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Brion Brandd #2
Planet of No Return
Originally published as Planet of No Return in 1956
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
11 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Poul Anderson
1,625 books1,112 followersPseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
December 29, 2018
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of crumpled and gigantic weapons of war, a graveyard of destruction stretching almost to the lifeless horizon. But the war wasn't over...and they weren't all wrecks!
It's an emergency. It's a job for Brion Brand, the mightiest weightlifter in the galaxy.
I’ll be honest, when I read the above (it’s an outtake from the synopsis on the back cover of the book), I did, for a moment think that maybe, just maybe, the term “weightlifter” had something to with the salvage of heavy machinery. Of course, it didn’t. Brion Brandd is the mightiest weightlifter in the galaxy. He is also the finest chess player, the swiftest sprinter, the greatest… well, you get the idea. And this isn’t open for interpretation or speculation. It just is. See, there’s this event, called The Twenties, which comprises twenty physical and mental events (Weightlifting and Chess included). If you win all of these, you are a Twenties Champion and, well, you get the picture. In order to understand the nature of the protagonist, consider the following: gets captured by the backward locals after being overwhelmed by vastly superior numbers (and knocked unconscious, which is a bit of an inconsistency, given the bulldozer nature of our hero), upon waking up promptly escapes with a captive of his own, quickly learns the local language in order to interrogate the captive, then goes back and takes over the tribe. All in a day’s work.
So, yes, this is Pulp Fiction. A planet adventure of the unintentionally hilarious kind. BUT Harrison was an accomplished writer and these novels do not pretend to be anything other than what they are, which is why he manages to pull it off (not in spectacular fashion, but admirably enough). It is also a good thing that he manages to come up with a problem and an antagonist that poses a real threat to Brandd (otherwise the whole thing would have been quite pointless).
It's worth noting that, while this is a direct sequel to Planet of the Damned, it was only released almost twenty years after its predecessor. On occasion I couldn’t help but feel that the author was having a good old time parodying himself and the genre in general. But who knows?
The snappy dialogue between Brandd and his partner (the “brilliant, sensuous Dr. Lea Morees”) is great fun. It does generate some intentional humour. As is the norm for this kind of thing: expect lots of the shaking of people like rags while their limbs flap, and the unceremonious squeezing of necks.
In closing: the premise of the series is quite interesting. It envisions a far future with colonies on many planets that have been cut off from humanity for a very long time, during and after a sequence of wars called The Breakdown Of The Earth Empire. The Cultural Relations Foundation is an organization tasked with finding these planets / colonies and investigating their current state of affairs (this story takes place about a thousand years after the wars ended).
"Temper, temper. Shouting will only raise your blood pressure and get you nowhere."
She sipped daintily while he fumed with impatience.
It's an emergency. It's a job for Brion Brand, the mightiest weightlifter in the galaxy.
I’ll be honest, when I read the above (it’s an outtake from the synopsis on the back cover of the book), I did, for a moment think that maybe, just maybe, the term “weightlifter” had something to with the salvage of heavy machinery. Of course, it didn’t. Brion Brandd is the mightiest weightlifter in the galaxy. He is also the finest chess player, the swiftest sprinter, the greatest… well, you get the idea. And this isn’t open for interpretation or speculation. It just is. See, there’s this event, called The Twenties, which comprises twenty physical and mental events (Weightlifting and Chess included). If you win all of these, you are a Twenties Champion and, well, you get the picture. In order to understand the nature of the protagonist, consider the following: gets captured by the backward locals after being overwhelmed by vastly superior numbers (and knocked unconscious, which is a bit of an inconsistency, given the bulldozer nature of our hero), upon waking up promptly escapes with a captive of his own, quickly learns the local language in order to interrogate the captive, then goes back and takes over the tribe. All in a day’s work.
So, yes, this is Pulp Fiction. A planet adventure of the unintentionally hilarious kind. BUT Harrison was an accomplished writer and these novels do not pretend to be anything other than what they are, which is why he manages to pull it off (not in spectacular fashion, but admirably enough). It is also a good thing that he manages to come up with a problem and an antagonist that poses a real threat to Brandd (otherwise the whole thing would have been quite pointless).
It's worth noting that, while this is a direct sequel to Planet of the Damned, it was only released almost twenty years after its predecessor. On occasion I couldn’t help but feel that the author was having a good old time parodying himself and the genre in general. But who knows?
The snappy dialogue between Brandd and his partner (the “brilliant, sensuous Dr. Lea Morees”) is great fun. It does generate some intentional humour. As is the norm for this kind of thing: expect lots of the shaking of people like rags while their limbs flap, and the unceremonious squeezing of necks.
In closing: the premise of the series is quite interesting. It envisions a far future with colonies on many planets that have been cut off from humanity for a very long time, during and after a sequence of wars called The Breakdown Of The Earth Empire. The Cultural Relations Foundation is an organization tasked with finding these planets / colonies and investigating their current state of affairs (this story takes place about a thousand years after the wars ended).
"Temper, temper. Shouting will only raise your blood pressure and get you nowhere."
She sipped daintily while he fumed with impatience.
April 27, 2022
Ah the classic space adventure. You've got to love them. Planet of No Return by Poul Anderson, published originally in 1956 is such an entertaining story.
7 years before, the explorer ship De Gama went out into space to see if the planet Troas was suitable for habitation by Earth. It never returned. After much finagling, a new ship, the Henry Hudson, heads out to discover what happened to the crew of the De Gama and to finish the mission.
Before the ship even takes off, there is an explosion that almost destroys it. The crew is a group of people who are at each other from the get-go and the crew psychomed Ed Avery seems ineffectual at getting them to work together. On arriving at Troas, a portion of the crew heads down to the planet to explore and discovers local inhabitants. This could impact on Earth's ability to populate the planet. A small group of the Hudson's crew goes with a party of locals to see what's what.
There you go. That's the crux of the story. When I was back in high school in the late 60's I used to love reading these Sci-Fi stories. They were always entertaining, explored new worlds, explored mankind and what it might become; neat ideas, neat mysteries, sometimes scary, always page turners. Anderson has crafted an enjoyable story. It's short, but he gets his ideas across, has interesting characters and I think, makes his point as well.
Interestingly, the idea was to have 3 Sci-Fi authors; Anderson, Isaac Asimov and James Blish (or Blish's wife) each write a story set on this world. Only Anderson and Asimov actually created their stories. Must try to find Asimov's. Anyway, most enjoyable. (3.5 stars)
7 years before, the explorer ship De Gama went out into space to see if the planet Troas was suitable for habitation by Earth. It never returned. After much finagling, a new ship, the Henry Hudson, heads out to discover what happened to the crew of the De Gama and to finish the mission.
Before the ship even takes off, there is an explosion that almost destroys it. The crew is a group of people who are at each other from the get-go and the crew psychomed Ed Avery seems ineffectual at getting them to work together. On arriving at Troas, a portion of the crew heads down to the planet to explore and discovers local inhabitants. This could impact on Earth's ability to populate the planet. A small group of the Hudson's crew goes with a party of locals to see what's what.
There you go. That's the crux of the story. When I was back in high school in the late 60's I used to love reading these Sci-Fi stories. They were always entertaining, explored new worlds, explored mankind and what it might become; neat ideas, neat mysteries, sometimes scary, always page turners. Anderson has crafted an enjoyable story. It's short, but he gets his ideas across, has interesting characters and I think, makes his point as well.
Interestingly, the idea was to have 3 Sci-Fi authors; Anderson, Isaac Asimov and James Blish (or Blish's wife) each write a story set on this world. Only Anderson and Asimov actually created their stories. Must try to find Asimov's. Anyway, most enjoyable. (3.5 stars)
January 19, 2017
Reading (or re-reading) science fiction of the Golden Age, I am struck again by the combination of intellectual complexity and literary simplicity. In other words, writers like Paul Anderson or Issac Asimov have astounding ideas but in terms of writing, their works are straightforward - if you want to be charitable - and primitive - if you don't. Much of SF today seems to suffer from the opposite problem: greater literary sophistication but recycled or incoherent concepts. So what's more important: idea or execution? This is not the question asked in this book but it's worth pondering anyway.
February 25, 2021
In general, I think that Harry Harrison is a damn fine writer and I've enjoyed quite a few of his books and series over the years.
This book, alas, is something that has the feel of of rushed job for which the author felt no love.
While there are flashes of his impressive talent here and there in the story, for the most part it is more akin to a light-weight, 1930's potboiler sort of space adventure than a modern SF story that one would expect from such a talented writer.
This book, alas, is something that has the feel of of rushed job for which the author felt no love.
While there are flashes of his impressive talent here and there in the story, for the most part it is more akin to a light-weight, 1930's potboiler sort of space adventure than a modern SF story that one would expect from such a talented writer.
January 9, 2015
Another great 20s champion story
My one regret in my reading this author's muse is his passing onto his next great adventures.
--Harry you are sorely missed
My one regret in my reading this author's muse is his passing onto his next great adventures.
--Harry you are sorely missed
April 29, 2016
Some time in the early 1950s, a publisher named Twaine (I've also seen it spelled Twayne) had a novel (ooh sorry for the pun) idea: get a bona fide scientist to visualize, in detail, a fictional alien planet that could actually exist according to known physical laws: its star type, its orbital characteristics, its climate and age, and the various life forms that might have evolved there—including, perhaps, intelligent natives. Then hand that world off to three well-known science fiction writers and have them set unrelated stories around that world. The result was known as a Twaine Triplet.
The scientist Twaine chose was John Drury Clark, whose Wikipedia entry describes him as "a noted American rocket fuel developer, chemist, and science fiction writer and fan. He was instrumental in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and influenced the writing careers of L. Sprague de Camp, Fletcher Pratt, and other authors."
The first triplet was published in 1952 under the title The Petrified Planet, and featured stories by Fletcher Pratt, H. Beam Piper and Judith Merril. Twaine apparently decided it was successful enough that he commissioned Clark to create another world, which Clark called Lagrange, and he convinced Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, and James Blish to write the stories.
