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Zarathustra Refugee Planets #1
Secret Agent of Terra
Ace Double F-133, printed with "The Rim of Space" by A. Bertram Chandler
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
John Brunner
562 books504 followersJohn Brunner was born in Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at St Andrew's Prep School, Pangbourne, then to Cheltenham College. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, and published it under the pen-name Gill Hunt, but he did not start writing full-time until 1958. He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer on 12 July 1958
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
At the beginning of his writing career Brunner wrote conventional space opera pulp science fiction. Brunner later began to experiment with the novel form. His 1968 novel "Stand on Zanzibar" exploits the fragmented organizational style John Dos Passos invented for his USA trilogy, but updates it in terms of the theory of media popularised by Marshall McLuhan.
"The Jagged Orbit" (1969) is set in a United States dominated by weapons proliferation and interracial violence, and has 100 numbered chapters varying in length from a single syllable to several pages in length. "The Sheep Look Up" (1972) depicts ecological catastrophe in America. Brunner is credited with coining the term "worm" and predicting the emergence of computer viruses in his 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider", in which he used the term to describe software which reproduces itself across a computer network. Together with "Stand on Zanzibar", these novels have been called the "Club of Rome Quartet", named after the Club of Rome whose 1972 report The Limits to Growth warned of the dire effects of overpopulation.
Brunner's pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Ellis Quick, Henry Crosstrees Jr., and Keith Woodcott.
In addition to his fiction, Brunner wrote poetry and many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines, but also 13 letters to the New Scientist and an article about the educational relevance of science fiction in Physics Education. Brunner was an active member of the organisation Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to "The H-Bomb's Thunder", which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches.
Brunner had an uneasy relationship with British new wave writers, who often considered him too American in his settings and themes. He attempted to shift to a more mainstream readership in the early 1980s, without success. Before his death, most of his books had fallen out of print. Brunner accused publishers of a conspiracy against him, although he was difficult to deal with (his wife had handled his publishing relations before she died).[2]
Brunner's health began to decline in the 1980s and worsened with the death of his wife in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, on 27 September 1991. He died of a heart attack in Glasgow on 25 August 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention there
aka
K H Brunner, Henry Crosstrees Jr, Gill Hunt (with Dennis Hughes and E C Tubb), John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, Keith Woodcott
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1980 as "Best Author" and 1n 1984 as "Novelist"..
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 9, 2023
Standard "space opera" which is one half of an Ace Double paperback, published in 1962. It's by prolific British SF author John Brunner (1934-1995), who, I've found, always writes interesting science fiction. My favorite book of his is his "Times Without Number" (1974).
In this one, we're on "Planet 14," home to refugees from a planet which was destroyed. They have fallen to a "barbarian" or medieval level of civilization. The Corps Galactica has planted agents in their society to monitor and study them--and their policy is not to interfere with their development (yes, like Star Trek's "Prime Directive"). Then it's discovered that a gang of outlaws has taken control of the planet's main kingdom and is grabbing the planet's resources. It's the job of a Secret Agent to have the bad guys removed from power and get Planet 14 back on track. What is most interesting is that, as the cover shows, the agent is a gorgeous black-haired woman. A woman as a hero of an early 60s space opera--wow! And her name is Maddalena, a Latina! Unfortunately, while she takes some action, it's really very little. Mainly, she's helping a native hero-type who wants to take back his world from the baddies. And, interestingly, this book is the first in a series of three. Maybe we'll see Maddalena again???
In this one, we're on "Planet 14," home to refugees from a planet which was destroyed. They have fallen to a "barbarian" or medieval level of civilization. The Corps Galactica has planted agents in their society to monitor and study them--and their policy is not to interfere with their development (yes, like Star Trek's "Prime Directive"). Then it's discovered that a gang of outlaws has taken control of the planet's main kingdom and is grabbing the planet's resources. It's the job of a Secret Agent to have the bad guys removed from power and get Planet 14 back on track. What is most interesting is that, as the cover shows, the agent is a gorgeous black-haired woman. A woman as a hero of an early 60s space opera--wow! And her name is Maddalena, a Latina! Unfortunately, while she takes some action, it's really very little. Mainly, she's helping a native hero-type who wants to take back his world from the baddies. And, interestingly, this book is the first in a series of three. Maybe we'll see Maddalena again???
September 17, 2019
2.6⭐
Read this as the flip side of an Ace Double, with A. Bertram Chandler's "The Rim of Space (which was the main draw, frankly).
