gggggggg_g's review against another edition
3.0
God I love this era of paperback science fiction. The smart strong man and the only female character - the beautiful science woman - work together with a peace coalition to save a couple of rival plants from bombing each other to extinction.
mihai_cirstea's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
oluwaran's review against another edition
3.0
"Honor is important to a man who must stand alone."
After reading of the tales of Jason DinAlt, this story pales in comparison. The main character sounds like a watered down version of the one aforementioned. The only redeeming quality is the suspense at the very end. Given that my perspective is quite biased (after reading other Harrison stories) I felt inclined to give it 2 stars. But it's still a Harrison story and would've been fine had I not been previously spoiled by Death world.
After reading of the tales of Jason DinAlt, this story pales in comparison. The main character sounds like a watered down version of the one aforementioned. The only redeeming quality is the suspense at the very end. Given that my perspective is quite biased (after reading other Harrison stories) I felt inclined to give it 2 stars. But it's still a Harrison story and would've been fine had I not been previously spoiled by Death world.
jmanchester0's review against another edition
3.0
Sometimes it's hard to get through these LibriVox recordings, but I was out of other audiobooks at the time and went ahead and started this one from a free app on my iPhone. If you can get past the amateurish readings (it's all volunteer work; these books are in the public domain), then the book has a halfway decent story, especially once you get into it. Of course, these free Harry Harrison books aren't nearly as good as his other books I've read (e.g., Bill the Galactic Hero). Are these free e-books his early works that weren't quite as good as his later works? I'll have to check that out.
wingedvictories's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
quick and easy early sci-fi. wasn’t expecting any crazy subversions of the genre and didn’t get any so i wasn’t disappointed. features an easy to digest male protagonist and a sci-fi stereotypical too-smart-for-her-own-good love interest. a good time killer
florrie's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Misogynistic crap.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
esosorum's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
readwithkay's review
1.0
This. Book. So absurd. To quickly sum it up, it is very much a male fantasy. As a pulpy sci fi book written in 1962, this is not that surprising. But a good 1962 pulp sci fi book will get you past that - this one, not so much.
A man wins an epic tournament on his planet, and then is approached about how he is the *only* person who can avert the destruction of another planet. This part is very unconvincing - he essentially just won the Olympics, has no diplomatic or military experience, and somehow is supposed to be the only one able to solve a diplomatic/military crisis because he's good at sports and stuff? What. He is whisked away to do that anyway, and sure enough saves not one but two! planets in the nick of time. The reader is sure to note that he's a well-rounded, virtuous hero-savior - he's strong *and* smart, and he doesn't like death but gosh he'll kill people if he has to. This has some truly groan-worthy lines and is very fun to make fun of. There's also a female character, who is a scientist that helps him save the planet, but mostly is a love interest. She is constantly in need of saving, he's constantly saving her, and she's described in such cringe-inducing ways as having 'yielding female flesh'. Oof. The whole thing is very over-dramatic, which is fairly entertaining if you're ready to turn off your brain and laugh at the absurdity of it all. This book does not benefit from close analysis, but the over-the-top-ness of the hero-man and the damsel in distress were entertaining in a so-bad-its-hilarious kind of way. I only recommend if you are ready to groan dramatically and laugh at this kind of nonsense.
This book reads like a much worse version of Dune - an inhospitable desert planet, people that live there that have adapted to it, a hero from another planet that saves the day. Dune, though, is much more worth reading than this one!
A man wins an epic tournament on his planet, and then is approached about how he is the *only* person who can avert the destruction of another planet. This part is very unconvincing - he essentially just won the Olympics, has no diplomatic or military experience, and somehow is supposed to be the only one able to solve a diplomatic/military crisis because he's good at sports and stuff? What. He is whisked away to do that anyway, and sure enough saves not one but two! planets in the nick of time. The reader is sure to note that he's a well-rounded, virtuous hero-savior - he's strong *and* smart, and he doesn't like death but gosh he'll kill people if he has to. This has some truly groan-worthy lines and is very fun to make fun of. There's also a female character, who is a scientist that helps him save the planet, but mostly is a love interest. She is constantly in need of saving, he's constantly saving her, and she's described in such cringe-inducing ways as having 'yielding female flesh'. Oof. The whole thing is very over-dramatic, which is fairly entertaining if you're ready to turn off your brain and laugh at the absurdity of it all. This book does not benefit from close analysis, but the over-the-top-ness of the hero-man and the damsel in distress were entertaining in a so-bad-its-hilarious kind of way. I only recommend if you are ready to groan dramatically and laugh at this kind of nonsense.
This book reads like a much worse version of Dune - an inhospitable desert planet, people that live there that have adapted to it, a hero from another planet that saves the day. Dune, though, is much more worth reading than this one!
bzedan's review
3.0
That handful of cantos I read made me feel smart for a bit while reading this. The planet in question is named Dis, which is totally a circle of Hell. And get this: an extremely hot one. Which the planet is. There is some intrigue and an interesting bit about symbiotes and things. I gotta be honest here, I was thinking that Harrison was a different author when I downloaded this novel along with some short stories (all carefully researched to have no copyrights, more things from Astounding and the like). It doesn't matter though, it was enjoyable, like Dostoevsky's stuff.