Police Your Planet

by Eric van Lhin (Pseudonym), Lester del Rey

Bruce Gordon was an ex-fighter, ex-gambler, ex-cop, ex-reporter, and now he was an ex-patriot of Earth. Security shipped him to Mars with a knife, 100 credits, and a yellow card that meant no return. An SF novel that would appeal to Mickey Spillane fans, Police Your Planet features lots of hands-on violence, assorted beatings, and blood. But this isn't just a crime novel put into space; this is a hard sf novel, and the terraforming of Mars, while not dwelt upon, is central to the story.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Pulp, Ebooks

124 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2014

About the author

Pseudonym of Lester del Rey

Reviews

[Lizz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

I can see why this was written under a pseudonym. It wasn’t terrible and the idea was quite cool. However it was lacking in its delivery. Things were told to the reader almost like reading headlines from a newspaper. Oddly enough I couldn’t remember one character mentioned in the climax. I thought, who was that again? Ah never mind.

I can’t give this an exact rating. I’m thinking 2.25? I do know that it is better than that terrible zombie book I’m reading. (Sorry sorry but it’s the worst) I’d rather read a million low rent stories like this. All in all it’s not horrible, but I could’ve chosen better.

[Warren Fournier · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like a stock pulp detective story that Lester del Rey dusted off and inserted the words "Mars" and "spacesuit" where he could. Nothing about this feels like science fiction. It's a straightforward "good cop in a corrupt system" story.

We follow all-around tough guy Bruce Gordon after he gets his "yellow card" from Earth Global Security, which assigns him a post on Mars as some kind of spy with the promise that he can return to Earth if he does a satisfactory job. Broke and friendless in this new Martian frontier town, he gets a job as a beat cop shaking down business owners for protection money, but he actually manages to do some actual police work. This catches the attention of the criminal gangs who are actually in power over the Martian colony as well as the more stalwart members of law enforcement who support him in draining the swamp.

First published in 1953, this has all the trappings of young adult crime adventure from the period. A stoic block of wood for a hero. A femme fatale love interest. An annoying kid side-kick. Lots of fights and stabbings and shoot-outs in seedy back alleys. Cops beating the shit out of thugs with billy clubs. Everyone in the far future talks like they're in a detective noir from the Forties. "So, you thought you could put the finger on me, eh? Well, it's curtains for you, Leftie! Myeah, myeah, myeah..."

Beyond what I just told you, I didn't understand a damn thing. Nothing any of the characters do makes any sense. Bad guys suddenly fight alongside good guys and vice versa. Shoot outs and brawls erupt with no apparent purpose. There seems to be double crossing and triple crossing to the point where I didn't know who to root for, and I ultimately didn't care. Perhaps the point was to show that in real life there are no good guys, that all violence makes no sense, and that people choose sides purely out of opportunism or just plain ignorance. But I don't think it was thought out that carefully. The whole thing just seemed pointless, an excuse to sell copy, a product to earn writer and publisher a few bucks.

It could have been entertaining, but for all the reasons I just mentioned, the book failed to generate any investment in a single aspect. On top of that, it lacks the imaginative scope of true science fiction, takes itself way too seriously, and is written in dry prose that lacks the bombast and charm of most pulp. For all the action and intrigue, I found myself getting bored.

For me, this story failed on almost every level, and represents everything that I dislike about this era of science fiction. It is action for the sake of action, stolen from rehashed pop tropes. No attempt was made to make an original and engaging narrative that made sense. Still, I'm sure some fans of Golden-Age sci-fi will likely already know what to expect and will squeeze from it some modicum of fun, but I don't think it's worth the effort.