Brunner's book is a serviceable space opera, of the lost colony type. There are distant and faint echoes of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books in the story( lost colony where technology's forgotten; large flying lizards with an important cultural role), likely coincidental as Brunners' book came first.
It's early Brunner and more accessible than his later, experimental novels, i.e the "Club of Rome" books like "Stand on Zanzibar" or " The Sheep Look Up," but without the social commentary and innovative writing of those books. Still pretty good for what it is.
I wasn't going to review this read-long-ago novel, then my friend Zainab Queen liked my non review rating and I thought I better earn my keep 😊
Read this as the flip side of an Ace Double, with A. Bertram Chandler's "The Rim of Space (which was the main draw, frankly).
Brunner's book is a serviceable space opera, of the lost colony type. There are distant and faint echoes of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books in the story( lost colony where technology's forgotten; large flying lizards with an important cultural role), likely coincidental as Brunners' book came first.
It's early Brunner and more accessible than his later, experimental novels, i.e the "Club of Rome" books like "Stand on Zanzibar" or " The Sheep Look Up," but without the social commentary and innovative writing of those books. Still pretty good for what it is.
I wasn't going to review this read-long-ago novel, then my friend Zainab Queen liked my non review rating and I thought I better earn my keep 😊
November 26, 2017
***Note: Goodreads has really messed up the order of books in this series. A reader should read "The Avengers of Carrig" and "The Repairmen of Cyclops" is that order, since they occur in chronological order, with some of the same characters. One can read Polymath, a distant prequel, either before or after. But I recommend before, since there is a small spoiler for Polymath in "The Repairmen of Cyclops."
A pulp fiction novella upgraded decades later to a small novel form, this book has a very 50s/early 60s feel. Good plot-driven space opera SF. If written today would be 500 pages, but as is got the spare treatment of most novels of its time. Definitely dated, yet has a female character stronger than Polymath.
Despite that improvement, "The Avengers of Carrig" and "The Repairmen of Cyclops" are 2.5 star books, while Polymath is a solid 3.5 stars.
A pulp fiction novella upgraded decades later to a small novel form, this book has a very 50s/early 60s feel. Good plot-driven space opera SF. If written today would be 500 pages, but as is got the spare treatment of most novels of its time. Definitely dated, yet has a female character stronger than Polymath.
Despite that improvement, "The Avengers of Carrig" and "The Repairmen of Cyclops" are 2.5 star books, while Polymath is a solid 3.5 stars.
April 7, 2018
Based on the reviews of this book and the cover art itself, I thought I was in for a mediocre sci-fi novel about spacemen fighting dinosaurs, but I was very wrong and pleasantly surprised by this story. It ended up being a very interesting and satisfying story. It centers around planet 14, where the descendants of refugees that fled the planet Zarathustra live somewhat primitive lives. An outside power has usurped the throne and it is the job of some galactic agents and a cunning native to take back their city. That probably sounds pretty corny, but it's well written by one of the sci-fi greats. I feel it would make a good star trek episode plot.
March 23, 2021
A planetary romance with interstellar intrigue and espionage. A medieval society on a distant planet chooses its political leaders by aerial combat with dragon-like creatures. This system is already somewhat corrupt, but off-world exploiters arrive to grab power and ruin things completely. On a last-chance assignment, agent Maddalena is sent to investigate the problem, but the project goes pear-shaped when she's stranded in the planet's polar region. Quite imaginative and entertaining, though the ending seems a bit rushed. Andre Norton fans might like this story.
(Chronologically the second of the Zarathustra series, but the first to be published. A revised full-length version of this story was published by DAW as "Avengers of Carrig". The characters Maddalena and Gus return in "Repairmen of Cyclops".)
(Chronologically the second of the Zarathustra series, but the first to be published. A revised full-length version of this story was published by DAW as "Avengers of Carrig". The characters Maddalena and Gus return in "Repairmen of Cyclops".)
December 11, 2021
A solid mix of fantasy and SF. Could have been an episode of Star Trek with humanity monitoring backward settlements on remote planets without intruding. It's not that those settlements have evolved independently from humanity. In fact, Carrig has been settled by a human spaceship crashed there. Since, this fact has been forgotten and only remains recognizable in legends.
Now, outlaws from a rogue planet disturb the balance on medieval Carrig by intervening with superior weapons to exploit the rich resources on this planet. Scouts of the Federation try to alleviate this, allying with selected locals without revealing their identity.
