Imperial Stars

I'd only disagree with the previous reviewer on one point--Dr Pournelle has degrees in engineering, psychology AND political science. He's served as a presidential space policy advisor, worked in the aerospace industry, for NASA, as deputy mayor of LA, as editor for BYTE Magazine and as an artillery officer. Some of his treatises are required reading at the US military academies. Yet in works like this, Dr Pournelle makes his points in an interesting and entertaining fashion. His introductions, comments and essays are not dry, but very readable. They're clear but in depth. I've learned a great amount from Dr Pournelle, and continue to do so on his site, with its in depth analysis of environmental, space, energy and political issues. What can you say about the man who invented blogging back before the net, when BBSes were the only computer medium? The tone of this series is dark, but with an optimistic edge. The tales can be cautionary, inspiring and just plain fun. Most have a military flavor, with imagery sharp and bright. Then there's the occasional Kipling thrown in, that shows how the same problems persist in each society, from frontier to republic to empire. There are some forgotten gems and classic works in this anthology. If you're serious about human development, the military or science fiction, you should have this and the others in the series on your bookshelf, and re-read them every few months.

I have seldom enjoyed a work as much as I have this one. This book, while presented from the format of Science Fiction, is actually an analysis of what the government of the future would be like, because where Man goes, so goes Government.In this first book, he spends most of his time trying to settle the question of war and empire, showing how he believes that each of these would be inevitable in the future.Interspersed through the many science fiction short stories are essays and analyses. One could call it basic Sociology or Political Science, except that he would consider it an insult to compare him to the Social Sciences, another topic he blasts in his book, coming from both an Engineering background and a Science Fiction background.What makes this book most valuable is one short essay buried near the rear about the Pournelle Political Science Chart, in an essay about how the Social Sciences are not Scientific. The analysis of government beliefs on a rather unique two dimensional matrix (and no, it is not the Nolan chart) is quite a startling and innovative new idea, worth the price of the book alone.All this is in the first book alone. There is now way I could rate this lower that 5 stars.