Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Four to Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson Gordon R
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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Four to Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson Gordon R. Dickson Books In Order. Gordon R. Dickson was a Canadian author who was as influential to the science fiction genre as the likes of Heinlein. In fact, it is difficult to say which of these two authors influenced the other. But no one can deny the fact that, by the time he died in 2001, Dickson had created an immovable literary legacy. Gordon R. Dickson is a child of Alberta. That is where he was born in the early 1920s. The family eventually moved to America, the result of Dickson’s father passing on. That was in the mid-1930s. Like most young men, Gordon couldn’t avoid being pulled into World War II. Though, he did not serve in the military for long. And when he finally returned to civilian life, the first thing the author did was to get himself a degree in Creative Writing. Those years were of great benefit to Dickson who got to meet and study with people like Poul Anderson and Sinclair Lewis. In fact, it could be argued that Anderson helped give Dickson’s career a boost. The pair wrote a story together that was published in ‘Fantastic Story Quarterly’ in 1950. Dickson’s fans would have to wait another six years before ‘Alien from Arcturus’, his first novel, was published. The novel set the tone for the author’s future works which were all relatively serious and often featured warm and kind aliens with sage-like personalities. Dickson and Anderson proceeded to collaborate on numerous occasions. And fans of both authors will tell you that their styles tend to mirror one another in some places, especially when it comes to their choice of characters and locations. They also enjoy exploring the nature of humanity, this along with attempting to predict the trajectory the human race will follow as they eventually take to the stars and explore space. Even with his penchant for dissecting the nature of man, though, Gordon R. Dickson’s science fiction was far more commercial and straightforward than the works of his peers in the genre. As such, the author did not have to work quite as hard to elicit popularity. The most expansive of the author’s works is the Childe Cycle which Dickson himself called his life’s work. The series, which blends mysticism with science fiction, follows the exploits of a series of latent supermen who realize that they have the power to direct the course of history. It earned the author as many fans as it did critics. When Dickson wasn’t writing, he was out making a name for himself in the science fiction community via the many appearances he made at conventions. Dickson wasn’t just popular among science fiction readers. The SF Social circles also loved him because he was always an entertaining speaker who did not require much coercing to pull his guitar out and play onlookers an exciting tune. During his healthier years, Gordon R. Dickson could be found all over the place in North America so long as there was a science fiction convention of significance going on. The author wasn’t always fortunate in the health department. Even as a child, Dickson suffered from asthma. And when he died in 2001, the cause was reported to be severe asthma. In life, the illness couldn’t keep Dickson down. The author has such an extensive bibliography because he made an effort to produce at least one book a year. And even during the final years of his life when he was too ill to leave his house, the author never stopped churning out books. For his literary efforts, Dickson was awarded with numerous prizes including a Hugo and a Nebula accolade. In 1976, Gordon R. Dickson wrote a series of lighthearted fantasy novels the first book of which was loosely adapted into ‘The Flight of Dragons’, a 1982 animated movie. A Seattle film director (Jesse Stipek) acquired the rights to make a live-action adaptation of the animated movie in 2013. Donal Graeme is Dorsai and that makes him far greater than the average man, as all Dorsai are. There is no race among the 14 worlds of humanity that is quite as feared and respected as the Dorsai, beings with incredible strength that desire independence above all else. But even among the Dorsai, Donal Graeme is something special. And with his talents, once he takes his first steps into the stars, everything will change. Dorsai is the first book in the Childe Cycle series. The book takes place in a universe where different worlds are designed to produce people who are equipped for one particular job or role. As a result, civilization survives through these various planets working together and battering to ensure that each World receives the skilled manpower it requires to achieve its goals. The hero, Donal Graeme, hails from a planet whose people live to fight. Donal has a great future and this book explores his rise through the ranks to become a powerful military leader. Dorsai is often described as less of a novel and more of a collection of episodes designed to show just how great a commander Donal can be. Not all those episodes connect seamlessly. Jim Eckert wasn’t a dragon, and he did not plan to become one. But that is exactly what happened. It all began when Eckert set out on a quest to rescue his betrothed. The journey took him through an astral projection machine into a world where a person could become a dragon. Though, it isn’t really accurate to say that Eckert is a dragon. He is merely locked in the body of one, a talking dragon called Gorbash. And, unfortunately, Angie, his betrothed is still very much human, or rather a George, as the dragons call the humans in this world. When an evil dragon takes Angie captive, Eckert must come to terms with his new body and go after her. This is the first novel in the Dragon Knight series. The book tells the story of a young and bright university graduate whose experiments with astral projection end in chaos. His girlfriend is cast off into a different dimension. That drives Eckert to repeat the experiment so that he can follow her. But the rescue attempt ends with Eckert waking up in the body of a talking dragon. Now Eckert must acclimate to his new situation. Life as a dragon is unlike anything he has ever known, mostly because of the many powers Eckert now has. He begins to explore his new world. He also makes a few new friends who come in handy when his girlfriend is kidnapped and he must lead the charge to rescue her. “Dorsai!” by Gordon R. Dickson. It’s interesting that I’d book end the reading list for my SciFi and Fantasy book discussion group with two novels, published in the same year, both up for the Hugo that year and credited with the rise of military sci-fi. The two novels are Gordon R. Dickson’s “Dorsai!” and Robert A. Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers.” Both are heralded as influential and classics of their particular little cul-de-sac of science-fiction literature. But go into any bookstore today and you’d easily find multiple copies of “Starship Troopers” on the shelf. I’d dare say it’d be a bit more difficult to find a copy of “Dorsai.” I’m not saying you wouldn’t but it seems that “Troopers” has withstood the test of time while “Dorsai!” has become something of an afterthought. And reading “Dorsai!,” I can see why Heinlein’s military science-fiction novel has withstood the test of time better than this one has. It’s not that “Dorsai!” is necessarily a terrible novel. I think the problem I had with it is, I don’t necessarily think it’s a novel. It’s a lot of snippets and (at first) unconnected dots about a great military commander and his rise through the ranks. But early on, you’d be hard pressed to say exactly what the driving narrative of the novel is. At times, “Dorsai!” is terribly episodic in nature, with a few characters coming in and out at various points to connect things, but frustratingly not adding up to a complete narrative. The story does start to come together in the last third of the novel, but by then I was so frustrated with the book and the episodic nature that the best narrative tie-up in the world wasn’t going to help things. A lot of it stems from the fact that the main character, Donal Graeme, isn’t all that terribly likeable. In the future as created by Dickson, various planets produced people who are more equipped for one particular job or role than another. This leads to a system of barter in the universe with the specialized planets working together out of necessity since while one group is great at one thing, they are terribly weak in another. In many ways, the societies are so limited and defined by one particular characteristic that it becomes a bit off-putting at times. Sort of the same issue you can have with classic “Star Trek” or “Doctor Who” stories–it’s hard to believe the entire planet is reflected by one group of people that the heroes just happen to run across. (For example, why does the whole planet subscribe to the “let’s all be gangsters” theory in the classic “Trek” episode).