On the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars

Bill, the Galactic Hero #6

by Harry Harrison

aka The Planet of the Hippies from Hell

Bill is the perfect starship big, strong and completely brainwashed. He'll also do almost anything to save his neck. Now he's been sent to Barworld, home planet of the finest beverages in the universe. But can Bill survive an entire planet of blondes, booze and bathtubs of champagne?

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Fiction, Audiobook, Satire, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

214 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

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

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classy setup for this humorous lambast of SF. I mean, if you're going to be a big dumb military man that has never had leave and you're stuck with a big grey brick for a foot (not really an upgrade from his other big lizard foot,) then I'd personally get really psyched to volunteer for a mission on THE Planet of Ten Thousand Bars.

With a drunk as your expert companion.

Yeeesssss... but of course it goes feet up. Between time-travel hijinx, the Planet of Death, time-nazis, and Aztec gods, we know this working vacation has gone to hell.

I'm seriously liking this later Bill the Galactic Hero novels better in these later stories.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10. Media de los 17 libros que he leído del autor : 7/10.

Ciencia ficción de humor exagerado donde Bill es una parodia de todos los heroes super-cachas que hayan podido existir.

Exagerado, esperpéntico, semiabsurdo, un humor bestia con el que no dejas de sonreir si te lo tomas tan a broma como lo ha hecho su autor al escribirlo.

Hay una serie de, creo, 7 libros pero son independientes, se pueden leer por separado. El comentario vale para todos ellos.

Yo empezaría a leerlo y si no te gusta este humor, pues lo dejas y en paz.

[John Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bill is sent on a special mission to the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars. Time-traveling hippie Nazis from Hell Planet ensue (which would have TOTALLY been a better title).

This was a dumb book. And the Nazis were borderline offensive.

There were a couple clever time-traveling twists near the end, but they dropped a major ball on one where they seemed to be setting up for Bill to be the original hippie assassin, and then just forgot about it? Disappointing.

And really, a planet devoted to nothing but drinking and debauchery would have a heck of a lot more than 10,000 bars. Hell, I'm sure Milwaukee alone has more than 10,000.

[Alanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half was amusing. But really this is Captain Underpants for grown ups, and a dumbed down Hitchhiker’s Guide. That’s all alright, sometimes readers need ridiculous books like this, but I’ll be honest: I quit about three quarters in because Harrison managed to create a racist sci fi story. Bill the Galactic Hero travels through time and runs into some gloriously stereotypical Native Americans in some bizarre Aztec-Apache combo. I just couldn’t make it through all the “redskins”, “savages”, and worst of all “squaws” to actually read the story. And I know alcohol is a major theme and running joke in the story, but really, making each and every Indian an alcoholic just seemed to be in poor taste.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has a variant title "...Planet of the Hippies from Hell." Don't expect hippies (LSD trips, free love, music festivals...) - there are just several scattered incidents of a "hippie" affecting time by terrorist acts. While there is part of the book in which Bill is on the Planet of 10,000 Bars, it's hardly a bar crawl around the planet either. There is a lot of different parts to the book. There's even a part where Bill is a prisoner on a starship for 2 years and for lack of anything else to pass the time he becomes educated and swears off drinking (until the book's very end, of course.) The book is short and filled in a gap between other books.

[Steven Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the top 2-3 of the series. Fun, more than "funny", but a well-written humorous romp through time and space. The time-looping almost got out of hand, but was well-resolved in the end. David Bischoff redeems himself from the pretty-bad work in the 3rd installment, maybe he was having an off-week at the time. Consistent with the previous story lines, developing a new dimension to the tale, and keeping it reasonably logical and humorous.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually listened to an audio edition but I no longer have access to the details necessary to add that edition to goodreads.com so I'm putting my review here.

This is a fun time travel book consisting of mostly broad humor with some nuance in the heart of the story. However, the end felt like the author had reached his desired word count and so just wrapped everything up as quickly as possible.

Bottom line: fun read if you like goofball time travel stories.

[Jim Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had some interesting time travel stuff!

[Ape · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bookcrossing thoughts from 2008: Well, I did read it. It's not very long and it is very silly - what a surprise considering the title. So if you like your books serious, I would avoid this one with a barge pole.

Part of a series apparently, it's about the adventures of Bill, a Startrooper soldier type who likes his beer. Sci fi future, people read a lot of comics for some reason. In this one the hippies from hell have changed the course of history so that the Nazis have taken over, or something like that. The plot seems to generally be a side issue that doesn't make an awful lot of sense. Bill isn't too bothered either. He wants a beer. Well, several beers.

There's a lot of silliness going on - not to mention Uncle Nancy's cross dressing bar. Kind of feels like two blokes wrote this whilst v. smashed. Anyway, if you're wanting such silliness, it's all right for a one off.

[Rene Majer]

Nejbláznivější dobrodružství všech časů a vesmírů

Je dokonalým mezihvězdným kavaleristou: velký, silný a vlastní dokonale vymytý (vypitý) mozek. Prostě perfektní hrdina: ochotný udělat cokoliv, aby si zachránil krk. (Jedna z mála částí těla, která je původní.)

Vydává se na planetu barů, domov nejskvělejších „drinků“ v celém vesmíru. Dokáže však Bill přežít bez úhony ve světě plavovlásek, opilců a van plných šampaňského? Pokud chce uspět, musí najít časovou bránu a zastavit ďábelské spiknutí přicházející ze světa komiksů! Unikne Bill vražedným hippies? Pohltí ho příval lží pocházející z podstaty existence Planety barů? Objeví smysl života? Nalezne…

[Datsun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best of the Bill, The Galactic Hero books, which sort of got less intensely amusing as the series went on. But a decent read for anyone in need of howlingly bad puns, and lots of well-intentioned jokes about alcoholism, the military, or sci-fi clichés in general.

[Scott]

BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO by Harry Harrison (1965)