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Lucky Starr #6
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn
Back Cover:
Attack
The twin rings of Saturn were suddenly swarming with the robot ships of the deadly Sirian enemy.
The avowed antagonists of Earth, they had crossed 50 trillion miles of space to provoke a war which they knew they could not lose...for the awesome forces of earth dared not rally against the invaders.
Only Lucky Starr, of Earth's Council of Science, had a chance to avert the impending galactic holocaust. But one slip-up in his daring plan would mean certain death...and a place in history as Earth's most infamous traitor!
Attack
The twin rings of Saturn were suddenly swarming with the robot ships of the deadly Sirian enemy.
The avowed antagonists of Earth, they had crossed 50 trillion miles of space to provoke a war which they knew they could not lose...for the awesome forces of earth dared not rally against the invaders.
Only Lucky Starr, of Earth's Council of Science, had a chance to avert the impending galactic holocaust. But one slip-up in his daring plan would mean certain death...and a place in history as Earth's most infamous traitor!
144 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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1012 people want to read
About the author
Paul French
14 books13 followersLibrarian note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Pen name of Isaac Asimov for the Lucky Starr books.
Pen name of Isaac Asimov for the Lucky Starr books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
May 31, 2023
This was the final novel in a series of six that Asimov wrote under the pseudonym of Paul French featuring David "Lucky" Starr. The books were intended to be the basis for a television series but when that fell through Doubleday was happy to keep publishing them and Asimov was happy to keep writing them. Asimov soon regretted the pseudonymous publication, and his authorship became something of an open secret in the genre. He pretty much abandoned the "Space Ranger" format, and had Lucky and Bigman become interplanetary detectives. The books were aimed for young readers and blended a strong action/adventure content with accurate (for the time) scientific concepts. This one appeared in 1958 and holds up better scientifically than many of the other books; Saturn's rings were found to be far more complex than what the best science of the time postulated, but other than that it still seems pretty spot-on. There's a little more political discussion than action/adventure here, but it's still enjoyable. (Those Sirians could be nasty.) One has to remember that the social conventions of the series were conceived in the early 1950s, not just the science, and that Asimov was writing for twelve-year-old boys of the time. The Tom Corbett series by "Carey Rockwell" that Grosset & Dunlap published are similar, and I think David "Lucky" Starr and his feisty sidekick John Bigman Jones may have been influenced by Hamilton's Captain Future books, and perhaps even Superman. I didn't think the Starr books were as good as Heinlein's juveniles, but I thought they were at least as good as Andre Norton's, Donald Wolheim's, or Lester del Rey's juveniles of the time. And they're still fun stuff if you know what to expect.
May 25, 2014
This is the last of the series and for me a far more for filling read, there are actual politics and reasonings at work here as shown at the end of the book when the conference takes place (go on read the book I am not giving anything away). One thing that interests me after I finished it (although I had my suspicions while reading it) was that the book being written in the late 50s used astronomical knowledge of its time - number of moons, physical dimensions were all correct at the time of writing but have since been corrected or added to. As such (scientific inaccuracies aside) I think this really demonstrates what Asimov was trying to prove. that the world of scientists is not a scary place but in fact one that is positive and productive for all - (another of Asimov's personal crusades was the elimination of the "Frankenstein effect" where people where pathologically terrified of robots, hence his creation of the 3 laws of Robotics). For me the book will always be a juvenile read however as is the case with many of Asimov's books there is far more thought and work gone in to their writing than many give him credit for.
April 24, 2021
I was expecting it to have more action than it did. Was fairly slow, with more politics than adventure. This is the last of the six books in the series so I probably should have read one of the earlier ones. Easy read.
July 7, 2012
Bigman said, "You know, Lucky, it's nearly nine hundred million miles away. The Sun, I mean. I've never been out this far."
Oh, Asimov. How we love your dialogue. Scientists totally talk like that. And in Imperial.
Oh, Asimov. How we love your dialogue. Scientists totally talk like that. And in Imperial.
November 22, 2011
Lucky Starr is always a fun read. These are quick adventures of James Bond mixed with Star Wars. I have to admit that the side kick is a little annoying, but it always pans out in the end.
October 15, 2024
و متاسفانه مجموعه لاکی استار تموم شد زیبا و کم حجم و کوچولو بود مثل لقمه های بین راه مدرسه و خانه که زود تموم میشن و طعمش میمونه این هم همین شکلی واسم شد
June 6, 2020
I am an Asimov fan – maybe an addict. So, any work by Asimov is worth a read. Also, as an adventure afficando the Science Fiction genre attracts me, be it H.G. Wells’s Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, etc. or Jules Verne Journey to the Moon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of Earth, etc. Even Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein or R.L. Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be bracketed as Quasi Science fiction – and all are books I have read and want to re-read.
The first book of Asimov I read was ‘Caves of Steel’ and the second was ‘Stars Like Dust’. Honestly, I was not much impressed by ‘Caves of Steel’ but ‘Stars Like Dust’ was a different ball game and I was hooked. This was nearly forty years back.
This is not the first ‘Lucky’ Starr book I am reading. I had in the initial period read ‘Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury’ and ‘Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus’. So this will be the third Lucky Starr book I am reading.
In the 1950’s Isaac Asimov wrote a set of novels about David ‘Lucky’ Starr and his battles against malefactors within the Solar System. Each of these battles took place in various planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Asteroid Belt. The stories made use of the astronomical facts as they were then known. In the 1980’s Gregg Press brought out the novels in new hardcover editions.
In the Preface to this book LUCKY STARR AND THE RINGS OF SATURN, the author admits as much. He states “…….what a quarter century it has been! More has been learnt about the worlds of our Solar System in this last quarter century than in the thousands of years that went before.”
LUCKY STARR AND THE RINGS OF SATURN was written in 1957 and set in its nearest satellite Mimas – but in 1967 the French astronomer Audouin Dollfus discovered Saturn’s tenth satellite, Janus, one that was closer to the planet than any others, 22,000 miles closer to Saturn than Mimas is.
The author states “If I were writing the book today, I would certainly mention that satellite and I might have used it instead of Mimas.
Moreover, it was not until 1977 that astronomers discovered that Saturn was not the only ringed planet. Uranus, it turns out, also has rings. They are very thin rings and very faint ones – but they are there. I would surely have mentioned that in this book if I were writing it today.”
LUCKY STARR AND THE RINGS OF SATURN starts with the escape of Agent X, a spy – from where else, but Sirius – with a capsule containing vital information about Earth’s defenses and latest scientific research. In the entire Lucky Starr series – Earth’s bete noire is the men of Sirius, one of the nearest stars to the Sun, hardly 8.6 light years away. His cover was as an employee, Jack Dorrance, of Acme Air Products and he escaped in a private spacecraft ‘The Net of Space” breaking through an emergency blockade. Even though he was under observation, he managed to escape. The spaceship was headed to the Asteroid belt and to the outer planets of our Solar System.
Councilman Wessilewsky serving a routine hitch at Port Centre acted immediately. He immediately ordered Space Guard ships into space, reported to the headquarters of the Council of Science and then boarded T.S.S. Harpoon to guide the pursuit. Lucky Starr and Bigman boarded Lucky’s vessel Shooting Starr and joined the pursuit.
Agent X headed beyond the asteroids and Lucky commented that maybe Sirians had a base in the outer planets (one of their satellites), since ‘The Net of Space” headed straight towards Saturn. With Shooting Starr forging ahead of the pursuing fleet and getting closer to the quarry, Agent X put the capsule in orbit in the rings of Saturn. Shortly thereafter, his craft was struck by the gravel in the rings and ‘The Net of Space” ignited and was burnt along with its occupant. However, being close enough, Shooting Starr intercepted part of the message of Agent X to deduce that the capsule had been put into normal orbit, but before the co-ordinates could be transmitted ‘The Net of Space” was hit by the Saturnian gravel in the rings and was destroyed.
In the meantime the Sirian detectors had a fix on Shooting Starr. Then came a radio communication asking Lucky and his ship Shooting Starr to leave Saturnian space, since Sirians occupied and colonized a world in the unoccupied Saturnian System and rightfully it belonged to the first colonizers. They were unwelcome aliens.
Pretending to accede, Lucky leaves the Saturnian space. Rejoining the Earth fleet and he recharges and re-equips Shooting Starr and returns to Saturn, taking all precautions to avoid detection. With him are his earlier companion Bigman and now additionally Councilman Wessilewsky. While journeying through the rings, near the “Cassini’s Division” a thick ribbon of blackness dividing the rings into two paths of brightness of unequal width, Lucky goes out of the spaceship for some purpose. It is later revealed at the climax ending, he had located the capsule sent into orbit by Agent X, and also arranged the ship’s latest scientific discovery, Agrav, still in experimental stages, to be destroyed in case he was captured.
Unknown to the Earthmen, Sirian scientist had developed very advanced techniques of detecting objects, which even the advances on Earth could not, for e.g. if a space ship hid behind an asteroid facing Earth and moved with its rotation, no detector on Earth could detect the alien object, but Sirian technology was enabled to do so and Shooting Starr’s evasive tactics behind asteroid Hidalgo was detected by the Sirian base on Titan the largest of Saturnian moons. Robotic spaceships, eight of them, were in pursuit of Shooting Starr, and to avoid them, Shooting Starr comes out from the shadow of the rings and streaks forward towards Mimas, the nearest satellite. At Mimas, Shooting Starr crashes into the surface, but being ice, it bores
Its way down to a depth of about one hundred miles before stopping. After some time they rose upwards till five miles before the surface, they stopped and set up an oxygen bubble and provisioned it with algae and water.
Refilling the water tanks of Shooting Starr they emerged from Mimas in a shadowy region where neither the light of the Sun nor Titan penetrated, but immediately the reception disk glowed. Lucky threw in the switch and Steve Devoure of Sirius in control of Titan told Lucky Starr, that he had illegally entered the Saturnian Space and was now their prisoner – he could either surrender or be destroyed.
Lucky Starr surrendered. They were brought to the secret military base of Sirius on Titan. There the arrogant Sirian commander Steve Devoure offered Lucky a terrible choice: turn traitor to Earth — or Bigman would die! And it was not an idle threat.
Earth had called an inter-stellar conference on asteroid Vesta to sort out the problem of incrusion of Sirius on Titan. The haughty Sirians were banking on the fifty outer worlds settled by humans, earlier as Earth’s colonies and later were granted unconditional independence. There was no love lost between the outer worlds and Earth and if it came to a vote, Sirians were certain of unanimous vote in their favour.
Sirius’s case was that they had occupied an uninhabited world and made it suitable for human habitation. For thousands of years, while Earth colonized other worlds they did not occupy any of the satellites of Saturn. Earth claims that Saturn circles about the same Sun that Earth does. But an empty world is an empty world regardless of the route it travels through space. Sirius had occupied the Saturnian system peacefully, an empty system, and as the first colonizer it was theirs.
Earth on the other hand made unprovoked war upon the Sirius outpost and it would be proved from the mouth of a member of Earth’s own Council of Science.
Lucky Starr was presented to the conference and Steve Devoure said he would question Lucky as in a court of law. While questioning, he asked a leading question as to whether the actions of Lucky in the Saturnian System have Earth’s approval. Lucky responded that he had no instructions to enter the Saturnian system a second time, but he felt his actions would have met with full approval of the Council of Sciences.
There was chaos as the conference hall erupted to shouts by delegates for a vote. The chairman Agas Doremo of the outer world Elam – a planet circling a red dwarf sun – somehow restored order and allowed Hector Conway, Chief Councilman of Terrestrial Federation to cross-examine Starr, as was fair and just.
Conway first question to Starr was as to why he entered the Saturnian system. Starr replied it was to colonize Mimas. On being asked if he felt he had a right to do so the reply was “Yes, it was an empty world.” Conway turned to face the suddenly quiet and puzzled delegates and asked Starr to repeat his statement. Starr said that he wished to establish human beings on Mimas, an empty world that belongs to the Terrestrial Federation.
Devoure objected saying Mimas was a part of the Saturnian system. Starr responded exactly that Saturn is a part of Earth’s Solar System, but by Devoure’s interpretation Mimas was an empty world and as admitted Sirian ships had never approached Mimas before Lucky Starr landed on it.
Chief Councilman Conway then quoted a passage from Devoure’s introductory address, word for word : “An empty world is an empty world, regardless of the particular route it travels through space. We colonized it first and it is ours.” He then addressed the delegates that if the viewpoint of the Terrestrial foundation is correct Mimas belongs to Earth, because it circles a planet that circles the Earth’s sun, but if the viewpoint of Sirius is correct, even then Mimas belonged to the Earth, because it was empty and Earth colonized it first. The fact that another satellite of Saturn was colonized by Sirius was immaterial to Earth’s claim. By invading Mimas, a world belonging to the Terrestrial Foundation and removing therefrom Earth’s colonist, Sirius has committed an act of war and shown its true hypocrisy by refusing to allow others the rights it claimed for itself.
Once again there was confusion and milling about among the delegates. Conference Chairman Doremo, took charge and summed up the proceedings stating that the facts stated by Starr and Conway are irrefutable. If the Sirian view were to prevail the entire Galaxy would be thrown into anarchy and every uninhabited rock and asteroid would become a source of contention and a threat to peace. The Sirians by their action have shown themselves to be insincere….
It was a sudden and complete about change. The experienced and skilled parliamentarian Doremo manoeuvred the conference to an instant vote. Only three small outer worlds Penthesileia, Duvarn and Mullen known to be under Sirius’s political influence voted in favour Sirius but the rest of the Council of fifty worlds voted in favour of Earth. Sirius was ordered to release the Earthmen, it had taken prisoner, dismantle its base and leave Solar System within a month. The orders could not be enforced without war – Earth was ready for war and Sirius would have to face it alone without the support of outer worlds. No one present in Vesta expected her to fight under those conditions.
Devoure faced Lucky and with rage said a foul trick had been played on him. Starr replied that it was the latter who had played foul by threatening Bigman’s death. Devoure, with a malignant look, said that they still had the monkey Bigman with them, who would suffer a very painful death, but Conway informed him that Bigman along with a Sirian serviceman named Yonge were with the Earthmen, since Yonge was afraid for his life and had sought political asylum. Devoure stomped out of the Conference.