Unfortunately Blish never wrote his story, for whatever reason; so the triplet never got published as such. But Luckily the other two stories were published in other anthologies of those authors' works. Asimov's work is called Sucker Bait and can be found in The Martian Way and Other Stories, published in 1955 (which I have reviewed separately); Anderson's contribution was called Question and Answer and was published as a standalone short novel in 1956. The edition I read came out in 1978 and included an introduction by Anderson explaining much of the above.
In Anderson's tale, scientists from an overcrowded Earth have invented a warp drive and exploration of the galaxy has begun [the population in the story is 7 billion, a point we reached in 2011; that must have seemed catastrophic in 1952, when world population was about 2.6 billion], but explorers had found essentially no colonizable planets not already occupied by technological species. One promising world, Lagrange, had been visited by the survey ship De Gama, but they never reported back. Only by great effort could the private Lagrange Institute raise the funds for a follow-up/rescue mission. This story recounts that expedition and the events that befall it. I'll say no more about the plot in order to avoid spoilers.
Anyone who has read my reviews of other books and stories by Poul Anderson know that he my very favorite of all science fiction authors. Therefore I was getting a little disappointed and frustrated by the time I was about 2/3 of the way through this book and found that the plot seemed very linear and predictable, the characters were two-dimensional ethnic stereotypes (e.g., the one German in the expedition is a weapons expert, short-tempered and aggressive, and speaks in a heavy Sergeant Schulz accent), and the main protagonist was weak-willed and unlikable. I was ready to chalk this up to the fact that Anderson was still in the early phase of his work (his first story had only been published in 1947, five years earlier), and write this story off as having prototype elements of his later, more masterful works, but not being a very great effort in and of itself.
Luckily that changed in the last third of the book. Anderson throws in one massive plot twist, then just when you think you see where things are going, twists it right back orthogonally to the two previous plot trajectories. The characters, including the main protagonist Lorenzen, come into their own, and have a monumental decision to make. The end of the books is quite satisfying, but at the same time unresolved and leads the reader to speculation. Very artfully done. I still say the story is obviously not as well-crafted as Anderson's later works, but you can clearly see the raw talent for story and compelling details even at this early stage.
The scientist Twaine chose was John Drury Clark, whose Wikipedia entry describes him as "a noted American rocket fuel developer, chemist, and science fiction writer and fan. He was instrumental in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and influenced the writing careers of L. Sprague de Camp, Fletcher Pratt, and other authors."
The first triplet was published in 1952 under the title The Petrified Planet, and featured stories by Fletcher Pratt, H. Beam Piper and Judith Merril. Twaine apparently decided it was successful enough that he commissioned Clark to create another world, which Clark called Lagrange, and he convinced Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, and James Blish to write the stories.
Unfortunately Blish never wrote his story, for whatever reason; so the triplet never got published as such. But Luckily the other two stories were published in other anthologies of those authors' works. Asimov's work is called Sucker Bait and can be found in The Martian Way and Other Stories, published in 1955 (which I have reviewed separately); Anderson's contribution was called Question and Answer and was published as a standalone short novel in 1956. The edition I read came out in 1978 and included an introduction by Anderson explaining much of the above.
In Anderson's tale, scientists from an overcrowded Earth have invented a warp drive and exploration of the galaxy has begun [the population in the story is 7 billion, a point we reached in 2011; that must have seemed catastrophic in 1952, when world population was about 2.6 billion], but explorers had found essentially no colonizable planets not already occupied by technological species. One promising world, Lagrange, had been visited by the survey ship De Gama, but they never reported back. Only by great effort could the private Lagrange Institute raise the funds for a follow-up/rescue mission. This story recounts that expedition and the events that befall it. I'll say no more about the plot in order to avoid spoilers.
Anyone who has read my reviews of other books and stories by Poul Anderson know that he my very favorite of all science fiction authors. Therefore I was getting a little disappointed and frustrated by the time I was about 2/3 of the way through this book and found that the plot seemed very linear and predictable, the characters were two-dimensional ethnic stereotypes (e.g., the one German in the expedition is a weapons expert, short-tempered and aggressive, and speaks in a heavy Sergeant Schulz accent), and the main protagonist was weak-willed and unlikable. I was ready to chalk this up to the fact that Anderson was still in the early phase of his work (his first story had only been published in 1947, five years earlier), and write this story off as having prototype elements of his later, more masterful works, but not being a very great effort in and of itself.
Luckily that changed in the last third of the book. Anderson throws in one massive plot twist, then just when you think you see where things are going, twists it right back orthogonally to the two previous plot trajectories. The characters, including the main protagonist Lorenzen, come into their own, and have a monumental decision to make. The end of the books is quite satisfying, but at the same time unresolved and leads the reader to speculation. Very artfully done. I still say the story is obviously not as well-crafted as Anderson's later works, but you can clearly see the raw talent for story and compelling details even at this early stage.
