The planet explorer

Colonial Survey #1-4

by Leinster Murray

ONE MAN’S MISSION INTO SPACE AND TIME
The famous “Hugo” prize winner for the year, awarded by the World Science Fiction Convention
Originally published as COLONIAL SURVEY by Gnome Press

ABOUT THE Murray Leinster is widely acknowledged by fans as the "Dean of Science Fiction" and even as "Mr. Science Fiction."

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1957 collection of 4 sci-fi stories was originally published under the title Colonial Survey. Obviously when the book was re-issued (in 2022) the publishers steered well clear of using the word “colonial” in any sort of positive context. The four stories, each 50-60 pages long, all feature the same main character, name of “Bordman.” The idea is that he is a surveyor sent out to newly discovered planets to assess whether they are suitable for human colonisation, and monitor the early stages of that.

It’s an entertaining enough collection although to an extent you have to suspend your disbelief. In the first two tales, “Solar Constant” and “Sand Doom,” Bordman is faced with climate catastrophes. If he was with us today we wouldn’t need to be stressing about this climate change stuff – he’d have it sorted out in a jiffy! The last story, “The Swamp was Upside Down,” featured a man-made environmental disaster, so had quite a modern feel to it.

The stories contain some cod philosophy, complete with dated attitudes, though as I always say, if I choose to read a book from the 1950s, I can’t complain about 1950s attitudes! The third story, “Combat Team,” was interesting though in showing just how much attitudes have changed. The world being colonised has complex life forms, including an apex predator that attacks humans and is extremely dangerous. The whole thrust of the story is about how these creatures need to be exterminated to make way for humans, a viewpoint that is accepted without question.

Books from this era are always fun in how they envisage the future. For example, this ultra-advanced interplanetary civilisation still uses barometers to forecast the weather.

The collection actually reminded me a bit of the original series of Star Trek, the one from the 1960s. There is that same “to boldly go” outlook.

No-one will claim this collection as a literary masterpiece, but it was a moderately diverting trip to the era of classic sci-fi.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Planet Explorer was the first paperback printing of a book originally titled Colonial Survey, which was published by Gnome Press. It contains four novelettes that originally appeared in Astounding SF magazine in 1955 - '56 which were subsequently lightly re-written into this fix-up novel. One of the original stories, Exploration Team (here called Combat Team), won the Hugo Award for best of the year. It's a terrifically well-written and exciting group of stories of man's heroic conquest of space, which, at the time they were written, was generally regarded as a good and natural goal. The readers of Astounding didn't question that Colonialism was a good thing, just as readers of Western Cowboys'n'Indians pulps didn't stop to wonder how the Indigenous Peoples felt about it all. They're very clever and entertaining tales that have long been among my favorites, but one has to remember the conceits of the time from which they came.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: A good SF novel about the value of work and how its best recognition is the fulfilled work itself. The book was conflated from four short stories, originally published independently with different protagonists, who have been merged into one so as to give uniformity to the full novel. The problem is one can see that the character of the four protagonists was slightly different, so that the conflated book loses some homogeneity.

This book can also be found in the omnibus volume Planets of Adventure, published by Baen Books.

ESPAÑOL: Una buena novela de ciencia ficción sobre el valor del trabajo, cuyo mejor reconocimiento es precisamente el trabajo realizado. El libro se fusionó a partir de cuatro cuentos, publicados originalmente de forma independiente y con diferentes protagonistas, que se han fundido en uno para dar uniformidad a la novela completa. El problema es que se puede ver que el carácter de los cuatro protagonistas es ligeramente diferente, por lo que el libro combinado pierde algo de homogeneidad.

Este libro también se puede encontrar en el volumen ómnibus Planets of Adventure, publicado por Baen Books.

[Jeff Greason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd only encountered a few Murray Leinster short stories in other collections. This is another set, all featuring the same character, a sort of trouble-shooter of problems in space colonization. Leinster writes the kind of story that has gone out of fashion, the "idea story" where there's one clever idea which is spun into a story. But it works in short stories better than long, and this is a collection of short stories, not a novel. I found it easy to put down .. but then I'd pick it back up, curious to see what the next story would be. Not a great one, but I'm glad to have read it.

