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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.609358
EAN num: 9780812576160
ISBN number: 0812576160
Label: Forge Books
Manufacturer: Forge Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: February 18, 2002
Publishing house: Forge Books
Sale Popularity Level: 1142199
Studio: Forge Books
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
An historic landmark work, depicting war as it is and soon will be-the shape of war to come.
Featuring:
Stephen Coonts, who tells the tale of an unlikely partnership between an ex-Marine sniper and a female military pilot who team up to kill the terrorists who murdered her parents.
Dean Ing, uniting a private investigator, a bounty hunter, and an FBI agent, who together uncover a shadow of terrorism that looms over America and threatens thousands of lives.
And Barrett Tillman, taking a group of retired fighter jocks on one last mission, battling enemy jets over the skies of California.
Amazon.com Review:
Will the subsequent war be fought in cyberspace? Stephen Coonts, author of the watershed military novel, Flight of the Intruder, offers this collection of 11 21st-century novellas for fans of contemporary and near-future military fiction. Technology is the binding element of Combat, and fans of Tom Clancy's high-tech military espionage thrillers will find much to love, from ultra-smart weapons to the technical infrastructure of the armed forces of the future. Don't expect hard core science fiction; the villains are of the more realistic variety: terrorists, rogue governments, and outlaw technology. Some of these stories are encumbered with a level of detail only the serious enthusiast will enjoy. (Dale Brown's 'Leadership Material' has whole passages describing regs and paperwork that will bore all but the most ardent fans of the genre.) Highlights include Harold W. Coyle's fast-paced 'Cyberknights,' the most likely candidate from this collection to become a big-budget feature film. --Brendan LaSalle
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Rated by buyers 
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"Combat, Volume 3" is edited with an introduction by Stephen Coonts. This book collects four short novels in the genre of military fiction. The very first piece is "Cyberknights," by Harold Coyle. This tale looks into the work of a unit of U.S. Army computer specialists who wage war on the electronic frontier. Although the Internet is their vehicle, their warfare has real world consequences. Coyle creates an intriguing portrait of a unique military unit with its own jargon, protocols, and evolving culture; he raises potent issues of leadership and ethics in an Army facing profound technological and cultural change.
The second short novel is "There Is No War in Melnica," by Ralph Peters. This tale follows the mission of a two-person U.S. Army team investigating wartime atrocities in the Balkans. In straightforward but powerful prose, Peters creates a graphically violent and bloody tale. It is a devastating look at how war and ethnic hatred warp and degrade human beings. Through his characters Peters raises the incisive question: How should the Unted States respond to global acts of genocide? It's a gripping, suspenseful, and even heartbreaking story.
Third in the collection is "Cav," by James Cobb. This tale, set in the year 2021, follows the exploits of an Army unit in combat with hostile Algerian forces in Africa. The story goes into detail about the unit's high-tech weaponry and vehicles, and also explores the personalities of the team. The unit includes both men and women, and is diverse along both ethnic and religious lines.
The fourth and final short novel is "Flight of _Endeavor_," by R.J. Pineiro. When the International Space Station is seized by a mutinous crew member with a deadly agenda, the space shuttle _Endeavor_ is sent with an emergency response team that has orders to retake the station. The story's protagonist is a female former Marine aviator who now serves as an astronaut and shuttle commander. This is an action packed, high-tech thriller that offers an interesting look at a woman in command. Overall, "Combat 3" is a very entertaining and thought-provoking gathering of tales; it's an outstanding addition to the military fiction genre.
Rated by buyers 
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I picked this book up from an airport bookstall to while away a transatlantic flight, and came very close indeed to binning it after a dozen pages. What a shame that the editor should have put Harold Coyle's "Cyberknights" very first of the four short stories in this collection. The other three are fine, but Coyle - although I hate to say it - has lost his bearings. "Cyberknights" has a promising theme: a special team of computer hackers is recruited by the US Army to defend against hostile hackers from other countries. Working closely with real soldiers and agencies like the NSA, these "Cyberknights" (yes, the pompous title is capitalised every time) also strike back against the countries they *think* are encouraging hostile activities. In the story, they respond to a hack that nearly splashes a flight of F16 fighter jets into the ocean by changing their flight orders "in the computer". (What computer this is, and why the USAF would be stupid enough to link it to the Internet, is not explained). The Cyberknights' response? They engineer the destruction of a chemical plant in the supposed aggressor country.
Apart from being ethically dubious to say the least, the Cyberknights are ludicrous to anyone who knows the very first thing about computer security. When counterattacking a hacker's PC, they see fit to upload a huge coloured picture of a charging knight - just to give warning of their intentions. It is clear that Coyle knows little about computers and the Internet, and he has made the mistake of assuming his readers know even less.
