What do you think?
Rate this book
Hammer's Slammers #3-6
The Complete Hammer's Slammers Volume 2
With a veteran ’s eye for the harsh and gritty details of war, David Drake depicts a futuristic analog of Vietnam-era tank combat in his Hammer’s Slammers fiction. Upon this tactical foundation, Drake uses historical metaphor to provide a rich and detailed future-history that is both unique and strangely familiar. The characters that make up the Hammer’s Regiment are neither cartoon heroes nor propaganda villains; rather they are competent professionals engaged in a deadly business. The inevitable conflicts between policy, necessity, and human nature are often at the forefront of the Slammers narratives, and it is this rich fusion of elements that makes Drake’s Slammers fiction instantly identifiable and utterly compelling.
The Hammer’s Slammers series is some of the most important and influential work in military SF. The Vietnam War made indelible marks on the science fiction genre, and Drake’s service with the Blackhorse Regiment during the war gives his fiction a unique perspective. It is this perspective that is sometimes lacking in military SF, and one that makes Drake’s work so important to the science fiction genre as a whole. This three-volume set collects all the Slammers short fiction and novels into a set of uniform editions, and presents a new, previously uncollected piece of fiction in each volume.
This second volume collects the first four Slammers novels, At Any Price (1985), Counting the Cost (1987), Rolling Hot (1989) and The Warrior (1991). The novella “A Day of Glory” was written for this volume, and has been uncollected prior to the publication of tihs volume.
The Hammer’s Slammers series is some of the most important and influential work in military SF. The Vietnam War made indelible marks on the science fiction genre, and Drake’s service with the Blackhorse Regiment during the war gives his fiction a unique perspective. It is this perspective that is sometimes lacking in military SF, and one that makes Drake’s work so important to the science fiction genre as a whole. This three-volume set collects all the Slammers short fiction and novels into a set of uniform editions, and presents a new, previously uncollected piece of fiction in each volume.
This second volume collects the first four Slammers novels, At Any Price (1985), Counting the Cost (1987), Rolling Hot (1989) and The Warrior (1991). The novella “A Day of Glory” was written for this volume, and has been uncollected prior to the publication of tihs volume.
500 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2006
110 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
David Drake
307 books886 followersDavid Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 5, 2012
This a great series of SF military stories. Drake makes combat exciting to read while leaving you with no doubt that you do not want to be there.
February 10, 2025
Rating 3.5/3.7
I love this series and I think it is the best military sci-fi I have read so far (not that I'm a super expert on the subgenre). The quality is high even in this sophomore volume, but I think the short-story format used in the first one works better for Hammer's Slammers' kind of stories. Here we have four novels (At Any Price, Counting The Cost, Rolling Hot, The Warrior) and an exclusive novelet called The Day Of Glory. In the first novel classic sci-fi elements and military tropes are well balanced, while the rest could be set in the present or recent past, if not for the futuristic technology used and the references to other planets. So, if you are looking for space-opera or mindblowing concepts, this is not really the right place. Instead, we will find realistic portraits of combat and war informed by the author's experience in Vietnam, with a lot of military terms and descriptions of combat operations. This is where the longer novel format can become a little bit daunting with its non-stop action that can last many, many pages, and even chapters. It's especially true for the last two novels, while I think the second one is the best overall with its use of "political" themes together with military strategies and engrossing fights. Nevertheless, this still is a top-notch collection with a very realistic view of war and how soldiers think and act, with stories that just happen in a far future on other planets.
I love this series and I think it is the best military sci-fi I have read so far (not that I'm a super expert on the subgenre). The quality is high even in this sophomore volume, but I think the short-story format used in the first one works better for Hammer's Slammers' kind of stories. Here we have four novels (At Any Price, Counting The Cost, Rolling Hot, The Warrior) and an exclusive novelet called The Day Of Glory. In the first novel classic sci-fi elements and military tropes are well balanced, while the rest could be set in the present or recent past, if not for the futuristic technology used and the references to other planets. So, if you are looking for space-opera or mindblowing concepts, this is not really the right place. Instead, we will find realistic portraits of combat and war informed by the author's experience in Vietnam, with a lot of military terms and descriptions of combat operations. This is where the longer novel format can become a little bit daunting with its non-stop action that can last many, many pages, and even chapters. It's especially true for the last two novels, while I think the second one is the best overall with its use of "political" themes together with military strategies and engrossing fights. Nevertheless, this still is a top-notch collection with a very realistic view of war and how soldiers think and act, with stories that just happen in a far future on other planets.
December 12, 2021
Gritty war porn following the mercenary tank battalion under Colonel Alois Hammer. Some excellent battle scenes and lots of them. When not fighting the focus is on the psychology of the fighting soldier. Rarely are officers involved, other than as obstacles, as we discover how different people react to warfare. Mostly a bunch of farmers, leavened with some dead-enders, trying to escape the tedium of their rural life with the excitement of travel and exotic locales. Which quickly devolves into barracks living and camp followers, with basically no interaction with the locals. Other than shooting them.
Drake has clearly used his own experience in Viet Nam, combined with the experiences of others in country, as fodder for these stories. Most obvious is a story based on the Tet Offensive, from the POV of a tank unit trying to reach the capital in time to rescue the government.
More than just battles, these stories get inside the minds of the common soldier. Not always the best place to be.
Drake has clearly used his own experience in Viet Nam, combined with the experiences of others in country, as fodder for these stories. Most obvious is a story based on the Tet Offensive, from the POV of a tank unit trying to reach the capital in time to rescue the government.
More than just battles, these stories get inside the minds of the common soldier. Not always the best place to be.
March 16, 2021
Overall between a 4 and a 5. A good collection of stories here, reviewed elsewhere, but nicely capped off as well by the short story, which is a bit of a welcome change of pace after the Warrior, but still highlights well how brutal war is.
Overall, David Drake captures well throughout the volume the realities of war, with believable characters and character reactions, making for a good overall read.
Overall, David Drake captures well throughout the volume the realities of war, with believable characters and character reactions, making for a good overall read.
May 30, 2020
Great military SiFi.
Drake puts the readers into the tanks, and combat cars of his characters, and gives us some gritty insight into combat situations. Always cohesive, always interesting, and realistic. Drake’s time with tanks in Vietnam gives credibility to his plots and scenarios. Great stories.
Drake puts the readers into the tanks, and combat cars of his characters, and gives us some gritty insight into combat situations. Always cohesive, always interesting, and realistic. Drake’s time with tanks in Vietnam gives credibility to his plots and scenarios. Great stories.
June 9, 2022
Easy fast SF collection of stories. Read most of these stories before, but still fun.
Cynical political commentary have always helped these to click with me. Not too heavy, but clear and reflects 20th century geopolitics pretty darn well, but without being tied to real world time or place.
Cynical political commentary have always helped these to click with me. Not too heavy, but clear and reflects 20th century geopolitics pretty darn well, but without being tied to real world time or place.
January 30, 2018
Although the selections were 20-30 years old, they feel as if Drake just finished them last week. Outstanding work!
August 19, 2019
Read this book last year, Loved it!
April 26, 2021
This book has my favorite in the Hammer's Slammers series so far. These stories are all more along the lines of being novel length rather than the much shorter stories in volume 1.
November 29, 2023
Hammer time
A collection of military sci fi novels. The novels are good enough for awards, the short stories are ok. So much action that it sometimes disguises a valid plot.
A collection of military sci fi novels. The novels are good enough for awards, the short stories are ok. So much action that it sometimes disguises a valid plot.
July 22, 2025
very well done
This book is very well done. From someone who was in 1st Armored Division, it is fairly Realistic from many perspectives. I can't wait to finish the series.
This book is very well done. From someone who was in 1st Armored Division, it is fairly Realistic from many perspectives. I can't wait to finish the series.
September 14, 2020
All but one are stories that have been published before. The stories published in this collection keep you guessing and are written like only Drake can.
April 13, 2021
The past four reviews I've done (At Any Price, Counting the Cost, Rolling Hot, and The Warrior) were all from this book. This book also has a novelet (really more of a short story) called The Day of Glory that covers a recruitment drive in a country town by a local government, followed by a brief battle involving the Slammers and an opposing mercenary company. The author doesn't hold back on his disdain for governmental promises to enlistees. Overall though I enjoyed the collection along with the essays included, it raised many interesting questions regarding the nature of war and the choices faced by the soldiers who fight it.
June 24, 2021
This wasn’t really my cup of tea. The stories were okay but did tend to drag on, especially for what we essentially short stories.
February 24, 2017
Drake re fights Viet Nam by telling about honorable warriors hampered by effeminate politicians and incompetent draftees. Despite these self-serving prejudices, he spins an entertaining story.
June 19, 2010
Simply some of the best military fiction I've ever read. I first read the stories as a teenager, and later re-read them in this collection as an adult.
A lot of military fiction comes across with the attitude that only soldiers know how to get things done, and that if the civilians would just get out of the way and let them do their jobs then everything would be a lot better.
I used to read that attitude into the Slammers, but it's not really there. What's there is the attitude that good soldiers know how to do their job, and their job is to kill and destroy. What's also there, although mostly implied rather than stated, is that unless you specifically want people killed and things destroyed, then maybe you should come up with a way of doing things that doesn't involve soldiers. In other words, war is a last resort, and will either not get you what you wanted, or get it with consequences that aren't acceptable to you.
A lot of military fiction comes across with the attitude that only soldiers know how to get things done, and that if the civilians would just get out of the way and let them do their jobs then everything would be a lot better.
I used to read that attitude into the Slammers, but it's not really there. What's there is the attitude that good soldiers know how to do their job, and their job is to kill and destroy. What's also there, although mostly implied rather than stated, is that unless you specifically want people killed and things destroyed, then maybe you should come up with a way of doing things that doesn't involve soldiers. In other words, war is a last resort, and will either not get you what you wanted, or get it with consequences that aren't acceptable to you.
April 9, 2013
It's not wrong to declare that this is more of the same type of material that was in the first volume, but I think the stories in this one are a lot stronger because Drake spends more time on characters. Despite this being a pulpish military science fiction series, the author does a pretty good job of showing the emotional impact of war on the individual. All of the Hammer's Slammers series is worth reading, especially for those who want to understand war and the individual. Drake's experiences lend an authority to his work that other writers of military sci-fi are missing.
February 7, 2008
David Drake has a unique position to comment on what its like to fight in a war, given he is a Vietnam veteran. These stories are fantastic science fiction, and often leave you with a realization that war often isn't simple, or fair.
Want to read
December 13, 2010Great military SF.
August 29, 2011
Some of the best military sci-fi ever! Detailed battle scenes, interesting characters. Great read!
March 3, 2012
I've had a soft spot for the world of Hammer's Slammers for a long time, and it's good for my inner completeist to know that I'm going to be able to read all of it that's been written.
August 25, 2012
Good of you're in a callous mood.
March 24, 2012
Another excellent set of stories in the Hammer's universe. All but on were new to me.
April 15, 2017
Collection of longer stories/novellas than in Volume 1.
Each one focuses more on a few individuals within the Slammers rather than trying to cover a whole army. This means the characters really come through in each story.
There's a lot of combat, Drake describes the action well. There's some explanation of why they've been hired for each particular battle, but sometimes it's just the bare bones as the main character understands it.
Each one focuses more on a few individuals within the Slammers rather than trying to cover a whole army. This means the characters really come through in each story.
There's a lot of combat, Drake describes the action well. There's some explanation of why they've been hired for each particular battle, but sometimes it's just the bare bones as the main character understands it.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews