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The Complete Hammer's Slammers: Vol. 3 (3) Paperback – Illustrated, November 2, 2010

by David Drake (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 476 ratings
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The Third of Three Volumes Collecting the Complete Best-Selling Series That Rocketed David Drake to Military Science Fiction Stardom.

This Omni-Trade paperback volume collects the two full-length novels, The Sharp End and Paying the Piper, plus “The Darkness,” a novelette which has not appeared in previous Slammers books.

The Hammers are very flawed and imperfect human beings—but they know their jobs, and they get those jobs done, one way or another. If your nation or your planet is under attack, and you want plaster saints to save the day . . . well, lots of luck, and it’s been nice knowing you. But if you really want your chestnuts pulled out of the fire, hire Colonel Hammer’s troops. They’ll never win a beauty contest, or even a consolation price for “most congenial,” but they’ll win the war—because they’re the best. They’re Hammer’s Slammers.

This is the third of a three volume set presenting for the first time the entire genre-defining Slammers series in uniform Omni-trade paperback volumes, with new introductions by major SF figures and new afterwords by David Drake. Each volume will also include a Slammers story not collected in previous Slammer’s books.



“Fans of Drake's edgy stories of a mercenary tank regiment in a future not all that different from our present will rejoice [at the publication of] the entire series in three volumes. Drake, a Vietnam vet who served in the Blackhorse Regiment, uses prose as cold and hard as the metal alloy of a tank to portray the men and women of Hammer's Regiment. . . . In his depiction of combat, Drake rivals Crane and Remarque.”

—Publishers Weekly, reviewing the Night Shade hardcover edition
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Previous page
  1. Book 3 of 3
    Hammer's Slammers combo volumes
  2. Print length
    752 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Baen
  5. Publication date
    November 2, 2010
  6. Dimensions
    5 x 1.6 x 7.75 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9781439133965
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1439133965
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Drake was attending Duke University Law School when he was drafted. He served the next two years in the Army, spending 1970 as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th armored Cavalry in Viet Nam and Cambodia. Upon return he completed his law degree at Duke and was for eight years Assistant Town Attorney for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has been a full-time freelance writer since 1981. Besides the best-selling Hammer’s Slammers series, his books for Baen include the popular Leary of the RCN series, with seven volumes so far: With the Lightnings; Lt. Leary, Commanding; The Far Side of the Stars; The Way to Glory; Some Golden Harbor, When the Tide Rises and In the Stormy Red Sky. His “Lord of the Isles” fantasy novels for Tor are genre best sellers. Among his other Baen titles are Ranks of Bronze, All the Way to the Gallows, Redliners, and many more.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1439133964
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Baen; Illustrated edition (November 2, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 752 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781439133965
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439133965
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.6 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 476 ratings

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David Drake

David Drake

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The Army took David Drake from Duke Law School and sent him on a motorized tour of Viet Nam and Cambodia with the 11th Cav, the Blackhorse. He learned new skills, saw interesting sights, and met exotic people who hadn't run fast enough to get away.

Dave returned to become Chapel Hill's Assistant Town Attorney and to try to put his life back together through fiction making sense of his Army experiences.

Dave describes war from where he saw it: the loader's hatch of a tank in Cambodia. His military experience, combined with his formal education in history and Latin, has made him one of the foremost writers of realistic action SF and fantasy. His bestselling Hammer's Slammers series is credited with creating the genre of modern Military SF. He often wishes he had a less interesting background.

Dave lives with his family in rural North Carolina.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
476 global ratings
Great .
5 Stars
Great .
I suppose I could go on about how warfare is a crucible for character development... Moral and ethical ambiguity... How horrible people can do good, and good people do horrible things. And how those things are often one and the same.But...Just read these stories, you'll either get it, or you won't.Slight note: I agree (with some reviewers) that reading these stories spread out over time, a few now and then is probably better than in a giant gulp. Hard to resist though.
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Top reviews from the United States

Tabitha Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Drake rocks!
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2023
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David Drake is an amazing author of crazy stories! Sometimes maybe too true stories but man they are good reads n crazy!
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Tony King
5.0 out of 5 stars Great military SF
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2021
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If you like military SF or just like military/combat fiction you'll like David Drakes Hammer Slammers series. Armored combat of the future with pretty good character development. Much better than much of the mechanized combat SF, If you don't like graphic combat descriptions you should probably pass. It's great having the entire series together (my second read) in Volumes 1-3.
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Jetpack
4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good, but still enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2018
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Not as good as Vol. 1 (classic) and Vol 2, but still a great read and great way to pick up the series.

