The Caves of Klydor by Hill, Douglas Arthur(March 1, 1985) Library Binding

Colsec #2

by Douglas Arthur Hill

Soon after being exiled to the planet Klydor, five young people begin to suspect that their struggle for survival is somehow linked to the rebel uprising against the Earth's harshly authoritarian government.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens

Library Binding

First published March 1, 1985

About the author

Douglas Arthur Hill (6 April 1935 – 21 June 2007) was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a railroad engineer, and was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he studied English at the University of Saskatchewan (where he earned an Honours B.A. in 1957) and at the University of Toronto. He married fellow writer and U. of S. alumna Gail Robinson in 1958; they moved to Britain in 1959, where he worked as a freelance writer and editor for Aldus Books. In 1967–1968 he served as Assistant Editor of the controversial New Worlds science fiction magazine under Michael Moorcock.

A lifetime leftist, he served from 1971 to 1984 as the Literary Editor of the socialist weekly Tribune (a position once held by George Orwell), where he regularly reviewed science fiction despite the continued refusal of the literary world to take it seriously. Before starting to write fiction in 1978, he wrote many books on history, science and folklore. Using the pseudonym Martin Hillman, he also worked as an editor of several anthologies, among them Window on the Future (1966), The Shape of Sex to Come (1978), Out of Time (1984), and Hidden Turnings (1988). He is probably best known for The Last Legionary quartet of novels, supposedly produced as the result of a challenge by a publisher to Hill's complaints about the lack of good science fiction for younger readers.

Hill and his wife had one child, a son. They were divorced in 1978. He lived in Wood Green, London, and died in London after being struck by a bus at a zebra crossing. His death occurred one day after he completed his last trilogy, Demon Stalkers.

Reviews

[Adam Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a kid, I was a bit disappointed by the second ColSec book. From the end of the first novel, I'd expected a tale of frontier adventure and exploration, and that's not really the focus here. Instead, Hill follows up on the theme of resistance to the oppressive Organization (of which ColSec is a part). Characterisation is pretty thin, relying mostly on what we learned in "Exiles". The book also dearly lacks a really meaty villain. The one here's a little too second-rate Lamprey.

I'd love to see someone tackle this series as a YA TV show, though - I think it'd be pretty entertaining stuff.

[Kerrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nostalgia, at its finest.

[Lucinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caves = bad 😭
Anywho I liked this installment.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequel to Exiles of ColSec.

[David]

Read as a kid, never finished.