The Jupiter Legacy

by Harry Harrison

1st edition Sphere 1972 paperback, vg In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, American, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks, Fantasy

Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

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

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book by Harry Harrison in a thrift shop during my recent Arizona trip. I have read only one other by this author: Make Room!! Make Room!!, which was turned into the movie Soylent Green. So I was excited to find this book and obviously eager to read it, since I started on it the very night I got home.

Plague From Space was first published in 1965, but this edition was from 1968. I would imagine the idea of a terrible disease coming from outer space was prevalent at the time, since humans were then making their first journeys off the planet. I remember seeing all the astronauts of those days in quarantine after splashdown, and wondering if they were as impatient to feel real ground beneath their feet as I would have been.

But back to the book. Sam Bertolli is a doctor about to finish his internship and begin a residency. He is older than other interns because he was in the Army for ten years before deciding to change careers. But as we meet him, in an ambulance on the way to an accident scene, Sam feels he has his life under control.

Oh, Sam. If only you knew what Harrison has in store for you!

There will be a strange sickness, riots, fear, exhaustion, flaring tempers, panic, personality clashes, and the option of using weapons of mass destruction. What will you do?!

To balance all of this tension we have Nita Mendel from the pathology department. Even her white coat can't hide her 'lush' figure. Sigh. This was written in the sixties, so I was surprised to find a woman doctor in the book at all, but at least she was not there just to make Sam look more macho. She played a crucial role in researching the plague.

There is a lot of medical jargon and some gruesome scenes at times, but overall this was a fast-paced and interesting story, with some intriguing issues raised about the possible interaction between humans and beings of other planets.

I will definitely keep my eyes open for more Harry Harrison titles!

[Hannah Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a wild book, aliens, plagues, some casual sexism (why not 🙄)

This book shows it’s age, however I did enjoy the storyline and the general writing style is easy to follow.

I think it could have probably been longer and more detailed but for a quick read, it was enjoyable enough!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun time, but pretty silly. 3.5 stars

[Roger Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of months ago someone was telling me how much she liked The
Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. I recommended this book as being on the same theme but better. However, I was embarrassed to admit that I could tell her nothing about the plot. It had been so long since I read it I had forgotten everything about it except that I thought it was better than The Andromeda Strain. So I decided that if I was going to recommend it I should be able to tell someone what it was about. So I just reread it. I still think it is better than The Andromeda Strain. Michael Crichton has the advantage of name recognition because he managed to reach the best seller list in the first place and because his books were regularly made into movies. In fact, I think he became a best selling author precisely because his books, and the Andromeda Strain in particular, were made into movies. Harry Harrison, on the other hand, remains an obscure author who is virtually unknown outside of the science fiction community. I still think Harry Harrison is the better writer though. I hesitate to call this an apocalyptic novel because the plague from outer space that it revolves around does not quite reach the point of apocalypse and, in fact, it leads to a cure for most every disease, but it is a story about a pandemic caused by a virus that an astronaut brings back from space. I would suggest that anyone who is a Michael Crichton fan give it a try and compare it to The Andromeda Strain. You may end up liking The Andromeda Strain better, but I didn't. This book beats it as far as I'm concerned.

[Mark Phillips]

excellent book, ended a little suddenly but overall a fun read

[John Chapman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pulpy caper involving a former captain, turned doctor, on the hunt for a cure for a disease brought to earth from Jupiter. Fast paced and action packed, though reads more like a boys adventure book than a piece of sf. The description of the jovian aliens was quite original. In the absence of any kind of technology, they have evolved to have complete mastery of their own biology, creating bodily extrusions that are capable of slicing through steel. However, their motives for transferring the deadly disease to earth prove to be somewhat lacking/confusing. Oh, and there’s a beautiful woman with red hair who just so happens to be one of the scientists working alongside him. She eventually catches the disease and it’s up to the brave doc to risk everything to save her life.

[Bjorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are bits of this that haven't aged too well (especially the treatment of the female characters - in sum total, 3: the quickly damseled love interest, a rape victim, and a hysterical farmer's wife). Others still work really nicely, though: it basically feels like a potboiler rewrite of Arrival with a pandemic added on top, and with some nice 20-minutes-into-the-future touches (Pakistani UN soldiers snarking at NYC cops that they wouldn't find their way around in Karachi either). Great read for when you're sufferieng from a really bad cold, too.

