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I'd go with Benedict of Amber, his backstory makes more sense for the claim Isaac Send a noteboard - 15/01/2010 08:34:57 PM
Considering how limited, unrealistic, and flat wrong the tactics or strategies employed by military geniuses in fiction tend to be, I'd say the only way to evaluate them would be 'whose backstory actually makes sense for the title of best general?', the alternative basically being to try to decide which author understood strategy best and which character they used as a proxy to discuss it, in which case RJ has a better claim than most, and I can't think of any actual generals who have written scifi fantasy, though I think I'd like to read them if they exist.

Such being the case, Benedict wins out, he's a millenia old near-demigod and spends tons of time watching battles then watching their alternate realities with minor changes, he's commanded forces big and small in places from the normal to the surreal, I'd say as major characters where descriptions are given, he probably deserves to have the title, after that Cauthon's claim is pretty solid, as opposed to Ender for instance, since Mat has the memories of a bunch of generals, thus vast experience. In the symbolic sense of things, benedict actually launched a succesful attack on the Gates of Hell in book 5 of amber, which is pretty impressive ;)
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
- Albert Einstein

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Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
This message last edited by Isaac on 15/01/2010 at 08:36:56 PM
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Sci-Fi / Fantasy 's greatest strategist / tacticians - 12/01/2010 08:33:14 PM 1864 Views
Re: Sci-Fi / Fantasy 's greatest strategist / tacticians - 13/01/2010 12:46:55 AM 1328 Views
Croaker from the Black Company *NM* - 13/01/2010 02:07:44 AM 577 Views
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Seconded *NM* - 14/01/2010 09:50:06 AM 565 Views
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Hell yeah. *NM* - 13/01/2010 11:24:17 PM 558 Views
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But... - 14/01/2010 02:45:56 PM 1299 Views
You could probably put in many people from Battle School. *NM* - 14/01/2010 10:23:55 PM 582 Views
this! *NM* - 19/01/2010 05:17:17 PM 548 Views
General Tacticus from the Discworld series *NM* - 13/01/2010 05:01:22 PM 558 Views
Miles Vorkosigan *NM* - 13/01/2010 05:43:12 PM 568 Views
OK. Those look like good books. I must remember to find them. *NM* - 14/01/2010 07:41:53 AM 554 Views
Totally agree! - 14/01/2010 05:00:42 PM 1103 Views
Yes! First character I thought of! *NM* - 18/01/2010 09:39:37 PM 537 Views
Tenaka Khan (Gemmel), Thrawn (Zhan), Ineluki (Williams) *NM* - 13/01/2010 11:40:46 PM 524 Views
I'd go with Benedict of Amber, his backstory makes more sense for the claim - 15/01/2010 08:34:57 PM 1131 Views
Aye, that's something I wonder. - 15/01/2010 08:45:33 PM 1065 Views
Napoleon from Napoleon And The Conquest Of The World - 15/01/2010 08:47:35 PM 1055 Views
... - 15/01/2010 08:49:52 PM 1045 Views
I have never it read it myself - 15/01/2010 09:02:47 PM 1033 Views
Oh. - 15/01/2010 09:08:34 PM 1120 Views
well I was thinking about reading it and I probably will when I have time - 16/01/2010 06:38:39 PM 1092 Views
He shouldn't have started a land war in Asia. - 16/01/2010 07:07:10 PM 1055 Views
inconceivable! - 16/01/2010 08:08:44 PM 1244 Views
Worked OK fo Alexander the Great - 18/01/2010 02:13:07 AM 1059 Views
You know, Genghis Kahn didn't really have a problem either. - 18/01/2010 02:17:47 AM 1036 Views
Parmenion, the Lion of Macedon by David Gemmell... - 16/01/2010 11:16:34 AM 1164 Views
Oooh, good call. I'd switch my Khan for this. *NM* - 17/01/2010 05:33:30 PM 547 Views
Yes, Parmenion, the genius behind Alexander's entire conquest... - 17/01/2010 08:38:33 PM 1093 Views
Rodrigo Belmonte, anyone? - 19/01/2010 01:55:14 PM 1176 Views
But Dassem is his general... *NM* - 19/01/2010 05:27:43 PM 532 Views
Yes, but his is the evil plottingness. - 19/01/2010 07:52:18 PM 1355 Views
Obviously Richard Rahl - 20/01/2010 04:18:45 PM 1106 Views

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