[John Tetteroo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Het ontdekken van nieuwe planeten is gewoonlijk een gebeurtenis die aanleiding geeft tot het schrijven van avontuurlijke, opwindende, reflectieve, dystopische, utopische en wat dies meer zij, verhalen. Hels Kwartet leek ook die belofte in te houden, geschreven door Murray Leinster, de deken van de Science Fiction! Garantie voor leesplezier. Nu had ik in de serie onder redactie van Carl Lans natuurlijk beter moeten weten. Het begint al met een hoofdpersoon die een soort ambtenaar is en langs nieuwe kolonies gaat om te beoordelen of de planeet daadwerkelijk geschikt is voor menselijke bewoning. Zijn belangrijkste taak is het schrijven van een rapport voor zijn sectorchef... gaap.

Natuurlijk is het mogelijk dat onze protagonist een interessante achtergrond of karakter heeft waardoor hij een natuurlijke spanning creeert in de interacties met zijn omgeving, maar nee, het is een echte ambtenaar, die dreigt met... ongunstige aantekeningen in zijn rapport... wauw!
De hoop is dan gevestigd op de omgeving of het probleem om onze held uit zijn zelfgenoegzame ambtelijkheid te schudden. En dat was misschien wel Leinsters idee, maar dat komt nooit uit de verf.

Op elke planeet waar onze held verschijnt is een dodelijk probleem opgedoken, een probleem dat onoplosbaar lijkt voor de kartonnen tegenspelers, totdat de protagonist of een zeer voor de hand liggende of totaal onbegrijpelijke en vergezochte oplossing bedenkt. Eerste planeet, aanstormende ijstijd, oplossing hmm, iets met mist, drie keer teruggelezen en ik begrijp nog niet hoe dat moet gaan werken, verloren in de vertaling ofzo? Tweede planeet, zandstorm bedekt energiecentrale, oplossing, blaas het zand weg met een andere energie centrale, huh, waarom was het dan een probleem in de eerste plaats?

Derde Planeet, iedereen uitgemoord door rare spinnen, oplossing... gedresseerde beren (ik neem U niet in het ootje) want niet iedereen was uitgemoord... ok... er was nog een soort dompteur die de planeet illegaal claimde voor de berenbond, ofzo... uiteindelijk gooien ze het op een akkoordje, plegen gezamenlijk gezellig genocide op de spinnen en bestempelen de planeet tot leefbaar. De vierde planeet was gevaarlijk vanwege trillingen, maar ik ben waarschijnlijk afgeleid geweest toen de oplossing voorbij kwam, want plotseling was onze hoofdpersoon bevorderd tot sectorchef en miste het beleven van avonturen wel een beetje, ook al had hij nu meer quality time met zijn gezin en kleinkinderen. Ik was stiekem dankbaar dat hij de promotie aanvaardde en daarmee uitgesloten was van actieve dienst, zodat hij fijn van zijn pensioen kan genieten.

Gelukkig heeft Murray Leinster hierna geen verhalen meer geschreven over onze galactische saaineus, al vrees ik enigszins voor de rest van zijn pennenvruchten. Voor dit boek heeft Leinster vier verhalen aan elkaar gebreid die eerder in tijdschriften waren verschenen, dat verklaart in ieder geval waarom onze held door nogal wonderlijke persoonlijkheidsveranderingen heengaat, al blijft zijn saaiheid wel een soort van constante factor. Chagrijnig en saai, bedaard en saai, vormelijk en saai... ik hoop dat ik u niet verveel. Ik was wel verveeld en het lezen voelde aan als een opdracht die ongaarne tot een goed einde gebracht moet worden. Ik kan het weten, ik was meer dan 10 jaar ambtenaar...

Alles bij elkaar, deze roman/bundel is alleen aan te raden voor completionisten die al het werk van Murray Leinster gelezen willen hebben, of masochisten zoals ik, die willen onderzoeken of er onder de redactie van Carl Lans enig boek was dat enige merites cq leesbaarheid bezat, en waar de laatste creatieve schrijversvonken niet door de vertaler alsnog gedoofd zijn in oubolligheid.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This “novel” is more of a story cycle, a set of four novelettes about the career of Bordman, an officer of Colonial Survey (“Colonial Survey” being the title this collection was first published under.) It’s set in a future where humanity is constantly expanding through the galaxy. There’s faster than light travel (thirty light-years takes about four months subjective time) but not FTL communication. There’s some reasonably-habitable planets, but most require some work, and reasons to settle on planets that are barely survivable. Humanity’s population is ever-growing, so they are constantly looking for new colonies. Colonial Survey’s job is making sure new prospective colonies are in fact ready for normal people to come and live in them.

These stories were originally published in Astounding in 1956, and somewhat modified for this collected edition.

