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Combat
We can now predict the shape of war to come¿ For the first time, COMBAT brings the best military-fiction writers in the world together to reveal how war will be fought in the twenty-first century. From the down and dirty ¿ground-pounders¿ of the US Armoured Cavalry to the new frontiers of warfare, including outer space and the internet, ten authors whose novels define the military-fiction genre have written all-new short novels about the men and women willing to put their lives on the line for freedom.
912 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 6, 2021
So. 2021.
First up, one of my very favorite authors, Stephen Coonts (again, not Steven King or Dean Koonz) edits this anthology series unimaginatively named "Combat". He only writes a forward which is bit like a much better comedian *only* hosting a comedy show. The name gets your attention and your money, they introduce their friends, and then they're out.
Still, I knew what I was getting into, and I did get to support my local library by buying the first two. Besides, I sort of like anthologies; it's like a combo plate of food: good if you aren't sure what you want, or feel like trying something new, or even just want a little variety.
This plate had three items, two from guys I never heard of and one from a name I remember from my Uncle Steve's book closet. (His wife just shoved all of his books in a hall closet. Awful.) Before he passed, he used to read a lot of military fiction, specifically "techno-thrillers" by guys like Stephen Coonts, (yay!) Harold Coyle, Tom Clancy and Dale Brown. I remember Dale Brown writing books about planes like Stephen Coonts did, but I always assume that the things that I like are less popular, so I assumed Brown was a more popular writer, but back when this was published Coontz got the editing slot, and Brown was relegated to second billing among the authors (it may have been just alphabetical order), so maybe my favorite is more popular than I suspected!
As for the stories, the first and longest is "Lash Up" by Larry Bond. Bond has written with Tom Clancy; particularly the intense "Red Storm Rising." That's always been one of my favorites because it moves quick and its scale is global. It feels like an exciting movie or tv series. This story was exciting too, using a ticking clock quite well. Set up with a very ambitious (but not wildly unrealistic) plot about scientists and engineers doing science and engineering, the critical importance of GPS, (a military tool that, like the internet, we take for granted, despite how much we rely on it) and an enemy that manages to have such advantage over our heroes that having an unlimited budget and the might of the entire U.S. Armed Forces behind them doesn't mean much if the scientists and engineers don't science and engineer. Teamwork! Good stuff.
The second story is by the aforementioned Dale Brown. I quite liked the last story, so I walked into this one with a little more enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it seems that this tale is sort of like a MCU Marvel One-Shot, using characters from and referencing events of the author's other stories. I feel like it was also somewhat meant as a joke. A large part of the events are just this one dude who seemed written as a complete antithesis to the hero, and I guess he's supposed to be like, an uncool, nerdy, stick in the mud, a horrible stuffed shirt of an officer. But having NO IDEA who the main character was, I thought the dweeb was the protagonist and I wondered the entire time why the author seemed to go out of his way to point out how square he was. Once I realized that the other guy was his Jake Grafton/Jack Ryan, the story made a lot more sense. The writing and plot were good, but I know I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read his other books, and understood all the references.
The last story was by David Hagberg. This time there was no clever misdirection, the protagonist was QUITE obvious. Distractingly so. In fact, this is the worst case of Mary Sue-ism I've ever seen in an actual published novel. Apparently the author has been writing for years and this is their high level DM PC. He was a take-no-bullshit lone wolf tough guy with mysterious multi-colored eyes who everyone, including THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA "revered and admired" while all of his non-specific enemies "feared him". Honestly, I had a REAL tough time taking anything seriously after the author included a random unattributed quote in his character description (just like on a G.I. Joe action figure file card!) that read, and I shit you not, "Don't ever underestimate him or he'll serve you your balls on a platter." What the fuck!? Oh, man. One time, in the Forgotten Age before the internet, I got my hands on a dirty magazine, and in that magazine, between coerced Eastern European teens and tired American strippers pretending to be coerced Eastern European teens, there was inexplicable fiction, (a lie amidst all the other lies) a macho, manly, military action tale about terrorists attacking an aircraft carrier. It wasn't great, but you know what, it wasn't awful. For complimentary porn filler. That's kinda where I'd place this. Ascended porn filler. The plot was competent, with no surprises. It was more or less people telling him how crazy and dangerous he is. I'm making sound like I liked it lot less than I did, but the self-insert fanfic and the "Damn, you're smooth" attitude from ALL the NPCs was just personally irritating. It was FINE. Like a shitty action movie. Macho fiction for boring people.
