Getaway World

Family d'Alembert #4

by E.E. "Doc" Smith, Stephen Goldin, Angus McKie (Illustrator)

THIEVE'S PARADISE

First, the good news: All the top crooks in the whole sector of the galactic Empire of Earth are vanishing, one by one. Now, the bad news: They're all cropping up again on one small planet. What's going on? That's for archvillain Garst to know and superagents Jules and Yvette d'Alembert to find out. And find out they do, with the aid of the superhuman strength they developed on their native planet, the triple-gravity DesPlaines. Now it's just a question of getting out alive -- with their boss's daughter in tow!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Edward Elmer Smith (also E.E. Smith, E.E. Smith, Ph.D., E.E. “Doc” Smith, Doc Smith, “Skylark” Smith, or—to his family—Ted), was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and an early science fiction author, best known for the Lensman and Skylark series. He is sometimes called the father of space opera.

Reviews

[Kevin O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth in a 10 novel series which was mostly written by Stephen Goldin. Doc Smith wrote a novella called Imperial Stars which Goldin expanded into the first novel, and then Goldin wrote another 9 novels in a long story arc. But Smith is the famous one, so his name appears in large letters everywhere and Goldin is barely mentioned.

The setting is a universe where a Russian Feudal system has somehow become the dominant mode of government and of the language, so we see Russian words sprinkled throughout the conversations. Humanity has spread to a number of planets with varying characteristics. One of these is DesPlaines, a high gravity planet whose inhabitants have adapted by becoming shorter and stockier, and which has developed a unique attraction, The Circus of the Galaxy. What people don't know is that this circus is also a key part of the secret service SOTE, the Service Of The Empire. This allows for an interesting twist for space opera, a series where the heroes do not have secret weapons or super powers, merely acrobatic training.

In this novel the threat they deal with is a number of mysterious disappearances of the major crooks in a number of worlds. They must be going somewhere, but where, and why? Jules and Yvette d'Alembert, top agents of SOTE, must infiltrate this world, find out who is doing this and why, and stop this plot. And just to make everything more difficult, the daughter of the head of SOTE, Helena, has decided to try her hand at field work by infiltrating the planet as well, so they also need to get her back and prevent her from falling into the hands of the enemy. As the SOTE second-in-command, she has too much critical information. The book is fast-paced and a good combination of space opera with spy thriller. But since this a 10-novel story arc, each novel builds on what went before, so do not read them out of order.

[Otis Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The circus is high-tailin' it to a planet that’s more crowded with crooks than a hen house full of foxes! Getaway World by Stephen Goldin and E.E. "Doc" Smith is the fourth book in the Family d'Alembert series, and things are gettin' hairier than a woolly mammoth in wintertime. The big mystery kicks off when all the major crime bosses across a whole galactic sector start vanishin' into thin air. SOTE discovers they're all hidin' out on one tiny, low-down planet run by an archvillain named Garst. To make matters a whole heap worse, Helena—the daughter and second-in-command of the top space-sheriff—decides she wants to play secret agent and disappears onto this outlaw rock herself. Since she knows the real identities of our favorite superhuman acrobat spies, Jules and Yvette d'Alembert, the siblings have to sneak onto this thief's paradise, smash Garst's criminal enterprise, and drag their boss's stubborn daughter back home before the bad guys squeeze the secrets right out of her. This 1977 pulp novel delivers exactly what you're buyin' it for. Stephen Goldin keeps the throttle wide open, and the book reads like a fun mashup of a James Bond spy thriller and a classic, goofy space opera. Because this is a ten-book continuous story, you can't just go skippin' around like a frog on lily pads, but this particular chapter does a fine job showin' off the kids usin' their high-gravity planet muscles to bust heads. Sure, some of the dialogue is full of that weird feudal-Russian talk the authors love, and the rescue plan requires a whole mess of pure, blind luck. But if you're already three books deep into the series and want to see some good ol' space-carnies outsmart a planet full of gangsters, it’s a mighty fun yarn to read while you're whittlin' on the porch swing.

[Robert D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forth in the Family d'Alembert series. This reads like a serial of old. The head of SOTE's (Service of the Empire), the agency charged with maintaining the security of the throne and empire, daughter is missing. It appears she wanted to prove her worth in the field. The problem is she, she has never been in the field and may have gotten herself into more than she can handle. Enter Jules and Yvette d'Alembert, the top field agents.

Jules and Yvette discover that the daughter, Helena, was apparently investigating the disappearance of criminals around the galaxy. Someone has set up a way for wanted criminals to just disappear. Jules and Yvette go on a crime spree to establish their credentials and manage to get approved to go to the secret planet housing all the criminals. Along the way they discover much more than they bargained for.

The series draws on several characters from previous books, along with plot elements. It's a bit shallow on character development because of this. It's an entertaining read but by no means involving. However, while the author wraps up the story there is sufficient loose ends to spawn more books as the empire seems to be facing a galaxy wide conspiracy.

[Frank Carver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Goldin is starting to find his feel in this series now. This book managed to build on both the claustrophobic feel of "Stranglers' Moon" and the action and drama of the "Imperial Stars". I was wondering if I would manage to finish the series, but this book gives me hope again.

[Turunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, simple read.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I have to point out that this is not deep fiction; it's pure spy and cloak and dagger candy, nothing gory or unpredictable; it's got good guys and bad guys and nobody ever philosophizes about it; they just do their respective things and the good guys win. It's great fun to read. It also hits a sweet spot for me to read about the good guys winning and having all the cool gadgets, a little danger to get the adrenaline going, and nobody seriously hurt in the end, well, except the bad guys. This would be appropriate for just about anybody who can read well enough to read it... about age 10 and up.

[Pam Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book, well written, part of a series and reading them in order is probably your best bet. If you like well-written 50's fiction, you'll probably love this!

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good old fashioned SF

[ricky]

Very good

The conspiracy against the empire continues to build and the secrecy of the d'Alembers and the role of the circus are under threat.