Science Fiction Trivia

[spud42]

Janissaries by Jerry Pournelle

thinking of others but not sure that they quite fit the mercenaries/soldiers of fortune/guns for hire requirement

[Disembodied]

Janissaries by Jerry Pournelle

thinking of others but not sure that they quite fit the mercenaries/soldiers of fortune/guns for hire requirement

That would fit the bill - that makes three.

[ffutures]

Lois McMasters Bujold

I've read her Chalion series, which I greatly enjoyed. Is her SF any good?

It's great fun - the hero is a little too good at overcoming impossible odds despite being a near-cripple in the first few stories of the series, but it becomes more believable as the character and the non-military aspects of the setting are developed, and as more characters get to take centre stage, with a lot more diversity in plots - for example, a couple of the later ones are basically rom-coms with SF elements, and very funny ones.

[RockDoctor]

Well, that'll teach me to show off …

OK: five examples, please, of mercenaries/soldiers of fortune/guns for hire in science fiction. With some sort of name or other identifier, either personal or organisational. Usual rules, only one per author/universe.

Piers Anthony titled one volume of his "Bio of a Space Tyrant" series (hexology?) as "Mercenary", but I've never come across a copy in a library or 2nd-hand bookshop, and the volume(s) of the series I have read didn't enthuse me enough to look for it on eBay or whatever.

But to muddy the waters, the Wiki page ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary_(novel) ) describes it as "Hope Hubris' " (now there's a name!) "joins the Jovian Navy and becomes part of their task force to eliminate space piracy" - which isn't what many people would consider a "mercenary". Unless you consider all soldiers as mercenaries (a position that can certainly be defended), or if you consider all enemy soldiers to be mercenaries (while your soldiers are paragons of Father/Mother Land defending purity) - which is a position that Putin has been taking occasionally when choosing which soldiers to shoot and which to be-medal in the Ukrainian Liberation/ Rebellion. Thoroughly muddy waters there!

IIRC, one volume of the "Bio" which I read had me throwing the book across the room and cursing that "orbital mechanics don't work like that", and I gave another volume a try before rejecting the series as not my cup of Camellia sinensis infusion. Anthony is better when he avoids specifics in the "science" part of his fiction.

[Disembodied]

Piers Anthony titled one volume of his "Bio of a Space Tyrant" series (hexology?) as "Mercenary", but I've never come across a copy in a library or 2nd-hand bookshop, and the volume(s) of the series I have read didn't enthuse me enough to look for it on eBay or whatever.

But to muddy the waters, the Wiki page ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary_(novel) ) describes it as "Hope Hubris' " (now there's a name!) "joins the Jovian Navy and becomes part of their task force to eliminate space piracy" - which isn't what many people would consider a "mercenary". Unless you consider all soldiers as mercenaries (a position that can certainly be defended), or if you consider all enemy soldiers to be mercenaries (while your soldiers are paragons of Father/Mother Land defending purity) - which is a position that Putin has been taking occasionally when choosing which soldiers to shoot and which to be-medal in the Ukrainian Liberation/ Rebellion. Thoroughly muddy waters there!

IIRC, one volume of the "Bio" which I read had me throwing the book across the room and cursing that "orbital mechanics don't work like that", and I gave another volume a try before rejecting the series as not my cup of Camellia sinensis infusion. Anthony is better when he avoids specifics in the "science" part of his fiction.

Not a title I know … but I don't think I can allow it. Being part of a navy suggests that they're not really a mercenary in the classic sense, i.e. a freelance, able to work on a contract and then even switch sides. Despite the potentially muddy waters I think we have to stick to characters/squads/regiments/etc. which a neutral outside observer would define as "mercenaries", otherwise virtually all military SF would qualify …

[RockDoctor]

Ah, I see that someone has managed to de-gremlin at least some of Giles' databases. Well done that Commander!

[Commander_X]

Zakalwe in Use Of Weapons by Iain M. Banks.

[Disembodied]

Zakalwe in Use Of Weapons by Iain M. Banks.

Zakalwe does qualify, I think. He has one particular employer, but it's not as if they issue him with orders, and he definitely has a freelance attitude …

That's four - one more to go!

[ffutures]

Well, to prevent things stalling again, let's go for fruit so low it's pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I refer, of course, to Schlock Mercenary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlock_Mercenary

Below, Sgt. Schlock in his first appearance.



Need I say more?

[Disembodied]

Well, to prevent things stalling again, let's go for fruit so low it's pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I refer, of course, to Schlock Mercenary

That definitely qualifies! You have won the contract and can start shooting as soon as you like …

Other mercenary possibilities could have included Hammer's Slammers by David Drake; BattleTech companies such as Snord's Irregulars or the Eridani Light Horse; or Buck Godot: Zap Gun For Hire by Phil Foglio.

[ffutures]

OK... let's keep things simple, and hope that this time we don't stall out again]

I'm looking for five works of SF - films, books, comics, whatever - in which TOYS are an important part of the plot. Simply being mentioned or seen isn't enough, they have to be important to the plot.

For a non-SF non-example, in the Harry Potter books it's repeatedly mentioned that there are Harry Potter books, dolls, etc. on the wizarding market. If J.K. Rowling had actually followed up on this we might have learned about a sinister cabal of toy makers and writers who were exploiting his name to line their own pockets. In fact she did very little with this aspect of the story, apart from Ginny Weasley having a crush on Harry because of the books etc., so it wouldn't have qualified even if they were SF.

Only one from any given author / film / fictional universe / whatever. And as usual please only enter one example at a time, and give other people a chance to participate. MBPs for answers that amuse me, that were in my head when I set the question, etc.

[RockDoctor]

I'm looking for five works of SF - films, books, comics, whatever - in which TOYS are an important part of the plot.

Following my habit of rejecting the low-hanging fruit for the worm-riddled windfalls rotting in the grass, Zaphod Beeblebrox spends pretty much the whole of H2G2 treating the universe as his own personal toy - and in the Total Perspective Vortex episode we discover that someone (Zarniwhoop?, Gag Halfront? I forget) had actually created a universe for him to play in - allowing him to survive the Vortex, ego unruffled.

[ffutures]

Okay, I think that sort of qualifies. Not an enormous part of the plot overall but it gets the ball rolling.

Four to go!

[Disembodied]

The short story "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by "Lewis Padgett" (a pen-name for the husband-and-wife team Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore) involves a far-future scientist sending batches of educational toys into the deep past (i.e. 19th and 20th centuries).

[RockDoctor]

Okay, I think that sort of qualifies.

Damn. Must try more badly.