There are enough interesting ideas and the world building is sufficiently original to provide entertainment without any major plot holes or implausibilities. If you like Star Trek, you'll like this one.
Now, outlaws from a rogue planet disturb the balance on medieval Carrig by intervening with superior weapons to exploit the rich resources on this planet. Scouts of the Federation try to alleviate this, allying with selected locals without revealing their identity.
There are enough interesting ideas and the world building is sufficiently original to provide entertainment without any major plot holes or implausibilities. If you like Star Trek, you'll like this one.
April 2, 2018
A female spy from earth moves mong the colonists who fell back into primitiveness.
I am astonished about the bad rating here. If Robert A. Heinlein would have written this, it would have a rating of 3.80 or so
I am astonished about the bad rating here. If Robert A. Heinlein would have written this, it would have a rating of 3.80 or so
September 24, 2026
A few months back I found a handful of lesser known John Brunner novels in near mint condition at a thrift store. Being unfamiliar with most of these and not wanting to overindulge I decided to buy a select few. This was one of them, standing out for its vivid cover and strange concept.
Avengers of Carrig is book one in a series. First published in 1962. It is an adventure story first and foremost following a primitive society as they handle their annual tradition of the “king hunt” which is a battle for the crown. This society operates in a way akin to that of medieval times and much of this book could be read as a fantasy story. There are pterodactyl-like creatures that operate in a very similar way to dragons that live alongside humans in this story, acting as friend and foe. The other part of this story takes place in a space marine type of setting with agents who are looking to intercept this society.
There’s a lot to like about a book like this. I wasn’t previously aware that Brunner wrote SF stories like this as it seems very outside of the norm for what I’ve read from him. It’s impressive that Brunner had a level of versatility in his writing and only goes to further justify his status as one of all time greats. If anything this book feels like something an author like Philip Jose Farmer would write.
While I enjoyed a lot of this book I will say it does suffer from the aesthetic mashup problem I’ve found many early 1960s SF novels to hold. The whiplash between the fantasy and hard science fiction elements really makes this an uneven read. While the worldbuilding of this book was great I found the narrative suffered from a pretty lacking story. While it’s impressive that Brunner could write a SF adventure story like this, that isn’t to say it's a strong effort, particularly in comparison to writers who specialized in this sort of thing.
Avengers of Carrig is book one in a series. First published in 1962. It is an adventure story first and foremost following a primitive society as they handle their annual tradition of the “king hunt” which is a battle for the crown. This society operates in a way akin to that of medieval times and much of this book could be read as a fantasy story. There are pterodactyl-like creatures that operate in a very similar way to dragons that live alongside humans in this story, acting as friend and foe. The other part of this story takes place in a space marine type of setting with agents who are looking to intercept this society.
There’s a lot to like about a book like this. I wasn’t previously aware that Brunner wrote SF stories like this as it seems very outside of the norm for what I’ve read from him. It’s impressive that Brunner had a level of versatility in his writing and only goes to further justify his status as one of all time greats. If anything this book feels like something an author like Philip Jose Farmer would write.
While I enjoyed a lot of this book I will say it does suffer from the aesthetic mashup problem I’ve found many early 1960s SF novels to hold. The whiplash between the fantasy and hard science fiction elements really makes this an uneven read. While the worldbuilding of this book was great I found the narrative suffered from a pretty lacking story. While it’s impressive that Brunner could write a SF adventure story like this, that isn’t to say it's a strong effort, particularly in comparison to writers who specialized in this sort of thing.
August 16, 2012
This was the first book I've read by John Brunner, a classic-era sci-fi author who bears a solid reputation if not the grandiose fame of some of his peers. I was initially intrigued by his work after seeing dozens of his novels heaping the sci-fi shelves at the local used bookstore. I chose this one at random.
My choice was somewhat fortuitous in that 'The Avengers of Carrig' is actually the first volume in a trilogy of novels taking place in the same story-telling universe, dubbed the 'Zarathustra Refugee Planets' series. The framework is pretty straightforward. A long time ago, a planet known as Zarathustra was forced to completely evacuate when its star turned supernova and put the planet on a short countdown. Some people managed to leave on time and were scattered about to different uninhabited planets, including the Planet 14 of this novel. Once there, unfamiliar environmental conditions and scarcity led to descents into 'dark age' primitivism. Over several generations, the history of their former civilization had become religious myth and no traces of their former technologies remained. Outside of these 'outer rim' worlds, most of the galaxy is incorporated into a federation of worlds that includes planet Earth and is known as the Galactica. A military/intelligence caste known as the Corps is charged with surreptitiously protecting the natural and organic development of planets (i.e. the refugee worlds mentioned above) from rogue planets and organizations that seek to exploit them for slave labor, natural resources, etc... Such an exploitative pirate venture provides the impetus for this story.