June 1, 2020
review of
Harry Harrison's Planet of No Return
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - May 31, 2020
I just reviewed Harrison's The Technicolor Time Machine in April, 2020 ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ), & I wrote in that review: "I'm glad I'm finally getting around to reading Harrison." In fact, I'd already read Harrison's Tunnel Through The Deeps & reviewed it on February 14, 2014 ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... ), a mere 6 yrs before but I'd already forgotten about it. As I stated in the latter review: "Was I impressed? Not particularly, it was ok, maybe the lack of writerly innovation is motivated by this being a sortof tip-o-the-hat to Verne & /or Wells." I liked The Technicolor Time Machine more & that liking combined w/ my slogging thru a few other bks that I've been determined to read entirely w/o getting much pleasure from the experience led to my reading Planet of No Return. Alas, I might've enjoyed it even less than Tunnel Through The Deeps wch brings my estimation of Harrison as a writer back down again.
""I've reached a decision," he said. "And I hope Lea will agree. The lifeship will be armed and defended with all of the deadliest weapons that are available. We will also take every possible machine or device that might aid us on the planet. Then, when we are completely equipped, I am going down alone, without any machines or metallic devices of any kind. Bare handed if necessary. Lea, don't you agree that this will be the wisest course under the circumstances?"
"Her speechless look of horror was his only answer." - p 41
Apparently this story takes place in the 21st century. That would account for the "speechless look of horror" in response to going anywhere w/o a cell-phone.
"["]I have no metal, nor do I wear anything made of artificial fibers."
""Not even the fillings in your teeth?" she asked, smiling.
""No, not even them." Brion was unsmiling and deadly serious. "All of the metallic fillings have been removed and have been replaced with ceramic inlays.["]" - p 47
Personally, I'll wear metal if I've bought it from a thrift store so that I'm not responsible for directly killing any metal for these purchases.
"["]They slung us from poles like corpses. Carried us all night. I was sure they had murdered you."
"He tried to smile but could only grimace. "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."" - p 101
I love that old joke. I think it might've originated w/ Jesus. I hear he had a great sense of tumor. Or maybe that was Lazarus. Speaking of Lazarus's chest cavity:
"["]The whole interior is so cramped that it must have been designed for robot control. See that metal tube? That's the ammunition feed for the recoilless canon. It goes right across the interior, right through the space where a human gunner or driver would sit. But there is more than enough space to site the control units for robot operation."
""I don't understand. How can this be possible?" Lea said. "I thought that robots were incapable of injuring people? There are the robotic laws . . ."
""Perhaps on Earth, but they were never applied out at the fringes of the old Earth Empire. You are forgetting that robots are machines, nothing more. They are not human so we shouldn't be anthropomorphic about them. They do whatever they are programmed to do—and do it without emotional reactions of any kind.["]" - p 176
You probably won't find "recoilless canon" in any music dictionary so I'll provide a definition:
a piece in which the same melody is begun in different parts successively, so that the imitations overlap. without having the propellant theme shrink back physically or emotionally
Otherwise, note the reference to Isaac Asimov's famous story entitled I, Robot in wch the "3 Laws of Robotics" were introduced:
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
An article in Scientific American discusses the feasability of these laws: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar... . Artist Rich Pell made a great piece where he reminded DARPA of them too.
It wd interest me to see a list of all the bks that refer to Esperanto as a future universal language. I try to call attn to such instances whenever I run across them in my readings:
""Does he understand you, sergeant?" one of them called out.
""That's a wicked looked knife he's wearing."
""Tell him to drop it."
"Brion understood well enough; they were speaking Universal Esperanto, the interstellar language that everyone used in addition to their native tongue." - p 205
Like most, if not all, SF that I like, this is anti-militaristic:
"Words were not going to stop these martial madmen. They actually lived in a military and jingoist idea of heaven. Wave the flag, my country right or wrong, build up the armament industries, repeal all civil rights—and go to war forever!" - p 222
This bk was published in 1982 during the Reagan presidency. That about sums it up.
Harry Harrison's Planet of No Return
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - May 31, 2020
I just reviewed Harrison's The Technicolor Time Machine in April, 2020 ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ), & I wrote in that review: "I'm glad I'm finally getting around to reading Harrison." In fact, I'd already read Harrison's Tunnel Through The Deeps & reviewed it on February 14, 2014 ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... ), a mere 6 yrs before but I'd already forgotten about it. As I stated in the latter review: "Was I impressed? Not particularly, it was ok, maybe the lack of writerly innovation is motivated by this being a sortof tip-o-the-hat to Verne & /or Wells." I liked The Technicolor Time Machine more & that liking combined w/ my slogging thru a few other bks that I've been determined to read entirely w/o getting much pleasure from the experience led to my reading Planet of No Return. Alas, I might've enjoyed it even less than Tunnel Through The Deeps wch brings my estimation of Harrison as a writer back down again.
""I've reached a decision," he said. "And I hope Lea will agree. The lifeship will be armed and defended with all of the deadliest weapons that are available. We will also take every possible machine or device that might aid us on the planet. Then, when we are completely equipped, I am going down alone, without any machines or metallic devices of any kind. Bare handed if necessary. Lea, don't you agree that this will be the wisest course under the circumstances?"
