Tactics of Mistake

Tactics of Mistake (1971) is the second SF novel in the Childe Cycle, following Necromancer. In the previous volume, Walter Blunt started a revolution by his Chantry Guild to destroy the cultural basis of his society. Yet Paul Formain stopped him and sent his chief followers out to find their own destinies. When Kantele offered to stay, Paul sent her after Blunt. In this novel, Alliance Lieutenant Colonel Cletus Grahame introduces himself to Dow DeCastries, Secretary of Outworlds Affairs for the Coalition. He also meets Colonel Eachan Khan of the Dorsai Mercenaries and his daughter Melissa, the Exotic Outbond Mondar, and Pater Ten of DeCastries's staff. Then Cletus leads Dow into a conversation and demonstration that causes the Coalition official to lose face to Grahame. When the ship reaches Kultis, Pater Ten uses the ship-to-planet lines heavily, so much so that none are available to Cletus. When they debark the shuttle, Mondar offers Cletus a ride to the town of Bakhalla in the command car with Colonel Khan and Melissa. On the way, guerrillas ambush the command car and ignore the following bus. Grahame uses a gambit to counter-ambush the guerrillas. Reporting to the commanding general, Bat Traynor, Cletus offers his services as tactical advisor. When Traynor disparages his usefulness, Cletus mentions the upcoming infiltration of a guerrilla attack group through Etter Pass. While Bat is still doubtful of Grahame's contributions to the Alliance effort, he does send a company of troops under a marginally competent commander to intercept the infiltrators. Captain Athyer is ordered to listen to Grahame's tactical advice. After Grahame and six men capture more than three dozen guerrillas, while Athyer and his men capture none, Traynor gives Cletus permission to set up a tactical briefing facility. Athyer is reassigned as liaison to the Exotic library at Grahame's insistence. Cletus goes on to capture a large number of men and supplies before they can infiltrate into the town, using the Alliance Navy detachment in Bakhalla harbor. The Navy wants more opportunities to capture guerrillas. In this story, Grahame defeats every move by DeCastries and the guerrillas and eventually captures a large portion of the Neulander Colony regular troops. Cletus resigns from the Western Alliance military and emigrates to the Dorsai. There he starts training a new kind of soldier. He and DeCastries are fated to meet again. Highly recommended for Dickson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of military tactics, political intrigue, and a touch of romance. -Arthur W. Jordin

The apparent second book in the Childe Cycle (I've never seen a really definitive version of the order) is a notable improvement over Necromancer, which while interesting overall wasn't exactly engaging at times. We shift ahead some years here and encounter humanity that has begun to splinter into several groups, most notably the Exotics, the Friendlys, and the warrior Dorsai. Into this walks Cletus a slightly crippled military scholar who is writing a series of books on tactics and strategy and decides to prove just how right he can be. What follows a series of battles where Cletus wins easily due to his better powers of manipulation and strategy, although in every instance nobody seems ready to believe things are the way he says they are. Eventually he takes on the task of remolding the Dorsai into a more efficient fighting force, setting the stage for more fun stuff to come. Like Paul Formain from the last book Cletus can be a bit insufferably in that he's always right which kind of sucks any dramatic tension from the novel since basically Cletus explains what is going to happen and then you get to watch as it turns out just as he said (though there's a nifty sequence that shows this from the other guy's perspective) but thanks to Dickson's talent he manages to make every sequence memorable and entertaining. Also, it helps that unlike Formain, Cletus has a sense of humor and you find yourself rooting for him even as there's really no doubt. What makes this book so exciting are the constant manipulations and manuverings, which can be hard to follow at times. The charactization still suffers somewhat, Cletus is a little more developed than most but the only other major female character is a total cipher, existing only in the beginning to say "You're wrong! Whatever you say is wrong because . . . because it just is!" to which she looks silly every single time. And yet from the first "I hate you!" you know where her heart belongs. Their relationship never feels real and it's clear Dickson doesn't know what to do with it either, bringing her up only when convenient (Melissa's last line in the book however, is neat). Fortunately it's not the heart of the book and the novel skips along nicely, laying out the varied Universe (far more interesting now than in the previous book) and intermingling philosophies. We're still in the "ground laying" stage here but it stands well on its own and makes for fast, entertaining reading (I finished it while waiting at jury duty). Not a classic, but an integral part of the cycle in its own right.

'Tactics of Mistake' is a really enjoyable book. As Sci-Fi goes, this is one of the best - grand galactic epic writing. It is similar in scope to the E.E."Doc" Smith and the Perry Rhodan books, though far more serious than either. There aren't any aliens, but the mixture of strategy, politics and philosophy is pretty unrivalled. I'd say that if you liked Peter Hamilton's 'Night's Dawn' books and the Uplift saga from David Brin, then you should enjoy this!

The main character starts the fireworks almost from the first page and proceeds to rewrite the book on small unit tactics, as well as stratetic planning. A great insight into the roots of the Dorsai. I read this book several years ago and I still find myself using it as a 'ruler' by which to judge other scifi offerings. Most don't measure up.

Gordon Dickson combines military knowledge with a fast moving story line that keeps you captivated.Many of the concepts written about in "The Tactics Of Mistake," can be found in the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu. If your looking for a good combination of action, a coherent story line, and 3 dimensional characters with real war tactics, you'll devour this well written Sci-Fi adventure.