SCORE: 1.5 rounded to two dirty coppers out of five

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, old-fashioned Martian adventure, about a corrupt government and police force and the agent and his friends who have to set things to rights. The Martian setting has a colonial-Australia-with-a-dome-over-it feel. The main female character is even named Sheila. Actually, she's the only female character, and she's almost always called "Princess" or "Cuddles," so you can see that the social conventions of the book haven't aged well. It was written by Lester del Rey under the pseudonym Eric van Lhin and first appeared in the early-1950s as a serial in Science Fiction Adventures magazine, which was edited by Lester del Rey under a different pseudonym, Philip St. John. It appeared in hardback as an entry in Avalon's sf-for-younger-readers line in 1956 under the van Lhin name, and even more curiously, when Ballantine released a mass-market edition in 1975 they published it as a collaboration between del Rey and van Lhin. It's a pretty standard novel, representative of the time. I enjoyed listening to it thanks to Librivox.

[Julie Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read for an upcoming SSFaudio episode.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Kicked off Earth, sent to Marsport with a vague order to get in touch with Security, Bruce Gordon ends up having to work for the police - a corrupt arm of a corrupt government. Then things get complicated.

Review
Police Your Planet is an odd thing. Nominally a police story set on Mars, it goes beyond hard boiled and well into brutal. The narrator is a man of ideals, but they're oddly flexible - at times he sticks to what he believes is right, other times he goes along to get along. If going along means beating people up, so be it.

The policing part - and the narrator's morals - were interesting, but the treatment of the feisty woman is another matter. Even allowing for original publication in 1953, the woman is anachronistic at best. She's tough, and hates our narrator, but goes along easily enough in a formal marriage, and, yes, suddenly realizes she loves him after he starts telling her what to do. That's a bit of an unfair compression of events, but the gist is there. Toward the end, she suddenly declares that maybe she doesn't have to be a failure as a woman - which, until that point, had never entered my mind.

I enjoyed aspects of this, including the ambiguous morality, but the romantic element felt loosely stapled on - not credible and a little past the verge of offensive. I've liked Lester Del Rey, but here perhaps writing under a pseudonym led him astray. If you're new to Del Rey, don't start here.

[Bryce Beattie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very amusing pulp scifi.

Our hero gets shipped off earth to Mars with a "yellow ticket" meaning he can't return. He tries to make a life for himself in the super corrupt city of Marsport. He's not a squeeky clean good guy by any means.

The action is plentiful. The "love story" made me roll my eyes in a good way. I mean, come on, our hero sees a brassy blonde twice in crowds and then she tries to kill him. How could they not be destined to hook up?

Again this is pulp, so it's not going to be terribly PC or change your life, but it may just entertain your for a couple of hours.

[Andrewcharles420 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Martian crime drama about a Terran exile who tries to work his way back to earth and respectability through the corrupt martian police forces. Gritty, sometimes clichéd. Men and women are both outlaws spurred without second thought to fighting each other in the streets... but once marriage is forced upon the one female character she becomes much more pleasantly disposed and domestic.

Many of the more interesting aspects of the novel were the least addressed: the politics of the Terran continent/nations, the presumably system-wide Security apparatus, and the other inner planets Mars, Venus and Mercury; the terraforming projects on Mars and Martian genetic adaptations. The only issue thoroughly gone over is corruption in and around government and police organizations--and even then without useful thought toward solutions--just punitive violence and enforced order.

Read it as I found it free on Amazon and wanted to sample the author (especially since I thought this was shorter), but there are probably better titles available.

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the characters, but then, I haven't read a lot of westerns or detective noir. It may be a common factor in those types of stories that deprived, careworn people on the suffering and poverty end of things are morally despicable to a man (or their female prisoners/wives, as the case may be).

Gordon is the protagonist, but I hated him throughout, Sheila at least I felt sorry for (her grandfather sold her to a gang?). I can't tell cops from robbers here and that seems to be the point. Everyone on this Mars is cruel and desperate. You might like it, but it was SO not my thing.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had trouble even finishing this one. The main character did not inspire any feelings of respect or even liking. There were Way too many additional characters that I could not begin to keep track of. The story line itself was so convoluted and involved so many sudden reverses, indistinguishable "sides," and the like that I could give you only the barest outline of what happened a few days after having finished it. In other words, not worth the time I spent reading it.

