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Mythmaster
PIRATE
Stealing lives and peddling them from one end of the galaxy to another for unspeakable uses, the Mythmaster thought he was a free man. The Patrol that had cashiered him couldn't catch him now. He was making his own life, alone.
Then a supposedly dead man decided he wanted a piece of the action-- and the Mythmaster's body-- and the chase was on. Between the Patrol and sinster Oxon Kaedler he knew his freedom was a mirage. Now he was fighting for his very life!
Stealing lives and peddling them from one end of the galaxy to another for unspeakable uses, the Mythmaster thought he was a free man. The Patrol that had cashiered him couldn't catch him now. He was making his own life, alone.
Then a supposedly dead man decided he wanted a piece of the action-- and the Mythmaster's body-- and the chase was on. Between the Patrol and sinster Oxon Kaedler he knew his freedom was a mirage. Now he was fighting for his very life!
- GenresScience FictionFiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
26 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 21, 2013
Early 70s novel about a bi-sexual pirate who steals fertilized eggs by dosing his victims with a hallucinagen and sells them. Trippy sex and drugs wrapped in a character study. Kind of a cool read.
May 28, 2021
So yeah, our main man, John Shannon, is this disgraced Spacelane 5 Fleet captain. Buddy mutinied and tried to save all these prisoners serving time in isolation pods adrift in space. Here’s a guy who was raised by a robotic surrogate mom who was busting his ass to try and do what was right. What did that get him? Thrown out of the space fleet. C’mon man!
But this dude bangs. He’s scarred, hard as fuck, and doesn’t give a shit about what’s right and wrong. What works is what’s right and what works is being a god damn space pirate. We’re not talking about let’s raid that wimpy cargo ship for lichen or raze some developing planet for shits and giggles. Shannon and his crew give no fucks and have a space monopoly on the ultimate booty. Fertilized human eggs.
These bros zip in on their pods and drop thousands of pellets of this crazy hallucinogen Mythmadness. Everyone is just trippin’ balls. Screaming, dancing, having a debate on gender equality with a dog that they think is their late Uncle Neil sort of thing. Everyone is completely at the pirate’s whim. The pirates mark all the women in very early stages of pregnancy and steal their eggs. These chicks are thinking they're playing whack-a-mole at the county fair and then the pirates take the fertilized eggs and sell them to some off-world colony or aliens that like to eat fatties. Makes no difference, money’s money, and they need money to go whoring at Seventh Heaven, the best damn satellite brothel in the galaxy. Well played.
The most powerful crime lord in the Starlanes, who is legally dead and beyond the reach of the law, shows up and wants what Shannon has. Oxon Kaedler has burns over 100% of his body and free floats in a force field. All I know is that I really could have used a free floating force fieldbafter I crushed a dozen margaritas and passed out in the kiddie pool at the Sandals Montego Bay. Woke up looking like the Canada flag but nothing another dozen margs wouldn’t cure. Anyways, buddy is so toast that he needs this obese Class 7 Neomorph alien from Caliban to telepathically communicate for him. Dude doesn’t just want what Shannon has; he wants to be Shannon. He offers to buy his business, his gal Reba, and his body to clone and transfer his consciousness into. The thing I don’t get is that if cloning, rapid maturation, and consciousness transfers are easy in this universe I don’t know why fertilized eggs are such big business. Then again, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads books, eats pepperoni pizza pops dipped in ranch, and rips farts into my couch. Anyways, Shannon rejects his offer and the chase is on. With Kaedler and the Space Patrol on his tail, Shannon encounters the one thing that he wasn’t ready for… Love.
The pace slows down as the novel progresses from space raids to Shannon’s moral introspection. But there was always enough drugs, sex, and mayhem to keep this guy entertained. Most definitely recommend.
Anyways, that’s about all I got. Adios, amigos!
Also, check out my rad site for more content like this: The SciFi Book Guy
But this dude bangs. He’s scarred, hard as fuck, and doesn’t give a shit about what’s right and wrong. What works is what’s right and what works is being a god damn space pirate. We’re not talking about let’s raid that wimpy cargo ship for lichen or raze some developing planet for shits and giggles. Shannon and his crew give no fucks and have a space monopoly on the ultimate booty. Fertilized human eggs.
