Tactics of Mistake paperback cover by Theakson

24 in. by 18 in.
Published 1980 by DAW
Cover for the novel by Gordon Dickson, serialized in Analog Science Fiction in 1970 and first published in 1971.

The book was a novel in Dickson's Childe Cycle and deals with the origins of the Dorsai culture, and the creation of the Dorsai military model which makes their soldiers the best among all the settled worlds.
It introduces Cletus Graeme, the man who shaped that culture and the ancestor of key players in the Cycle, the twins, Ian and Kensie Graeme, and their nephew, Donal Graeme.
The books in the Childe Cycle were:
Dorsai! (1959)
Necromancer (1962)
Soldier, Ask Not (1967)- Hugo Award winner
Tactics of Mistake (1971)
The Final Encyclopedia (1984)
The Chantry Guild (1988)
In addition there were four shorter stories:
Amanda Morgan (novella) and "Brothers" (short story), published together in The Spirit of Dorsai (1979)
Lost Dorsai (novella) and "Warrior" (short story), published together in Lost Dorsai (1980) - Hugo Award winner

Needless to say I was a big fan of these books and of Gordon Dickson (1923-2001) who I was fortunate to have met once.



Greg Theakston (1953 – 2019) was a comics artist and illustrator who worked for numerous publishers. He first worked with artist Jim Steranko at Supergraphics. In 1972, he began illustrating men's magazines, including Gent, Dude and Nugget. He expanded to paperbacks and magazines, including Berkley Books, Dell, Ace, DAW, Zebra, Tor, St. Martin's Press, Warner, Ballantine Books, Belmont-Tower, If and Galaxy Science Fiction. He was an original member of the Crusty Bunkers, and worked closely with Neal Adams at Continuity Associates between 1972 and 1979.
He founded and operated Pure Imagination, a comic book and magazine publisher in 1975. He has written extensively about Jack Kirby.
His name has been given to a process called "Theakstonizing", a term coined by Dick Giordano, which bleaches color from old comics pages, used in the restoration for reprinting.