Brunner does a great job of building up Planet 14's medieval society, which contains trade caravans, mysterious 'equatorial' peoples, courtesans, bands of thieves, noble families with totemic lineages, superstitious peasants, and monasteries. At the hub of this civilization is the citadel of Carrig, which annually hosts a world-famous ritual hunt to determine which family rules the city. One warrior from each family is put forth to make a bid at slaying a flying beast called a parradile (basically a giant, somewhat intelligent pterodactyl), which is dutifully referred to as 'the King.'
For such a short novel, Brunner crammed in quite a few characters and managed to give most of them solid and simple character arcs. I liked the Earthling space-spy Maddalena Santos, who, at the beginning of the story, was on the verge of being discharged from the Corps for having an improper attitude with her comrades. As the story progresses and she ends up deeper in the dire situation on Planet 14, she's forced to both prove her full resourcefulness as well as become more mature. Brunner also does a good job tracing the arcs of some native characters, including a refugee noble and a disgraced former prince. Numerous other characters fill in the remaining parts, but are mostly one-dimensional in nature. This was a little bit of a drawback as regards the story's antagonists, who start out being pretty resourceful but turn out being little more than caricatures.
I plan on reading the other short novels that make up the full trilogy, as I enjoyed the politics and intrigue of this story and am curious to see where else Brunner takes the story universe. However, 'Avengers of Carrig' could easily stand on its own as a solid one-off adventure. It should also be said that Brunner is a very good writer with a particularly strong grasp on believable dialogue and respectable 'hard sci-fi' details.
My choice was somewhat fortuitous in that 'The Avengers of Carrig' is actually the first volume in a trilogy of novels taking place in the same story-telling universe, dubbed the 'Zarathustra Refugee Planets' series. The framework is pretty straightforward. A long time ago, a planet known as Zarathustra was forced to completely evacuate when its star turned supernova and put the planet on a short countdown. Some people managed to leave on time and were scattered about to different uninhabited planets, including the Planet 14 of this novel. Once there, unfamiliar environmental conditions and scarcity led to descents into 'dark age' primitivism. Over several generations, the history of their former civilization had become religious myth and no traces of their former technologies remained. Outside of these 'outer rim' worlds, most of the galaxy is incorporated into a federation of worlds that includes planet Earth and is known as the Galactica. A military/intelligence caste known as the Corps is charged with surreptitiously protecting the natural and organic development of planets (i.e. the refugee worlds mentioned above) from rogue planets and organizations that seek to exploit them for slave labor, natural resources, etc... Such an exploitative pirate venture provides the impetus for this story.
Brunner does a great job of building up Planet 14's medieval society, which contains trade caravans, mysterious 'equatorial' peoples, courtesans, bands of thieves, noble families with totemic lineages, superstitious peasants, and monasteries. At the hub of this civilization is the citadel of Carrig, which annually hosts a world-famous ritual hunt to determine which family rules the city. One warrior from each family is put forth to make a bid at slaying a flying beast called a parradile (basically a giant, somewhat intelligent pterodactyl), which is dutifully referred to as 'the King.'
For such a short novel, Brunner crammed in quite a few characters and managed to give most of them solid and simple character arcs. I liked the Earthling space-spy Maddalena Santos, who, at the beginning of the story, was on the verge of being discharged from the Corps for having an improper attitude with her comrades. As the story progresses and she ends up deeper in the dire situation on Planet 14, she's forced to both prove her full resourcefulness as well as become more mature. Brunner also does a good job tracing the arcs of some native characters, including a refugee noble and a disgraced former prince. Numerous other characters fill in the remaining parts, but are mostly one-dimensional in nature. This was a little bit of a drawback as regards the story's antagonists, who start out being pretty resourceful but turn out being little more than caricatures.
I plan on reading the other short novels that make up the full trilogy, as I enjoyed the politics and intrigue of this story and am curious to see where else Brunner takes the story universe. However, 'Avengers of Carrig' could easily stand on its own as a solid one-off adventure. It should also be said that Brunner is a very good writer with a particularly strong grasp on believable dialogue and respectable 'hard sci-fi' details.