At dinner on the trip Earthward, Bigman mentions that they had forgotten all about capsule Agent X had placed in orbit in the rings of Saturn, and Lucky Starr produces yhe capsule, saying he too had forgotten to tell them that he had recovered it when he was outside the craft near the rings.
As in the other Lucky Starr stories, our hero once again emerges victorious.
A tale very well narrated and I enjoyed reading it.
The first book of Asimov I read was ‘Caves of Steel’ and the second was ‘Stars Like Dust’. Honestly, I was not much impressed by ‘Caves of Steel’ but ‘Stars Like Dust’ was a different ball game and I was hooked. This was nearly forty years back.
This is not the first ‘Lucky’ Starr book I am reading. I had in the initial period read ‘Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury’ and ‘Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus’. So this will be the third Lucky Starr book I am reading.
In the 1950’s Isaac Asimov wrote a set of novels about David ‘Lucky’ Starr and his battles against malefactors within the Solar System. Each of these battles took place in various planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the Asteroid Belt. The stories made use of the astronomical facts as they were then known. In the 1980’s Gregg Press brought out the novels in new hardcover editions.
In the Preface to this book LUCKY STARR AND THE RINGS OF SATURN, the author admits as much. He states “…….what a quarter century it has been! More has been learnt about the worlds of our Solar System in this last quarter century than in the thousands of years that went before.”
LUCKY STARR AND THE RINGS OF SATURN was written in 1957 and set in its nearest satellite Mimas – but in 1967 the French astronomer Audouin Dollfus discovered Saturn’s tenth satellite, Janus, one that was closer to the planet than any others, 22,000 miles closer to Saturn than Mimas is.
The author states “If I were writing the book today, I would certainly mention that satellite and I might have used it instead of Mimas.
Moreover, it was not until 1977 that astronomers discovered that Saturn was not the only ringed planet. Uranus, it turns out, also has rings. They are very thin rings and very faint ones – but they are there. I would surely have mentioned that in this book if I were writing it today.”
LUCKY STARR AND THE RINGS OF SATURN starts with the escape of Agent X, a spy – from where else, but Sirius – with a capsule containing vital information about Earth’s defenses and latest scientific research. In the entire Lucky Starr series – Earth’s bete noire is the men of Sirius, one of the nearest stars to the Sun, hardly 8.6 light years away. His cover was as an employee, Jack Dorrance, of Acme Air Products and he escaped in a private spacecraft ‘The Net of Space” breaking through an emergency blockade. Even though he was under observation, he managed to escape. The spaceship was headed to the Asteroid belt and to the outer planets of our Solar System.
Councilman Wessilewsky serving a routine hitch at Port Centre acted immediately. He immediately ordered Space Guard ships into space, reported to the headquarters of the Council of Science and then boarded T.S.S. Harpoon to guide the pursuit. Lucky Starr and Bigman boarded Lucky’s vessel Shooting Starr and joined the pursuit.
Agent X headed beyond the asteroids and Lucky commented that maybe Sirians had a base in the outer planets (one of their satellites), since ‘The Net of Space” headed straight towards Saturn. With Shooting Starr forging ahead of the pursuing fleet and getting closer to the quarry, Agent X put the capsule in orbit in the rings of Saturn. Shortly thereafter, his craft was struck by the gravel in the rings and ‘The Net of Space” ignited and was burnt along with its occupant. However, being close enough, Shooting Starr intercepted part of the message of Agent X to deduce that the capsule had been put into normal orbit, but before the co-ordinates could be transmitted ‘The Net of Space” was hit by the Saturnian gravel in the rings and was destroyed.
In the meantime the Sirian detectors had a fix on Shooting Starr. Then came a radio communication asking Lucky and his ship Shooting Starr to leave Saturnian space, since Sirians occupied and colonized a world in the unoccupied Saturnian System and rightfully it belonged to the first colonizers. They were unwelcome aliens.
Pretending to accede, Lucky leaves the Saturnian space. Rejoining the Earth fleet and he recharges and re-equips Shooting Starr and returns to Saturn, taking all precautions to avoid detection. With him are his earlier companion Bigman and now additionally Councilman Wessilewsky. While journeying through the rings, near the “Cassini’s Division” a thick ribbon of blackness dividing the rings into two paths of brightness of unequal width, Lucky goes out of the spaceship for some purpose. It is later revealed at the climax ending, he had located the capsule sent into orbit by Agent X, and also arranged the ship’s latest scientific discovery, Agrav, still in experimental stages, to be destroyed in case he was captured.
Unknown to the Earthmen, Sirian scientist had developed very advanced techniques of detecting objects, which even the advances on Earth could not, for e.g. if a space ship hid behind an asteroid facing Earth and moved with its rotation, no detector on Earth could detect the alien object, but Sirian technology was enabled to do so and Shooting Starr’s evasive tactics behind asteroid Hidalgo was detected by the Sirian base on Titan the largest of Saturnian moons. Robotic spaceships, eight of them, were in pursuit of Shooting Starr, and to avoid them, Shooting Starr comes out from the shadow of the rings and streaks forward towards Mimas, the nearest satellite. At Mimas, Shooting Starr crashes into the surface, but being ice, it bores
Its way down to a depth of about one hundred miles before stopping. After some time they rose upwards till five miles before the surface, they stopped and set up an oxygen bubble and provisioned it with algae and water.
Refilling the water tanks of Shooting Starr they emerged from Mimas in a shadowy region where neither the light of the Sun nor Titan penetrated, but immediately the reception disk glowed. Lucky threw in the switch and Steve Devoure of Sirius in control of Titan told Lucky Starr, that he had illegally entered the Saturnian Space and was now their prisoner – he could either surrender or be destroyed.
Lucky Starr surrendered. They were brought to the secret military base of Sirius on Titan. There the arrogant Sirian commander Steve Devoure offered Lucky a terrible choice: turn traitor to Earth — or Bigman would die! And it was not an idle threat.
Earth had called an inter-stellar conference on asteroid Vesta to sort out the problem of incrusion of Sirius on Titan. The haughty Sirians were banking on the fifty outer worlds settled by humans, earlier as Earth’s colonies and later were granted unconditional independence. There was no love lost between the outer worlds and Earth and if it came to a vote, Sirians were certain of unanimous vote in their favour.
Sirius’s case was that they had occupied an uninhabited world and made it suitable for human habitation. For thousands of years, while Earth colonized other worlds they did not occupy any of the satellites of Saturn. Earth claims that Saturn circles about the same Sun that Earth does. But an empty world is an empty world regardless of the route it travels through space. Sirius had occupied the Saturnian system peacefully, an empty system, and as the first colonizer it was theirs.
Earth on the other hand made unprovoked war upon the Sirius outpost and it would be proved from the mouth of a member of Earth’s own Council of Science.
Lucky Starr was presented to the conference and Steve Devoure said he would question Lucky as in a court of law. While questioning, he asked a leading question as to whether the actions of Lucky in the Saturnian System have Earth’s approval. Lucky responded that he had no instructions to enter the Saturnian system a second time, but he felt his actions would have met with full approval of the Council of Sciences.
There was chaos as the conference hall erupted to shouts by delegates for a vote. The chairman Agas Doremo of the outer world Elam – a planet circling a red dwarf sun – somehow restored order and allowed Hector Conway, Chief Councilman of Terrestrial Federation to cross-examine Starr, as was fair and just.