"Her speechless look of horror was his only answer." - p 41
Apparently this story takes place in the 21st century. That would account for the "speechless look of horror" in response to going anywhere w/o a cell-phone.
"["]I have no metal, nor do I wear anything made of artificial fibers."
""Not even the fillings in your teeth?" she asked, smiling.
""No, not even them." Brion was unsmiling and deadly serious. "All of the metallic fillings have been removed and have been replaced with ceramic inlays.["]" - p 47
Personally, I'll wear metal if I've bought it from a thrift store so that I'm not responsible for directly killing any metal for these purchases.
"["]They slung us from poles like corpses. Carried us all night. I was sure they had murdered you."
"He tried to smile but could only grimace. "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."" - p 101
I love that old joke. I think it might've originated w/ Jesus. I hear he had a great sense of tumor. Or maybe that was Lazarus. Speaking of Lazarus's chest cavity:
"["]The whole interior is so cramped that it must have been designed for robot control. See that metal tube? That's the ammunition feed for the recoilless canon. It goes right across the interior, right through the space where a human gunner or driver would sit. But there is more than enough space to site the control units for robot operation."
""I don't understand. How can this be possible?" Lea said. "I thought that robots were incapable of injuring people? There are the robotic laws . . ."
""Perhaps on Earth, but they were never applied out at the fringes of the old Earth Empire. You are forgetting that robots are machines, nothing more. They are not human so we shouldn't be anthropomorphic about them. They do whatever they are programmed to do—and do it without emotional reactions of any kind.["]" - p 176
You probably won't find "recoilless canon" in any music dictionary so I'll provide a definition:
a piece in which the same melody is begun in different parts successively, so that the imitations overlap. without having the propellant theme shrink back physically or emotionally
Otherwise, note the reference to Isaac Asimov's famous story entitled I, Robot in wch the "3 Laws of Robotics" were introduced:
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
An article in Scientific American discusses the feasability of these laws: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar... . Artist Rich Pell made a great piece where he reminded DARPA of them too.
It wd interest me to see a list of all the bks that refer to Esperanto as a future universal language. I try to call attn to such instances whenever I run across them in my readings:
""Does he understand you, sergeant?" one of them called out.
""That's a wicked looked knife he's wearing."
""Tell him to drop it."
"Brion understood well enough; they were speaking Universal Esperanto, the interstellar language that everyone used in addition to their native tongue." - p 205
Like most, if not all, SF that I like, this is anti-militaristic:
"Words were not going to stop these martial madmen. They actually lived in a military and jingoist idea of heaven. Wave the flag, my country right or wrong, build up the armament industries, repeal all civil rights—and go to war forever!" - p 222
This bk was published in 1982 during the Reagan presidency. That about sums it up.
March 3, 2019
An hour and a half I'm never going to get back.
Clumsy writing, thin plot, unbelievable dialogue, pre-enlightenment sexual politics, and very much every other fault of the pre-Iain M. Banks space opera genre.
After the first couple of chapters you will know enough to be able to guess the denouement closely enough for it not to matter.
Stick to the Stainless Steel Rat.
Clumsy writing, thin plot, unbelievable dialogue, pre-enlightenment sexual politics, and very much every other fault of the pre-Iain M. Banks space opera genre.
After the first couple of chapters you will know enough to be able to guess the denouement closely enough for it not to matter.
Stick to the Stainless Steel Rat.
November 17, 2021
Planet of No Return is difficult for me to rate; on the one hand it reads like a page-turner, but on the other it's riddled with inconsistencies and awkward sentences which destroy the suspension of disbelief necessary for good science fiction. In one spot they open their last ration; then later on one of the characters is eating more rations and getting tired of them. In one scene they decide they should travel in daylight because the enemy alien machines can see them just as well in the dark; later on when approaching the alien machines he sticks to the shadows "for cover." At least a half dozen more like that, as if Harrison hadn't read his own previous chapters (but sometimes these discrepancies occur within the same page). It was suspenseful enough to keep me reading though. I enjoyed Stainless Steel Rat decades ago and did not notice any such problems with that.
February 26, 2023
Гаррисон исписался и сам уже скучает от своего экшна. Думал даже поставить одну звезду, но развязка довольна смешная.
May 14, 2020
My high hopes for this early Anderson novella were dashed by the ending, and although I won't give out any detailed spoilers here, I will address my disappointment in general terms. This story was written in response to a challenge issued to Anderson, Isaac Asmiov, and James Blish: Given a fictional, Earth-like planet, Troas, "designed by a professional scientist" (as Anderson informs us in his Introduction), each author was asked to write a story around it, which were originally intended to be published as a single collection. Evidently Blish never completed his manuscript, so Anderson and Asimov published their versions separately (with the latter's appearing under the title "Sucker Bait").
On the plus side, Anderson's story is fast-paced and offers enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Despite this, the solution to one of the several major mysteries posed by this tale was obvious from early on, but there were a number of others which were held in effective suspense until their reveals as the story worked up to its climax. In fact, the premise that Anderson sets up is so juicy that the reader is a bit disappointed that, when publishing this as a stand-alone novel, he did not choose to revise it and flesh it out. Its slim 150 pages could easily have filled twice as many without growing tedious or resorting to padding, especially given the thin character development and the many lost opportunities to delve into extraterrestrial culture in a more detailed manner. From that perspective, then, "Question and Answer" feels a little lightweight, despite the highly provocative nature of its central themes.
That alone might have garnered this book a four-star rating as opposed to five, but it was the ending which really left a bad taste in my mouth. First is its anticlimactic character. Having built up considerable suspense on numerous points, Anderson allows all of that tension to bleed out like air hissing from a slashed tire, as opposed to the explosive "POP!" of an over-inflated balloon. Aside from this, however, the author's political philosophy, a sort of Randian libertarianism, diminishes his vision, in the opinion of this reader. When faced with the choice of the slow, careful, thoughtful development of the human race and simply forging ahead in a damn-the-torpedoes, might-makes-right, manifest destiny manner, Anderson chooses the latter. It is hard to understand how an author who is so thoughtful in so many ways (e.g., he eschews the use of the term "Oriental" in favor of "Asian" in this 1954 work) can be so blind to the forest, but I suspect this characteristic emerges in other works of his as well.
I read this book in 2020, while under quarantine, ordered by my doctor due to my heart condition. The protagonist of this story is exactly the kind of person who would insist on his right to mill around in a big public crowd without a mask, and would kick against any restriction on that "right" (actually a privilege) on the basis that it would be injurious to his personal freedom. And the word for that, if my vocabulary serves me well, is: Yech!
On the plus side, Anderson's story is fast-paced and offers enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Despite this, the solution to one of the several major mysteries posed by this tale was obvious from early on, but there were a number of others which were held in effective suspense until their reveals as the story worked up to its climax. In fact, the premise that Anderson sets up is so juicy that the reader is a bit disappointed that, when publishing this as a stand-alone novel, he did not choose to revise it and flesh it out. Its slim 150 pages could easily have filled twice as many without growing tedious or resorting to padding, especially given the thin character development and the many lost opportunities to delve into extraterrestrial culture in a more detailed manner. From that perspective, then, "Question and Answer" feels a little lightweight, despite the highly provocative nature of its central themes.
That alone might have garnered this book a four-star rating as opposed to five, but it was the ending which really left a bad taste in my mouth. First is its anticlimactic character. Having built up considerable suspense on numerous points, Anderson allows all of that tension to bleed out like air hissing from a slashed tire, as opposed to the explosive "POP!" of an over-inflated balloon. Aside from this, however, the author's political philosophy, a sort of Randian libertarianism, diminishes his vision, in the opinion of this reader. When faced with the choice of the slow, careful, thoughtful development of the human race and simply forging ahead in a damn-the-torpedoes, might-makes-right, manifest destiny manner, Anderson chooses the latter. It is hard to understand how an author who is so thoughtful in so many ways (e.g., he eschews the use of the term "Oriental" in favor of "Asian" in this 1954 work) can be so blind to the forest, but I suspect this characteristic emerges in other works of his as well.
I read this book in 2020, while under quarantine, ordered by my doctor due to my heart condition. The protagonist of this story is exactly the kind of person who would insist on his right to mill around in a big public crowd without a mask, and would kick against any restriction on that "right" (actually a privilege) on the basis that it would be injurious to his personal freedom. And the word for that, if my vocabulary serves me well, is: Yech!
November 24, 2024
This book was Fun with a capital F! Planet Of No Return (published 1982) is apparently a sequel, but you definitely don't have to have read the first one to enjoy this science fiction gem. It is action packed from the beginning, and it doesn't let up. While this is mostly a swash buckling space adventure, there are a few Big Issues discussed, including the seemingly ever-present sexism. Sexism-It's not just for Planet Earth! Our lead characters (Brion and Lea) are likeable, smart, and good fun to be around. I don't want to say much about what happens, lest I give something big away and spoil the fun. Just know that there will be lots of twists and turns and lots of fun. A very quick read and thoroughly enjoyable. If you are looking for a fun, fast, pulpy science fiction adventure, then buy your ticket now for a trip to the Planet of No Return!
June 3, 2011
I preferred this to the first one, marginally. The concept of robots fighting a war all their own has been done to death, though here there's a twist on the idea. The female is made much of here, perhaps more than in the initial title, which is maybe a sign of the times but does stand out somewhat today.
What I can't understand is why there aren't more of these books. They're short, would work serially and, really, are no worse than many other pulp series. Even without Brion, there are surely plenty of Anvharians about, Brion's only defining characteristic is his being Empathetic. Some series work and some don't, I guess.
What I can't understand is why there aren't more of these books. They're short, would work serially and, really, are no worse than many other pulp series. Even without Brion, there are surely plenty of Anvharians about, Brion's only defining characteristic is his being Empathetic. Some series work and some don't, I guess.
November 30, 2015
Big set up to tell us mankind still has animal instinct and passions, but we think he is capable of big things. He should be free to explore and determine his fate - not a fate determined by a small group of psychologists.
Anderson's writing is heavy-handed. Even if he wants to moralize or preach, I wish he wouldn't also suck the fun out of his stories.