June 11, 2025
A fun Ace Double (“turn this book over for a second complete novel”), two deep space adventures by two different authors, both at least in part dealing with the consequences of technically advanced interstellar humans interfering with a pre-spaceflight human or humanoid culture. One is by John Brunner (1934-1995), a British science fiction author best known for his 1968 _Stand on Zanzibar_ and 1969’s _The Jagged Orbit_. The other is by A. Bertram Chandler (1912-1984), a British-Australian who wrote under several pseudonyms. After an interesting life in the Australian and New Zealand merchant navies, went on to write over 40 novels and 200 short stories and is most famous for his John Grimes and his Rim Worlds novels.
_Secret Agent of Terra_ by John Brunner is copyright 1962, later revised as _The Avengers of Carrig_ in 1969. It is the first book of his Zarathustra Refugee Planet trilogy, some of the characters in this book I understand reappearing in the third book in the series, _The Repairmen of Cyclops_ in 1965. Yes, the woman on the cover is in the book (indeed this exact scene), the titular secret agent or one of them anyway. Her name is Maddalena Santos, a woman on her way to being kicked out of the Corps Galactica because of how intensely disliked she is in training, with what is seen as a snobby attitude as a lone Terran among a bunch of trainees and instructors from the colony worlds.
Maddalena is given her first (and if she fails, her last) mission, sent to a world the Corps Galactica calls Zarathustra Refugee Planet (ZRP) planet 14, a human colony world whose interstellar roots have fallen into myth and is now a medieval level world of two million people. The Corps Galactica had basically kept a policy that would years later in Star Trek be called the Prime Directive, a policy of noninterference while protecting the planet from outside interference by others, some of this from monitoring by the occasional visiting starship but mostly from agents embedded on this world and posing as natives. Only their main agent, the one on the planet’s dominant city-state of Carrig, is missing, and there are reasons to believe outsiders are exploiting the natives for their own gains and the detriment of the natives.
Maddalena isn’t the only one trying to stop these outsiders, as another agent is at work, a man named Langenschmidt, and a brave noble native of this world, the warrior named Saikmar, are as well, their paths eventually converging to save this world.
Good world building, loved the effective use of the planet’s fauna most especially the fascinating parradiles which are integral to the story, good action. I wish Maddalena was more important to the story, that though while playing a vital part, at a later point the action focuses on other characters instead. Still, a Latina woman operating by herself is quite progressive for 1962 and she reminded me one of my favorite characters, Festina Ramos of the League of Peoples series by James Alan Gardner, first appearing in 1997’s _Expendable_. The noninterference aspects of Corps Galactica is a lot like Star Trek.
The other book is _The Rim of Space_ by A. Bertram Chandler. It is the first book of his Rim Worlds series, ending in 1969’s _Catch the Star Winds_. As far as I can tell they are all unconnected character wise but in the same setting reflecting to some degree the author’s merchant marine background. _The Rim of Space_ is basically a series of adventures focusing on one man in particular named Derek Calver (mostly just called Calver in the story) as a crewman aboard the _Lorn Lady_ (a ship that went by several names in the text but all variants of this one), a Rim Runner cargo ship on the edge of the galaxy, the Galactic Rim, nominally part of the Federation but either outright unsettled frontier worlds, nonhuman worlds of lower technology with very few if any humans on them (often none except for when the _Lorn Lady_ visits), or settled worlds that are there mostly for resource extraction and would like to be independent of the very distant and thin on the ground Federation. Far from the civilized, wealthy, comfortable, luxurious, and politically connected parts of space, this is the frontier, the “very edge of the night” that is the void between galaxies, the “new worlds,” where a single criminal or even a warlord on a non-spacefaring world can be a real threat to the crew of the broken-down freighter, far from any help.
Unlike __Secret Agent of Terra_ there isn’t a strong plotline but rather a series of pulpish adventures on various worlds. Lots of action. Sometimes felt a little dated at times, mentioning tapes or newsreels or using mid-20th century slang and a few times some of the gender roles were a bit cringey, though there is a very strong secondary character, a woman character, Jane Arlen, who more than holds her own and is extremely proactive and saves the day several times. Though not every adventure dealt with the repercussions of giving high tech to pre-spaceflight aliens, all the aliens they visit are low tech and in one world where the crew deeply interferes Calver does ponder the wisdom of what they have done.
I would love to read more of the Rim World series and have ordered another of the Zarathustra Refugee Planet trilogy.
