Lifeboat

by Harry Harrison, Gordon R. Dickson

Castaways between the stars...

Trapped in the confines of their fragile lifeship, a tiny band of aliens and humans faces the awesome challenge of survival after the mysterious explosion of a giant spaceship.

Giles Steel, a member of Earth's master race, assumes responsibility for erupting tempers, the dwindling food supply...and the saboteur whose ugly work has already begun!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Space Opera, American, Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1976

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Harry Harrison (born Henry Maxwell Dempsey) was an American science fiction author best known for his character the The Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966), the basis for the film Soylent Green (1973). He was also (with Brian W. Aldiss) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out a discussion with Deb at Omnivorous Reader HERE.

This is a short novel that has some awesome science fictional elements mixed with some social commentary. Two aliens, an elite class human and seven lower class humans flee a destroyed spaceship in a lifeship (aka lifeboat). There is some mystery of why the spaceship was destroyed and what our elite class human is up to. The plot and setting were very entertaining, making this a very fast read. The claustrophobic setting and science fictional elements dispersed throughout the book were my favorite parts. The social commentary was an interesting part of the novel, but they ended up convoluting the ending of the story a bit. Still a fun enjoyable read.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in high school and got an urge to go back and re-read it. Although the social differences between humans and the aliens was interesting and obviously the main point of the book, I found the technological speculation to be very good. Hidden flat panel displays in the walls of the lifeship? Scrolling back through route information on both the life ship and the dune buggy, and on the dune buggy giving it voice directions and having it follow them. That's all stuff that can be done now but hard to imagin in 1976.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so thoroughly enjoyed this small sci fi novel that I was and am completely mystified as to its horribly low online rating. I found it action packed, tension filled, and a unique mystery that was hard to uncover until the very end.

Giles Steel is an Adelborn, one of the earth's select and selected ruling class, overseeing the many millions of common arbites, laborers who are taught to obey and live as slaves. Steel is helping to oversee taking a group of arbites to a colony world from Earth on an alien Albenareth space ship when the ship is rocked by an explosion, apparently by a bomb some saboteur has placed on it. Steel helps some eight arbites get to a lifeship with two Albenareth, a captain and an engineer, and they take off, and then the trouble really begins. For the Albenareth, Heaven entails space going, and ultimately dying in space. Thus, these two aliens were denied their shot at Heaven by these humans, which doesn't sit well with them. Then, some of these arbites seem a little too ... independent ... for Steel and at some point, he has to deal with near mutiny. One turns out to be a World Police plainclothes cop, another an underground troublemaker, another a drug addict, etc. They all turn out to be more complex and more human than Steel had ever thought possible, however, and he becomes close to them all as day turns into night turns into day.

The Captain is determined to go to the original ship's destination, which is over 100 days away, even though there's an alternative destination less than halfway there. It's a matter of "honor," of delivering her (cause the captain is a female) humans -- dead or alive -- to their destination no matter what since her ship was blown up in order to save some honor. And the engineer has to go outside to make repairs on the engine and doesn't survive, but makes it back into the ship before dying. The captain feeds his body into the communal food trough, a recyclable vine of some sort that produces fruit and liquid and the arbites go nuts. Steel decides he has to set an example and tells them to man up, this is part of survival, life and death, just deal.

