Sun Tzu and staff duty officers are obliged to prepare short papers for presentation to other officers on their readings. Similarly, Sun Tzu's "Art of War" is listed on the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program. During the Gulf War in the 1990s, both Generals Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. and Colin Powell employed principles from Sun Tzu related to deception, speed, and striking one's enemy's weak points. However, the United States and other Western countries have been criticised for not truly understanding Sun Tzu's work and not appreciating "The Art of War" within the wider context of Chinese society. Daoist rhetoric is a component
The Book of the New Sun sub-series. The two later subseries are "The Book of the Long Sun" (1993–1996, four volumes) and "The Book of the Short Sun" (1999–2001, three volumes). "Long Sun" is set on a generation ship and "Short Sun" features the inhabitants of that generation ship after their long journey. Two of the "Long Sun" books were nominated for Nebula Awards. Severian, an apprentice in the torturers' guild, barely survives a swim in the River Gyoll. On his way back to the Citadel Severian and several other apprentices sneak into a necropolis where Severian first encounters Vodalus, the legendary revolutionary. Vodalus, along with