Roller coaster world

by Kenneth Bulmer

Parsloe's Planet was in its death throes. A world of mobile cities, the populace had moved frantically from radiation site to radiation site - for without this life-giving radiation the inevitable result would be insanity and death.

Now the radiation was failing. Soon it would be no more. The planet was going to die.

But into the chaos and agony of the dying planet comes Douglas Marsden: an outcast, a renegade - and the only man who can save the stricken world.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

173 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1972

About the author

Henry Kenneth Bulmer
aka:
Alan Burt Akers
Ken Blake
Ernest Corley
Arthur Frazier
Adam Hardy
Philip Kent
Bruno Krauss
Neil Langholm
Karl Maras
Manning Norvil
Charles R. Pike
Andrew Quiller
Richard Silver
Tully Zetford

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an unusual far-future novel by Bulmer from 1972. It's set on a world of mobile cities, Parsloe's Planet, where the populace has to move to different radiation sites to avoid madness and death as the resources are used up. The main character is Douglas Marsden, who's unlikeable and unreliable most of the time, and it's up to him to save the world. It's a fast-paced adventure, though not a typical space opera, with an abrupt but hopeful conclusion. The Kelly Freas cover on the Ace edition is one of my all-time favorites.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly enjoyable for Kenneth Bulmer's books. A bored, burnt-out athlete/socialite's quest for meaning in a decaying society full of unproductive hedonists. Still, pretty dated, a bit lifeless characterizations, and a kind of flaky plot.

[Eric N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

No action or villain in this odd story about a future man wandering through life on a planet in crisis. Uplifting ending.