“Solar Constant” finds Bordman on his first mission as a Senior Agent and thus in charge. Lani III is an ice-world, roughly like Antarctica at its most habitable. With the relatively advanced technology of this era, that’s not a deal-killer. But their parent world, Lani II, sends bad news. A once-in-a-million-years matchup of sunspot cycles means that the amount of solar energy sent out by their sun is dropping rapidly. Within a year or two, Lani II will be completely frozen over, and Lani III will be worse off. It’ll be at least a decade before the star returns to a normal output.

Bordman would be able to escape on the scheduled Survey ship in a few weeks, but he’s fallen in love with a young woman of the colony, and made friends here. And of course, the millions of people he doesn’t know who will die. There has to be a way to save Lani III and Lani II!

There is, of course. Bordman uses the technology available and basic scientific principles to guide the colonists in a way of saving themselves. He tries to resign from the Survey to marry his sweetheart, but by the time the relief ship arrives, there’s an emergency on another colony and he’s the only agent in range, so he has to go.

This is very much a standard story for Astounding of the time period; heavy emphasis on hard science, and character development and emotions taking a back seat to the engineering problem. It’s never stated that the Colonial Survey is exclusively male, but we never see a female agent in this series.

“Sand Doom” takes place a few years later (after Bordman has in fact managed to marry and have children but still is seldom home) as our hero comes to Xosa II. This planet is a sand world like Tatooine, and the crisis is that the nearly-completed landing/launching field has been covered in about a mile of sand. Even if they can find some way of digging it out, how will they keep it from being buried again?

This story has some problematic elements. In this future, humanity has sorted itself into “races” by ancestral bloodline, and each race tends to settle on planets with climates suitable for their ancient cultures. There is of course some overlap as different races are “just naturally” better at certain occupations than others, plus able to survive in different conditions. So Xosa II’s development team is “Amerinds” and “Africans” who handle construction and mining. They are able to survive okay on this desert planet with minimal protection while Bordman, who is apparently the palest of Anglos, needs a special life-support suit just to walk outside in the dry heat.

I can tell that Mr. Leinster is being very “respectful of all peoples” by his own lights, and it probably went over with the mostly white readers in the 1950s, but hoo boy does this set off alarm bells for a 21st Century reader.

It’s also notable that Amerind historian Aletha Redfeather has clearly figured out how to solve at least part of the problem, but rather than just telling Bordman, which might offend him as a man, she tells a “friend of a friend” story to give him a hint.

“Combat Team” (originally published in Astounding as “Exploration Team” under which title it won a Hugo) switches things up a bit as the viewpoint character is a man named Huyghens who is illegally living on Loren II. He’s shocked when Colonial Survey suddenly radios him to announce they’re dropping off a Senior Agent at his location. This agent turns out to be Bordman, who’s now a very experienced operative.

Loren II turns out to be off-limits to colonization due to the insanely hostile wildlife. Huyghens has been sent with a team of Kodiak bears (that have been bred for a mutation that makes them domesticable) and an eagle to prove that people from his overcrowded world can in fact live there. Yes, it’s illegal, but the people behind him are hoping to present it to Colonial Survey as a fait accompli.

Bordman explains that Colonial Survey had authorized an experimental colony on Loren II that would be protected by robot guards and workers. He was supposed to be dropped off there for an inspection, but the captain of the Survey ship apparently decided that the only working radio set on the planet had to be them.

Huyghens opines that the robot-guarded colony is probably all dead, but checks local radio waves, and there’s a faint SOS coming in. There’s nothing for it but Huyghens and Bordman making a hazardous cross-country trek to see if there are actually survivors.

Huyghens makes some possibly valid points in his disdain for robots, while they can be well-programmed, they can never exceed that programming (no AI here!) Plus, if you are served by robots, you have to arrange your life around the robot servants. (Have you had to rearrange your furniture to make the floor accessible to your Roomba ™? Imagine that on a culture-wide level.) He prefers partnering with animals as a true team.

When the team reaches the other base, there are a couple of shell-shocked survivors, because they were underground when the apex predators attacked and the robots were unable to stop it. Bordman decides to use exact words in his report to Colonial Survey to make sure that Huyghens and his people will have a fair chance to colonize Loren II.

Happy ending? Well, Huyghens’ plan for dealing with the apex predators is to poison their breeding grounds and drive them to extinction, and no one brings up the effects that might have on the ecology. There’s no intelligent aliens in this series, but also no consideration for what happens to local animals or plant life.