Conway first question to Starr was as to why he entered the Saturnian system. Starr replied it was to colonize Mimas. On being asked if he felt he had a right to do so the reply was “Yes, it was an empty world.” Conway turned to face the suddenly quiet and puzzled delegates and asked Starr to repeat his statement. Starr said that he wished to establish human beings on Mimas, an empty world that belongs to the Terrestrial Federation.
Devoure objected saying Mimas was a part of the Saturnian system. Starr responded exactly that Saturn is a part of Earth’s Solar System, but by Devoure’s interpretation Mimas was an empty world and as admitted Sirian ships had never approached Mimas before Lucky Starr landed on it.
Chief Councilman Conway then quoted a passage from Devoure’s introductory address, word for word : “An empty world is an empty world, regardless of the particular route it travels through space. We colonized it first and it is ours.” He then addressed the delegates that if the viewpoint of the Terrestrial foundation is correct Mimas belongs to Earth, because it circles a planet that circles the Earth’s sun, but if the viewpoint of Sirius is correct, even then Mimas belonged to the Earth, because it was empty and Earth colonized it first. The fact that another satellite of Saturn was colonized by Sirius was immaterial to Earth’s claim. By invading Mimas, a world belonging to the Terrestrial Foundation and removing therefrom Earth’s colonist, Sirius has committed an act of war and shown its true hypocrisy by refusing to allow others the rights it claimed for itself.
Once again there was confusion and milling about among the delegates. Conference Chairman Doremo, took charge and summed up the proceedings stating that the facts stated by Starr and Conway are irrefutable. If the Sirian view were to prevail the entire Galaxy would be thrown into anarchy and every uninhabited rock and asteroid would become a source of contention and a threat to peace. The Sirians by their action have shown themselves to be insincere….
It was a sudden and complete about change. The experienced and skilled parliamentarian Doremo manoeuvred the conference to an instant vote. Only three small outer worlds Penthesileia, Duvarn and Mullen known to be under Sirius’s political influence voted in favour Sirius but the rest of the Council of fifty worlds voted in favour of Earth. Sirius was ordered to release the Earthmen, it had taken prisoner, dismantle its base and leave Solar System within a month. The orders could not be enforced without war – Earth was ready for war and Sirius would have to face it alone without the support of outer worlds. No one present in Vesta expected her to fight under those conditions.
Devoure faced Lucky and with rage said a foul trick had been played on him. Starr replied that it was the latter who had played foul by threatening Bigman’s death. Devoure, with a malignant look, said that they still had the monkey Bigman with them, who would suffer a very painful death, but Conway informed him that Bigman along with a Sirian serviceman named Yonge were with the Earthmen, since Yonge was afraid for his life and had sought political asylum. Devoure stomped out of the Conference.
At dinner on the trip Earthward, Bigman mentions that they had forgotten all about capsule Agent X had placed in orbit in the rings of Saturn, and Lucky Starr produces yhe capsule, saying he too had forgotten to tell them that he had recovered it when he was outside the craft near the rings.
As in the other Lucky Starr stories, our hero once again emerges victorious.
A tale very well narrated and I enjoyed reading it.
January 11, 2010
The world of Isaac Asimov's Lucky Starr is a young science geek's wildest dream come true. Imagine: a thousand years from now, the solar system's secret agents and protectors of the weak are...scientists! —Who don't mind showing off what they know!
Dr. Asimov often lamented the pernicious and ever-growing current of anti-intellectualism in American society. Was his series of young-adult Lucky Starr novels merely the public expression of an escapist fantasy universe, or did he intend to win young, intelligent minds to scientific inquiry by showing just how cool science could be?
In the final story in the Lucky Starr series, we finally meet Earth's sinister enemies, the Sirians. They have secretly built a military base on Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, and seek to legitimize their invasion of the Sol system before a conference of all the peoples of the galaxy. Lucky and his sidekick, Bigman, are taken prisoner after a hair-raising chase through the moons and rings(!) of Saturn. The Sirians plan to use Lucky's "illegal" penetration of the Saturnian system as the centerpiece of their case before the conference. Lucky and the Council of Science, however, have their own ideas about the purpose of Lucky's voyage.
While not the strongest story in the series (I would give that award to Oceans of Venus), Rings of Saturn is both the most complex and most suspenseful. Through most of the book, Lucky conducts a series of increasingly nonsensical—and life-threatening—actions, which have the young reader convinced he's gone plumb loco, but in the end reveals springs an incredibly clever trap on Earth's longtime enemy, the Sirian Federation. Dr. Asimov also wove into the story a topical message of tolerance and the importance of human diversity.
This story has held up well in terms of astronomy. The most "glaring" scientific error is that the Cassini division is nowhere near as free of orbiting material as it appears from Earth—and only the most serious outer-space geeks among Asimov's target audience would know it.
Dr. Asimov often lamented the pernicious and ever-growing current of anti-intellectualism in American society. Was his series of young-adult Lucky Starr novels merely the public expression of an escapist fantasy universe, or did he intend to win young, intelligent minds to scientific inquiry by showing just how cool science could be?
In the final story in the Lucky Starr series, we finally meet Earth's sinister enemies, the Sirians. They have secretly built a military base on Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, and seek to legitimize their invasion of the Sol system before a conference of all the peoples of the galaxy. Lucky and his sidekick, Bigman, are taken prisoner after a hair-raising chase through the moons and rings(!) of Saturn. The Sirians plan to use Lucky's "illegal" penetration of the Saturnian system as the centerpiece of their case before the conference. Lucky and the Council of Science, however, have their own ideas about the purpose of Lucky's voyage.
While not the strongest story in the series (I would give that award to Oceans of Venus), Rings of Saturn is both the most complex and most suspenseful. Through most of the book, Lucky conducts a series of increasingly nonsensical—and life-threatening—actions, which have the young reader convinced he's gone plumb loco, but in the end reveals springs an incredibly clever trap on Earth's longtime enemy, the Sirian Federation. Dr. Asimov also wove into the story a topical message of tolerance and the importance of human diversity.
This story has held up well in terms of astronomy. The most "glaring" scientific error is that the Cassini division is nowhere near as free of orbiting material as it appears from Earth—and only the most serious outer-space geeks among Asimov's target audience would know it.
October 16, 2024
Este libro sigue la fórmula clásica establecida por Lucky Starr, que es que se van sucediendo las desgracias para que al final resulte wye todo era un plan maestro del personaje. Aún así, creo que es de los mejores libros en la serie, es una historia más bien realista creo yo (en comparación con las otras aventuras), y en lugar de ser una aventura detectivesca como la mayoría de libros de lucky starr, está trama es un drama político, de un conflicto diplomático entre sirio y la tierra, y el lugar de lucky y bigman en él. Como es de esperar en este libro es en el que más aprendemos de los sirianos (que resultan ser unos racistas, que creo que es una excusa barata para hacerlos ver peor todavía de lo que son). Junto con el primero, este es de los libros de la serie que más merece la pena leer.
May 3, 2021
All light fun as expected.
