Future soldiers in contemporary science fiction: the victory of complete harmony of body and mind on the example of Gordon R. Dickson’s Mercenaries – Dorsai

Abstract

Military Science Fiction as a sub-genre of SF literature has gained a major acclaim throughout the years, especially after the II World War. It mainly deals with predictions such as: how modern warfare will look like in the future, what body upgrading systems, weapons and armour will it involve etc. Gordon R. Dickson – a silent giant of this sub-genre, unappreciated during his lifetime – proposed in his works a different vision of future warfare – innovative but traditional at the same time, intelligent and cunning. This article aims at presenting Dickson’s vision of future warfare and how innovative and different his ideas were in comparison to other military SF writers.

Keywords

• Science Fiction
• military SF
• warfare
• Splinter Cultures
• Tactics of Mistake
• Strategy of Indirection