Flight to Terror

Barclay #2

by Michael Elder

"He could have died mad, too."

"Ten years cooped up in that ship would test the strongest mentality, no matter how careful they psychological screening was before they left Earth. Then to crash at the end of the journey, just when you're in sight of safety, and see most of your colleagues burned to death wouldn't help those who survived."

She spoke levelly and without emotion, and Susan could see that privately she was thinking that perhaps her parents were the lucky ones if they died cleanly in the fire, and hadn't been left to face a slow, lingering death on a strange planet with a few colleagues and little in the way of equipment to start a new life. Yes, maybe the survivors were the ones who needed pity most.

Genres: Science Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Michael Elder was a Scottish actor who also wrote documentaries and other largely fact based programmes for BBC Scotland amongst others. He was a member of the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow, Byre Theatre, St. Andrews, The Gateway Theatre, Edinburgh (1953 - 1960), and the Fraser Neale Players.

In film and television, he is known for his roles in The Flight of the Heron (1976), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1978) and Sam (1973). He played Dr. Wallace in the Scottish Television series Take the High Road.

Elder had a long association with the town of St. Andrews, moving there when he and his sister, Alison, travelled north for schooling after their home was bombed during the blitz in the Second World War.

During the 1950s, he was a member of the Edinburgh Gateway Company. His many television credits included the classic drama series, Dr Finlay's Casebook. A prolific writer from a very early age, Elder had many books published, from children's titles and poetry, to an impressive list of 14 science fiction novels. He also completed several scripts for television, including High Road.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the first book in the series, great world building and a great initial concept. However, it fell off the same way towards the 60-70% mark, and then picked back up again at the very end. It feels a lot like the author struggles with where to take a solid concept once he gets through the initial plot development. The planet was interesting!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a recommendation from a friend. Although I love a good Sci-fi book at first, I thought it was goig to be a Sci-fi/Horror. However, once I start reading a book, I usually HAVE to finish it, even if I don't like it, just to know what happens. It turned out to be a lot better than my original thought. Very suspenseful and imaginative. I can't promise I would read it again, but I will recommend it to anyone who likes Sci-fi suspense.