Still, this is great manly adventure stuff, and the best story in the book.

“The Swamp Was Upside Down” has Bordman as one of the most senior of Senior Agents, called back to Sector HQ on Canna III as they are facing their own crisis. Canna III is an ocean planet, with HQ built on the one sizable island not under an ice cap; Survey had put the headquarters here as it was not a place people would normally colonize. But the need for support staff, and people to support them, and their families, etc. means that there’s a substantial civilian population.

Due to over irrigation by the civilians and the unusual geology of the island, the topsoil and all the buildings on it are in danger of sliding into the sea. In theory, the civilians could be temporarily housed on the un-irrigated Survey base while a solution is found, but a mistake in storage has turned the groundwater below that location into an explosive that could go off at any major vibration.

Of course, these problems are the solution to each other as soon as Bordman thinks it through.

A major subplot is Bordman mentoring a junior Agent, Barnes, who’s stuck on the planet with him, turning him from a snotty orders-follower into someone who can think for himself but knows when that’s appropriate.

The book closes with Bordman becoming Sector Chief himself, and finally able to be with his family full time.

Overall, this is a fine book of its type and time, but that second story is dated even worse than usual for Fifties SF. If you’re okay with that, you should be able to find a used paperback cheaply with a little effort.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Leinster. So much so that I actually paid money for this book. So, perhaps my disappointment is reflected in my star rating. But still, it was a slog, and the attitudes are 'dated' even for when it was written. And it's just plain wrong about different 'races' of man [sic] having different capabilities. I bet the technology is somewhat more plausible, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

'As humans spread throughout the galaxy, thousands of planets have been colonized.
Often, the colonists discover too late that an apparently hospitable planet
conceals a terrible danger to their survival. The fate of these colonies scattered
across the galaxy rests with one man, whose own fate is to race forever against
looming interstellar disaster.'

Blurb from the 2003 Baen paperback edition

Originally published as ‘Colonial Survey’ by Gnome Press in 1956, and reissued in 1957 by Avon Press as ‘The Planet Explorer’, Leinster’s rather romantic view of humanity’s colonisation of other worlds is tempered by solid scientific theory. Some of the stories here (which have been re-written and combined into a novel format) are merely puzzle problems whereby colonies in mortal danger with no hope of rescue are saved by genial Colonial Surveyor Bordman who employs logic and scientific theory to turn each crisis into a mere drama.
‘Solar Constant’ is set on a planet where Humanity is doomed because of the arrival of a premature ice-age, Bordman uses rockets to scatter sodium above the atmosphere so that more sunlight is captured and reflected back onto the planet.
He works a similar trick in ‘Sand Doom’, set on a hot desert planet populated only by Black people and Amerindians because of their genetic tolerance for sunlight.
Similarly, in ‘The Swamp was Upside Down’ Bordman saves a colony founded on an escarpment which juts out of a world-spanning ocean, and which – due to Man’s stupidity – is sliding back into the sea.
In the longer and slightly less satisfying piece, ‘Combat Team’, Bordman is confronted by an illegal colony on a jungle planet; a man and a family of genetically engineered Kodiak bears. The official colony has been almost wiped out by an indigenous hostile species. Our ever genial and resourceful surveyor uses the bears to help rescue the survivors of an official colony; finds a way of eliminating the hostile species and is also able to authorise the man/bear colony as a viable experiment, thus legitimising their presence on the planet, since the bears function much better than robots in this environment.
Had Leinster been less casual about the genocide of an entire species (see also EE ‘Doc’ Smith) then this tale would be more palatable today. Some views of Humanity and its place in the universe date very badly.
It will be interesting to see what aspects of early 21st Century genre work date as badly.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2021/0...

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arguably the greatest sci-fi novel that i have ever read.
I am sure that whoever reads these four stories will be hooked to sci-fi for life.
Murray Leinster proves here that he fully deserves the title "the Dean of Science Fiction Writers'.
In all stories the ingenuity of 1 man and the technical abilities of his fellow sufferers are plotted against the impossible odds of a hostile and deadly planet environment.
The ingenuity of Boardman is based on the fact that he refuses to give up and keeps pouding at a problem (or its parts) till he finds a solution.
Adventure, strange planets, humor, tension, action, extreme conditions...
The first novel deals with the consequences of extreme cold, the second with the exact opposite: extreme heat, the third with a jungle planet with deadly animal life and the last one with a whole planet at the point of drowning.