[Stifynsemons · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.3 stars, not so good

In science fiction, it's normal to predict and fail. This story, published in 1975 doesn't fully take into account Mars data collected in the 1960s. There is some attempt to and perhaps the author was hopeful it wasn't as bad as it really was or didn't reason out the consequences so obvious decades later. Not a deal-breaker, yet I do give a lot more technical leeway to books on Mars published before 1960.

But large sections of the story just seem to ignore the Martian aspect entirely. If you started in the middle, you might think you were in a big city street fight on Earth. It's a lot of confusing action, the plot is buried, and characters are unpredictable whether they will help or hinder the protagonist. At least in the end, we do find out what the objective was ...

[Dimitris Zisis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take of a Sci-Fi setting on Mars with it's own politics, system and scientific rule of how people could survive up there both inside the Dome the city is and outside.

The characters had a good development, some will stay in your mind for a long time and it had some good action scenes when it comes to fights.

Only con (and the reason why i rated it with a star less) is the continuous description of the same thing every now and then.
How the protagonist and his fellow coops had to work to keep safe the streets and get the income from store owners for their protection. I believe it could be some pages less without adding the same (almost routine) but its not a big deal, I'm sure you'll love reading this novel!!!

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not going to ding this book for being dated (with mimeograph machines and travel to Mercury) and those sorts of things. But overall the story was pretty cookie cutter and was just a mystery thriller with cops, mafia, gambling, and political intrigue and could have been written and stood up well without the setting on Mars. The science fiction stuff was definitely superfluous.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for what I call an "airplane book." That is, something that keeps your interest even as the person next to you is snoring, little kids are swinging from the armrests (true story) and is in fact so engrossing that the plane could be going down in flames and you would still be trying to finish the book. Ender's Game was my last airplane book and it didn't let me down. So when I found this during my trip, I thought, perfect, some 50's pulp to keep me distracted on the flight back.
Wrong. I really enjoyed most of the stories in The Best of Lester Del Rey and thought this would be on par. Also wrong. See, I had forgotten that Del Rey worshiped Robert Heinlein, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But the slavish devotion mixed with an immature writing style makes for a cringe-worthy plot and I won't even mention the prose. The male characters are completely undeveloped, at best being mere shells of a stereotype. And women? Don't ask. But since you did: the main female protagonist goes from being the leader of her own gang, to saving the male main character's life, to being on the run, to trying to kill aforementioned main character, to being his prisoner, to playing house with him (cooking, cleaning, whatnot) while still his prisoner, to escaping, reforming the gang, being on the run again, and somewhere in there, falling deeply, of course, deeply in love with him.
I really have a weak spot in my heart for these quick read, sci-fi books. If asked, I would have said that I could power through any poor writing, ignore bad characterizations, and forgive any number of plot holes. But this one proved me wrong. Not only was I unable to finish it on my flight, but it lingered for weeks afterward sitting on my currently reading list. I still wanted to find out what happened at the end, but was in no hurry to find out. Read this only if you are desperate.

[Brad Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up in a "5 for $20" bin of paperbacks at Chicon 7. Partially, I was amused because the super-70s cover credits two authors who happen to be the same person. Partially, I read a sample on Amazon years ago and was interested.

So, it was okay. For being written in the 50s, the way Mars was handled was easy enough to swallow (no little green men). The problem was that it wasn't necessary in the slightest.

The story is one of bureaucratic corruption. Everyone from the mayor on down through the police and civil service is utterly self-interested. Graft is official policy. Gangs are employed as mercenaries, and their own extortion is quietly condoned. It's pretty depressing stuff, and compelling enough (I really wanted the antagonists to get killed) but it's not really science fiction. Set the story in Dodge City, 1880 and it barely changes, except for the push-button-save-world ending. It was basically Walking Tall with space suits.

