Bolo Book

I've heard the term Bolo before reading this book. I'm still not sure where, but it is definitely the inspiration for Steve Jackson's Ogre. The basic premise is massive robotic tanks built to be unstoppable. I think the biggest surprise for me was that none of the stories were in the vein of Karel Capek's R.U.R., which really for me is the obvious direction for this to go. What you are left with is the perfect setup for the type of chest-thumping jingoistic nonsense that passes for much of military fiction this last decade or so. In fact, on further research, the sci-fi branch of the aforementioned military fiction has been writing Bolo stories lately. But Keith Laumer avoids that pitfall too. The stories are a very well balanced, enjoyable, and short fiction collection. There are moments when the stories feel a bit repetitive, but each story has its own lines that make you pause and think.