Product Description

We can now predict the shape of war to come... For the first time, COMBAT brings the best military-fiction writers in the world together to reveal how war will be fought in the twenty-first century. From the down and dirty 'ground-pounders' of the US Armoured Cavalry to the new frontiers of warfare, including outer space and the internet, ten authors whose novels define the military-fiction genre have written all-new short novels about the men and women willing to put their lives on the line for freedom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #328744 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 912 pages

About the Author
Stephen Coonts is a former naval aviator who flew combat missions during the Vietnam War. His previous novels have been worldwide bestsellers. A former attorney, he resides with his wife and son in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Customer Reviews

Good range of hi-tech warfare stories plus a truly human one
Most of the stories in this volume are pretty much what you'd expect - containing detailed accounts of actual and potential weapon systems, and the mainly cardboard descriptions of the people using them in anger. However, the real surprise is the outstanding final story by Ralph Peters, a moving account of peacekeeping in the Balkans in the early '90s, which stands head and shoulders above the other tales. Coonts is capable of writing like this (see Flight of the Intruder) - I just wish he would.

One lemon and three peaches
I picked this book up from an airport bookstall to while away a transatlantic flight, and came very close indeed to binning it after a dozen pages. What a shame that the editor should have put Harold Coyle's "Cyberknights" first of the four short stories in this collection. The other three are fine, but Coyle - although I hate to say it - has lost his bearings. "Cyberknights" has a promising theme: a special team of hackers is recruited by the US Army to defend against hostile hackers from other countries. Working closely with real soldiers and agencies like the NSA, these "Cyberknights" (yes, the pompous title is capitalised every time) also strike back against the countries they *think* are encouraging hostile activities. In the story, they respond to a hack that nearly splashes a flight of F16 fighter jets into the ocean by changing their flight orders "in the computer". (What computer this is, and why the USAF would be stupid enough to link it to the Internet, is not explained). The Cyberknights' response? They engineer the destruction of a chemical plant in the supposed aggressor country.

Apart from being ethically dubious to say the least, the Cyberknights are ludicrous to anyone who knows the first thing about computer security. When counterattacking a hacker's PC, they see fit to upload a huge coloured picture of a charging knight - just to give warning of their intentions. It is clear that Coyle knows very little about computers and the Internet, and he has made the mistake of assuming his readers would know even less.

"There is no war in Melnica" by Ralph Peters could not be more different. Instead of florid, pretentious fantasies supported by inadequate research, this is a simple, poignant vignette of the NATO intervention in the Balkans and its aftermath. Right from its opening words - "The workman tossed him a skull" - Peters grabs your attention and doesn't let go. With admirable economy of words, he shows you the senselessness of war, the impossibility of identifying the "good" (our allies) from the "bad" (our enemies), and the unbridgeable gulf between those who have been there and the distant politicians and brass who set events in motion without any idea of the consequences - even in retrospect.

James Cobb's "Cav" is a tightly-written, exciting example of a genre in which Coyle ("Team Yankee", "Bright Star") and Peters ("Red Army" and "The War in 2020") have excelled. In 2021 the Islamic Republic of Algeria launches a Blitzkrieg invasion of its southern neighbour Mali, one of the poorest nations on earth. While heavy US and French forces are on the way, a small US Army detachment is sent to head off the Algerian armoured column, if possible, at the only pass through the strategic El Khnachich range of hills. It is a perfect scenario: the superior American equipment (with the advantage of surprise) are pitted against overwhelming force.

R J Pineiro's "Flight of Endeavour" is the longest of the four stories, at 130 pages - but there is no danger of getting bored. What if the International Space Station housed, at the request of the UN, an array of 15 kiloton yield non-nuclear missiles for "anti-terrorist" purposes - and a terrorist happened to seize control of them? A female astronaut and a heavily armed team of Marines go up in a modified Space Shuttle to reclaim the weapons. Unfortunately, the space station is also equipped with a powerful chemical laser...

Apart from "CyberKnights", this book is well written, exciting, and ideal for the purpose I had in mind - distraction during a long flight. It also gave me some great ideas, and Peters' story explained more about the Balkans to me than ten years of news reports. Recommended - if you don't like the Coyle story, just skip it and read the rest.

Great shortcut to other authors
I'm not a big fan of collections of short stories from different authors, but I'm glad I gave "Combat" a shot (no pun intended).

Why? 'Cause I've been able to identify at least five new authors that I didn't know about before. So, until Coontz writes another book, I've got plenty.