August 16, 2017
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has been claimed by invaders from the planet Sirius, the first of many extrasolar Earth colonies. Over several generations, the Sirians and their allies on many of the outer worlds turned against their planet of origin, citing social, scientific, and military superiority after generations of ethnic cleansing. Despite an intergalactic law stating that any planet in an inhabited solar system belongs to the people of that system, the Sirians have constructed a military base on Titan as their first step to attacking Earth. The Council of Science, an organization sworn to protect Earth and its neighboring planets with minimal violence, fears that the Sirians have become too powerful to defeat.
After a Sirian spy named Dorrance escapes Earth custody, Councilmen David "Lucky" Starr and and his tiny-but-mighty companion John Bigman Jones set off after him in their ship, the Shooting Starr along with several vessels from the Terrestial fleet. They pursue Dorrance into Saturn's rings, where his vessel is destroyed. However, a Sirian vessel contacts the Shooting Starr and orders it away from Saturn, informing him that the Sirians now occupy Titan and any aggression from Earth will be considered an act of war. Starr retreats and orders the Terrestial fleet to do the same.
Later, Starr, Bigman, and fellow councilman Ben Wessilewsky return to Saturn in an unauthorized expedition aboard the Shooting Starr to find a information capsule that Dorrance had stolen from Earth. When Sirian ships again detect their ship and pursue, Starr "crashes" the Shooting Starr on Mimas, Saturn's closest moon. There, he leaves Wessilewsky behind and takes off again with Bigman--only to be captured by Sirian forces. The leader of the Sirian base on Titan, an irascible tyrant named Devoure, attempts to coerce Starr into confessing to espionage and to testify against Earth at an upcoming peace conference on the asteroid Vesta. Devoure offers to spare Bigman's life in exchange for Starr's compliance.
Will Lucky Starr betray Earth at the conference and join the Sirians? What of Councilman Wessilewsky on Mimas? Will the other planets vote against Earth and allow the Sirians to occupy Titan as a prelude to war?
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn is the final volume in a series of six. Much like its predecessor, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn takes on a noticeably darker tone than the first four books.
I was forced to wonder if perhaps Asimov started off with the intention of creating a light-hearted space adventure, but later allowed real world tensions of the time, such those between USA and the USSR, to inform his fiction. The tension and stakes in Rings of Saturn are higher than they'd been in the previous books, but it could also be construed that each story builds upon the last to culminate in this final confrontation between Earth and Sirius. Though it's easy to see the potential for future adventures in this universe.
After a Sirian spy named Dorrance escapes Earth custody, Councilmen David "Lucky" Starr and and his tiny-but-mighty companion John Bigman Jones set off after him in their ship, the Shooting Starr along with several vessels from the Terrestial fleet. They pursue Dorrance into Saturn's rings, where his vessel is destroyed. However, a Sirian vessel contacts the Shooting Starr and orders it away from Saturn, informing him that the Sirians now occupy Titan and any aggression from Earth will be considered an act of war. Starr retreats and orders the Terrestial fleet to do the same.
Later, Starr, Bigman, and fellow councilman Ben Wessilewsky return to Saturn in an unauthorized expedition aboard the Shooting Starr to find a information capsule that Dorrance had stolen from Earth. When Sirian ships again detect their ship and pursue, Starr "crashes" the Shooting Starr on Mimas, Saturn's closest moon. There, he leaves Wessilewsky behind and takes off again with Bigman--only to be captured by Sirian forces. The leader of the Sirian base on Titan, an irascible tyrant named Devoure, attempts to coerce Starr into confessing to espionage and to testify against Earth at an upcoming peace conference on the asteroid Vesta. Devoure offers to spare Bigman's life in exchange for Starr's compliance.
Will Lucky Starr betray Earth at the conference and join the Sirians? What of Councilman Wessilewsky on Mimas? Will the other planets vote against Earth and allow the Sirians to occupy Titan as a prelude to war?
Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn is the final volume in a series of six. Much like its predecessor, Moons of Jupiter, Rings of Saturn takes on a noticeably darker tone than the first four books.
I was forced to wonder if perhaps Asimov started off with the intention of creating a light-hearted space adventure, but later allowed real world tensions of the time, such those between USA and the USSR, to inform his fiction. The tension and stakes in Rings of Saturn are higher than they'd been in the previous books, but it could also be construed that each story builds upon the last to culminate in this final confrontation between Earth and Sirius. Though it's easy to see the potential for future adventures in this universe.
April 16, 2019
La conclusione delle avventure di Lucky e Bigman.
Con questo libro si conclude il ciclo di 6 avventure spaziali di Lucky e il suo inseparabile amico e compagno d'avventura Bigman, sempre pronto ad aiutare e ad inguaiare il giovane Star. In questo capitolo l'ambientazione si sposta sul più affascinante dei pianeti del sistema Solare, o meglio nelle sue vicinanze, in quella che è forse la missione più pericolosa e importante affrontata dai due avventurieri dello spazio. Come spiego nella conclusione queste avventure non sono del calibro dei romanzi migliori di Asimov, ma sono comunque divertenti e questo ultimo romanzo mi è piaciuto sicuramente più dei precedenti, anche se il modo frettoloso con cui si chiude mi ha lasciato un po' l'amaro in bocca. Sarebbe stato bello avere una narrazione di come la Galassia e l'Umanità si è evoluta dopo questo romanzo, fino a portare agli eventi narrati negli altri cicli di Asimov. Purtroppo si fatica a trovare i 6 romanzi, ma se avrete pazienza come me prima o poi riuscirete a farcela e potrete aggiungere un altro prezioso elemento alla vostra collezione di libri di fantascienza :)
Raccomandazione: se siete un lettore adulto e vi accostate per la prima volta ad Asimov, non iniziate da questo ciclo, incominciate dal Ciclo delle Fondazioni: Prima Fondazione / Fondazione e Impero / Seconda Fondazione, l'opera migliore a parer mio da lui scritta. Quest'opera la consiglio ad un appassionato che come me vuole leggere tutti i 4 cicli principali (Fondazioni, Spaziali, Robot, Lucky Starr) di Asimov riguardanti lo Spazio oppure ad un lettore giovane che si avvicina alla Fantascienza con la F maiuscola e cerca una lettura avvincente e non troppo impegnativa.
Con questo libro si conclude il ciclo di 6 avventure spaziali di Lucky e il suo inseparabile amico e compagno d'avventura Bigman, sempre pronto ad aiutare e ad inguaiare il giovane Star. In questo capitolo l'ambientazione si sposta sul più affascinante dei pianeti del sistema Solare, o meglio nelle sue vicinanze, in quella che è forse la missione più pericolosa e importante affrontata dai due avventurieri dello spazio. Come spiego nella conclusione queste avventure non sono del calibro dei romanzi migliori di Asimov, ma sono comunque divertenti e questo ultimo romanzo mi è piaciuto sicuramente più dei precedenti, anche se il modo frettoloso con cui si chiude mi ha lasciato un po' l'amaro in bocca. Sarebbe stato bello avere una narrazione di come la Galassia e l'Umanità si è evoluta dopo questo romanzo, fino a portare agli eventi narrati negli altri cicli di Asimov. Purtroppo si fatica a trovare i 6 romanzi, ma se avrete pazienza come me prima o poi riuscirete a farcela e potrete aggiungere un altro prezioso elemento alla vostra collezione di libri di fantascienza :)
Raccomandazione: se siete un lettore adulto e vi accostate per la prima volta ad Asimov, non iniziate da questo ciclo, incominciate dal Ciclo delle Fondazioni: Prima Fondazione / Fondazione e Impero / Seconda Fondazione, l'opera migliore a parer mio da lui scritta. Quest'opera la consiglio ad un appassionato che come me vuole leggere tutti i 4 cicli principali (Fondazioni, Spaziali, Robot, Lucky Starr) di Asimov riguardanti lo Spazio oppure ad un lettore giovane che si avvicina alla Fantascienza con la F maiuscola e cerca una lettura avvincente e non troppo impegnativa.
