketchy. The battles are described rather quickly and vaguely, to the point where I didn't really know what the heck was going on. Before the battle was fine, but one it started I was lost. In a book about sentient tanks, it's a major flaw.
Overall, the stories are good. They're just not great. Combined with a few outright problems, it ends up being roughly an average book. But if you enjoy stories of a possible far-future version of tanks, or of course if you're already a fan of Bolos, then this will be a good addition to your library.
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