Anderson's writing is heavy-handed. Even if he wants to moralize or preach, I wish he wouldn't also suck the fun out of his stories.
March 16, 2009
Flowing writing style. Moves quickly, perhaps too quickly to really develop the characters.
Interesting concept dealing with problem of finding expansion room (in the galaxy) for humans to settle and asking the question is that something we should even be trying to do?
Interesting concept dealing with problem of finding expansion room (in the galaxy) for humans to settle and asking the question is that something we should even be trying to do?
June 9, 2014
Sent to investigate another world, Brion Brandd discovers an automated war which has been going on for centuries. An enjoyable read by one of my favorite authors. Nice illustrations by Rick DeMarco.
November 9, 2025
I picked this off the shelf because its lavishly illustrated interior. It has images every 4 to 5 pages, and it looked like a fun adventure.
It's pure pulp SF, an adventure story kind of reminiscent of a typical Target Dr Who novelization, and the plot is similar to what you might find in that franchise, though the tone is very different (more macho). Here we have a highly competent main character (more remarkable in the brawn dept than Dr Who, and something of a Marty Stu) named Brion who works for the Cultural Relations Foundation of... some federation or something. He has a capable but less remarkable companion (and lover) named Lea to act as his conscience. Together, they descend to a mysterious planet where previous agents have already landed and been mysteriously killed. Brion and Lea have to solve the mystery of the planet. They meet some natives who don't really trust them and who are also caught up in the mystery. Eventually they discover the root of the mystery and things resolve (he says, without giving anything away). Sounds like a Dr. Who plot, no?
Sadly, most Dr Who novelizations pack a lot more in the ways of twists and turns into their (typically) 140 or so pages than this novel does in 230, so this once comes off comparatively poorly. Plus I found the resolution slightly dissatisfying. Still, it was a snappy read, wasn't awful, and was nicely illustrated for a bit of nostalgic fun, so I give it 2.5 out of 5, rounded up to 3 for the Rick DeMarco illustrations.
It's pure pulp SF, an adventure story kind of reminiscent of a typical Target Dr Who novelization, and the plot is similar to what you might find in that franchise, though the tone is very different (more macho). Here we have a highly competent main character (more remarkable in the brawn dept than Dr Who, and something of a Marty Stu) named Brion who works for the Cultural Relations Foundation of... some federation or something. He has a capable but less remarkable companion (and lover) named Lea to act as his conscience. Together, they descend to a mysterious planet where previous agents have already landed and been mysteriously killed. Brion and Lea have to solve the mystery of the planet. They meet some natives who don't really trust them and who are also caught up in the mystery. Eventually they discover the root of the mystery and things resolve (he says, without giving anything away). Sounds like a Dr. Who plot, no?
Sadly, most Dr Who novelizations pack a lot more in the ways of twists and turns into their (typically) 140 or so pages than this novel does in 230, so this once comes off comparatively poorly. Plus I found the resolution slightly dissatisfying. Still, it was a snappy read, wasn't awful, and was nicely illustrated for a bit of nostalgic fun, so I give it 2.5 out of 5, rounded up to 3 for the Rick DeMarco illustrations.
December 12, 2025
A Favorite Story
I still have my paperback copy of this book from when it was first published in 1981. I have read it periodically and am thrilled it is now on Kindle as my eyes appreciate being able to increase the font size for easier reading as I age.
This is the story of a world inhabited by stone age primitives hiding from the war machines that drive and fly over the surface of Selm II, their homeworld. Brion Brandd has been assigned to find out who is running the endless was along with his fiancé Lea. Two previous attempts to make contact and discover the truth have ended with the expeditions wiped out by the endless war. Now it is their turn to try where others have failed.
This book is a sequel to Planet of the Damned which is also a fun read, but I read them out of order the first time and they are stand alone stories with the same main characters.
I still have my paperback copy of this book from when it was first published in 1981. I have read it periodically and am thrilled it is now on Kindle as my eyes appreciate being able to increase the font size for easier reading as I age.
This is the story of a world inhabited by stone age primitives hiding from the war machines that drive and fly over the surface of Selm II, their homeworld. Brion Brandd has been assigned to find out who is running the endless was along with his fiancé Lea. Two previous attempts to make contact and discover the truth have ended with the expeditions wiped out by the endless war. Now it is their turn to try where others have failed.
This book is a sequel to Planet of the Damned which is also a fun read, but I read them out of order the first time and they are stand alone stories with the same main characters.
June 12, 2021
“Planet of No Return” by Harry Harrison (1983)
Overall Rating 5/10 – No reason to come back
Critique
“Basic and lame” – fairly basic writing skill set. Very typical 70’s. You can get fed up with the “same old same old” storylines although this one did have a bit of a kick at the end.
Plot
In the search for a planet to colonise – two advance scouts (separately) go down to the planet but fail to return. Sergeant Brion Brandd is sent down with his companion Prof Le Morales. There they discover a native people and advanced war machines and a strange black metal column.
Writing Style
Very 70’s. A couple of occasions of “for” (perhaps 4 in total). Fairly basic vocabulary.