October 29, 2025
If you control one planet that orbits a star, do you have the rights to all of them? Such a fun little space politics question!
Nothing is more Asimov than a big inter- planetary conference to end his books that determines the future of the galaxy.
The brilliance of Asimov is when something is so obvious and right there in the open, but we don’t see it until he reveals it to us at the end of his books.
Mimas was an unoccupied moon of Saturn, just like Saturn was an unoccupied planet to the sun. It’s so obvious and clever! Really who else but Asimov.
Also of course lucky finds the capsule in the most Asimov way. “Normal” orbit meaning perpendicular. Classic.
And finally some great Asimov philosophy. Even back in the 50s Asimov spoke about how diversity is a strength. The sirians and their desire for pure blood would never understand.
A phenomenal end to a phenomenal series.
The idea of Asimov having a series that is more geared towards kids is awesome. I can’t wait to have my kid read this series as an intro to Asimov. It has it all, space politics, robots, philosophy, and big ending reveals! It takes a few books to get going but once it’s good it’s sooo good!
This was originally written to be an adventure of the week tv show, and let me tell you, it would have SLAPPED!
A personal anecdote. I had thought I had read every book Asimov ever wrote, and discovered this series a few years later. The true joy it brought me getting sucked into new Asimov mysteries was like a kid on Christmas.
Would rank the books as follows
The moons of Jupiter
The rings of Saturn
Ocean of Venus
The big sun of mercury
Pirates of the asteroids
Space ranger
Nothing is more Asimov than a big inter- planetary conference to end his books that determines the future of the galaxy.
The brilliance of Asimov is when something is so obvious and right there in the open, but we don’t see it until he reveals it to us at the end of his books.
Mimas was an unoccupied moon of Saturn, just like Saturn was an unoccupied planet to the sun. It’s so obvious and clever! Really who else but Asimov.
Also of course lucky finds the capsule in the most Asimov way. “Normal” orbit meaning perpendicular. Classic.
And finally some great Asimov philosophy. Even back in the 50s Asimov spoke about how diversity is a strength. The sirians and their desire for pure blood would never understand.
A phenomenal end to a phenomenal series.
The idea of Asimov having a series that is more geared towards kids is awesome. I can’t wait to have my kid read this series as an intro to Asimov. It has it all, space politics, robots, philosophy, and big ending reveals! It takes a few books to get going but once it’s good it’s sooo good!
This was originally written to be an adventure of the week tv show, and let me tell you, it would have SLAPPED!
A personal anecdote. I had thought I had read every book Asimov ever wrote, and discovered this series a few years later. The true joy it brought me getting sucked into new Asimov mysteries was like a kid on Christmas.
Would rank the books as follows
The moons of Jupiter
The rings of Saturn
Ocean of Venus
The big sun of mercury
Pirates of the asteroids
Space ranger
December 7, 2024
•قایم باشک بازی در منظومهی زحل و بازیهای سیاسی بیشتر•
این کتاب پایان درخوری برای این مجموعهی ۶ جلدی بود. عاشقشم و از خوندنش خیلی لذت بردم. بابت تموم شدن مجموعه یکم ناراحتم، این ۶ جلد برام به یه جور پناهگاه تبدیل شده بودن و برام خیلی عزیزن.
این جلد خیلی جذاب و گیرا بود؛ توی یه نشست تمومش کردم و هیجان کتاب هیچوقت کم نشد بلکه لحظه به لحظه بیشتر اوج میگرفت. تلفیقی بود از علم و سیاست و حس تعلیق.
به نظرم جلد اول این مجموعه بیشتر از بقیه ریزهکاری های علمی و ایدههای نبوغ آمیز داشت و دوست داشتم آسیموف این کار رو تو بقیهی جلدها هم ادامه میداد.
تو سه جلد آخر، آسیموف خیلی روی قوانین سگانهی روباتی مانور داد که به خودی خود چیز بدی نیست و اتفاقا تو دو جلدی قبلی خیلی هم ازش لذت بردم ولی وقتی تو این جلد دوباره راجع بهش خوندم، خیلی جذبم نکرد. یه جورایی دیگه داستان ازش اشباع شده بود و خراب کردن مغز پوزیترونی ربات ها با دادن دستوراتی که قوانین سگان�� رو نقض کنن تا الگوریتم فکری ربات به هم بریزه دیگه تکراری بود.
تو این جلد خطر بالقوهی شباهنگیها بالاخره به بالفعل تبدیل میشه و لاکی باید راهی برای بیرون انداختن شباهنگی ها از تیتان، قمر بزرگ زحل پیدا کنه.
داستان با تعقیب یه جاسوس نفوذی شباهنگی شروع میشه. لاکی و بیگمن با شوتینگ استار تا حلقههای زحل تعقیبش میکنن و تازه اونجاست که برای اولین بار متوجه میشن شباهنگ قسمتی از خاک منظومهی شمسی رو تصاحب کرده. این اقدام شباهنگ بیشتر از همه، حیلهای برای وادار کردن زمین به شروع جنگه و هدف لاکی جلوگیری از شروع جنگ و در عین حال بیرون کردن شباهنگی ها از تایتانه.
لاکی دوباره با قوهی عقل و استنتاج و استفاده از عدم صداقت خود شباهنگی ها مشکل رو حل میکنه. برخلاف جلدهای قبلی که تقریبا از اواسط کتاب میدونستم نتیجه چیه، این بار تا آخرین لحظه نتونستم حدس درستی راجع به پیچش داستان بزنم و پایانش واقعا برام هیجان انگیز بود.
میدونم دلم خیلی برای لاکی تنگ میشه و حس میکنم از اون مدل کاراکترهاس که هرگز فراموش نمیکنم.
این کتاب پایان درخوری برای این مجموعهی ۶ جلدی بود. عاشقشم و از خوندنش خیلی لذت بردم. بابت تموم شدن مجموعه یکم ناراحتم، این ۶ جلد برام به یه جور پناهگاه تبدیل شده بودن و برام خیلی عزیزن.
این جلد خیلی جذاب و گیرا بود؛ توی یه نشست تمومش کردم و هیجان کتاب هیچوقت کم نشد بلکه لحظه به لحظه بیشتر اوج میگرفت. تلفیقی بود از علم و سیاست و حس تعلیق.
به نظرم جلد اول این مجموعه بیشتر از بقیه ریزهکاری های علمی و ایدههای نبوغ آمیز داشت و دوست داشتم آسیموف این کار رو تو بقیهی جلدها هم ادامه میداد.