These bros zip in on their pods and drop thousands of pellets of this crazy hallucinogen Mythmadness. Everyone is just trippin’ balls. Screaming, dancing, having a debate on gender equality with a dog that they think is their late Uncle Neil sort of thing. Everyone is completely at the pirate’s whim. The pirates mark all the women in very early stages of pregnancy and steal their eggs. These chicks are thinking they're playing whack-a-mole at the county fair and then the pirates take the fertilized eggs and sell them to some off-world colony or aliens that like to eat fatties. Makes no difference, money’s money, and they need money to go whoring at Seventh Heaven, the best damn satellite brothel in the galaxy. Well played.
The most powerful crime lord in the Starlanes, who is legally dead and beyond the reach of the law, shows up and wants what Shannon has. Oxon Kaedler has burns over 100% of his body and free floats in a force field. All I know is that I really could have used a free floating force fieldbafter I crushed a dozen margaritas and passed out in the kiddie pool at the Sandals Montego Bay. Woke up looking like the Canada flag but nothing another dozen margs wouldn’t cure. Anyways, buddy is so toast that he needs this obese Class 7 Neomorph alien from Caliban to telepathically communicate for him. Dude doesn’t just want what Shannon has; he wants to be Shannon. He offers to buy his business, his gal Reba, and his body to clone and transfer his consciousness into. The thing I don’t get is that if cloning, rapid maturation, and consciousness transfers are easy in this universe I don’t know why fertilized eggs are such big business. Then again, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads books, eats pepperoni pizza pops dipped in ranch, and rips farts into my couch. Anyways, Shannon rejects his offer and the chase is on. With Kaedler and the Space Patrol on his tail, Shannon encounters the one thing that he wasn’t ready for… Love.
The pace slows down as the novel progresses from space raids to Shannon’s moral introspection. But there was always enough drugs, sex, and mayhem to keep this guy entertained. Most definitely recommend.
Anyways, that’s about all I got. Adios, amigos!
Also, check out my rad site for more content like this: The SciFi Book Guy
June 10, 2022
I bought this book mainly based on the cover. There's a lot of trippy stuff in this book I'm not quite qualified to parse.
John Shannon and his pirate crew steal embryos to sell into slavery using a hallucinogenic gas - the gas makes you see myths, making him the "mythmaster" of the title. The book feints at him being involved with psychedelics and the subconscious, but the theme never really pays off in Shannon's character. In real life, Shannon is repressed and dour.
Shannon falls in love with a hooker with a heart of gold, but he resists giving her his heart. That turns into this weird romantic power struggle. His first mate is gay and maybe in love with him. The first mate is the best person in the book, but he definitely runs the "tragic homosexual" trope. The book ends in one of the trippiest sequence I've read as the crew fights for survival and loses their identities.
John Shannon and his pirate crew steal embryos to sell into slavery using a hallucinogenic gas - the gas makes you see myths, making him the "mythmaster" of the title. The book feints at him being involved with psychedelics and the subconscious, but the theme never really pays off in Shannon's character. In real life, Shannon is repressed and dour.
Shannon falls in love with a hooker with a heart of gold, but he resists giving her his heart. That turns into this weird romantic power struggle. His first mate is gay and maybe in love with him. The first mate is the best person in the book, but he definitely runs the "tragic homosexual" trope. The book ends in one of the trippiest sequence I've read as the crew fights for survival and loses their identities.
December 28, 2014
Loved this little novel. A space pirate and his crew steal cells and embryos from pregnant women and sell them to clients across the Universe. Very original and a total blast. Was more about the main character, John Shannon, struggling with himself, his past & his sexuality. Reminded me of an episode of Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century mixed with Star Trek but with trippy sex, drugs, cool world building & an unconventional climax/ending. Great 70s science fiction!
December 2, 2014
1977 grade D
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews