Planet of the Damned

Brion Brandd #1

by Harry Harrison

As two planets that share a single star prepare to go to war, Brion Brandd tries to avert the destruction of Dis, a harsh, inhospitable, and dangerous world, by redeeming the hellish Planet of the Damned. Reprint.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera, Adventure, Ebooks

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

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

[G.L. Cromarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am an unashamed fan of Harry Harrison, I love the Stainless Steel Rat series even though it's a little dated now. Planet of the Damned was free on Amazon, so having read a couple of his Death World Series, I thought I would give it a go for nostalgia sake.
It was a fun romp into the typical pulp Sci-fi Harrison universe, complete with rambling philosophical discussions, questionable female character roles, dodgy technology ('print me a copy' and 'run the tape'!), and a hero who is just a little too much ...hero to be real.
In its defence, it was first released in 1961, and I'm sure some of todays attempts at 'future technology' won't stand the test of time. The inclusion of the love interest has all the trappings of a Harry Enfield "Women, know your limits" sketch. He probably thought he was being very forward casting the love interest as a 'clever' scientist. Still, the book gives you a chuckle for both the right reasons and the wrong.
For all that, it's a quick brain-off read and I am giving it a generous 3 based on the echos of classic Harrison humor that it provided (I love the MC's ever more extreme attempts to disable the air-conditioning). As usual the MC bluffs and fights his way through situations, scraping through with a healthy dose of luck.
Spoilers***
Worst line (His MC's opinion of women...Ah, his poor love interest) ~ for example, it is impossible for a woman to win a large chess tournament—and this fact was recognized.
Best line (His MC bluffing his way into an organisation) ~ “This is an un-standard operation, and the standard techniques just don’t begin to make sense. Even Poisson Distributions and Pareto Extrapolations don’t apply here.” Stine nodded agreement and Brion relaxed a bit. He had just relieved himself of his entire knowledge of societics, and it had sounded authentic.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Originally posted at FanLit.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

Brion Brandd has just become the champion of his planet by defeating all the other contestants in “The Twenties.” Many men train all their lives for a chance to be the winner and Brion is ready to savor his victory. But not so fast! When a former winner challenges Brion to do something truly meaningful and heroic with his life, Brion sets off to save the planet Dis from a war that will surely destroy the entire planet. Dis has a hostile environment that nearly kills Brion before he even gets to meet the natives. Then he needs to figure out how the planet and the species that have evolved on it work together so he can solve their political problems.

Since this is a story written by Harry Harrison, there must also be a hot chick for Brion to save and fall in love with. My eyebrows rose when I found out that the girl in Planet of the Damned is Dr. Lea, an accomplished biologist. That was surprising after Harrison had just told us that men and women have to compete separately in The Twenties because “the inherent differences prevented fair contests. For example, it is impossible for a woman to win a large chess tournament and this fact was recognized.” (It’s true that all chess champions so far have been men, but men outnumber women in competitive chess 16:1. For some reason there are relatively few women who compete in chess. Perhaps it’s lack of talent with that type of competitive and aggressive visual spatial task — or just a simple lack of interest — but to say it’s a fact that it’s impossible for a woman to win is ridiculous.)

Anyway, some of the men in the story are outraged that they’ve been sent a female scientist because they think she’ll “melt in the rain,” and Brion decides she must be carefully watched, but the hot chick’s expertise is an important part of the plot after we get past all her shrieking, falling, fainting and being saved and carried around by Brion. Eventually, while sobbing, she decides she wants to get married and that she’s tired of being a biologist and a “mental match for any man.” (If she has a Ph.D. in exobiology, shouldn’t she be more than a mental match for most men? Whatever, Mr. Harrison.)

Planet of the Damned is very similar to Harry Harrison’s Deathworld. Manly man goes to save planet, planet has hostile environment, natives’ evolution and symbiotic relationship with planet are key to solution, and there’s a hot chick to fall in love with for no particularly good reason. It’s unbelievable, cheesy, poorly written, pulpy and worst of all, boring. It might have been better if I hadn’t felt like I’d already read this story in Deathworld. I keep giving Harry Harrison another try because I love several of his STAINLESS STEEL RAT books, but I think I might be done with Harrison now. (Three strikes and you’re out!)

