Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai to be filmed

21 March 2010

John Howell

MDR Entertainment has announced that they are adapting Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai novel for television, one of the first novels in Dickson’s Childe Cycle series. Dickson's Childe Cycle is set in a universe where younger colony worlds have developed into "splinter" cultures, including the philosophical and psychologically minded Exotics, and the puritanical, religious based Friendlies. Old "full spectrum” Earth is still a powerful force but its power is waning.

Dorsai tells the story of a brilliant young military officer, Donal Graeme, who rises to power using his superior tactical abilities, outwitting major political foes (in particular the wealthy William of Ceta) to become the universe's greatest general. At the same time, encouraged and guided by the Exotics, he pushes the human race to the next stage of its evolution. Donal Graeme creates a military force composed of professional soldiers, the Dorsai (living on a planet with the same name) who become the main focus of the series. The Dorsai are mercenaries hired out in battles fought between Earth and the splinter cultures. They quickly gain a reputation for winning battles with minimal causalities and using unexpected tactical manoeuvres. The eleven novels that make up the series are highly recommended. Unfortunately Dickson was unable to complete the Childe Cycle before his death in 2001. While Dorsai was the first book published, later books are set both before and after the events in Dorsai.

I loved all of the Childe Cycle books and devoured them in a two week period after discovering them about eight years ago. Tactics of Mistake and The Final Encyclopaedia are especially engaging. The novels are a great choice if you're looking for something new to read and are a fan of futuristic military action and advanced strategy. The descriptions of the Exotics and the Friendly splinter cultures are fascinating too.

While it's excellent to hear about the upcoming TV series, I would have preferred to see a Dorsai movie. If any series deserved a big screen production ,this is it. Still, it's good to see that something is in the works! 

There isn't a great deal of information regarding the new production yet, but you can watch some animated story board artwork and catch the latest updates on MDR's Dosari blog here.