Bolos

[Captain Seafort]

I've heard quite a bit about this series, largely in terms of the capabilities of the eponymous vehicles, but I've never managed to find any of them. Has anyone read them, and if so how good a read are they?

[Coalition]

I've read the books. Figure Bolos are a giant tank, with nuclear power, heavy weapons, and a sense of honor.

Here is one story, if you like Battletech, about a Bolo:
http://forums.spacebattles.com/showpost ... stcount=48

Here is the wiki for them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_%28tank%29

Here are a few links to parts of the stories:
http://www.baen.com/series_list.asp#BOLO

[Captain Seafort]

Thanks for the links. I'm aware of what a Bolo is, and the sort of mess it can make - my question was aimed more at the quality of the books themselves, and any recommendations regarding which ones to go for, which would be a good starting point for the series, and which (if any) to avoid.

[Tyyr]

Awesome group of books. I've got several I own at home. There's no real stinkers per say however one of the most recent ones really takes some tremendous liberties with the size, capabilities, and sapience of a Mk. XX. You've got several novel length books as well as some short story anthologies.

Road to Damascus, that's the new one. Yeah, avoid it until you're much more grounded in the Bolo universe. It's not a horrible book but it's far from the best or most technically accurate of the series.

I'll recommend a few titles when I get home and can look over my book shelf. This series doesn't really do much with titles.

[Tyyr]

Bolo! is a good anthology.
Bolo Rising is a pretty good novel. Bolo vs. Sapient Machines
Bolo Brigade is another good one. Bolos vs. extra galactic umm... dinosaurs (but seriously, read it)
Bolos Book III has one of my all time favorite stories in it, "Miles to Go".
Old Guard: Bolos Book V is a good one.

I honestly haven't read a bolo story that was total crap. Even Road to Damascus is a decent read if you're not overly obsessed with technical correctness of fictional machines. All this is being said by someone with a real weakness for artificial intelligence stories though.