"There is no war in Melnica" by Ralph Peters could not be more different. Instead of florid, pretentious fantasies supported by inadequate research, this is a simple, poignant vignette of the NATO intervention in the Balkans and its aftermath. Right from its opening words - "The workman tossed him a skull" - Peters grabs your attention and doesn't let go. With admirable economy of words, he shows you the senselessness of war, the impossibility of identifying the "good" (our allies) from the "bad" (our enemies), and the unbridgeable gulf between those who have been there and the distant politicians and brass who set events in motion without any idea of the consequences - even in retrospect.
James Cobb's "Cav" is a tightly-written, exciting example of a genre in which Coyle ("Team Yankee", "Bright Star") and Peters ("Red Army" and "The War in 2020") have excelled. In 2021 the Islamic Republic of Algeria launches a Blitzkrieg invasion of its southern neighbour Mali, one of the poorest nations on earth. While heavy US and French forces are on the way, a small US Army detachment is sent to head off the Algerian armoured column, if possible, at the only pass through the strategic El Khnachich range of hills. It is a perfect scenario: the superior American equipment (with the advantage of surprise) is pitted against overwhelming force.
R J Pineiro's "Flight of Endeavour" is the longest of the four stories, at 130 pages - but there is no danger of getting bored. What if the International Space Station housed, at the request of the UN, an array of 15 kiloton yield non-nuclear missiles for "anti-terrorist" purposes - and a terrorist happened to seize control of them? A female astronaut and a heavily armed team of Marines go up in a modified Space Shuttle to reclaim the weapons. Unfortunately, the space station is also equipped with a powerful chemical laser... It's a thrilling, thought-provoking situation, none the worse for having been anticipated by 50 years in Robert Heinlein's classic short story "The Long Watch" (1949).
Apart from "CyberKnights", this book is well written, exciting, and ideal for the purpose I had in mind - distraction during a long flight. It also gave me some great ideas, and Peters' story explained more about the Balkans to me than ten years of news reports. Recommended - if you don't like the Coyle story, just skip it and read the rest.
Rated by buyers -
These are all good novellas, but I found that the Larry Bond story (Lash-up) dragged at times (and the giant 'rifle' should have been explained better for those unfamiliar with the concept) and the Dale Brown book was more than a bit preachy, but the combat sequences were top-notch. The third novella (Breaking Point) by David Hagberg was, in my opinion, the best of the three. I've never read Hagberg before but I will keep him on my list of authors to watch for.
Rated by buyers 
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Few books live up to the hyperbole of their backcovers. The very first installment of the Combat series edited by Stephen Coontz is no exception, "Groundbreaking Landmark" sounded suspicious...and the very first story in the very first volume, by Larry Bond, confirmed my suspicions. A huge fan of Bond's very first novel, Red Phoenix, I've never been very satisfied with his subsequent material. This is probably the worst I've seen from him. A plot that's hardly engaging, card-board characters (with cheesy dialogue) that aren't the least bit interesting, and some of the poorest editing I've ever seen combine to make his installment a chore. At one point he refers Vietnamese flashpoints between the U.S. and China (that have no bearing on the story's plot) but offers no set up for them. We're just supposed to assume that the U.S. and China had been at odds over Vietnam for a long time...it made no sense. Bond's contribution was just dull dull dull.
Then we get to Dale Brown's installment, "Leadership Material". This one succeeds in many places where Bond's installment failed. Its characters are instantly likable. And, while the combat passages are brief, they are harrowing. I found the shennanigans that surround Air Force promotions boards (the primary plot devise herein) to be extremely entertaining - I doubt many others will, though - I'm going up against a board soon myself, it was nice to have an inside scoop.
The back cover of the book suggests it portrays war the way it is or soon will be. Brown's novel takes place back in the early 1990's...another strike against the jacket hype. Great story, though.
The story that will have the broadest appeal (its an absorbing read!) is the entry from the always-reliable David Hagberg. Hagberg (who recently wrote the novelization of the Terminator 3 film) has made a name for himself over recent years penning submarine thrillers. The brief installment in this series is part submarine plot and part espionage thriller. It may not be the most accurate but it is by far the most entertaining of the lot.
Brown's and Hagberg's work here are worth 4 or 5 stars. Bond's installment and the ludicrous hyperbole on the cover knock it down to three. I'd recommend it.
Rated by buyers -
Combat #3 offered up four good stories by four good authors.
The very first story was written by Harold Coyle.He told of a special Army unit made up of cyber warriors. They are recruited to combat the growing attacks by hackers whocause online terrorism around the world. The subsequent story is by Ralph Peters. His story takes place in the Balkan states. A U.S. Army observer is taken hostage by the people he is sent over to observe.James Cobb tells of a U.S. calvary unit that does combat with an Algerian recon division that is attempting to attack a helpless African country.R.J. Pineiro,one of the rising stars among today's authors tells of a Russian terrorist seizes a space station
equipped with nuclear warheads.It is up to Marine Diane Williams to stop him.Four good stories for the price of one. Read this. You will enjoy it.
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