تو سه جلد آخر، آسیموف خیلی روی قوانین سگانهی روباتی مانور داد که به خودی خود چیز بدی نیست و اتفاقا تو دو جلدی قبلی خیلی هم ازش لذت بردم ولی وقتی تو این جلد دوباره راجع بهش خوندم، خیلی جذبم نکرد. یه جورایی دیگه داستان ازش اشباع شده بود و خراب کردن مغز پوزیترونی ربات ها با دادن دستوراتی که قوانین سگان�� رو نقض کنن تا الگوریتم فکری ربات به هم بریزه دیگه تکراری بود.
تو این جلد خطر بالقوهی شباهنگیها بالاخره به بالفعل تبدیل میشه و لاکی باید راهی برای بیرون انداختن شباهنگی ها از تیتان، قمر بزرگ زحل پیدا کنه.
داستان با تعقیب یه جاسوس نفوذی شباهنگی شروع میشه. لاکی و بیگمن با شوتینگ استار تا حلقههای زحل تعقیبش میکنن و تازه اونجاست که برای اولین بار متوجه میشن شباهنگ قسمتی از خاک منظومهی شمسی رو تصاحب کرده. این اقدام شباهنگ بیشتر از همه، حیلهای برای وادار کردن زمین به شروع جنگه و هدف لاکی جلوگیری از شروع جنگ و در عین حال بیرون کردن شباهنگی ها از تایتانه.
لاکی دوباره با قوهی عقل و استنتاج و استفاده از عدم صداقت خود شباهنگی ها مشکل رو حل میکنه. برخلاف جلدهای قبلی که تقریبا از اواسط کتاب میدونستم نتیجه چیه، این بار تا آخرین لحظه نتونستم حدس درستی راجع به پیچش داستان بزنم و پایانش واقعا برام هیجان انگیز بود.
میدونم دلم خیلی برای لاکی تنگ میشه و حس میکنم از اون مدل کاراکترهاس که هرگز فراموش نمیکنم.
December 6, 2020
The point of this book is to craft a plot around real-world scientific facts. For instance, the story takes place around Saturn, so when there is a chase scene, the makeup of the rings and the nature of one of Saturn's moons heavily determines how that chase scene plays out and concludes. Much of the scientific details that the series relies on is quite out of date, as pointed out in the preface written only two decades after the story, so enjoyment can also be found by learning about the incorrect information we used to think.
The plot and the utilization of seemingly random scientific facts makes for an interesting read, and the book is very strong in this regard.
The characters are very annoying, however. The first half of the story follows the "good guy" trio who are constantly fighting, with the title character mostly caught in the middle of his two sidekicks bickering with each other (though some of it does go after him). Then there's moments of overly affectionate declarations of, "No, we really are friends here," as if to try to counterbalance the negativity. It was all just way too much.
There's several hot-heated characters in the book, and the insults they regularly spout are very strange. The book was written in the 1950s, so I don't know if the dialogue is just out of date, or if it's a writing problem.
The second half of the book is much better and mostly makes up for the weak first half.
The plot and the utilization of seemingly random scientific facts makes for an interesting read, and the book is very strong in this regard.
The characters are very annoying, however. The first half of the story follows the "good guy" trio who are constantly fighting, with the title character mostly caught in the middle of his two sidekicks bickering with each other (though some of it does go after him). Then there's moments of overly affectionate declarations of, "No, we really are friends here," as if to try to counterbalance the negativity. It was all just way too much.
There's several hot-heated characters in the book, and the insults they regularly spout are very strange. The book was written in the 1950s, so I don't know if the dialogue is just out of date, or if it's a writing problem.
The second half of the book is much better and mostly makes up for the weak first half.
June 20, 2025
I had absolutely no clue how Mr. Starr was going to wiggle out of that one. What a story! I would love to see Lucky’s ship, the “Shooting Starr”, in person. Not possible of course but that thing has been modified to the point of sheer awesomeness. My only complaint with the series is that there isn’t going to be more of it. I could see how too many books would make the model repetitive but I think I’d still enjoy reading them. This was an awesome introduction into the world of Isaac Asimov and I will be reading more almost immediately. For anyone looking for a fun, quick peak into the science fiction world this feels like a great starting point. Engaging stories filled with suspense, adventure, science and a little bit of humor.
I can’t stress how nice it’s been to read shorter books like this. A much needed break from the beefy fantasy novels. I also read these in paperback form as opposed to my usual kindle. I love the kindle but something about a solid book makes it hard to beat. I do my best to find the correct edition (hard copy vs. kindle, cover art, etc) of each book so my Goodreads most accurately reflects the books I’m reading. Big fan of personal data. Got off track there. Highly recommend the Space Ranger series! Asimov is a fantastic author and the stories are incredibly fun.
I can’t stress how nice it’s been to read shorter books like this. A much needed break from the beefy fantasy novels. I also read these in paperback form as opposed to my usual kindle. I love the kindle but something about a solid book makes it hard to beat. I do my best to find the correct edition (hard copy vs. kindle, cover art, etc) of each book so my Goodreads most accurately reflects the books I’m reading. Big fan of personal data. Got off track there. Highly recommend the Space Ranger series! Asimov is a fantastic author and the stories are incredibly fun.
November 19, 2021
Мистериозният Агент Х успява да избяга от Земята с капсула, съхраняваща много важна информация. Дейвид "Лъки" Стар, Джон "Бигман" Джоунс и членът на Научния Съвет на Земята Бен Василевски са по петите на агента, но достигайки Сатурн разбират, че сириусиянците вече са тук. Направили са секретна база на повърхността на Титан (най-големия спътник на Сатурн)! В собствената ни Слънчева система!
Лъки и Бигман са заловени и са на крачка от смъртта. Благодарение на огромния си интелект, Лъки успява не само да ги спаси, но и да запази притежанието на Сатурнската система към Земната федерация.
Това е последната книга от поредицата за Лъки Стар. В края на книгата Лъки става много известен, а публичността е проблем за членовете на Съвета. Сигурно затова Азимов решава да сложи край на поредицата. Не мога да си кривя душата, иска ми се да не го беше правил и да имаше още поне 6 истории за тези герои...
Лъки и Бигман са заловени и са на крачка от смъртта. Благодарение на огромния си интелект, Лъки успява не само да ги спаси, но и да запази притежанието на Сатурнската система към Земната федерация.
Това е последната книга от поредицата за Лъки Стар. В края на книгата Лъки става много известен, а публичността е проблем за членовете на Съвета. Сигурно затова Азимов решава да сложи край на поредицата. Не мога да си кривя душата, иска ми се да не го беше правил и да имаше още поне 6 истории за тези герои...
November 10, 2020
This is the final installment in a six-book series for younger readers which Asimov wrote in the mid-1950s. As an adult reader in 2020, these novels -- part action/adventure, part speculation, part mystery -- are not without their charm, but they tend to lose steam as the series progresses and the rather under-developed characters and wooden, simplistic dialogue wear thin. Make no mistake, however, that dedicated Asimov fans of all ages will find much to love in these quirky little tales, which exude and exemplify the author's wonderfully avuncular style. As always, he challenges his younger readers, and never writes down to them when it comes to the science side of his science fiction. And in this particular case, the ending is clever, well-executed, and unforeseen. So I'll give Isaac an extra lucky star for wrapping up his series with a bang.