Point of View
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)
Overall Rating 5/10 – No reason to come back
Critique
“Basic and lame” – fairly basic writing skill set. Very typical 70’s. You can get fed up with the “same old same old” storylines although this one did have a bit of a kick at the end.
Plot
In the search for a planet to colonise – two advance scouts (separately) go down to the planet but fail to return. Sergeant Brion Brandd is sent down with his companion Prof Le Morales. There they discover a native people and advanced war machines and a strange black metal column.
Writing Style
Very 70’s. A couple of occasions of “for” (perhaps 4 in total). Fairly basic vocabulary.
Point of View
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)
Read
July 9, 2021The best thing about this book is the cover.
It could have been a good story but suffers from many inconsistencies that ruin it:
- the natives are women and men, no children
- women are like dirt and do not fight, but the first attack on the main characters has the women take them down with well thrown stones.
- no buildings can be seen from space but the main characters see remnants of a city
- the main characters go along with the backward societal customs even when in a great position to educate them that women are equals.
- the war which is central to the book is not well explained, seems to be all automated (and televised) but the true combat is not mentioned.
It could have been a good story but suffers from many inconsistencies that ruin it:
- the natives are women and men, no children
- women are like dirt and do not fight, but the first attack on the main characters has the women take them down with well thrown stones.
- no buildings can be seen from space but the main characters see remnants of a city
- the main characters go along with the backward societal customs even when in a great position to educate them that women are equals.
- the war which is central to the book is not well explained, seems to be all automated (and televised) but the true combat is not mentioned.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2024
Think the literary equivalent of the 'B' movie. Not deep by any means, but entertaining. I did not read the previous book in this short series but I guess it was not necessary. The hero succeeds against overwhelming odds! Giant tanks, planes and fighting machines! It's an interesting twist towards the end, and a kind of foreseeable ending. But it is a pretty good tale that does what it is supposed to do. Entertain. Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, I stretched it a little because I do like Harrison.
November 24, 2019
Ultimately and sadly a bit disappointing. I picked it up because I loved Planet of the Damned (the original Brion Brandd adventure). As it turned out, this sequel was less engaging, less interesting, and the ending felt very rushed. I feel like there is a much better book buried here if only the story could come to its conclusion naturally.
July 9, 2023
Brion is called off world once again.
There he struggles to survive.
Tribal men lead him to a endless battlefield.
Brion and his female lae.
There they discover the machines.
Tanks controlled by an
intergalactic government.
The wars will end as mineral extraction is near complete.
Brion cares that the
tribal people will be safe.
There he struggles to survive.
Tribal men lead him to a endless battlefield.
Brion and his female lae.
There they discover the machines.
Tanks controlled by an
intergalactic government.
The wars will end as mineral extraction is near complete.
Brion cares that the
tribal people will be safe.
November 25, 2025
I enjoyed this book and that it had a true message it spent a long time building. However, for a short book, I felt that Anderson spent too much time building context and character background and not enough time building characters themselves. Again I enjoyed but not in my top science fiction stories by far.
March 28, 2024
This was a good, fast read. I'm a fan of Harry Harrison's writing style from when i was a kid (40+ years ago), and hadnt read these couple of Planet series books. I recommend to any interested in Sci-fi!
January 18, 2018
Fun read with great illustrations! Do not approach this if you are looking for something serious, but a quick read.
September 4, 2018
Īss H.Hrisona fantastikas stāstiņš. It kā viss ok, bet kaut kā nepavilka. Morāli nedaudz novecojis. Un grāmatsas vidū viss bija skaidrs. H.Harisonam ir arī labāki darbi.
February 13, 2021
One word = epic
March 31, 2025
thumbs up emoji
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2019
In some ways this felt more like an essay or discussion on the ethics and desirability of space exploration and colonization rather than a novel. The reason for this is twofold; first there was a lot of exposition; almost an entire chapter was spent on explaining psychoanalytics and another on the Anderson’s fictional history of space exploration so far. Secondly, the characters are little more than stereotypes, and the small bit of character development undergone by the main character (John Lorenzen) seems entirely unjustified. This is a pity as, by the end of the book, the reader is expected to accept him as the voice for humankind, arguing that man should be allowed to explore and grow. (I am deliberately using ‘humankind’ and ‘man’ interchangeably as this is the pattern Anderson follows, and as there is not a female character in the book it seems the two may be the same in his mind.
So those are the negatives, on the positive side, this book is interesting as a counterpoint to the Foundation stories by Isaac Asimov. Asimov’s Galactic Empire is built on Psychohistory, while the end point of this book is an argument against allowing such subtle manipulation of man’s development by social scientists. This makes it an interesting historical sf novel, but it doesn’t really hold up, in style or subject, as modern science-fiction.
So those are the negatives, on the positive side, this book is interesting as a counterpoint to the Foundation stories by Isaac Asimov. Asimov’s Galactic Empire is built on Psychohistory, while the end point of this book is an argument against allowing such subtle manipulation of man’s development by social scientists. This makes it an interesting historical sf novel, but it doesn’t really hold up, in style or subject, as modern science-fiction.
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