My two older daughters and I have recently watched the first two Lord of the Rings movies. This was the first time for them. While watching Two Towers this last Saturday I commented a couple times how it was important to attack where an enemy is weak. It is best to aim for the Achilles' heel. After the movie we talked some more about how in battle you don't want to throw your strength at the enemy's strong defenses.
One of my favorite Science Fiction authors is Eric Frank Russell. He served in the RAF during World War II, and many of his stories have a military setting and withthe clever hero destroying much larger opponents. The hero always finds the Achilles' Heel. Wasp is the first Eric Frank Russell story I ever read. I go back and reread it every couple years. I just reread it, probably for the fifteenth time.
The background for the story is Humanity is fighting for its life. We've expanded out to the stars and settled several colonies. We bumped into Sirian Empire. We got along with them for awhile, but they then decided to try and conquer us. Earth has more advanced technology, while the Sirian Empire has about ten times the number of people.
Our hero, James Mowry, is recruited to be a "Wasp." James is told a story of a small wasp that stung a driver. In trying to kill the wasp, the driver wreaked the car, killing three people, including himself. After months of training James Mowery is sent to a Sirian colony with the goal of destabilizing the colony, single handedly, to be a wasp!
This is a funny story. Eric Frank Russell does a great job of telling an interesting story while weaving in humor.
If you like classic Science Fiction from the 1950s, check out Wasp, or Entities which includes several of his novels. A couple dozen short stories by Eric Frank Russell's collected were put together in Major Ingredients.
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Technorati tags: Eric, Frank, Russell, Wasp
2 comments:
Thanks for the "tip" of this book and a good lesson in spiritual/personal character development also.
Hope your daughters enjoyed the LOTR films. They are a big hit in our house.
If you like classic Science Fiction you really can't go wrong with Eric Frank Russell. Even his poor stories are fun.
My daughters really have enjoyed the first two LOTR films. They are eagerly awaiting the time when we can get all three of us together for four hours and watch the last movie. With our crazy schedule it may not happen until July 5th.
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