Gordon R. Dickson

Donal Graeme is a fictional character in the Childe Cycle of science fiction novels by Gordon R. Dickson. Although he only appears as a major character in one of the novels, Dorsai!, he is transformed into the character Hal Mayne who is important in the later parts of the series. "The boy is odd.... You never know which way he'll jump." This is how Donal is described by his teachers in the military academy on the planet known to the rest of humanity as The Dorsai. Bleak and mountainous, the Dorsai's major export is its superb mercenary officers. Donal is the latest in a long line of such. In his first campaigns he displays unusual ability in leading military forces and a flair for bold tactics. He flouts received wisdom such as "You can't conquer an inhabited planet", fashioning feints and deceptions that make his opponents believe he has found a way to do exactly that. In another campaign he deceives the enemy into descending onto an uninhabited planet to expel an occupying force of great strength, only to find that the ground forces were an empty threat, a diversion. Donal's main force appears in orbit, ready to bomb them unless they surrender.
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