Another month, another set of "Author's Notes": we ask most of the authors of new SF/Fantasy books in the club magazine if they'd like to write a short note to our members, and most of the ones we ask have something to say. This month is a bit thin, for various reason, but I do have a couple of notes for you folks. First is David Drake, talking about his first four "Hammer's Slammers" novels in this new omnibus edition:

You can call some of my stories either Space Opera or Military SF, but there's no question about the Hammer series. It (along with work by Joe Haldeman and Jerry Pournelle) has defined Military SF since I began it after returning from Viet Nam.

But war and good military fiction both involve more than people shooting at each other. These four short novels and the new novelet collected with them are about politics as well as combat.

And so is real war news. As you read an official's speech or see vehicles on TV burning after a firefight, think about what's behind the words and images--and what will follow.

If these stories help you find clues to today's truths, then I've succeeded.