Also, there's an antagonistic but vague (and thoroughly sexist) conflict between the primary character and his love interest. For some reason she hates him and keeps trying to kill him, but she can't, because he's so manly and impulsive? I didn't really follow. Her transformation into loving and thoroughly traditional wife at the end was really jarring and Stepford Wives-ish.

All in all, it was a fun story for 200 pages. I don't regret the $4 I spent on it or the few hours I put into reading it. On the other hand, I can't really recommend it to anyone other than a total nerd for classic science fiction. There's just much better stuff out there.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Gordon, a hard man with an impressive past and a dubious moral character, bought himself a one-way ticket to Mars when he stole a top secret government paper and published it. Now the authorities, called Security, were going to let him lose on unruly red planet.

Marsport, the main city, under a dome and basically a frontier town with all the lawlessness that entails, is run by a corrupt mayor, ruthless gangs and a self-serving police force which shamelessly conducts systematic shakedowns.

It is also looking to break ties with Earth and strike out alone, which is where Gordon comes in as a semi-autonomous pawn, a one-man wrecking crew guaranteed to bust things up and break some heads. But he also has his own dishonest agendas.

'Police Your Planet' is not so much a typical 1950s sci-fi story, more Dashiell Hammett on Mars, with Gordan playing the role the Continental Detective did in 'Red Harvest'. As such it's unusually gritty and brutal, with a large cast of reprobates and no real hero as such.

Interestingly, due to the fragile nature of the dome most of the fights are had with clubs, knives and rocks, and are bone-crunching affairs. The action is riveting but the plot goes a little astray and the treatment the female lead receives throughout is pretty unforgivable.

But the adrenaline thrills are worth the ride, as is the black hole in its heart. As one of the characters says of the protagonist:

"Gordon, you're a self-made louse, but you're a man underneath it somewhere. That's why we rate you higher than you think you are. That's why I'm going to trust you—because I have to."

[D.w. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic of Science Fiction.

More people of course who profess the love of Science Fiction need to search out and read such classics. It explains how we got to what is currently read. It shows the forms and precepts that got us to this point.

Del Rey of course is a master and later in life became a well known editor with his own imprint of books. The story deals with not just the idea of Mars and what we might expect if we ever get there. It deals with man and how man reacts to the situations in his life, whether on Mars, or here on Earth.

That is what makes the story masterful. Why it should be read. It clarifies for us that men can do things for noble reasons, for justice, or because it is the means to the next meal. Police Your Planet has us thinking what would we do, if we were asked to take a stand. If we knew that there was such terrible corruption holding back the very oxygen we need to breath, would we do what was right, or what was expedient.

If you have never read this, it is one to read. I used to read it every other year. Now, having passed the middle of life, I will undoubtedly read it again.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a note...my copy (from 1975) lists the authors as 'Lester Del Rey and Erik van Lhim'.. the later being one of Lester Del Rey's pen names.

This isn't so much a sci-fi story as a 30's Chicago mobster story set on Mars to make it easy to take everything to massive extremes. The main character, Bruce Gordon, is sorta half Elliot Ness and half Al Capone. Fun story, but a bit too much 50s male power fantasy.. the romantic lead, Sheila, is really a scary character in that this is what a man in the 50s that teenagers wanted women to be like.

There were a few bright spots (the supporting characters were great), and it was a pretty fun book overall, just not a masterpiece or anything.

[Ardent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lester del Ray je štandardný autor sci-fi 50tych rokov.
Knižka nie je úplne logicky konzistentná a povedal by som, že patrí medzi slabšie, na strane druhej, ale obsahuje niektoré časté prvky daného žánru a obdobia.