Drake must have missed Baron Steuben in the Sharp End, as it seems that we get a likely unknown son of his in this story. Dude is just as scary under a new name as in the past.

Paying the Piper is 3 short stories under the name. Main character and attractive woman who gets his attention, although that plays out very differently. Probably my least favorite Slammer stories.
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John Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great military SF reading
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2013
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David Drake portrays a realistic vision of futuristic armored combat. The first Hammer's Slammers novel I read I quickly realized that the author must have had actual experience in armored combat because the movements could only be described by someone who had been there. Years later I found out that Drake was in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, a unit on which the fictional Hammer's Slammers is based on. I served with the 11th ACR in Viet Nam and the organization, call signs and movement to action were very familiar to me. Small details and realistic characters make any any the Hammer's series worth reading.
7 people found this helpful
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John Kelley
5.0 out of 5 stars ... have all three Complete Hammer's Slammers volumes but I liked this one the best
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2017
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I have all three Complete Hammer's Slammers volumes but I liked this one the best. The Sharp End was unique in that the back story of the main characters is presented in the beginning instead of throughout the story as is usual in most novels. Paying the Pipper had some plot twist that I was not expecting until they unfolded and The Darkness had a side to it that is rarely seen in non fiction books let alone Sci-fi novels.
3 people found this helpful
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Kevin J. Giltrud
5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Meat and Potato Tales of The Slammers!
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2017
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Volume 3 has a selection of solid novella and short story sized tales of Colonel Alosis Hammer and his Regiment. Taking contracts in 'The Sharp End', 'Paying The Piper', 'The Darkness; and 'Jim'.

A solid foundations for Volumes 2 and 1 to follow. If you desire chronology, Read the volumes backwards. So that the legend wraps up all its loose ends in Volume 1.
3 people found this helpful
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glen wickboldt
5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2013
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I bought this book as part of a collection to savor and read when I am a little older, I am 64 and still working. I have the complete set and intend to read at my leisure when I retire and draw social security.

I have already read most of these as individual books but the series is timeless for me. I was in the Army for a long time and served beside armor units.

This us men's adventure at its very best.
One person found this helpful
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Mark Huth
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read on an airplane trip
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016
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This is an interesting collection of novella length stories unified by a common technology and command structure. Hammer's Slammers are mercenaries of the future, arriving on starships to do a job for one warring faction or another on various planets. Each story lets us get to know one of the soldiers in battle against other mercenary or local forces. Not a lot of character development, mostly non-stop action with brief intervals between battles. A fun read on an airplane trip.
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Top reviews from other countries

Martin Tunney
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect ending to a set of gripping Slammers tales.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2018
Verified Purchase
Best of the collection so far, Vol 1 was somewhat fragmented but a solid intro to the tech and worlds of the Slammer's universe. Vol 2 was flowing and attention grabbing. Vol 3 is gripping and poetic, and as graphic an echo of war as you are likely to find. Great stuff.
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AlexJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Takes a while to get into...
Reviewed in Australia on January 20, 2017
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Having seen references to these works I finally downloaded all of them and started to read. Yes, it takes a while to get into and understand the lingo and technology, but each story expands the writer's universe and explores nuances of the characters and the nature of war and killing as a profession. Horrific, spell-binding, human, unsettling and gruesome - written by someone who has been there - too many WW1&2 returnees never spoke of what they saw, so for a generation who has had the privilege of never having to fight, it's appropriate to get some idea, no matter how distorted by our own preconceptions, of the toll of war.

Great writing and story telling.
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Dave O.
5.0 out of 5 stars Slammers - simply the best.
Reviewed in Canada on September 15, 2014
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"Paying the Piper" is worth the price of admission. The rest is just gravy.
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RD
3.0 out of 5 stars Starting to wear
Reviewed in Canada on February 27, 2014
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I liked the three volumes but found by the time I got to the end, they started to feel repetitive and to bog down.
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caroline
5.0 out of 5 stars Hammer Slammer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
My husband loves David Drake's writing and especially the Hammer slammer books. It was a great success and he would recommend it to a fellow fan.
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