The Uncompleted Cycle

Necromancer, Gordon R. Dickson (Ace Books).

Tactics of Mistake, Gordon R. Dickson (Ace Books).

(Both also found in an omnibus edition called Three to Dorsai, published by the SFBC.)

When Gordon R. Dickson died, he left his so-called Childe Cycle unfinished. Earlier this year his long-time assistant "co-wrote" a novel (Antagonist). Rather than one of the central novels to the series, it appeared to be a "side" novel (much the same as Young Bleys or Other). I had intended on reading this volume this year (too many books, too little time), but decided to start with the other books in the series (seeing that it has been, in some cases, a few decades, since I've read them). So I dug up the various paperbacks plus the SFBC omnibus and...

As originally envisioned, the series would have been three historical novels, three "contemporary" novels and three science fiction novels. Each would have dealt (from an introduction that Dickson wrote for the SFBC omnibus) with the conflicts between various aspects of society (i.e., progress and conservatism) and the various key people that were involved in crucial parts of history. So, for example, one planned historical novel would have dealt with a Man of War, Sir John Harkwood. Another historical novel would have dealt with a Man of Philosophy, John Milton.

Necromancer is the first book in the science fiction part of the series. It shows a world typical of many science fiction tales: people crowded into cities, tensions rising, a space program, a vast computer-mind that runs things. The main character is the focus of the various conflicting aspects of the society: The Chantry Guild, the uber-computer, etc. During the pivotal sequence, society starts to break down. Instead, society breaks apart, and the seeds of the various "splinter cultures" that play a role in the later books of this part of the series are formed.

Tactics of Mistake shows the genesis of one of Dickson's most popular creations, the Dorsai. Cletus Grahame is a soldier who is working on a multi-volume series of books on tactics. He becomes involved with the Dorsai and gets them to try his military philosophy. In a series of ever-expanding conflicts, Grahame faces off against Dow deCastries, who represents the established powers of Earth. Grahame helps to further the needs of one splinter culture, the Exotics, and enable two other splinter cultures (the Dorsai and the Friendlies) to survive.

Necromancer feels (to me) somewhat retrofitted upon the series. Some of the technology (travel to the stars) does not seem to match what was used later in the series. In the SFBC omnibus, Dickson adds narrative which (at that point) from a book he was writing (The Final Encyclopedia) tbridged the tales (my memory from that book tells me this narrative did not appear in the final version) and smoothed the differences; some differences are still apparent.

Tactics of Mistake got me interested in strategy, war-gaming and even military miniatures. A friend has pointed out that Grahame only succeeds because everything goes his way, the enemy totally cooperates with the various feints and jabs. Reality rarely cooperates as nicely. But, the book remains in a special place thanks to the other interests it brought to me.