What no one knows is Steel is going to the Colony worlds in search of an old Adelborn buddy, Paul, who is trying to create an arbite revolution and destroy society as it exists, even though Steel and his younger buddies are ultimately in long term favor of providing arbites with their freedom and education and opportunities. Just not overnight. And he's come to assassinate Paul. And Paul is on this planet that is halfway between where the lifeship is and where their original destination was. In other words, where he is trying to unsuccessfully convince the Captain to take the lifeship. How did he know they'd be in that area of space? How could he have known there'd be an explosion crippling the ship, sending it near that planet? Finally, in desperation, before it becomes too late, he offers the Captain his last card -- he offers to give the Captain the person responsible for bombing his ship after the Captain has taken the humans to this alternative planet. He does so out of a sense of humanity and responsibility for the arbites onboard, as he has come to view them as real, legitimate, worthwhile people and not just nameless slaves. He's willing to give up his mission and his life to save them. Because it was he who placed the bomb. The Captain relents and adjusts course. However, the captain is pregnant and is growing weaker, believe it or not, all the time. Within a day or two, she goes into a coma. Before she could make the final course adjustment. There is absolute panic aboard the ship and everyone looks to Steel to save them while he tries to tell them that interstellar navigation is a scientific art. You can't just DO it. But he sits down with a computer whiz arbite and they start trying to work out some details as to where they are, where they need to go, what adjustments and corrections to make, and over the course of time, they do, even as their poisoned food supply runs low and then runs out. Just as they are passing out from lack of fluids and food, they are contacted by an Albenareth ship, are brought water, and are saved!

On this planet, at last, Steel makes arrangements to travel back to Earth in a couple of days and goes to see his contact while in search of Paul. However, he's been told his contact died a week or two ago, but his contact had a companion and that companion may be of some help. So he goes. And when he gets there, he goes in and, surprise, is met by someone holding a laser gun -- one of "his" arbites! He tells Steel he's there to help him while the others are out looking for him, but Steel is nervous because this man is rather simple, even though he's generally good. And soon the others come into the house, led by the police woman also carrying a laser gun. She shoots the other man and kills him and Paul, the Adelborn Steel is seeking, appears. He and Steel speak and continue to disagree, but it's clear that Biset, the police woman, is telling everyone what to do and she tells Steel of a plan by the "Association" to kill ALL of the Adelborn and manager-level arbites within six months all in one day and establish a new arbite-only world, led, of course, by she and her cronies. He's aghast at the suggestion that many millions of people would all be killed in one day by this plan, but then she shoots him, wounding him, and he feels some pain. She then tells another woman to shoot him again, and this woman does, even though she's a "friend" and clearly doesn't want to. Steel wakes to her tying him to his vehicle, complete with his two gunshot wounds, and the corpse of the man Biset killed a little while ago. She tells him to go to a hospital and sets the vehicle off toward the main city and with what little strength he has left, he tells the vehicle to head for the Albenareth section of the city. When he arrives, he is asked what he wants and he asks for the Captain and asks that she come to see him at the gate. She does, even though this is a little odd, as they were constantly at each other's throats during their travels and his successful piloting of her ship to the planet while she was in a coma is more personal humiliation for her. It's one of the more unbelievable aspects of the book. Nonetheless, he asks for her help. He tells her both Albenareth and Human races lack something the other has and can help each other by helping each other and if she helps him now, she can save a huge number of humans and can conceivably help kick start a new type of relations between the races that could lead to saving each race. A big speech with big ideas, sure, but why not swing for the fences? She asks him what could they possibly have in common that they currently lack and he says "friendship," a term she is unfamiliar with. The irony is, he grew up without friends himself, taken from his family and trained for his duty and life since age four and best student/friends with Paul back in the day, which doesn't say much. But it's his only hope. He describes human friendship and she is interested enough to decide it's worth the risk, so she goes with him back to the house where he was wounded. They enter and the group is still there and then rather than take them by surprise and use the alien's size and strength to disarm them, the Albenareth announces that Steel has told her of human friendship and she would like to hear more of this. Um, disaster. Everyone is staring. Steel immediately appeals to Paul, who ironically is now tied up and bleeding. But Paul coldly blows him off and tells him they were never friends. Biset then tells the others they should kill Steel, but one, an arbite woman Steel befriended on the lifeship named Mara, comes over to him and announces her friendship. So then do two others, one of whom he saved from drug addiction, the other of whom he used as a peer to help them guide the ship to safety with the use of his computer and his head for numbers. Then two more come over to his side. Biset loses it and raises her gun, but the alien captain heads for her and before she can do any real damage, she kills her and then the room is full of both human and Albenareth police. They were followed and now all is known and presumably, all will be better.