... and I spent most of this review complaining about it. Ugh. I blame 2020.
Three stars. Not bad. Competent and inoffensive if you like this stuff, not really recommended if you don't. The first story was probably a very high three stars, but the last really drug down the average. Still looking forward to reading the rest in the series.
First up, one of my very favorite authors, Stephen Coonts (again, not Steven King or Dean Koonz) edits this anthology series unimaginatively named "Combat". He only writes a forward which is bit like a much better comedian *only* hosting a comedy show. The name gets your attention and your money, they introduce their friends, and then they're out.
Still, I knew what I was getting into, and I did get to support my local library by buying the first two. Besides, I sort of like anthologies; it's like a combo plate of food: good if you aren't sure what you want, or feel like trying something new, or even just want a little variety.
This plate had three items, two from guys I never heard of and one from a name I remember from my Uncle Steve's book closet. (His wife just shoved all of his books in a hall closet. Awful.) Before he passed, he used to read a lot of military fiction, specifically "techno-thrillers" by guys like Stephen Coonts, (yay!) Harold Coyle, Tom Clancy and Dale Brown. I remember Dale Brown writing books about planes like Stephen Coonts did, but I always assume that the things that I like are less popular, so I assumed Brown was a more popular writer, but back when this was published Coontz got the editing slot, and Brown was relegated to second billing among the authors (it may have been just alphabetical order), so maybe my favorite is more popular than I suspected!
As for the stories, the first and longest is "Lash Up" by Larry Bond. Bond has written with Tom Clancy; particularly the intense "Red Storm Rising." That's always been one of my favorites because it moves quick and its scale is global. It feels like an exciting movie or tv series. This story was exciting too, using a ticking clock quite well. Set up with a very ambitious (but not wildly unrealistic) plot about scientists and engineers doing science and engineering, the critical importance of GPS, (a military tool that, like the internet, we take for granted, despite how much we rely on it) and an enemy that manages to have such advantage over our heroes that having an unlimited budget and the might of the entire U.S. Armed Forces behind them doesn't mean much if the scientists and engineers don't science and engineer. Teamwork! Good stuff.
The second story is by the aforementioned Dale Brown. I quite liked the last story, so I walked into this one with a little more enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it seems that this tale is sort of like a MCU Marvel One-Shot, using characters from and referencing events of the author's other stories. I feel like it was also somewhat meant as a joke. A large part of the events are just this one dude who seemed written as a complete antithesis to the hero, and I guess he's supposed to be like, an uncool, nerdy, stick in the mud, a horrible stuffed shirt of an officer. But having NO IDEA who the main character was, I thought the dweeb was the protagonist and I wondered the entire time why the author seemed to go out of his way to point out how square he was. Once I realized that the other guy was his Jake Grafton/Jack Ryan, the story made a lot more sense. The writing and plot were good, but I know I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had read his other books, and understood all the references.
The last story was by David Hagberg. This time there was no clever misdirection, the protagonist was QUITE obvious. Distractingly so. In fact, this is the worst case of Mary Sue-ism I've ever seen in an actual published novel. Apparently the author has been writing for years and this is their high level DM PC. He was a take-no-bullshit lone wolf tough guy with mysterious multi-colored eyes who everyone, including THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA "revered and admired" while all of his non-specific enemies "feared him". Honestly, I had a REAL tough time taking anything seriously after the author included a random unattributed quote in his character description (just like on a G.I. Joe action figure file card!) that read, and I shit you not, "Don't ever underestimate him or he'll serve you your balls on a platter." What the fuck!? Oh, man. One time, in the Forgotten Age before the internet, I got my hands on a dirty magazine, and in that magazine, between coerced Eastern European teens and tired American strippers pretending to be coerced Eastern European teens, there was inexplicable fiction, (a lie amidst all the other lies) a macho, manly, military action tale about terrorists attacking an aircraft carrier. It wasn't great, but you know what, it wasn't awful. For complimentary porn filler. That's kinda where I'd place this. Ascended porn filler. The plot was competent, with no surprises. It was more or less people telling him how crazy and dangerous he is. I'm making sound like I liked it lot less than I did, but the self-insert fanfic and the "Damn, you're smooth" attitude from ALL the NPCs was just personally irritating. It was FINE. Like a shitty action movie. Macho fiction for boring people.
... and I spent most of this review complaining about it. Ugh. I blame 2020.
Three stars. Not bad. Competent and inoffensive if you like this stuff, not really recommended if you don't. The first story was probably a very high three stars, but the last really drug down the average. Still looking forward to reading the rest in the series.
February 27, 2010
This book is a compilation of 10 short novels by Coonts, Dale Brown, Larry Bond, James Cobb, Harold Coyle, R.J. Pineiro, David Hagberg, Dean Ing, Barrett Tillman, and Ralph Peters. All having to do with military matters. I liked most of them and will read more books by most of the authors.
January 10, 2011
A series of short stories or novellas by various authors. Becoming a litte dated in the technology. Still a good read . I like the list of similiar stories and authors at the end of each chapter.
My second time to read this collection. Still quite satisfying.
My second time to read this collection. Still quite satisfying.
February 5, 2017
Red platoon light
Wow. How naive can a good soldier be? Love his tales. Really had to read it without a break. Give it a try
Wow. How naive can a good soldier be? Love his tales. Really had to read it without a break. Give it a try
May 22, 2017
Great Read!
If you enjoy the works of Coontz,Web Griffin, etc., you'll love this! A serious page turner from start to the very end.
If you enjoy the works of Coontz,Web Griffin, etc., you'll love this! A serious page turner from start to the very end.
June 20, 2017
Most were very good stories. I would skip the last one if I read them again.
April 28, 2025
This is a mixed bag of 'Combat' related short stories, although most of the stories are longer than the often typical 15-25 pages short stories one gets. The collection consists of
Al-Jihad by Stephen Coonts. Excellent story about the attempt to assassinate the terrorists responsible for blowing up an aeroplane
Leadership Material by Dale Brown. This encapsulated for the me the reason I stopped reading Brown's novels. Patrick McLanahan and his cronies once again fight almost private wars with US armed forces equipment and not only go unpunished they get rewarded. In parallel half of the story is taken up with painstakingly detailed description of an Air Force promotions board.
Lash up by Larry Bond. Excellent fun packed read of the need to stop the Chinese from Invading Taiwan by first disabling the GPS network. Have previously read the full size novel that Bond turned this into, but the short story works quite well.
Cav by James Cobb. Enjoyable war story with cutting edge (slightly Sci-fi) technology. Good battle scenes
Cybernights by Harold W Coyle. Enjoyable if somewhat far fetched cyber thriller with a branch of the US military employing hackers to respond to cyber threats. It's not the concept I struggled with as I am all too aware of the cyber threats posed to systems, it is the ease that in fiction hackers are able to gain access and control to complex systems that always lets them down. This was more realistic than most as there was a whole team backing up the actual hacker but still it all felt way to easy.
Flight of Endeavour - by RJ Pineiro. Space based military thriller, when a Chechen member of the International Space Station (recently upgrade with weapons) and is attempting to use them against Russia for attacking Chechnya. A lone space shuttle is sent up to attempt to regain control of the weapons before a major disaster occurs. Good story with excellent action scenes and believable space based descriptions.
Breaking Point by David Harberg. Another story focussing on the conflict between China and Taiwan. This one focussed on a rebel who was extracted from a Chinese prison and taken back to Taiwan. As the situation threatens to escalate US special forces and the CIA intervene with a complex plan to resolve the matter.
Inside Job by Dean Ing. Weird story that was more PI /mystery than combat related. Didn't really enjoy and struggled to see why it was part of the collection if I'm honest.
