The Fleet 02: Counterattack

In the tradition of Thieves' World, The Fleet: Counter Attack assembles a collection of stories from some of sci-fi's top names, each revolving around a shared universe featuring Us Against Them. The bulk of the stories are classic military sci-fi, with soldiers taking on vicious aliens. Very good stuff, and each story is well-written. As shared universe anthologies go, this one ranks up there with the best Thieves' World collection.The only let-down comes from Piers Anthony. His story "Soft Like a Woman" is well-done, with just the right amount of action and dramatic tension. However, Anthony reveals his on-going obsession with perceived chauvinism. His main character is insulted, degraded, and ignored because she is a woman, and she complains that her gender is keeping her from being taken seriously in the Fleet. The only problem is that several other stories in the book featured women in prominent, "masculine" roles: combat platoon leader (Christopher Stasheff), pilot (Janny Wurts), commander (Jody Lynn Nye), to name just a few. Anthony's political tirade mars an otherwise excellent story.