The book ends with this scene and it could have ended better. For instance, Steel had told the arbites on the lifeship that if they just worked at co-existing and surviving, he'd buy their indentured contracts and free them all when they arrived on the planet and I longed to see that and see what would happen to them. But I was denied that and it was disappointing. Moreover, the thing that actually led to saving Steel and the plot was somewhat weak, in my opinion. Friendship between races. Maybe. But really, it was the killing of an arbite police woman in an underground plot, which still has thousands, maybe millions, of people involved, that Steel told the alien would save possibly millions of human lives. I don't know if killing this one human accomplished that. I'm not sure it did. It feels a little weak and hollow to me. I wonder if the authors couldn't have thought the ending out a little bit better and come up with something more solid, because everything up to that point had been tight -- everything had been covered, all angles, all plans, all plots, all details. It was a good, entertaining, tension-filled story. To end it so weakly just forces me to drop my rating from five stars to four, which is unfortunate, because I enjoyed this book so much, but if the ending is weak, it can't be a five star book, no matter what. Nonetheless, it's certainly a short, fun book to read. I read it in one day. It's entertaining and light. And it's certainly recommended.

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torpid in spots, lacking much of Harrison's distinctive input. Nonetheless interesting, I was reminded a little of James White.

[Yanik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Harrison read and I was pleasantly surprised. Where I expected boisterous space-noir adventure, I was treated with a well thought out exposition and criticism of apartheid/segregation and a suspenseful moralistic story in very compact and well paced format.
The message of equality, and actually practicing it, as well as some very detailed technical futuristic components for a 1973 story are quiet ahead of its time.
Three very strong female characters in its concise cast as well as a gay minority ‘arbite’ character, while keeping it fully in context and natural adds to this theme.
Most importantly, the story was full of twists developments and mystery. Really looking forward to picking up more of mr.Harrison.

[Antonio Ippolito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una nave da trasporto interstellare, carica di coloni della classe dei “laboranti”, è a metà del volo verso il pianeta di destinazione, quando è scossa e squarciata da un’esplosione; solo una delle scialuppe di salvataggio riesce a sfuggire, con a bordo otto “laboranti” (tra cui uno della sottoclasse dei “faticanti”) e un “blasonato”, membro della classe dominante, vincolata al senso dell’onore e del dovere, ma che porta su di sé diversi segreti. Con loro anche due alieni Nareth (in originale Albenareth), gli unici in grado di gestire il viaggio nel cosmo, per loro un modo di raggiungere una superiore dimensione spirituale. La convivenza tra umani e alieni, e tra umani delle varie classi, diventerà presto difficilissima in questa capsula che minaccia di diventare un’altra “Zattera della Medusa”.. anche perché diverse persone hanno qualcosa da nascondere.
Breve e brillante romanzo dove la critica sociale di Harrison si sposa bene all’avventura spaziale di Dickson. Anche se il titolo italiano e la quarta di copertina sottolineano l’aspetto thriller della trama, questo non è realmente presente, almeno nella versione italiana (si intuisce la consueta “asciugatura” del 30% dell’originale, per esempio in scene che finiscono nel nulla: come quando il blasonato Giles si accorge che il laborante Groce sta sbagliando a scrivere nel computer i dati per ricalcolare la rotta.. perchè?).
Il titolo originale (Lifeboat o The lifeship) si riferisce invece alla sopravvivenza nella capsula, complicata dalla convivenza con i Nareth, la loro complessa spiritualità e complessa biologia. Gli autori sono molto bravi a rappresentare sia gli alieni sia le diverse classi sociali e la “presa di coscienza” del protagonista, blasonato “progressista” sì ma che non aveva mai visto un laborante da vicino; come spesso accade, ci vuole una donna determinata e incurante della di lui alterigia per aprirgli gli occhi a forza.. Interessanti le dichiarazioni femministe della laborante Mara (“quando una classe sociale viene oppressa, gli uomini in essa possono cadere in depressione, ma per le donne è il contrario”) e gli accenni a relazioni omosessuali (il laborante Hem con il compagno di baracca Jase, e forse con lo stesso blasonato Giles): niente di rivoluzionario, Delany ne parlava da diversi anni e in quel 1975 aveva pubblicato “Dhalgren”, comunque novità, soprattutto per Urania.
Il finale, che non anticipo, ha un po’ il sapore della conclusione di “Assassinio sull’Orient Express”: molti intrighi vengono svelati ma non se ne sentiva il bisogno, perché non si sospettava una tale complessità; soprattutto, l’equipaggio che sembrava raccogliticcio si dimostra scelto apposta fin dall’inizio..
Mi spiace dargli lo stesso 3/5 appena dato al “Diluvio” di Creasey; in questo caso sicuramente meritato.
In appendice, ”Il metalmeccanico e la moglie” di tal Robert Frede è la versione brooklyniana di una celebre fiaba russa.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably a four and a half star read, not quite a five star, but I really enjoyed it, despite a few flaws.

