Action adventure set with a regement of mercenaries in the far future. New weapons have changed war a little, but not much, tanks have made a resurgence with heavy armour and line-of-sight weapons which can be aimed by computers miles away.
Hammers Slammers scores because it concentrates on the human characters of the mercenaries rather than the hardware, though there is enough of that to keep military nuts happy. The book is an anthology, each story covering a different situation from the origins of the Slammers to the retirement of their leader Hammer. Some characters are used across different stories, which leans it a more connected feel, and allows various throw-away comments about their behavioural quirks explained by earlier stories.
This is action adventure science fiction at its best: enough mayhem and killing to keep bloodthirsty instincts happy, but also a look at what being a mercenary does to a man and tactics to keep your intellectual side happy as well.
Review by Paul Silver, 1997
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