_Secret Agent of Terra_ by John Brunner is copyright 1962, later revised as _The Avengers of Carrig_ in 1969. It is the first book of his Zarathustra Refugee Planet trilogy, some of the characters in this book I understand reappearing in the third book in the series, _The Repairmen of Cyclops_ in 1965. Yes, the woman on the cover is in the book (indeed this exact scene), the titular secret agent or one of them anyway. Her name is Maddalena Santos, a woman on her way to being kicked out of the Corps Galactica because of how intensely disliked she is in training, with what is seen as a snobby attitude as a lone Terran among a bunch of trainees and instructors from the colony worlds.
Maddalena is given her first (and if she fails, her last) mission, sent to a world the Corps Galactica calls Zarathustra Refugee Planet (ZRP) planet 14, a human colony world whose interstellar roots have fallen into myth and is now a medieval level world of two million people. The Corps Galactica had basically kept a policy that would years later in Star Trek be called the Prime Directive, a policy of noninterference while protecting the planet from outside interference by others, some of this from monitoring by the occasional visiting starship but mostly from agents embedded on this world and posing as natives. Only their main agent, the one on the planet’s dominant city-state of Carrig, is missing, and there are reasons to believe outsiders are exploiting the natives for their own gains and the detriment of the natives.
Maddalena isn’t the only one trying to stop these outsiders, as another agent is at work, a man named Langenschmidt, and a brave noble native of this world, the warrior named Saikmar, are as well, their paths eventually converging to save this world.
Good world building, loved the effective use of the planet’s fauna most especially the fascinating parradiles which are integral to the story, good action. I wish Maddalena was more important to the story, that though while playing a vital part, at a later point the action focuses on other characters instead. Still, a Latina woman operating by herself is quite progressive for 1962 and she reminded me one of my favorite characters, Festina Ramos of the League of Peoples series by James Alan Gardner, first appearing in 1997’s _Expendable_. The noninterference aspects of Corps Galactica is a lot like Star Trek.
The other book is _The Rim of Space_ by A. Bertram Chandler. It is the first book of his Rim Worlds series, ending in 1969’s _Catch the Star Winds_. As far as I can tell they are all unconnected character wise but in the same setting reflecting to some degree the author’s merchant marine background. _The Rim of Space_ is basically a series of adventures focusing on one man in particular named Derek Calver (mostly just called Calver in the story) as a crewman aboard the _Lorn Lady_ (a ship that went by several names in the text but all variants of this one), a Rim Runner cargo ship on the edge of the galaxy, the Galactic Rim, nominally part of the Federation but either outright unsettled frontier worlds, nonhuman worlds of lower technology with very few if any humans on them (often none except for when the _Lorn Lady_ visits), or settled worlds that are there mostly for resource extraction and would like to be independent of the very distant and thin on the ground Federation. Far from the civilized, wealthy, comfortable, luxurious, and politically connected parts of space, this is the frontier, the “very edge of the night” that is the void between galaxies, the “new worlds,” where a single criminal or even a warlord on a non-spacefaring world can be a real threat to the crew of the broken-down freighter, far from any help.
Unlike __Secret Agent of Terra_ there isn’t a strong plotline but rather a series of pulpish adventures on various worlds. Lots of action. Sometimes felt a little dated at times, mentioning tapes or newsreels or using mid-20th century slang and a few times some of the gender roles were a bit cringey, though there is a very strong secondary character, a woman character, Jane Arlen, who more than holds her own and is extremely proactive and saves the day several times. Though not every adventure dealt with the repercussions of giving high tech to pre-spaceflight aliens, all the aliens they visit are low tech and in one world where the crew deeply interferes Calver does ponder the wisdom of what they have done.
I would love to read more of the Rim World series and have ordered another of the Zarathustra Refugee Planet trilogy.
April 21, 2023
Mi-a plăcut.
Traducerea a fost ok.
Urmașii unor refugiați de pe Zarathustra trăiesc într-o societate ce-și alege conducătorul în urma vânătorii anuale a unei specii indigene. Un străin sosit pe planetă devine noul conducător, pune capăt Vântătorii-de-Rege și începe să exploateze localnicii, consolidându-și regimul tiranic cu ajutorul unor arme ce par primite de la zei.
