Do not care for Bleys as a character so books are boring. ( )

A book that sounded interesting when first heard about but one that did not live up to expectations. This is not a close to the Childe Cycle (that apparently will never be written) but rather another book about Bleys Ahrens. This one follows a similar timeline as the Final Encyclopedia but tells the story from Bleys point of view. This might have been a good addition to the series of books but unfortunately this book was finished after Gordon Dickson passed away and the story is very uneven. I would only recommend this to other fans of the series who might need a final Dickson fix. ( )

Kind of a let down... I was hoping to read to find out how it all worked out, but I didn't. This book & the preceding, [b:Other|263110|Other (Childe Cycle)|Gordon R. Dickson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173238986s/263110.jpg|650764], basically follow the same timeline as [b:The Final Encyclopedia|1634982|The Final Encyclopedia (Childe Cycle)|Gordon R. Dickson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1230853798s/1634982.jpg|7429901], but from Bleys Ahrens POV, instead of Hal Mayne's. So we learn a lot more about Bleys, who I never liked. Good ending, but if I hadn't read the last two books of this series (which I hadn't before) I really wouldn't have missed much.

I just realized I missed reading 2 of the books in the series; #8 & 9 as listed below. Don't know how I messed that up. I have #8 & might read it in the future since I see it has Amanda in it. I've always liked all the Amandas. I think I'll pass on #9, though. I've had more than enough of Bleys.

Childe Cycle
1. Dorsai! (1959) aka The Genetic General
2. Necromancer (1962) aka No Room for Man
3. Soldier, Ask Not (1967)
4. The Tactics of Mistake (1971)
5. The Spirit of Dorsai (1979)
6. Lost Dorsai (1980)
7. The Final Encyclopedia (1984)
8. The Chantry Guild (1988)
9. Young Bleys (1991)
10. Other (1994)
11. Antagonist (2007) (with David W Wixon) ( )

I don't think I'll be keeping this one. Brought out after the author's death with the help of his long-time assistant. A quick skim suggests that this is not up to the standard of the author's best work.

I will, however, be looking for firsts of Dickson's classic early Dorsai novels like SOLDIER, ASK NOT and TACTICS OF MISTAKE> ( )