Policajt z ktorého je kriminálnik z ktorého je policajt...check.
Krásna žena ktorá prejde z kill na kiss v priebehu knihy (odporúčam nečítať feministkám túto kategóriu literatúry)...check.
Sympatické charaktery antihrdinov...check.
Súboje na nože...check.
Hlavný hrdina bez problému používa smrtiacu silu aj tam kde nie je nevyhnutná...check.
Deus ex-machina na počkanie...check.

Myslím, že knižka by možno mala dostať 2 alebo 2.5*, ale mám pre túto literatúru písanú, aby mal autor zajtra čo dať na stôl slabosť, takže je to za 3* ;)

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great old school sci-fi, and really I think the most interesting story set on a future terraformed Mars ever written. The book is very real and gritty, the story moves along, and there's a little of everything which makes it a fast read (I read it on a 10 hour flight to Hawaii). The book is less about the science and dynamics of Mars colonization/terraforming and really a more human story about the peoples who have settled there. Much better than Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" garbage. I say read this one along with "Badge of Infamy." Great stuff.

[Jack D · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pulp crime novel about a corrupt and heavy handed police force trying to gain control of a deeply crime ridden and run down city.
This pulp novel is fast paced and violent, and makes an enjoyable, easy read.
Although the story is set in a Mars spaceport, the story is really pulp crime with a very thin sci-fi wash – It could easily be set in any western city location in 1920's, (right down to the social structure and language).
A good quick read to pass the time, but don't expect a sci-fi story.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt very of its time - very "pulp" - combination of frontier/film noir atmosphere - characters were somewhat one-dimensional, yet had some quirks. Standard "domed city" environment with local gov't taken over by graft & corruption. Reluctant hero etc etc...

Heinleinesque - but not quite up to Robert's talent level.

If you're into SF from this time, it's worth a library or free e-text read - I think I got my copy from either ManyBooks.net or BookGlutton.com

[Thibaldo Manrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good sample of 50's sci-fi

I enjoy the genera and this is an excellent example of the post war science fiction.

It has the characters and scenarios that made for great sci-fi after WW II. It has that rough and tumble story that makes heros out of misfits and has just the right amount of disrespect for the system that shows that the worst situations still can lead to a great ending.

Most enjoyable.

[Daniel Bensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I started this book I thought "for this sort of cynicism you usually have to turn to the Strugatskies." We get American at the end, though, when the protagonist beats up his girlfriend and explodes some civic infrastructure for reasons of symbolic nation-building. These misdeeds might have been made to work (a burned-out policeman struggles with his belief in order and his hidden kink for mayhem?) but they didn't.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome science-fiction. Del Rey uses scientific, policing matters, narration and discusses upcoming political avenues all in leaps for a possible future of anger, of depression and human waste, also of those opposing forces of crime infestation among planets in our solar system after they are settlements. Fast read and very possibly a spooky take of our near future.

[Ishmael Soledad · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting piece of 1950's sci-fi, clearly reflecting the values and society of that era. Very much a wild-west American pastiche in a Mars bubble it gave me equal parts of cringe and nostalgia. An easy enough read (if you get over the 'cobbers' and 'guvnors' that seem to fall like rain in the tropics) but perhaps better suited for the very young adults ... of the 1950's.

[Jon Norimann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone serving at the Mars police is not a good idea for a book. Why not just write about serving in a normal police force on earth? So this book starts in a hole and Lester del Rey does nothing making this worthwhile as science fiction. As a police story in itself its traditional and average.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story, but I think it improved as the action sped up the story about halfway through. Guy gets sent to Mars as punishment and ends up as a cop. Stuff ensues. The audiobook from Audible is excellent.

[Robert Arlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good Del Rey

Good story, gritty and pungent. Not your slick and sterile sci-fi. This one is as frontier as it gets. These are the stories we tend to recall as some of the better ones that we've read over the years. Bob Nelson, Prescott, AZ 6-17-18

[bluetyson]

Police Your Planet by Lester Del Rey (2000)

[Keith Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun SF adventure set on Mars, nothing profound here.