Skyhawks Forever by Barrett Tillman. Even though a short story I still found myself skipping this one. Totally unbelievable plot of the USA selling and old Aircraft carrier to China, but not only selling it updating it and training the Chinese on its use. Not something I can ever see happening
There is no war in Melnica by Ralph Peters. Another one I didn't enjoy.
Al-Jihad by Stephen Coonts. Excellent story about the attempt to assassinate the terrorists responsible for blowing up an aeroplane
Leadership Material by Dale Brown. This encapsulated for the me the reason I stopped reading Brown's novels. Patrick McLanahan and his cronies once again fight almost private wars with US armed forces equipment and not only go unpunished they get rewarded. In parallel half of the story is taken up with painstakingly detailed description of an Air Force promotions board.
Lash up by Larry Bond. Excellent fun packed read of the need to stop the Chinese from Invading Taiwan by first disabling the GPS network. Have previously read the full size novel that Bond turned this into, but the short story works quite well.
Cav by James Cobb. Enjoyable war story with cutting edge (slightly Sci-fi) technology. Good battle scenes
Cybernights by Harold W Coyle. Enjoyable if somewhat far fetched cyber thriller with a branch of the US military employing hackers to respond to cyber threats. It's not the concept I struggled with as I am all too aware of the cyber threats posed to systems, it is the ease that in fiction hackers are able to gain access and control to complex systems that always lets them down. This was more realistic than most as there was a whole team backing up the actual hacker but still it all felt way to easy.
Flight of Endeavour - by RJ Pineiro. Space based military thriller, when a Chechen member of the International Space Station (recently upgrade with weapons) and is attempting to use them against Russia for attacking Chechnya. A lone space shuttle is sent up to attempt to regain control of the weapons before a major disaster occurs. Good story with excellent action scenes and believable space based descriptions.
Breaking Point by David Harberg. Another story focussing on the conflict between China and Taiwan. This one focussed on a rebel who was extracted from a Chinese prison and taken back to Taiwan. As the situation threatens to escalate US special forces and the CIA intervene with a complex plan to resolve the matter.
Inside Job by Dean Ing. Weird story that was more PI /mystery than combat related. Didn't really enjoy and struggled to see why it was part of the collection if I'm honest.
Skyhawks Forever by Barrett Tillman. Even though a short story I still found myself skipping this one. Totally unbelievable plot of the USA selling and old Aircraft carrier to China, but not only selling it updating it and training the Chinese on its use. Not something I can ever see happening
There is no war in Melnica by Ralph Peters. Another one I didn't enjoy.
June 17, 2022
Combat? Really? Very mistitled. Should have been titled "What goes on behind the combat" This was about the most boring book about combat that I ever read. Lots of Techno-Babble. I was not impressed. The 2nd story was mostly about promotions. I skipped thru most of it. Boring! Using Coonts name to sell the book was pathetic.
August 20, 2022
I really enjoyed the 3rd story, the 1st was okay, middle not so much, but a book of 3 stories has something for everyone. Overall, I think I would go with a book of 1 story, if it was 3 stories, 3 authors then it would be interesting if the 3 stories were all tied in together like Marvel does in its movies.
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March 9, 2021Three novellas by Larry Bond, Dale Brown and David Hagberg in the genre of Military action. I have read Dale Brown and David Hagberg before in full novels and liked them all and liked these as well. Good reading if you like this sort of tale.
May 26, 2020
3 stories, 3 authors, all military, all intriguing.
July 19, 2021
Wow, great collection. The Ralph Peters' story should be required reading for anyone interested in the Balkans; a haunting story.
March 18, 2013
MOst of the stories in this book were good, a few were just bad! I applaud Stephen Coonts for his effort, however it would have been more interesting to me if the stories were some how related vs just a hodgepodge of stories. Just my humble opinion.
March 23, 2013
A superb collection of high-tech warfare stories.
February 23, 2015
Collection of many combat stories, various authors and styles. Marking as finished. Relisting as separate novels for Goodreads.
July 13, 2016
His books are always a good read
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November 8, 2018I'm still allowing it sink in. It is all military and it's a 3in. The last mini novel in it was my favorite. One thing i learnt is that life comes up with unexpected turns and most times we have to think fast and smart before we act.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews