Dorsai!
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| Dorsai! | |
 1st edition cover |
|
| Author | Gordon R. Dickson |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Childe Cycle |
| Genre(s) | Military Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Publication date | 1960 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 159 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
| Followed by | Necromancer |
Dorsai! is the first published book of the incomplete Childe Cycle series of science fiction novels by Gordon R. Dickson. While it is the first book published in the series, later books are set both before and after the events in Dorsai!.
The novel was originally published in serialized form in Astounding Science Fiction, starting in May, 1959. A shorter, revised version was published in paperback by Ace in 1960 under the title The Genetic General. A re-edited and expanded version of the novel was published under its original serialized title, Dorsai!, by DAW in 1976. This version of the novel was reissued as one half of an omnibus edition, Dorsai Spirit by Tor in 2002, The other novel contained in Dorsai Spirit is The Spirit of Dorsai (originally published 1979).
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The book is about Donal Graeme, warrior extraordinaire. In the Childe Cycle universe, the human race has split into a number of splinter cultures. Donal is a member of the Dorsai, a splinter culture based on the planet of the same name, which is notable for having specialized in producing the very best military soldiers. Since each splinter culture specializes in a specific area of expertise, a system of trade labour contracts between the cultures allows each planet to hire the expertise they need. The Dorsai, inhabiting a resource poor world, hire themselves out as mercenaries to other planetary governments. Donal has great ambitions, and the book follows his rise in an episodic nature. The book begins as a straightforward tale of his career and then becomes something else, as it becomes clear there is something different about Donal Graeme himself.
[edit] Plot summary
[edit] Characters in Dorsai!
- Donal Graeme
- Anea Marlivana
- William of Ceta
- Ian Graeme
[edit] Major themes
[edit] Literary significance & criticism
Dorsai! is an influential and founding member of the genre of military science fiction. The novel, as part of the Childe Cycle series, still has a strong following within the science fiction community, as evidenced by the continuing activity of the Dorsai Irregulars, and the 1999 Filk album, Shai Dorsai.
Much of the criticism regarding Dorsai! is typical for science fiction books of the era, including wooden dialog and misogyny.[1][2]
[edit] Allusions/references from other works
- Donal Graeme's special nature as the end result of a long selective breeding program may have been part of the inspiration behind Frank Herbert's character Paul Atreides, in the science fiction novel, Dune (1965).[original research?]
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Dorsai! was nominated for a Hugo award for best novel in 1960. It lost to another of the pivotal early works of military science fiction, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Dorsai! was originally to have been titled The Swissman, a reference to the Swiss pikemen of centuries past.
[edit] Release details
- The Genetic General / Time to Teleport, (1960, Gordon R. Dickson, Ace Double, #D-449, $0.35, 159+96pp, paperback)
- The Genetic General, (1967, Gordon R. Dickson, Ace, #F-426, $0.40, 159pp, paperback)
- Three to Dorsai!, (1975, Gordon R. Dickson, Nelson Doubleday, hardcover, collection)
- Dorsai, (1976, Gordon R. Dickson, DAW, #UW1218, 236pp, paperback)
- The Genetic General, (1986, Gordon R. Dickson, Ace, ISBN 0-441-16023-9, $3.50, 305pp, paperback)
- Dorsai!, (1988, Gordon R. Dickson, Easton Press, $32.00, 162pp, hardcover)
- Dorsai!, (1989, Gordon R. Dickson, Sphere, ISBN 0-7221-2972-6, £2.50, 176pp, paperback)
- Dorsai!, (1993, Gordon R. Dickson, Tor, ISBN 0-812-50398-8, $4.99, 280pp, paperback)
- Dorsai Spirit, (2002, Gordon R. Dickson, Tor, ISBN 0-312-87764-1, $25.95, 432pp, hardcover)
[edit] References
- Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent, 143. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
