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The Repairman
According to this document, you can-t quit. Ever. Therefore I have a little job I know you-ll enjoy. Repair job. The Centauri beacon has shut down. It-s a Mark III beacon.-- What kind of beacon?
Mark III - The Old Man repeated, practically chortling. - ...This was the earliest type of beacon ever built-by Earth, no less. Considering its location on one of the Proxima Centauri planets, it might very well be the first beacon.
Mark III - The Old Man repeated, practically chortling. - ...This was the earliest type of beacon ever built-by Earth, no less. Considering its location on one of the Proxima Centauri planets, it might very well be the first beacon.
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1958
33 people are currently reading
201 people want to read
About the author
Harry Harrison
1,298 books1,045 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
August 21, 2024
An amusing story that I think well represents Harrison's skill at melding some humor and lightheartedness with some conceptually interesting sci-fi elements.
April 6, 2018
Part of LibriVox “Short Science Fiction Collection Vol. 001 and 003 - “. Totally excellent. Have decided to absorb more Harry Harrison. As an ex IT Support guy it really spoke to me. Exceptionally funny and imaginative, the local customs and manners of the “users” of the faulty equipment reminded me of many individual clients and managers I’ve had the dubious pleasure of serving. Also, like me, he wasn’t really allowed to kill them...great narration in both versions. Re-listened to Vol. 001 version 6/4/18. ( Best cover https://goo.gl/images/LF5Qwu )
August 27, 2017
A repairmen, or an interstellar troubleshooter, tasked to fix a broken beacon that concealed in a pyramid by the natives who've built religion around it. This one is sooo good I can see this being adapted into a movie or something.
-- Short story, available for free on Project Gutenberg.
-- Short story, available for free on Project Gutenberg.
June 18, 2011
A fun story of how to repair a malfunctioning beacon on a backwater planet.
Audio Book MP3 downloaded from
http://librivox.org/short-science-fic...
Public Domain stories from Project Gutenberg, that are read by volunteers.
I listen to these short stories while walking to and from work.
Play Duration: 29 min 56 sec
Read By: Taras Shuper
Audio Book MP3 downloaded from
http://librivox.org/short-science-fic...
Public Domain stories from Project Gutenberg, that are read by volunteers.
I listen to these short stories while walking to and from work.
Play Duration: 29 min 56 sec
Read By: Taras Shuper
March 26, 2020
Excellent short story!
February 22, 2017
Very short science fiction story about an interstellar repairman whose job entails fixing hyperspace beacons. When one of the devices stop working on a distant planet, he has to figure out a way to stealthily repair the beacon without disrupting the primitive culture or exposing the inhabitants to outside influences.
August 25, 2016
A science fiction story about a repairman works in Beacons maintenance. Actually he is already in the future, and talk about the the earth as the past era!
I believe that the idea and events were not good enough, unfortunately, went vertically as a beam of laser, without any turnovers. And, some informations in the beginning about his boss (the old man) and the money (his money) were not used correctly, or at least useless, and must not be existed if they are!
However, Harrison imagination gave him a lot of opportunities to overcome readers' boredom; specially when he talked about the lizards, his solution to the situation and reaction to the rule of blindness (for example).
Finally, what I really like in Harrison is his hidden thoughts, good thoughts, that participate in a way or another in communities benefits. What I mean was cleared in the book as he encourage people -indirectly- to improve their abilities in order to get promoted in work/life and to invest their wasted time; he said that with a big remark "this is what will be in the future"!
So, it is a good story even if I think that Harrison has much better.
I believe that the idea and events were not good enough, unfortunately, went vertically as a beam of laser, without any turnovers. And, some informations in the beginning about his boss (the old man) and the money (his money) were not used correctly, or at least useless, and must not be existed if they are!
However, Harrison imagination gave him a lot of opportunities to overcome readers' boredom; specially when he talked about the lizards, his solution to the situation and reaction to the rule of blindness (for example).
Finally, what I really like in Harrison is his hidden thoughts, good thoughts, that participate in a way or another in communities benefits. What I mean was cleared in the book as he encourage people -indirectly- to improve their abilities in order to get promoted in work/life and to invest their wasted time; he said that with a big remark "this is what will be in the future"!
So, it is a good story even if I think that Harrison has much better.
February 11, 2014
Excellent. I loved this one, and recommend it to anyone who loves space travel and cultural encounters. Its not heavy in that department so give it a go.
A stellar communications repairman is sent to repair a beacon on a planet, and discovers that its presence had a profound influence on the planet in question. Needing to deal with a locally evolved sentience and a bizarre ritual, the repairman needs to use his best plan to complete his mission and end up alive and whole too.
A stellar communications repairman is sent to repair a beacon on a planet, and discovers that its presence had a profound influence on the planet in question. Needing to deal with a locally evolved sentience and a bizarre ritual, the repairman needs to use his best plan to complete his mission and end up alive and whole too.
June 29, 2012
This was a clever short story, featuring the adventure of a space beacon repairman who encounters a culture that has built itself around the existence of the beacon its impact on the environment. Some clever stuff to make the story interesting without dragging into a nauseating extension of a clever concept.
October 4, 2018
It is a fairly humorous story about a repairman tasked with repairing a beacon which has been absconded with by the indigenous people as an object of worship, and do so in a way that doesn't disrupt their society.
February 7, 2023
🖊 My review: Here we have an entertaining short science fiction story that is fascinating.
🔥 Dénouement: Lilting.
🔻 Genre: Golden Age Science Fiction.
✔️Published in Galaxy Magazine, February1958.
🖋 The writing style: Excellent.
💫 What I like best: The premise.
📌 Would I read this again? Yes.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
🗝 What I learned: Kramer illustrated the original, as shown in the Project Gutenberg version.
🟣 Media form: Kindle version.
🟢 Media form: Project Gutenberg.
🔲 Excerpts :
🔸 In addition to the pyramid being around the beacon, there was a nice little religious war going on around the pyramid.
🔸 But still the holy waters would not flow. Now armed mobs fought around the temple each day and a new band of priests guarded the sacred fount.
🔸 I looked at the blueprints he handed me and felt my eyes glaze with horror. “It’s a monstrosity! It looks more like a distillery than a beacon—must be at least a few hundred meters high. I’m a repairman, not an archeologist. This pile of junk is over 2000 years old. Just forget about it and build a new one.”
December 4, 2021
As a Harry Harrison fan I was interested to read this. I got this via Guttenberg because it is in the public domain. It was originally published in Galaxy Magazine in 1958.
Published two years before his first novel (Planet of the Damned) and 3 before the first Stainless steel Rat book (although a Short Story was written before). the Repairman is a short about someone who goes and repairs Hyperspace Beacons and his job to repair an ancient one that hasn't been touched for centuries.
The story covers themes that Harry Harrison went back to frequently in his writings such as the everyday man doing what could be seen as a mundane job in what we would see as fantastical situations. Harrison often returned to the idea of the unappreciated skilled worker. There is also some elements in the story that appear in Stainless Steel Rat books later on (specifically The Stainless Steel Rat Wants you,1978).
Harry Harrison as always has an accessible writing style (that's not to say it's simple) and tells as always great story. This may not be his best Short story but you could do far worse than spend the short time to read this story and see the early the early work of such a great writer and story teller.
Published two years before his first novel (Planet of the Damned) and 3 before the first Stainless steel Rat book (although a Short Story was written before). the Repairman is a short about someone who goes and repairs Hyperspace Beacons and his job to repair an ancient one that hasn't been touched for centuries.
The story covers themes that Harry Harrison went back to frequently in his writings such as the everyday man doing what could be seen as a mundane job in what we would see as fantastical situations. Harrison often returned to the idea of the unappreciated skilled worker. There is also some elements in the story that appear in Stainless Steel Rat books later on (specifically The Stainless Steel Rat Wants you,1978).
Harry Harrison as always has an accessible writing style (that's not to say it's simple) and tells as always great story. This may not be his best Short story but you could do far worse than spend the short time to read this story and see the early the early work of such a great writer and story teller.
November 24, 2025
Let's just say that The Repairman is lucky he didn't have to tip toe around a Prime Directive like The Federation has in Star Trek. Mind you, the Prime Directive never seemed to hinder ol' Captain Kirk too much so who's to say.
It was fun though to just sit back and watch The Repairman brow beat the priests of the temple the way he did. Can't say I much sympathy for the religious types, after all.
In the end, he does get the job don, with out causing too much of a disruption, and not killing anyone.
But for some reason, everytime I have read this story, I keep thinking he locks a head priest in, behind the lead door of the Inner Sanctum, just as a bit of a dark joke. It would be a nasty thing to do but he was doing it as a form of punishment.
But alas, The Repairman, it turns out, is at heart, a nice guy and off he flies in his spaceship, looking for further adventures in Beam Maintenance.
Sounds kind of boring when it's put that way doesn't it?
Anyways, another fun story from Harry Harrison, whose cheeky writing, always manages to leave me with a bit of a smile.
It was fun though to just sit back and watch The Repairman brow beat the priests of the temple the way he did. Can't say I much sympathy for the religious types, after all.
In the end, he does get the job don, with out causing too much of a disruption, and not killing anyone.
But for some reason, everytime I have read this story, I keep thinking he locks a head priest in, behind the lead door of the Inner Sanctum, just as a bit of a dark joke. It would be a nasty thing to do but he was doing it as a form of punishment.
But alas, The Repairman, it turns out, is at heart, a nice guy and off he flies in his spaceship, looking for further adventures in Beam Maintenance.
Sounds kind of boring when it's put that way doesn't it?
Anyways, another fun story from Harry Harrison, whose cheeky writing, always manages to leave me with a bit of a smile.
May 21, 2024
Outside of SF you just don't hear about Harry Harrison (1935-2012) these days.
Back in the day, he was one of the top writers in the field (The Stainless Steel Rat series, Bill, The Galactic Hero, Make Room, Make Room, etc.)
He was also one of the first authors I binged on as a teen in the 1970s.
“The Repairman” is just 20 pages long and, even when it was written (1958), provided nothing new but is a classic example of pulp writing – seemingly effortless (a skill learned through churning material out).
An ancient directional beacon at the end of the galaxy isn't working. As a result hyperdrive travel is being delayed (a bit like what happens when the Panama Canal is closed).
The anonymous Repairman finds that the beacon has been converted into a temple by the natives and has to use his wits to get it back online.
It brought back happy memories of my early reading adventures.
3 Stars.
Back in the day, he was one of the top writers in the field (The Stainless Steel Rat series, Bill, The Galactic Hero, Make Room, Make Room, etc.)
He was also one of the first authors I binged on as a teen in the 1970s.
“The Repairman” is just 20 pages long and, even when it was written (1958), provided nothing new but is a classic example of pulp writing – seemingly effortless (a skill learned through churning material out).
An ancient directional beacon at the end of the galaxy isn't working. As a result hyperdrive travel is being delayed (a bit like what happens when the Panama Canal is closed).
The anonymous Repairman finds that the beacon has been converted into a temple by the natives and has to use his wits to get it back online.
It brought back happy memories of my early reading adventures.
3 Stars.
September 2, 2023
An entertaining little tale that highlights among other things the concept of otherness in Sci Fi literature. Though the narrator had been at a loss when confronted with his human superior, he was at the same time possessed of a level of intelligence that had far exceeded that of the reptile aliens on his target planet. That, in a manner of speaking, sets the difference between Man and Other from the perspective of many sci Fi authors in the realm of fiction, and also illustrates the doctrines which empower the eurocentric worldview.
December 30, 2025
I feel like this was adapted into about 15 TNG episodes over the years. An interstellar repairman didn't read his contract closely enough and his rotten boss sent him out to a backwater planet to fix a malfunctioning hyperspace beacon. How can he do it without disrupting the primitive culture of lizard people that worships the beacon?
Nowadays, it would be a guy fixing a cell phone tower while MAHA yells at him about the lizard people controlling our brains or something.
Nowadays, it would be a guy fixing a cell phone tower while MAHA yells at him about the lizard people controlling our brains or something.
May 27, 2021
Fantasy listening 🔰
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
A will written fantasy Sci-Fi space adventure some time in the future. The one character is interesting. He must repair a beacon some where in space what an adventure. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 📚2021 😊
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
A will written fantasy Sci-Fi space adventure some time in the future. The one character is interesting. He must repair a beacon some where in space what an adventure. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 📚2021 😊
September 12, 2020
Listened to as an audiobook -- Short Science Fiction on PodBean App.
This highly original short story may have indirectly been the inspiration for the ST:TOS episode The Paradise Syndrome. "Kirk to Enterprise"
This highly original short story may have indirectly been the inspiration for the ST:TOS episode The Paradise Syndrome. "Kirk to Enterprise"
September 3, 2021
Lizards vs. monkeys. . . . Why was the water radioactive? While it's possible to build a reactor without a separate circulating and cooling system, and it would be cheaper. To to do so would be criminal. But monkeys aren't moral, so why not?
June 1, 2023
Good old-fashioned Sci fi
This is a well told story of the solitary space man who is clearly used to relying on himself and displays the resourcefulness requisite to overcome the challenges he encounters.
This is a well told story of the solitary space man who is clearly used to relying on himself and displays the resourcefulness requisite to overcome the challenges he encounters.
November 5, 2017
Decent short story. Unless he is writing comedy, Harrison's shorter works hit the mark much more than his full length efforts. Worth a read
June 8, 2018
Fun story! Religion is interesting and similar to our days. Finally a contract forever is intriguing as well.
October 29, 2018
Clever and fun. A Gutenberg book.
November 7, 2018
Old-timey SF.
July 16, 2020
An interstellar beacon repairman has to be prepared for any contingency, broken and missing parts, and even stone pyramids, and local natives!
September 13, 2020
Don't bother if you read English
The editing is horrible! It is almost like this was written in a language other than English and translated by someone who didn't speak English.
The editing is horrible! It is almost like this was written in a language other than English and translated by someone who didn't speak English.
March 27, 2022
Sent into space to repair an aged but important beacon. It should be a quick fix. Not so much.
December 6, 2023
This is a quick story, not the novel or anthology I expected. That’s one of the side effects of ebooks: you don’t know the size of the book—how big or heavy—until you download it!
July 21, 2025
great science fiction story by a master
January 31, 2026
Feels like a stainless steel rat adventure by science fiction grandmaster. Available on Lost Sci-fi podcast.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews