Books

Short works

Books : reviews

Jerry Pournelle.
High Justice.
1977

Contents

A Matter of Sovereignty. 1972
Power to the People. 1972
Enforcer. 1974
High Justice. 1974
Extreme Prejudice. 1974
Consort. 1975
Tinker. 1975

Jerry Pournelle, ed.
Black Holes.
1978

Contents

Gail Kimberly. Gloria. 1978
Black Holes and Cosmic Censors. 1974
Grant Carrington, George Zebrowski. Fountain of Force. 1978
Fuzzy Black Holes Have No Hair. 1975
Larry Niven. The Hole Man. 1973
Robert L. Forward. Pluto Is Black!. 1978
Poul Anderson. Kyrie. 1968
Larry Niven. The Borderland of Sol. 1974
In the Beginning.... 1975
Michael Bishop. For the Lady of a Physicist. 1978
Mildred Downey Broxon. Singularity. 1978
Greg Bear. The Venging. 1976
Dian Girard. The Nothing Spot. 1978
Peter Dillingham. The Salesman Who Fell From Grace With the Universe. 1978
He Fell into a Dark Hole. 1973
Charles Sheffield. Killing Vector. 1978
Reginald Bretnor. Papa Schimmelhorn's Yang. 1978
Peter Dillingham. Cygnus X-1. 1978

Jerry Pournelle, ed.
There Will Be War.
Tor. 1983

Contents

Richard Sean McEnroe. A Death in Realtime. 1981
Poul Anderson. Marius. 1957
David Drake. Ranks of Bronze. 1975
Eric Frank Russell. I am Nothing. 1952
A powerful anti-war polemic
Robert Sheckley. The Battle. 1954
Joe Haldeman. Saul's Death. 1982
(poem)
Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle. Reflex. 1982
James Warner Bellah. Spanish Man's Grave. 1947
Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. The Soviet Strategic Threat from Space. 1981
Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game. 1977
Spider Robinson. Overdose. 1975
Robert A. Heinlein. The Good News of High Frontier. 1982
Daniel O. Graham. Project High Frontier. 1982
Jon Post. City-Killer. 1982
Jon Post. Ground Zero. 1982
W. R. Yates. Diasporah: A Prologue. 1982
His Truth Goes Marching On. 1975
Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. Thor: Orbital Weapon System. 1981
Philip K. Dick. The Defenders. 1953
Hayford Peirce. Unlimited Warfare. 1974
Mercenaries and Military Virtue. 1980
Gordon R. Dickson. Call Him Lord. 1966
David McDaniel. Quiet Village. 1970
The Strategy of Technology. 1982
Rudyard Kipling. The Widow's Party. 1983

Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, eds.
Far Frontiers: Summer 1985.
1985

(read but not reviewed)

Contents

John Brunner. Talion. 1985
Gordon R. Dickson. House of Weapons. 1985
Ben Bova. Nuclear Autumn. 1985
Rory Harper. Pertorgypsies. 1985
Edward P. Hughes. A Cure for Croup. 1985
Dean Ing. Evileye. 1985
John Park. The Software Plague. 1985
Eric L. Davin. Avenging Angel. 1985
Robert W. Bussard. Iris, Vega and Intelligent Life in the Galaxy. 1985
G. Harry Stine. Cheap Shots. 1985

Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, eds.
Far Frontiers: Fall 1985.
1985

(read but not reviewed)

Contents

Vernor Vinge. The Ungoverned. 1985
Rivka Jacobs. Morning on Venus. 1984
Alexander Jablokov. A Wink in the Eye of the Wolf. 1985
John Dalmas. Out of the North a Giant. 1982
David Drake. The Bond. 1985
Thomas Wylde. Space Shuttle Crashes!. 1984
Charles R. Pellegrino. The Ultimate Whodunit. 1985
John Gribbin. Right-Angle Realities. 1985
Charles Sheffield. Space Talking. 1985

Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, eds.
Far Frontiers: Winter 1985.
Baen Books. 1986

(read but not reviewed)

Contents

F. Paul Wilson. Dydeetown Girl. 1986
John Dalmas. Opening Move on Egil's World. 1986
Roland J. Green. The Leading Edge. 1986
Terry Rich Hartley. Shark Destiny. 1986
Ronald Anthony Cross. Golden Dawn. 1986
S. M. Stirling. Cops and Robbers. 1986
James Benford. Star Wars is not Mad. 1986
Gregory Benford. Reactionary Utopias. 1986
C. J. Cherryh. The Prince. 1986

Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, eds.
Far Frontiers: Spring 1986.
1986

(read but not reviewed)

Contents

John Dalmas. A Lion to the Sea. 1986
Charles Sheffield. Space Transportation. 1986
Gregory Benford. Dancing with the Straw Man. 1986
Edward A. Byers. The High Reach. 1986
Keith Laumer. There is a Tide. 1986
G. Harry Stine. Escape from Planet Earth. 1986
G. Harry Stine. The Space Beat. 1986
David Drake. Ranks of Bronze. 1975
Lois McMaster Bujold. Aftermaths. 1986

Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, eds.
Far Frontiers: Fall 1986.
Baen Books. 1986

(read but not reviewed)

Contents

Roland J. Green. The Leading Edge. 1986
David Drake. The Tank Lords. 1986
John Gribbin. The Naked Chimp. 1986
Dave Smeds. Tournament. 1986
Charles Sheffield. New Worlds for Old. 1986
John Dalmas. A Field to Play on. 1986
Elaine Radford. En Route. 1986
G. Harry Stine. The Space Beat. 1986
G. Harry Stine. In the Wake of the Challenger. 1986
Janet Morris, David Drake. The Great Beer Shortage. 1986

Jerry Pournelle, Jim Baen, eds.
Far Frontiers: Winter 1986.
1986

(read but not reviewed)

Contents

Charles Sheffield. On Timeline Singularities, Space, and Human History. 1986
Poul Anderson. Iron (part 1). 1986
Ralph Roberts. Lord Rifkin's Risk. 1986
Phillip C. Jennings. Teddy Bug and the Hot Purple Snowball. 1986
Timothy Zahn. Guardian Angel. 1986
John Gribbin. Timewarps Revisited. 1986
Robert Reed. The Armistice. 1986
Roland J. Green. The Leading Edge. 1986
G. Harry Stine. America: A Second-Class Space Power. 1986
Roger MacBride Allen. Winged Mysteries - The Soviet Shuttles. 1986
Roger MacBride Allen. Young As You Feel. 1986

Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes.
The Legacy of Heorot.
Sphere. 1987

(read but not reviewed)

Jerry Pournelle.
Mamelukes.
Baen. 2020

No Rest for the Weary

it’s been thirteen long years since Rick Galloway was shanghaied and carted away by a flying saucer to the planet Tran, where humans were both administrators and slaves. Since then, he’s survived mutinies, civil wars, battles against Byzantine Romans, medieval knights, and Mongol raiders. Now, things are about to change yet again. New Starmen have arrived on Tran with dangerous gifts and star weapons none have faced before. Rick Galloway’s mission on Tran is about to be turned on its head. But there is one thing that hasn’t changed in thirteen long years: when all goes sideways, it’s Rick Galloway who gets called upon to fix the situation.

Charles Sheffield, Jerry Pournelle.
Higher Education.
Tor. 1996

rating : 3.5 : worth reading
review : 14 December 1997

16 year old Rick Luban finally plays a practical joke on the wrong person, and is expelled from his useless school. The fact that no-one is allowed to be a failure has reached its illogical conclusion: the whole curriculum is so watered down that no-one learns anything. But Rick gets a second chance, to join an asteroid mining company as a trainee. Now he gets some real education, in a hostile environment where a mistake can mean death.

This is a deliberate, and not that bad, attempt at a Heinleinesque juvenile, coupled with a savage attack on the US educational system, 'political correctness' and lack of discipline. The political message is laid on with a trowel.

The plot is typical of its kind: we see Rick and his classmates grow from semi-literate surly thugs to hard-working apprentices, learning both how to learn, and the value of learning, on the way. And, of course, there's the obligatory little plot twist to enliven the action at the end. We've seen this before, in Heinlein's Have Space Suit, Will Travel, and Space Cadet --- although Higher Education has a more up-to-date level of sex and violence, more unpleasant protagonists, and rather less polished info-dumping.