Mi-a plăcut și acum, la recitire după o grămadă de ani. Un pic de aventură, un pic de exotism, o poveste frumos închegată cu unele revelații drăguțe - în ton cu SF-ul existent pe vremea când a fost scris. Mi se pare că se potrivește mai mult pentru a fi citit în perioada adolescenței/tinereții, dar a mers bine și acum. Și l-am găsit mai interesant (cu toate minusurile sale) decât unele cărți SF actuale ce se străduiesc să fie complexe, dar uneori „trag pe lângă” gusturile unui cititor SF de genul meu.
Traducerea a fost ok.
Urmașii unor refugiați de pe Zarathustra trăiesc într-o societate ce-și alege conducătorul în urma vânătorii anuale a unei specii indigene. Un străin sosit pe planetă devine noul conducător, pune capăt Vântătorii-de-Rege și începe să exploateze localnicii, consolidându-și regimul tiranic cu ajutorul unor arme ce par primite de la zei.
Mi-a plăcut și acum, la recitire după o grămadă de ani. Un pic de aventură, un pic de exotism, o poveste frumos închegată cu unele revelații drăguțe - în ton cu SF-ul existent pe vremea când a fost scris. Mi se pare că se potrivește mai mult pentru a fi citit în perioada adolescenței/tinereții, dar a mers bine și acum. Și l-am găsit mai interesant (cu toate minusurile sale) decât unele cărți SF actuale ce se străduiesc să fie complexe, dar uneori „trag pe lângă” gusturile unui cititor SF de genul meu.
September 15, 2025
700 years ago Zarathustra's sun blowed up. The people scattered into space and were cut off from the rest of the civilized galaxy. When they were finally found they had fallen into a preindustrial state and forgotten their origins. The Space Patrol wants to follow the Prime Directive and keep a surreptitious watch on them. Another group thinks they would like to have their minerals and that these barbarian natives make good slaves. Each group puts spies on the planet and are secretly working against each other. All the while the locals just want to appease the gods and hunt pterodactyls.
A simple scientifiction story expanded from a short story. The Space Patrol people are interesting while the bad guys are generically bad. The locals are also rather generic barbarian types. The Space Patrol part makes me want to read more about them.
A simple scientifiction story expanded from a short story. The Space Patrol people are interesting while the bad guys are generically bad. The locals are also rather generic barbarian types. The Space Patrol part makes me want to read more about them.
December 10, 2021
A pulp story in the Zarathustra series.
This is an expanded version of a story that first appeared in the pulps. Survivors of a super nova crash land their spaceship on a planet, lose all their tech, and 800 years later have populated the planet with a busy medieval culture. Evil corporate types from a more advanced planet have found them and are taking advantage of their primitive superstitions and religious beliefs to loot the planet of valuable minerals. Good guys from Corps Galactia are aware something is up and send undercover spies to find out what's going on and set things right. Also there are pterodactyls.
Not a memorable or award-winning story. But if you get past the slow starting chapters, it's moderately entertaining.
This is an expanded version of a story that first appeared in the pulps. Survivors of a super nova crash land their spaceship on a planet, lose all their tech, and 800 years later have populated the planet with a busy medieval culture. Evil corporate types from a more advanced planet have found them and are taking advantage of their primitive superstitions and religious beliefs to loot the planet of valuable minerals. Good guys from Corps Galactia are aware something is up and send undercover spies to find out what's going on and set things right. Also there are pterodactyls.
Not a memorable or award-winning story. But if you get past the slow starting chapters, it's moderately entertaining.
July 17, 2024
I am more interested in this is a part of a bigger series. We shall see how this goes.
Brunner is someone whose minor works are of great interest to me. One reason: There are a lot of them, and I like creators who have a large catalogue.
Another: I liked his story ideas. He had a kind of cool, kind of sad life artistic life. He kind of looked like a Pan-inspired Devil. He died at a con.
If you are on a Brunner kick, why not? If you aren't, skip it.
Brunner is someone whose minor works are of great interest to me. One reason: There are a lot of them, and I like creators who have a large catalogue.
Another: I liked his story ideas. He had a kind of cool, kind of sad life artistic life. He kind of looked like a Pan-inspired Devil. He died at a con.
If you are on a Brunner kick, why not? If you aren't, skip it.
May 21, 2024
A simple adventure yarn of political intrigue with a rotating cast of protagonists. Brunner accomplishes a lot of world-building in just 150 pages. It's an interesting setup, perfect for a Traveller RPG campaign, and Brunner expanded on it in sequels.
February 14, 2021
A long start, a long end, and missing the middle part at all. Nevertheless have to read it if you like ZRPs
August 23, 2025
Full of pulp tropes, I was nevertheless drawn in completely. This is probably not a 4-star book but I was in the perfect mood for it.