May 3, 2021
Última de las seis novelas de la saga de Lucky Starr, del maestro Asimov, que mezclaban ciencia ficción y aventuras con divulgación científica. En esta ocasión los humanos que colonizaron Sirio han vuelto e invadido Titán, luna de Saturno, para hacer allí eugenesia y crear una raza de superhombres. Nazismo del siglo XXV, escrito en los años 50, cuando aún estaba fresco.
Cuando hay una persecución (intercepción) en los alrededores de Saturno, el autor nos da muchos detalles sobre los anillos (no son sólidos, claro, por eso podemos cruzarlos, y tienen una densidad muy baja en realidad, blablabla...) que influyen en el desarrollo de la historia. En este aspecto está fantástica la serie. Luego los personajes son puros estereotipos y el guión es hueco, pero el conjunto está muy bien.
Cuando hay una persecución (intercepción) en los alrededores de Saturno, el autor nos da muchos detalles sobre los anillos (no son sólidos, claro, por eso podemos cruzarlos, y tienen una densidad muy baja en realidad, blablabla...) que influyen en el desarrollo de la historia. En este aspecto está fantástica la serie. Luego los personajes son puros estereotipos y el guión es hueco, pero el conjunto está muy bien.
March 24, 2025
I can simply cut-and-paste my review of the previous Lucky Starr book here. A pleasant SF adventure for boys. Very dated in that the entire cast are white men. The plot is typical for the series: Lucky, Bigman, and another member of the Council of Science pursue a Sirian spy to Saturn. They discover that Sirius has a established a colony on Titan, violating a political convention that holds that all a solar system can only be the territory of a single system government. Lucky concocts a plan to foil the Sirians scheme . As in the previous book, The Three Laws of Robotics are a crucial part of the story. At times, this novel felt vaguely like Star Wars in that an interstellar conference of sovereign systems recalls the Republic. In an alternate reality, maybe Lucky Starr would have been a Jedi. Simple but entertaining.
January 7, 2019
I would say that this series finished off well, it was left open but I think Asimov was pretty much done with SF for a while after being so prolific in the 1950s.
The story is OK but it is not too much of a challenge to figure out. I am glad I am done with this series as they are all very short novels targeted at such a young audience. With this I am going to keep my Asimov reading to a minimum in 2019. Perhaps, two maybe three books if I need a short break between the larger books I hope to get to this year.
As I finished this while still on vacation, I get to start Originals by Malcom Gladwell before resuming my nominal to read list.
The story is OK but it is not too much of a challenge to figure out. I am glad I am done with this series as they are all very short novels targeted at such a young audience. With this I am going to keep my Asimov reading to a minimum in 2019. Perhaps, two maybe three books if I need a short break between the larger books I hope to get to this year.
As I finished this while still on vacation, I get to start Originals by Malcom Gladwell before resuming my nominal to read list.
May 7, 2019
The first book I recall ever reading; I read this when I was 7 years old. I became a lifelong fan of Science Fiction after reading this; being my formative years, it defined my interest in the Sciences and I never looked back. Imagine today finding out that Isaac Asimov wrote this under a pseudonym Paul French. I recall the librarian thought the book would be over my head; at that time, I didn't know what she was talking about. This is the first time I looked up this book... I've always wanted to read it again... now I can.
April 19, 2020
Even though my vintage version says otherwise, this is the last book in a series that I've found pretty enjoyable. Asimov originally wrote these books under a pseudonym, deliberately aiming them at younger teen readers. Much in the same way as JK Rowling did decades later, he seems to have designed the books so they grow with the reader. We see the themes of racial prejudice addressed, and intergalactic threat dealt with not by a big fight full of lasers and robots (though there is a bit of that) but by political manoeuvering and diplomacy. A largely satisfying end to the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2018
Nice conclusion to the series...
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
During the whole series we only witness the Space Ranger once, and the unlikely use of the Sooting Starr once as well, although it was used several times in a “likely” way.
I was glad to meet the Sirians and also quite glad to see more robots, but of course the main point was seeing Lucky save the Terrestrial Federation and avoid war, for now.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
During the whole series we only witness the Space Ranger once, and the unlikely use of the Sooting Starr once as well, although it was used several times in a “likely” way.
I was glad to meet the Sirians and also quite glad to see more robots, but of course the main point was seeing Lucky save the Terrestrial Federation and avoid war, for now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2024
Aquest ja era l'últim dels llibres d'en Lucky Starr. M'ha fet una mica de peneta que s'acabessin.
Com els altres, és un llibre que es llegeix ràpid, i és entretingut. Aquest cop, com els altres, en Lucky es dedica a fer entrar algun robot en algun tipus de contradicció deguda a les lleis de la robòtica, però el millor de tot no és com fa ballar els robots amb la seva lògica, sinó com fa servir la lògica per sortir-se amb la seva davant dels sirians.
Trobaré a faltar aquestes històries.
Com els altres, és un llibre que es llegeix ràpid, i és entretingut. Aquest cop, com els altres, en Lucky es dedica a fer entrar algun robot en algun tipus de contradicció deguda a les lleis de la robòtica, però el millor de tot no és com fa ballar els robots amb la seva lògica, sinó com fa servir la lògica per sortir-se amb la seva davant dels sirians.
Trobaré a faltar aquestes històries.
March 24, 2023
Science! - asamov is good at keeping up with whatever was readily apparent at that time.
Writing - 5/10
Cultural sensitivity - the bad guys were dark skinned. However Lucky insists many times that it is the diversity of earth that makes it good and special. Discrimination is based on height.
Misogyny - no mention of any woman whatsoever. They just don’t exist in this universe at all.
Writing - 5/10
Cultural sensitivity - the bad guys were dark skinned. However Lucky insists many times that it is the diversity of earth that makes it good and special. Discrimination is based on height.
Misogyny - no mention of any woman whatsoever. They just don’t exist in this universe at all.
September 27, 2024
Lucky Starr continues to be a great Asimov character but this adventure with the Sirians is good but not great.
I do like the incorporation of robots that function under the three laws, especially when it comes to humans who manipulate those laws.
And, as always, Bigman is the comic relief Lucky Starr always needs.
I do like the incorporation of robots that function under the three laws, especially when it comes to humans who manipulate those laws.
And, as always, Bigman is the comic relief Lucky Starr always needs.
February 16, 2021
مجموعه لاکی استار هم تموم شد، با این که معمولی بود ولی باز هم خیلی دوست داشتنی بود، لاکی استار در نقش یک نجات دهنده کهکشانی و نابغه که همیشه شما رو غافلگیر میکنه، کتاب اخرش رو دوست داشتم و حرکت خفنی زد، دلم به حال روبات ها سوخت. و دیگه خداحافظ لاکی استار دوست داشتنی
May 23, 2023
Considering it's sixty some years old, and written for the juvenile audience, it's a pretty good book. It took me fifty years but I finally finished the series. Except (maybe) for the science, it would still entertain a young reader. It entertained me...
March 3, 2025
Asimov finds actually a really good resolution to the seemingly impossible situation that he puts David Starr in.
Probably the best ending of all the books, despite the overly childish ’Bigman’ whose temper is way too incendiary.
Probably the best ending of all the books, despite the overly childish ’Bigman’ whose temper is way too incendiary.
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