Planet of the Damned was originally serialized and then published as a novel in 1962. It has also been published as Sense of Obligation. I listened to the audio version which was produced by Jimcin Recordings in 2010 and has been recently released on CD by Brilliance Audio. Jim Roberts does his usual slightly wooden but competent narration. Planet of No Return is another Harrison novel that features Brion Brandd.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Χάρι Χάρισον είναι ένας αρκετά αναγνωρισμένος συγγραφέας επιστημονικής φαντασίας, με κάποια πολύ κλασικά έργα του είδους στο ενεργητικό του (π.χ. τη σειρά βιβλίων "Stainless Steel Rat" ή το "Make Room! Make Room" που αποτελεί τη βάση της ταινίας "Soylent Green), όμως στην Ελλάδα δεν του έχει δοθεί η ανάλογη προσοχή. Θα μου πείτε, ούτε ο πρώτος θα είναι, ούτε ο τελευταίος, αλλά είναι κρίμα. Τον Ιανουάριο του 2012 διάβασα το πολύ καλό και σατιρικό "Μπιλ, ο ήρωας του Γαλαξία", οπότε το καινούργιο στα ελληνικά "Ο πλανήτης των καταραμένων" (κυκλοφόρησε τον Απρίλιο), αποτελεί τη δεύτερη επαφή μου με το έργο του συγγραφέα.

Περίληψη της ελληνικής έκδοσης: "Ο Ντις είναι ένας πλανήτης, ένας τόπος άγονος, ένας κόσμος θλιβερός, όπου η ζωή μοιάζει με θάνατο και ο θάνατος είναι προτιμότερος από τη ζωή. Είναι μια πυρωμένη έρημος. Οι κάτοικοί του βάρβαροι, υπανάπτυκτοι, κακότροποι και εξαθλιωμένοι - αλλά σύντομα δε θα είναι παρά εφτά εκατομμύρια μαυρισμένα πτώματα... εκτός αν ο Ίχτζελ καταφέρει να σταματήσει τις βόμβες Υδρογόνου που ετοιμάζεται να ρίξει στον Ντις ο γειτονικός του πλανήτης, κόντρα εντελώς στις θεμελιακές αρχές της κοινωνίας του: την ανεκτικότητα, την ειρηνική συμβίωση, τη μη χρήση βίας. Όμως ο Ίχτζελ έχει προβλέψει τον ξαφνικό του θάνατο, και μόνο ένας άνθρωπος μπορεί να τον αντικαταστήσει και να σώσει τον Ντις - ο Μπράιον Μπραντ, Πρωταθλητής των Πρωταθλητών και κάτοχος μιας μυστικής δύναμης...".

Έχουμε να κάνουμε με μια περιπέτεια παλαιάς κοπής, που από τη μια μπορεί να δείχνει λίγο τα χρονάκια της και να μην πρωτοτυπεί ιδιαίτερα, από την άλλη όμως διαβάζεται πραγματικά πολύ ευχάριστα και γρήγορα, ενώ δίνει και λίγη τροφή για σκέψη. Δηλώνω ευχαριστημένος από τον γενικό ρυθμό της ιστορίας, από το όλο σκηνικό του πλανήτη, από κάποιες ιδέες, καθώς επίσης και από αρκετές δυνατές σκηνές και εικόνες. Από την άλλη, όμως, οι χαρακτήρες δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερο βάθος, ενώ η όλη εξέλιξη της πλοκής ήταν μάλλον αναμενόμενη. Όσον αφορά τη γραφή, μου φάνηκε πάρα πολύ καλή και ευκολοδιάβαστη, με ρεαλιστικές περιγραφές τοπίων και καταστάσεων. Γενικά, δηλώνω πολύ ευχαριστημένος, σίγουρα πέρασα ωραία και ευχάριστα την ώρα μου, αν και σαν μυθιστόρημα έχει τα θεματάκια του και ίσως να μην είναι για όλα τα γούστα.

Υ.Γ. Μπράβο στις εκδόσεις Η Άγνωστη Καντάθ που έφεραν το βιβλίο αυτό στην Ελλάδα, ελπίζοντας πάντως ότι στο μέλλον θα κυκλοφορήσουν και κάποιο από τα πολυδιαβασμένα έργα του (αναρωτιέμαι γιατί εξαρχής δεν επέλεξαν το "Make Room! Make Room!").