July 28, 2019
Science Fiction, first published 1969
This year the first new moon of spring fell early. In the hill passes the way was still slippery with ice. By day the travelers’ breath, and that of their beasts of burden, wreathed before their faces in transient curlicues, while the feet of the less fortunate grew numb inside crude straw-stuffed clogs from the soles of which a few nails protruded, hopefully to give extra purchase on the steepest stretches; by night, when the caravan made bivouac, water had to be got in the form of pailfuls of snow, which they melted down, shivering around tiny fires. The highland streams were still frozen, and there was no fuel except what they had themselves brought.
Mehr Fantasy als Science Fiction, eine unterhaltsame klassische Abenteuergeschichte ohne kitschige Love-Story und - erstaunlich für die 60er Jahre - relativ frei von Gender-Klischees.
This year the first new moon of spring fell early. In the hill passes the way was still slippery with ice. By day the travelers’ breath, and that of their beasts of burden, wreathed before their faces in transient curlicues, while the feet of the less fortunate grew numb inside crude straw-stuffed clogs from the soles of which a few nails protruded, hopefully to give extra purchase on the steepest stretches; by night, when the caravan made bivouac, water had to be got in the form of pailfuls of snow, which they melted down, shivering around tiny fires. The highland streams were still frozen, and there was no fuel except what they had themselves brought.
Mehr Fantasy als Science Fiction, eine unterhaltsame klassische Abenteuergeschichte ohne kitschige Love-Story und - erstaunlich für die 60er Jahre - relativ frei von Gender-Klischees.
June 3, 2014
review of
John Brunner's The Avengers of Carrig
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - June 2, 2014
This is probably the 1st of the many Brunner bks that I've read that I have close to nothing to say about. It's probably also the 1st one that was generic enuf for it not to even seem like it 'had' to be written by Brunner. The back of the title p informs the reader that "A considerably shorter version of this novel appeared in 1962 under the title Secret Agent of Terra" (p 4)
If you're just looking for light reading to breeze thru w/o much caring, this is the Brunner for you. Otherwise, don't bother. The plot was enjoyable enuf, any significant writing about the bk wd have to reference the plot b/c there's so little else there. In other words, there're no remarkable esoteric references, there's no political subtext beyond the obvious good guys & bad guys, etc.. I reckon that for such a short bk it manages to bring in enuf varied environment & characters to be stimulating but, still, this is basically something just written to keep the author's bks rolling out there. It might fare better as a movie, one of those swash-buckling adventure yarns like "Star War[t]s" or "Dune[-Bunny]":
""I think," the young server said, and had to swallow nervously before going on—"I think it's a man. Hanging by some kind of harness under the parradile's body!"" - p 143
John Brunner's The Avengers of Carrig
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - June 2, 2014
This is probably the 1st of the many Brunner bks that I've read that I have close to nothing to say about. It's probably also the 1st one that was generic enuf for it not to even seem like it 'had' to be written by Brunner. The back of the title p informs the reader that "A considerably shorter version of this novel appeared in 1962 under the title Secret Agent of Terra" (p 4)
If you're just looking for light reading to breeze thru w/o much caring, this is the Brunner for you. Otherwise, don't bother. The plot was enjoyable enuf, any significant writing about the bk wd have to reference the plot b/c there's so little else there. In other words, there're no remarkable esoteric references, there's no political subtext beyond the obvious good guys & bad guys, etc.. I reckon that for such a short bk it manages to bring in enuf varied environment & characters to be stimulating but, still, this is basically something just written to keep the author's bks rolling out there. It might fare better as a movie, one of those swash-buckling adventure yarns like "Star War[t]s" or "Dune[-Bunny]":
""I think," the young server said, and had to swallow nervously before going on—"I think it's a man. Hanging by some kind of harness under the parradile's body!"" - p 143
May 26, 2010
Again this was one of the best sci-fi novels that I ever read. I never stop wondering how much wit and inventiveness writers put into sort of novels. I liked especially the mixture of middle ages civilizations, similar like Earth several hundred years ago, with space exploring civilizations. This was a new type of idea that I did not encountered very often in sci-fi novels.
My copy of this book is in Romanian.
My copy of this book is in Romanian.
September 19, 2017
Kral seçme yöntemleri çok ilgincime gitti. Birde burada geçen akıllı-vahşi uçan yaratıklar ve olay örgüsü Avatar filmindeki gibi değil mi?
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