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readwithkay's review against another edition
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 against another edition
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.
silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This is fun adventure if you like pulpy vintage sci-fi. It doesn't have the depth of character development that Robert Heinlein has, but it is a nice back up if you've run out of the good Heinlein books.
I would have rated it a bit higher if certain parts of the ending had actually gone for the pulp adventure expectations instead of the 'let's explore interesting sci-fi possibilities' ending.
Content is fairly low overall--sex and relationship traditions/habits are discussed on some length with an impersonal voice, from a 'aren't cultural differences interesting' kind of stand point. There's also quite a lot of death and tense situations, so between all of that, I probably wouldn't recommend this for younger readers, but some teens would probably enjoy it
I would have rated it a bit higher if certain parts of the ending had actually gone for the pulp adventure expectations instead of the 'let's explore interesting sci-fi possibilities' ending.
Content is fairly low overall--sex and relationship traditions/habits are discussed on some length with an impersonal voice, from a 'aren't cultural differences interesting' kind of stand point. There's also quite a lot of death and tense situations, so between all of that, I probably wouldn't recommend this for younger readers, but some teens would probably enjoy it