We start with our main protagonist Giles, is on a huge spaceship just as a bomb goes off. It is all frenetic and fast paced and gives us a startling amount of worldbuilding very fast and very organically.

The ship belongs to and is run by a race of spacefaring aliens called Albanareth. This race believes that traveling space is a religious experience, also that dying in space is the ultimate communion and goal, but only AFTER one has achieved enough merit.

Thus, when our Protagonist Giles is trapped on a lifeboat with seven other people and two aliens, the aliens are depressed from having lost status through the destruction of their spaceship. This leads them to intend on reaching the original destination of the spaceship alive or dead. Giles tries, with increasing desperation to convince the captain to travel to a closer mining asteroid.

Now Giles, we know, has a deeper game - before leaving the spaceship he ran back to his cabin for a warrant and he got past the alien trying to send him to the lifeboat by invoking his status as an Adelman. It seems in this future Universe, humanities' response to ecological concerns was to split the race into a cast system where a few 'Adelmen' rule with iron fists of the majority of humanity who are 'arbites'. The isolation of the lifeboat allows the authors to give us a lot of information and insight into the culture of this future humanity they have created.

There are also complicated counterculture groups in which Giles in enmeshed and we know some of the 'arbites' under him on the lifeboat must be too. But the majority of the novel is a really fun story of the 'stuck in a lifeboat under cramped conditions type. There are a lot of really good science ideas: the navigation system of the Albanareth and the maths behind it, the all inclusive IB vine, which gives the inhabitants of the lifeboat all the nutrition and air they need for the trip. The very interesting ideas around the lifeboat itself and it's functions.

The ending is a little disorganised and a bit pat in terms of human/alien insta-understanding, but despite the less than ideal ending it is still, in my estimation, a top notch classic SF from two authors hat I am very fond of.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

"All right. Listen, then, all of you," he said, speaking to them all. "The Albenareth think of space as if it were heaven. To them, the planets and all inhabited solid bodies are the abode of the Imperfect. An Albenareth gains Perfection by going into space. The more trips and the more time spent away from planetfall, the more Perfection gained. You noticed the Captain identified himself as 'Rayumung' and the Engineer as 'Munghanf.' Those aren't names. They're ranks, like stair-steps on the climb to a status of Perfection. They've got nothing to do with the individual's duties aboard a space vessel, except that the more responsible duties go to those of higher rank, generally."

I picked this up in a wonderful bookshop in Southport which boasted a whole floor dedicated to second hand books. When I saw Harry Harrison listed as co-author, I knew it would be a ripping space adventure with dystopian undertones. I really wasn't disappointed.

When a routine voyage to the distant colonies is dramatically curtailed when an explosion rips through the space-liner a group of humans and two aliens, the Albenareth, find themselves stranded in one of the Lifeboats.

