Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Cyborg and the Sorcerers | 1982 | Lawrence Watt-Evans | N/A |
| 2 | The Cyborg and the Sorcerers / The Cyborg and the Sorceress | 1982 | Lawrence Watt-Evans | Buy |
| 3 | The Wizard and the War Machine | 1987 | Lawrence Watt-Evans | Buy |
The War Surplus series is one of Lawrence Watt-Evans’s early works, mixing science fiction and fantasy in a way that was unusual for the early 1980s. The story begins when a cyborg soldier, a leftover weapon from an interstellar war, arrives on a planet where magic works and technology is barely understood. The clash between his cybernetic abilities and the local sorcerers drives the plot.
Watt-Evans uses the premise to explore questions about identity, free will, and what happens when a weapon outlives its war. The cyborg protagonist is programmed for combat but finds himself in situations that require diplomacy and understanding rather than firepower. The sequel, The Wizard and the War Machine, picks up the story years later with a new threat arriving on the same planet.
The series is a good example of the science fantasy subgenre, where the line between technology and magic is deliberately blurred. Readers who enjoy stories about fish-out-of-water characters or the collision of very different civilizations will find this series worth tracking down.