[Pavol Hardos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Túto knihu - v českom preklade a požičanú z knižnice - som čítal, keď som mal 12, veľmi sa mi vtedy páčila. Len som medzitým zabudol ako sa volala a kto ju napísal - musel som pracne hľadať opismi detailov deja, kým som ju po rokoch identifikoval. Z pamäti mi bibliografické detaily vytlačil Crichtonov Kmeň Andromeda a ukázalo sa, že právom. Slabunké je to, desivo zastaralé svojím sexizmom, schématické.

Niekedy sa neoplatí vracať k detským spomienkam.

[Bobby Lundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Sam Bertolli a intern at Bellevue hospital in New York working on an ambulance, when the forgotten ship from Jupiter came down in the in the middle of the busy Kennedy airport. The ship was the Pericles. It came down and the hatch opened the worst thing that could happen did happen. The disease was out. The disease that would decimate both mankind and birds. There is no cure on earth for the disease that originated on the moons of Jupiter. A literal Jupiter plague. Dr. Bertolli is the only one that is willing to go to any lengths to find the cure. While finding the cure he faces a lot of challenges including the hospital that he works for, and the police that are out to arrest him. The only way that he will possibly find it is if he goes against his employer and against all of the modern rules for medicine and join with the army and look in the ship that started it all.

This is a good book if you like older syfy books or books by Harry Harrison. It is one of his better books in my opinion. With a mixture of drama and action that goes on through out the entire book. IF you are a person that analyses every thing and criticizes all of the incorrect scientific and medical terms then don't read it. I would recommend it however if you are just reading for fun. It is a fun book to read.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair science fiction thriller by Harry Harrison read during a break from school.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of 1965 vintage and Harrison's fourth published novel, it was easily his best to date, or at least most enduring. He largely escapes the fast paced, comic book style of his earlier work (like 'The Stainless Steel Rat'), to give us a more immediate, 'realistic' setting, a world of the near future. It's still all action and adventure, but there's a logic to the action, a coherence which you could believe is possibly possible … maybe.
It's an apocalyptic plot. A spaceship returns from its voyage of discovery, only to expose the Earth to the risk of a species ending plague … maybe even a plague with the potential to eradicate ALL life from this planet.
Significantly, I read this at a time when the planet was in the grips of a pandemic. This was one of the earlier attempts by SF writers to consider the impact of disease (as opposed to alien invasion), and Harrison's world has advantages that couldn't be marshalled in 2020 to combat Covid. Harrison's New York witnesses the ready (coordinated) cooperation of White House, United Nations, World Health Organisation, and city and state governments – they all pull together to fight the contagion in the sorts of efforts we can only wish had been directed at Covid.
It's an entertaining, thought-provoking tale – marred by Harrison's propensity to involve his hero in a coy love affair with the first female to enter the story. His handling of male / female relationships is quite juvenile, not to mention ridiculous.
It's a story which serves up some serious questions about the dangers of an unknown disease, the horror of an outbreak which can't be contained by medicine alone. It's a threat which you wish the world's political leaders had been taking a bit more seriously. And Harrison handles it well … until the ending. Which is a bit abrupt. It really needed a bit more sophistication. It could have been developed better.
But I can see quality in this novel … and perhaps a hint of better to come.

[Jeffrey Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must have been enjoyable to read this book in 1965. It is a typical sci-fi tale of the day. A lot of scientific babble. Characters with little personality beyond getting the job done. Science vs. Military. An alien from Jupiter.

Basically, a US space craft returns from a mission to Jupiter. The surviving crew member has a horrible disease and dies quickly. This disease spreads to animals and then humans. Panic ensues. A medical intern named Sam Bertolli and another doctor named Nita Mendol take the lead at trying to stop the spread and cure the sick.

The writing is detailed for a 218-page paperback with somewhat predictable dialog, approaches, and outcomes. I think what fascinated me about this book here in 2023 was the pandemic aspect, especially in the shadow of Covid-19. There is a short spark of romance between Sam and Nita but little character development. Just typical of its day.

The cover sales pitch compares it to Crichton's "Andromeda Strain." I wouldn't go that far. I found it at a book sale for 50-cents.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago, so I was curious to find out if it would impress me as much as it did originally. It did not, but it was not bad. It is a little dated, and I found it difficult to accept some of the plot elements given what I know of the conditions on the planet Jupiter. Nevertheless, it is a good read.

Most of the book is about what happens when the space ship from the Jupiter mission returns, and releases a strange plague. An intern (a man) is first on the scene along with a clinical doctor (a woman). The story surrounds what happens to them and what they do about the plague... along with many other people. I don't want to say more or I'll give away too much of the plot, but love blooms between the intern and the doctor. It's not too sappy, so don't worry.

I'd probably read this book again, though not soon.

[David Zimny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of The Jupiter Plague intrigued me- I thought it was going to take place on Jupiter. Early into the book, though, I discovered that it's about an Earth ship that lands back on Earth from Jupiter, and the lone astronaut who emerges from the ship starts a plague. So it is your ordinary plague unleashed on Earth story.

Halfway through the book I predicted everything that was going to happen. There is a chapter towards the end that takes place on Jupiter - a flashback. It would have made sense to put that scene in the beginning, to give the reader a better sense of what caused the plague.

The characters are either comic-book heroic or comic-book evil; no nuances. Overall, a disappointing read from a writer who has written some of the best science fiction books I have ever read.

[Terry and dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wowee. I was over the moon when I found this book. After reading it, I am back on earth, but it was an entertaining ride. Reading a book written in the early 80's is interesting. Times were different and there are a few things and attitudes that are old fashioned, but it was such a fun read. I loved the descriptions of the vehicles and some of the things that Mr Harrison thought would be in the future. The characters were simple, but very effective in their roles. I loved the scenes at the airport, and the plague, well, it is a doozy. How people react to the disease unfortunately has a ring of truth to it. When they find out how the disease has come to earth, it is quite surprising and really wild but fun.

[Al Onia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Plague From Space as a young teen when it came out in paperback in 1968, the red cover of aa astronaut dying from face boils catching and holding, my eyes. The hardcover edition of the self-evident title preceded The Andromeda Strain by 4 years but followed the BBC's Quatermass Experiment(Nigel Kneale) by 12. In 1982 Tor published this 'much expanded and revised' version. It's still a short book, with a less-gripping cover, but Harrison delivers a tight, foreboding tale. Except for one brief flashback, it's all told from an ex-soldier-now-intern in a New York hospital. Harrison could chosen to expand the novel much more but his result here is fine the way it is. A veteran writer at his best in 50k word page-turners.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seemed like a good time to read this... I'm glad we don't think nuking the area where a disease starts is effective prevention. This one of those sci fi novels that don't really try to imagine the future much (there's a mission to Jupiter, but still telephone operators and no computers), just focuses on the one premise... a plague from space. There's of course a man-of-action hero and a girl to save.

The plot wraps up REALLY quickly, and with the cure literally dropped from the sky... not really fine literature, but a fun little read considering where we're at in the world right now.

[Tom Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Nothing like an apocalyptic alien pandemic story to keep you reading. I liked it not only because of the sci-fi foundation of the story but, also because it shows how fragile our “civilized” behavior is when survival is on the line. Man is an enigma. On the one hand, he is empathetic, compassionate and kind but, he also can be brutal, cruel and selfish. Will we ever escape those primal urges that hold us back from evolving into a being worthy of the universe.

[Sudhakar Narayanamurthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant read. The story starts and stays interesting: a spaceship returning from jupiter brings back a strange disease. The characters were likable and relatable: a strong hero who saved the day, a heroine and romance, the tough army general and other sidekicks. The plague crisis unfolded very similar to Herbert's The Fog - these were the gripping parts of the book. The climax was unexpected and surprising - but folded into a pleasant ending.

[Chaz Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never give five ratings. But I've read a bunch of HH recently, some re-reads, and as audiobooks, and the culmination of just how consistently good HH is deserves at aleast one 5 star review.
He writes clearly with good ideas, without digressions, side plots, and irrelevancies.
A great short yarn, well told.
This is a great antedote to the pagebloated books of Hamilton, Simmons, Reynolds, which are so common these days.

[Mathew Krelitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read and the first book I’ve read without knowing anything about it going in in a while. It was dramatic and a bit all over the place, paced poorly and never quite found what it was trying to say. It was fun to read on a road trip but I’m not sure I would have read it on my own. We found its somewhat dated concepts a bit funny, but it was cool to see a prediction of the future written in the 1960s. Kind of fun, good prose but the concept was a bit messy.

[Chris Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story about a medical man faced with a rapidly mutating disease brought back by a Jovian expedition. Can he save humanity? Will the politicians make the right decisions? Reminds me of c19 on the very day I read China has decided to allow breeding of wildlife to resume…it’s worth £60b to their economy and maybe the last dumb decision ever…

[Ramon A Carabeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic by the master Harry Harrinson

The amazing this is that specially now it looks a lot like COVID 19 , this was written in the early 60’s and it’s lols a lot like out society today including the technology we now have. Highly recommend this book

[E.R. Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little read. I liked how Harrison keeps the reader hanging with the plague raging until the details of the Jupiter expedition is revealed at the end. Has a touch of the Lovecraftian. Some of the writing is a bit sophomoric, but worth the read overall.

[Jason Towers · Rating 3 out of 5]

**½. Easy reading pulp sci-fi, not particularly convincing by modern standards.

[Cameron Pearce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining, The Jupiter Legacy is fun and exciting the whole way through. Not a long nor a deep read, the book is a solid piece of 1960s sci-fi.

[Martin Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, old-fashioned, SF story.

[Allen McDonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Goodness

I first read this when the paperback came out in 1982. Very topical given recent Covid events. This novel is a rewritten and expanded version of a decade older short story. It is based on the idea we used to have that Jupiter has a solid surface like the Earth, but buried super deep inside its Hydrogen Helium atmosphere. This led to a manned mission to land on Jupiter.
Now, over a year overdue, the expedition ship has returned from Jupiter, and everything is going wrong.
The story is told from the viewpoint of an emergency response doctor in the NYC metroplex on Long Island. Part Sci-Fi, part medical mystery, all engaging. Highly recommended.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, easy read. I should not read stories like this, because they scare me. This story is about a lost spaceship that returned from Jupiter. It landed at Kennedy Airport and brought with it a nasty plague called Rands disease. Once birds got infected it could be transferred to humans. It was quick, nasty and fatal. I liked how the story focused on the first responders. Doctors, research teams, and World Health were on the front lines, working tirelessly trying to find a cure. Police were trying to calm the riots and scared people in the quarantine zone. When people got scared they started acting more like animals. Politicians were under enormous pressure and not making the best decision. Kill a few people to save millions. I can see this happening, this story seemed like a warning. That is why it scared me. I was a little disappointed in the ending. It seemed rushed and got a little weird and confusing. I could have used more explanation towards the end of the story.

[Paul Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

When science fiction icon Harry Harrison died earlier this year (August 12, 2012), a great satirical voice was lost. Harrison's brilliant and funny series of novels based on his character James Bolivar DiGriz, otherwise known as the Stainless Steel Rat, inspired a generation of humorous science fiction and fantasy writers, including the estimable Christopher Stasheff. Besides his wickedly funny novels, Harrison also wrote serious science fiction (Make Room! Make Room!, the inspiration for the film Soylent Green) and was a remarkable anthologist.

The Jupiter Legacy is a rather dated, but fun science fiction novel based around the theme of infection arriving from space. Although the original (Plague from Space was published before Andromeda Strain, it never achieved the status of the latter and was, in fact reissued in 1982 as The Jupiter Legacy to take advantage of the popularity of Michael Crichton's novel.

Harrison's novel contains nothing of the serious and suspenseful Andromeda Strain. It is particularly dated in terms of its treatment of women and technical knowledge, but that might be because Harrison intended the book to be funny. When I started reading, I assumed it was a serious treatment of the subject, but as I read through it, I found myself laughing at quite a bit, so I ended up concluding that it was a satire and decided to live with that.

The story is centered around Sam Bertolli, an intern at Bellevue in New York City at some unspecified time in the future. The Pericles, a rocket returning from Jupiter, exhibits strange behavior and sets down in the middle of Kennedy Airport. Sam is dispatched to treat the survivors who weren't squashed when it set down. He is teamed up with Dr. Nita Mendel, a pathologist from the hospital who has experience with germs. "Her hair was a natural red that bordered on russet, and even the shapeless white lab smock could not conceal the richness of her body."

Some of the funny characters in the book include Killer Domingues, Sam's ambulance driver, and General "My friends call me Cleaver" Burke. The dialogue is crisp and fast, the book moves very quickly and the humor is subtle.

It's a good romp, but be prepared for a real 1950's feel to the book, including bugaboos from Jupiter!