The Albenareth sense of duties and unwavering believe in their religion causes clashes with the humans who want to shorten their time aboard by travelling to a nearby mining colony rather than their original intended destination.

Meanwhile, the humans themselves are in conflict. Amongst them, an Alderman; a high standing and class than the arbites onboard, genetically engineered to perform the simple tasks that no Alderman would dream of completing. There is also the possibility of a traitor amongst their ranks who will do anything to their rebellious cause.

A really good read; lots of twists and turns and with a social commentary which is as relevant today as it was back in the late 70s when it was written. 4 stars.

[YourFriendlyBard · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Astroincendio Doloso" è il tipico romanzo pienamente godibile per chiunque sia disposto a dimenticarsi delle premesse su cui la storia si basa. Scritto in modo buono (ma non eccelso) e con dei personaggi caratterizzati in modo sufficiente (ma non soddisfacente), il libro trova il suo punto di forza in una storia coinvolgente che è pienamente in grado di intrattenere. Inoltre ho trovato positivo il messaggio di accettazione del diverso che permea tutta la vicenda.
Tuttavia, in ogni altro ambito sono presenti delle pecche che minano la godibilità dell'opera: il protagonista che passa, nella prima parte del libro, dall'essere fondamentale razzista ad una persona pienamente pronta ad accettare esseri diversi da lui (sia umani che non), un inizio in medias res che risulta confusionario dato che da per scontate informazioni che il lettore non può avere e parti di lore aggiunte soltanto nel momento in cui sono utili alla trama (rendendo i colpi di scena meno impattanti di quanto avrebbero potuto essere). Come se non bastasse, le rivelazioni finali sono mal costruite, palesemente artefatte e conseguentemente poco credibili.
In conclusione, consiglio "Astroincendio Doloso" soltanto a chi è disposto a passare sopra a ogni singolo difetto sopra elencato o a chi ha letto qualsiasi altro romanzo di fantascienza mai scritto.


- IL POST SCRIPTUM CONTIENE SPOILER -



PS: una navicella di salvataggio senza un'infermeria o anche solo un armadietto con dei materiali per il primo soccorso non è credibile in alcun contesto, neanche se si parla di navi aliene datate.

[SullyIsReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

(THIS REVIEW IS ORIGINALLY FROM STORYGRAPH, FROM 1ST JUNE 2023.)

I haven't read many novels that are shorter than two-hundred pages in the past - this is certainly changing though. I found the length of the story perfect for what was told, made enjoyable but effective and intriguing writing about a pressure-boiler situation where survival is all that matters. Without giving too much of a spoiler, the conclusion ends very satisfying despite what is at stake.

Some things do not get explored entirely; although Giles solves his argument with Paul over the matter of life into the future for humans, alongside Albenareth, the matter of Adelman and arbite-slaves is left hanging in the air. Will humanity reach a point similar to what Paul wants, or Giles - can this be achieved without bloodshed? Questions are left hanging that could have been explored more, however this is not a serious issue.

I wished to have known more about Mara, who stood out as the most interesting character to me besides the other main characters of the story, however she is left without much characterisation towards the end. For the length of the story, and the emphasis on survival in the plot, it makes sense that certain characters feel unexplored, however this is still something that feels could have been expanded on some more from a reading point of view.

Overall, an incredibly enjoyable read, and I finished the book in around a week.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

(aka Lifeboat) A routine trip on an alien Albenareth spaceship turns into a fight for life as an explosion rips the ship open and mere handfuls of people escape on board a lifeboat. Two aliens pilot and engineer the ship with eight humans. The social structures of the aliens are such that honour is gained by dying in space after all efforts have been made and they are determined to reach their original destination, despite a colony being much closer. The humans too have a strange social caste system, where the educated upper-class Adelmen rule over the uneducated arbites, who are indentured almost like slaves. Giles Steel, the Adelman, has some issues as well. He has knowledge that the explosion was a bomb and that there is at least one member of the arbite revolutionary group Black Thursday on board. There is also a not-so-secret Police agent and other suspicious individuals. Giles is also on a different mission, to the closer colony, to enact an assassination of a political ally-turned-foe. Harry Harrison & Gordon R. Dickson have given us a thrilling edge-of-the-seat ride through space on a dying lifeboat. Good stuff!

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

3.5/5

"Harry Harrison and Gordon R. Dickson’s The Lifeship (1976) is two parts tense and exciting adventure in the expanse of space and one part half-hearted “key differences between individuals are overcome in the end” attempts at social commentary. I found the first two-thirds of the work riveting. [...]"

[Chris Sudall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not one of Harry's better known books and also one with the lowest rated reviews.
Possibly because it feels more like a short story, with most of the action in a small area and then a rather sudden, and slightly unlikely, denouement. All the same, an enjoyable read smoothly written by an awesome author who was ahead of his time in regards to equality.

[L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good--a random SF novel from the seventies, out of print for decades==it's awesome. A hidden gem.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok tale of survival. Or it would be if the writing wasn't so stilted and overly-wordy. It doesn't read like Harrison at all

[Frank Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It will prove we can supply each other’s lack," said Giles. "It can prove we’re capable of small things together neither of us could manage alone."

This was excellent and just what I needed today.

[Alien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Raumschiff der Albanareth explodiert, nur ein Rettungsboot entkommt. An Bord sind menschliche Passagiere sowie die Albanareth-Pilotin und ihr Ingenieur.
Die Albanareth sind defätistisch und dekadent und streben ihrem Untergang entgegen. Die Menschen, die den Überlichtflug noch nicht gemeistert haben, sind einer krassen 2 - Klassengesellschaft verhaftet, doch eine Revolution bahnt sich an.
Mit diesem Hintergrund wird der Flug im Rettungsboot zu einem lebensgefährlichen Unterfangen.

Der erste Teil im Rettungsschiff überzeugt. Die Begrenzung auf einen kleinen Schauplatz funktioniert gut. Die Fremdrasse ist erfreulich fremd und überzeugend. Das Klassensystem der Menschen ist interessant (wenn mir auch nicht plausibel ist, wieso das für den Weiterbestand der Menschheit von Vorteil gewesen sein soll).
Der zweite Teil des Buchs auf dem Zielplaneten wird ganz anders und überhaupt nicht überzeugend. Es wirkt so, als ob diese beiden Teile von den beiden Autoren getrennt geschrieben wurden.
Das Ende ist dann vollends unglaubwürdig. Schade.

[Toby · Rating 1 out of 5]

p1 I'm faced with the phrase 'arbites indent to Belben'. I have no idea what any of these three words mean. Perhaps it'll become clear later, but I prefer to be able to understand what I'm reading!
p3 apparently shouting 'I'm ... an Adelman' is important, but as I don't know what it is, it loses its impact.
p3 "he punched out the combination" - erm shouldn't that be 'in'? Or is that American?
p3 "he punched out the combination, and the lock of the box let go, the lid sprang open." - what horror of grammar is this?
p5 "Mara pushed closed behind them the door by which they had just entered" - just clumsy
p9 "The inner door ground open - then the outer one." The point of an airlock is you only have one door open at a time, grrr

I can't, I just can't.

[Foxtower · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't imagine creating a story that almost entirely takes place in one small space, yet Dickson manages to weave an interesting tale of human conflict, human/alien conflict and challenging cultural assumptions for both aliens and humans in a tiny ship far from anywhere.

[colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read 07.05.84

[D.J. Sylvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storytelling is kind of muddy, but it's pulled together in some interesting ways toward the end.

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1983 grade C

Harry Harrison was the author I read this under.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, very suspenseful while exploring relationships between different castes of humans and their alien captain, potential conflicts suppressed as they cooperate to survive.