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Harrison is a "giant" from the past in sci-fi/fantasy. Best known for this "Stainless Steel Rat" series of books, he also filled many a page with his Deathworld series and numerous other books. Having read Deathworld (the first of the series and not the others) and liked it, and having run across this book, I had to give it a try. While I consider this book more like 3 1/2 stars, I couldn't go up in this case because, well, it just wasn't a compelling read.

Brion Brandd has just won "The Twenties," a planet-wide competition on his planet that keeps the population in line. He is recruited by Ihjel, a past Winner (capital intentional), to journey to a distant planet and help save it from itself. Time, however, is running out. The ruling class on the planet is bent on destruction of their neighboring planet, who is equally bent on preventing their own annihilation by decimating their aggressive neighbor. It's up to Brion to save both worlds...in just three days.

This is an enjoyable story. The predicament of the plot is good and the process by which the plot unfolds and a (possible) solution to the seemingly imminent destruction of two worlds doesn't require any serious suspension of disbelief. From a science fiction standpoint it all makes sense. The dialog and process is mostly realistic as well. But...there's nothing compelling about this story.

None of the characters seem to have any real depth. In addition to none of the characters actually having a description (or at least a memorable one), none of them come off the page. There is no connection between the reader and the characters, no emotional response. When characters die, I was almost left thinking, "So what?" I felt equally nonplussed about the looming dual planetary destruction as well. That sense of tension and apprehension that should have been there just never was present for me. I read through each page but never got worried because I didn't connect with anyone enough to really care. It was a story that happened "in a galaxy far, far away" and never got any closer to me.

If you're a Harry Harrison fan, this is worth reading. A lot of Harrison's typical approach is here, and his science, though not "hard," is reasonably sound. His characters, also typically Harrison, are larger than life. There are no bit parts in Harrison's books. But I'll be darned if I can say you'll be emotionally charged after completing this book. I won't say skip this one, but I can't say pick it up either.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the blurb on the back of my copy sounded exciting (a hellish planet! Monsters that were once human! An impending apocalypse!), two things gave me misgivings: the protagonist's name (Brion Brandd? As in, Brian Brand, just spelled weird? Really?) and the publishing date: 1962. I had the feeling I was in for a pulpy, stupid, sexist read, and I was right.

I would have liked this book better if Harrison had treated it like a pulpy, stupid adventure. But no: he treats it like a serious, eye-opening, genre-defining work, with something to say about biology, politics, warfare, and psychology. What it does say is incredibly basic (organisms evolve in response to new environments! People who follow a pacifist philosophy don't know how to properly conduct a war!) and/or patently false (women are naturally less rational and logical than men). To be fair, better sci-fi works have been written around outdated or silly theories (Dune, for example). But because Frank Herbert was a better writer and worldbuilder than Harrison, he could make me accept things like genetic memory and seeing the future through drugs while I was reading. Harrison? Not so much.

Actually, this whole book reads like a version of Dune written by a less competent author. It takes place on a desert planet. Yes, the hell-planet Dis is just an ordinary desert planet, which was disappointing. Obviously, desert planets weren't cliches in 1962, but they definitely are now. Somehow, BriOn BrandD is the only one who can avert an upcoming nuclear holocaust, but it's never clearly explained why. He's not even properly trained for such a mission: he's a glorified, futuristic version of an Olympic champion. Yet we're supposed to believe he can succeed where numerous military and diplomatic personnel have failed? Come on. At least Paul Atreides was genetically engineered to be a superhuman. This guy walks hundreds of miles through a desert on very little water, establishes a rapport with the brown-skinned, naked natives (I know, I know), is the first to notice that something is wrong with the Magter, and can infiltrate a military base with a small escort--because he's good at sports, I guess. Plus he's empathic--or "empathetic," so that just means he's naturally better at reading people than anyone else. Oh, and he has a penis, so that means he's automatically competent: we can't forget that.

Why couldn't Harrison have just made Bri-Bri a professional soldier or diplomat? At least then his manly, macho prowess and posturings would have been easier to stomach. At least his vomit-inducing interactions with Dr. Lea Morees, the only female character and his eventual love interest (of course!) would have been slightly less painful, though considering what a Frankenstein's monster of negative female stereotypes Dr. Morees is, it might not have made much difference. Lea is, at various points in the book, shrewish, emotional, hysterical, tearful, unconscious, horny, in shock, or high on painkillers--everything except competent, in fact. She can't even do her JOB under pressure--or without sobbing and wailing that she wants to go home--without Brianrietta using his empathetic-ness to lend her some mental strength! (Naturally, Prion never goes into shock or breaks down--because he has a penis. But you know us women: our intelligence, physical strength, maturity, and competence always leak out of our vaginas. Or something.)

So I thought this book was awful. But if you miss the good ol' days of pulp sci-fi, where men were macho, superhuman killing machines, women were weepy, useless burdens who couldn't even walk down the driveway without being carried by men, and winning a gold medal in fencing meant you were fully qualified to undertake a diplomatic mission on a dangerous planet, this is the book for you.

[useFOSS · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Violence piles on violence in as bloody and gutsy a yarn as we've had in a long time, and at the same time the picture of the extraordinary symbiotic relationships which the Disians have developed with the native life forms is rounded out. The author has done a masterful job of weaving the two threads of development together, and hanging the solution of the plot on a scientific puzzle: who and what are the magter? ... Top stuff, as you know if you read the original. The paperback expands, rounds out, and makes the book even better." - Analog

[F.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash Gordon couldn’t be any more the obvious touchstone here if the central character was named Dash Morgan.

A great athlete and champion of his world is recruited as an agent by a secret organisation and sent to deal with an inter-planetary conflict that could result in the destruction of two planets. At stake is nuclear Armageddon, the destruction of a peaceful utopia, as well the annihilation of a race of man which has evolved to fit in to a remarkable degree with his adopted home. You can see how much they need a hero, as the moment he arrives at his base he has to get down to some very serious admin.

There are some pacing problems here then – as the middle section of this book consists of a long and increasingly tedious march across some dessert, before the aforementioned paperwork. That detail is totally bizarre. Yes, an inter-galactic James Bond would need to read documents and fill in forms, but there’s no need for the author to actually focus on him studiously reading documents and laboriously fill in forms. Although, maybe we should be thankful that there isn’t a whole chapter devoted to the finding of new staples.

Fortunately this follows an exciting start and leads into a heart racing finish. Okay, some of the dialogue and gender politics may raise some eyebrows, but this is for the main good old fashioned, boy’s own sci-fi.

[prcardi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 3/5

Harrison evidently wanted to keep writing pulp well into the 1960s. In some ways, it would have been better had he gone ahead and fully embraced the genre. Instead he has just enough insight into evolution and social organization to provoke a little thought. And he made strides toward presenting a real dilemma for consideration. He ruins all of them, of course, by bringing in damsels and action heroes from the 1930s. He seems to feel that by simply coming up with some provocative ideas and intriguing scenarios that he's already a cut above the other pulp, thereby releasing him from any obligations to work toward something greater. Were pulp science fiction all that was available, I'd read Harry Harrison. I'm glad the 1960s brought us so much more though.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

PLANET OF THE DAMNED is classic sci-fi pulp in the vein of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs--namely, the kind of book I ate up back in high school: chock full o' rugged heroism, bad science, and cheesy romantic encounters. It's certainly not a story that would benefit from careful analysis, but, as long as you're willing to check your brain at the door, POTD is actually quite entertaining. And, though it may not be on par with Harrison's STAINLESS STEEL RAT novels, it's at least better written than his DEATHWORLD trilogy, less tedious than his TO THE STARS trilogy, and a lot more fun than THE HAMMER AND THE CROSS or his EDEN books.

[Pop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Harrison is one of my favorite SF authors, but this one just didn't do it for me. Good story line, great characters, great Readers (at least 4, I lost count - God Bless them) but "I just don't know" kinda boring. Anyway 3.5 stars.

[Εva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ανάλαφρο ανάγνωσμα παραλίας, ακόμη και για εκείνους που δεν είναι εξοικειωμένοι με το είδος...ίσως λίγο παρωχημένο για την εποχή μας...

[David Caldwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reminded me of one of those 1950 or early 1960's sci-fi movies.One of those that has superman type of hero who is extermely tough, a genius,and just generally great in everything he does.Of course he has to be a man.And every leading man needs leading woman.The woman has to be smart, beautiful, and totally dependent on the leading man to solve the problem and make her a happy woman.Plus the story needs to have a lot of little things that date it(think outdated technology).Now this story was originally written in 1966 so some of these things are to be expected.

The leading man is the winner of The Twenties.The Twenties is a planetwide competition consisting of 20 events ranging from poetry composition to fencing to chess.Naturally the men and women compete seperately because no woman could win a major chess tournament.(Yes the author actually said that in the book.)He is given the challenge of stopping an interplanetary war in 72 hours.He recieves almost no training or briefing but he does have an empathic ability which he just found out about.Surely he will be able to use this untrained ability to stop the seemingly suicidal tendencies of the people of the planet Dis.Dis by the way is a hellish planet with superheated deserts and people who either want to kill you or at best will just ignore you.The leading lady is a delicate beauty who is also an exo-biologist/anthropologist.(One of the few women in a field of men.Again the author's description.)Since this still isn't enough of a challenge, the duo is stranded hundreds of kilometers from town with almost no water or transportation.Oh and let's cut off one of the days to the deadline.

The story does have some redeeming qualities.Overall I would have to say this would have been better as a short story. That way a lot of the annoying bits could have been cut out and just left the good parts.

[Rishindra Chinta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this mainly because John Carpenter said it was an influence on Escape from New York. It was a nice, quick read. But the conflict got less interesting toward the end when it turns out that it was caused by parasites in the villains' brains. So there's no real disagreement between the two planets. That just makes things a bit too easy. Planet of the Damned is still an enjoyable book, with some memorable speculative concepts (like the culture of the main character's home planet), but it could've been a bit more substantial.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have recently been reading everything I can get my hands on by the 2 Harrisons, M. John and Harry. They aren't related but both are on record as fans of each other. More important: They both became popular as part of the new wave of science-fiction authors in the 1960's and 1970's, who were more curious about speculation within ”soft” sociological sciences (in addition to ”hard” natural science), as well as less beholden to traditional narrative structure in their writing style than previous generations of SF literature.

The last novel by either I finished was this novel by Harry Harrison from 1962, which follows a world champion fencer named Brion Brandd from an ice planet named Anvhar who gets recruited by a humanitarian think tank to defuse a tense political situation in the Epsilon Eridani solar system. This conflict revolves around a poor and isolated desert planet named Dis, whose population largely live pre-industrial lifestyles and have gotten ahold of cobalt bombs which its ruling class (called ”magter” who live in imposing castles separate from their subjects) uses to threaten a nearby planet called Nyjord whose culture and society is much closer to what the median reader living in a first world country in the 20th century can relate to. Oh, and did I mention that Brion gets recruited for this task because his extraordinary fencing skills turn out to be a result of empath psychic powers that give him an inborn natural advantage at predicting his opponent's moves, something his new employers expect him to use when handling political conflicts between factions who barely understand each other culturally - if at all?

I liked ”Planet of the Damned” because it scratches a similar itch as the author's ”Deathworld” from 2 years prior, in that it takes a standard space adventure storyline and in a concise format (here 170 pages) uses that as the springboard for a complex and surprisingly thoughtful political drama where the factions turn out to map less and less onto clear-cut good guys and bad guys than they appear at first. The plot constantly goes in new and audacious directions, Harrison throwing in so many interesting worldbuilding details that he doesn't dwell on but add so many layers in making the universe feel alive and convincing. (things you can count on from 1960's/1970's science-fiction novels)

For example: The story is explicitly said to take place after the collapse of one of those galactic empires often depicted as antagonists in space opera stories from Isaac Asimov's ”Foundation” novels to George Lucas' ”Star Wars” movies, and the conflict at the heart of the story is kicked off by the exact same type of geopolitical strife that emerges in such power vacuums after the collapse of real-life empires – which Harrison depicts realistically. For examples see Alexander the Great's generals fighting for control over his empire after his death; or the ongoing wars between former Soviet republics right now namely those between Azerbaijan and Armenia or between Russia and Ukraine. Considering that Harrison wrote ”Planet of the Damned” at the height of the Cold War for a largely American and British audience, maybe he wanted to remind people in NATO countries that if the USSR collapsed (not a given at the time) it would not necessarily result in a more peaceful world but perhaps quite the opposite?

Another worldbuilding detail I found interesting was how the collapse of the galactic empire and subsequent isolation of different human colonies has resulted in the colonists on inhospitable planets evolving to become effectively different human subspecies adapting to their respective planets' environments. One example being the protagonist Brion, who comes from an ice planet named Anvhar, other examples being the different castes on Dis who have entered symbiosis with different native plantlife and fungi who inhabit the same biomes on the planet as they do. The depiction of the ruling caste on Dis, the magter, might have influenced the portrayal of the Goa'uld in ”Stargate” now that I think of it.

On a final note there are also quite a few bilingual bonuses for Danish-speakers as a consequence of Harrison having lived in Denmark for several years: Dis' capitol is called Hovedstad, literally the Danish word for capital city; Dis' rival planet is called Nyjord which means ”new Earth” in Danish; one of the Disan characters is named Ulv which is the Danish word for wolf; the Disan ruling caste's title ”magter” means ”powers”; et cetera.

I won't say this is quite on the same level as ”Deathworld” but it is still worth reading for fans of 1960's science-fiction that combines off-beat space opera and planetary romance with heady political drama.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This. Book. So absurd. To quickly sum it up, it is very much a male fantasy. As a pulpy sci fi book written in 1962, this is not that surprising. But a good 1962 pulp sci fi book will get you past that - this one, not so much.

A man wins an epic tournament on his planet, and then is approached about how he is the *only* person who can avert the destruction of another planet. This part is very unconvincing - he essentially just won the Olympics, has no diplomatic or military experience, and somehow is supposed to be the only one able to solve a diplomatic/military crisis because he's good at sports and stuff? What. He is whisked away to do that anyway, and sure enough saves not one but two! planets in the nick of time. The reader is sure to note that he's a well-rounded, virtuous hero-savior - he's strong *and* smart, and he doesn't like death but gosh he'll kill people if he has to. This has some truly groan-worthy lines and is very fun to make fun of. There's also a female character, who is a scientist that helps him save the planet, but mostly is a love interest. She is constantly in need of saving, he's constantly saving her, and she's described in such cringe-inducing ways as having 'yielding female flesh'. Oof. The whole thing is very over-dramatic, which is fairly entertaining if you're ready to turn off your brain and laugh at the absurdity of it all. This book does not benefit from close analysis, but the over-the-top-ness of the hero-man and the damsel in distress were entertaining in a so-bad-its-hilarious kind of way. I only recommend if you are ready to groan dramatically and laugh at this kind of nonsense.

This book reads like a much worse version of Dune - an inhospitable desert planet, people that live there that have adapted to it, a hero from another planet that saves the day. Dune, though, is much more worth reading than this one!

[Frank Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight-up, hard core, nuts and bolts, old-fashioned science fiction.

That is what you will find in PLANET OF THE DAMNED by Harry Harrison.

This is science fiction that is hard to find these days. Non-stop action as well as exploration of ideas about societal engineering, exploration of planets of numerous types, human adaptations to strange and hostile environments, bizarre ecosystems, and what is it that makes a human?

The plot involves a man named Brion, champion of a planet once colonized by humans from Earth but cut off and isolated when Earth’s society collapsed. Brion is recruited by a secret organization because of the qualities that allowed him to become champion of his planet. His mission? To save two other civilizations from destroying each other with nuclear weapons.

As an added bonus, Harrison uses the “ticking time bomb” suspense technique in which he counts down the minutes before the mutual destruction takes place.

This story is just as enjoyable now as it was when first published in 1962.

[Dylan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Planet of the Damned is bad, even for pulp. It's dated (anachronisms range widely, from everyone using radio to extensive casual sexism) and shallow, and combines uninteresting writing with no interesting ideas. The science is poorly integrated and poorly understood, the characters are as generic as possible, and the plot is entirely based on a massive group of brilliant, cooperative people being unable to foil the slapdash, barely concealed plans of a bunch of moronic technological primitives.

It could make up for this by being funny or exciting, but it isn't. The most original (and best) part of the entire book is the organization at its center, which is not so much original as an amazingly transparent knockoff of Isaac Asimov's Foundation. Although I do think societics is a better name than psychohistory.

[Lee LeTourneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard about this book when reading an interview with John Carpenter about "Escape from New York," one of my favorite movies. I searched Amazon and saw that the kindle edition was free so I grabbed it.

A few pages in it seemed like it was going to be a pretty boring and flat read, but once Brion left Anvhar the story picked up very quickly.

The budding relationship between Brion and Lea was pretty predictable, but it didn't take away from the story which was loaded with more than enough action.

I'm no biologist, but the science did seem a little dumbed-down, but it did accommodate the story and allow for some resolution. The climax of the story was exciting, but I was a bit disappointed with the end, but it did leave room for the sequel.

[William Bentrim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Planet of the Damned By Harry Harrison

Once again Harrison has provided a story to make you think. Two planets are at odds and a gladiator type is asked to intervene and prevent genocide.

Brion is the winner of a planet wide superiority game. Hunger game-ish, the Twenties are a Olympics of mind and body that are akin to the bread and circuses of the Romans.

Picked by a secret foundation to avert a war on a distant planet, Brion is torn over wallowing in the adoration of his victory or extending himself by diving into a situation that he has little or no confidence that he can prevail.

Symbiotic relationships and alien life forms are addressed as well as the intervening aspects of imposed social order. Sounds complicated but it was a fun read.

I recommend it.

[Al "Tank" · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's far in the future and mankind has settled -- and adapted -- to a number of planets.Brion is a product of his particular planet -- in fact one of the best. He's become this year's champion (or "Winner") of the annual games. But another Winner wants him to go off-planet to save another planet's inhabitants. And this may be beyond even Brion's ability.

I'll definitely be reading this story again. Lots of action and a believable problem to be solved along with formidable obstacles to overcome. Top quality writing by a master of the genre.

I own the 1962 Tor edition with the Tom Kidd cover.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Direct and no diversions from the basic story but with some interesting details to make it interesting. If you like the old SF books where the hero is uber-masculine and the female interest, well, beyond the female counterpart to said male - how could she live without him?? - then this is for you. If you want to judge by today's standards of writing to cater to sex-roles that are politically correct - look elsewhere. I find these old books quanit and nostalgic, and yes, silly as well. But what's wrong with that?

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well crafted book asking some quite intriguing questions that are now even more valid than they were 55 years ago when Harrison conceived it.
Let it be on record that I find it a master stroke to make the aliens speak Danish with a few modifications. Aliens that turn out to be more human than we feel comfortable to acknowledge.
This is one of those ecological novels that make rank Herbert look like a copycat. There are only a few of those, but this one surely outranks anything Frank Herbert ever put to paper,

[Stifynsemons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Harrison weaves a fast paced story with a mysteries, accelerated evolution, dilemmas, and the some of the consequences of isolated populations. It is not surprising that the technological picture is dated, being written in 1962 and I don't think humans (or life) would adapt quite as well as described here; and if you read it expecting it to match your own modern point of view, you'd likely be angry or disappointed it. But if you like an upbeat yarn with a never-give-up attitude, you will find it hard to put down.

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

1981 Grade A+
2023 Grade A-

A typical fast paced, fast moving, Harry Harrison SciFi adventure. The protagonist has three days to prevent two very alien planets from destroying each other in thermonuclear war. War is only averted in the last few minutes on the last few pages. There is some repetition in some of the paragraphs in the later parts of the book which I skipped. It was still a pretty vivid and fun read.

[Eloise Sunshine · Rating 3 out of 5]

While listening to this it was very easy to forget that I was NOT, in fact, listening to another of his Deathworld stories. So much alike the mentioned ones it was. So if you liked them, you'll like this one just the same.

Other than that, here was a true hero, if there ever was one, a solid match to Conan the Barbarian or you name it - muscles, brain, even emotional intelligence. What else does the hero need to save a planet full of people from an epic doom?

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good example of golden age Sci-fi

The storyline is fairly easy to follow without being too simple. You can develop a liking for the characters, so you will want to see how things pan out for them. As with other works from the period you can see that the tech isn't too far off from current reality so it isn't a jarring example of anachronistic guesswork. Worth reading!

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out interesting with a cool character and concept but got bogged down in lecturing about evolution and human sexual relationships that went a little gamma haywire. Conceptually it still was an okay read. Solution was a bit anticlimactic.

[Tim Priebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent classic sci-fi story.

[Veselin Nikolov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Приятна фантастика, чете се лесно и има дъха на класическото sci-fi от 70-те. Много прилича на problem-solving книгите за Стоманения плъх.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining enough. Classic 60s pulp with classic 60s tropes.