Barnard's Planet

by John Boyd (Pseudonym), Boyd Bradfield Upchurch

Captain Lee Ashby, USN, was ready to retire. He wanted no more adventures in his life, no more uncertainty. But he found himself taking command of the Vortex Rider, leading a crew whose makeup made no military or scientific sense, except as colonizers of a new planet- and they had now way of knowing whether the planet was already inhabited.

Genres: Science Fiction

218 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Boyd was the primary pen-name of Boyd Bradfield Upchurch, an American science fiction author.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Boyd was the pseudonym of Boyd Bradfield Upchurch. Barnard's Planet, published in 1975, was the tenth of his eleven science fiction novels, and ironically seems to have aged the least well. It's a rip-roaring space opera complete with time travel and alternate universes (you gotta love a spaceship called the Vortex Rider), but the plot is advanced a bit too often by bad decisions of the characters, and there seems to be a rather high level of sexism bordering on misogyny. It -is- a well-told adventure, but you can't think about it too deeply. The cover is a beautiful blue Paul Lehr wrap-around with a spaceship that would've been right at home on a Doc Smith or Captain Future book.

[Mia Payne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could not have been more different from "The moon is a harsh mistress" and it looks worse for the comparison. Both were classic Sci-Fi in the mid 1900s, but while that book was unapologetically feminist this one is grossly sexist. It is not sexist self critical way which is often fascinating but in a thoughtless, unreadable way.

I get that this isn't hard sci-fi but the characters constantly make such idiotic decisions that it belays my suspension of disbelief. They are on an alien planet but take no precautions. Immediately after one member drowns, the rest decide to go swimming, leaving the remaining female member of the expedition to swim alone. The one crew member who advises caution is mocked and ignored and promptly dies.

Having lived in a tropical place, it is clear that the author has never encountered a coconut, a hurricane or bamboo in real life. In this aspect the book reminds me of The Swiss Family Robinson which I read as a child while living on St John and similarly mocked. As my mother who has lived through several hurricane said, no one is plotting romance during 80 mph winds, they are too busy cowering in their bathtub.

The ending is nonsensical and fails to wrap up the plot in a satisfying way. Ashby seems to have smoked a little too much native weeds at the end. His weird hallucination about Sanchezes beastiality is nonsensical and confusing.

The book seems to forget it's basic premise that earth is about to be destroyed when crew members are trying to decide if they should return. Who the heck cares if the US controls the world though a time travel plot if earth only has a few months anyway. Also, if I was Alyla, I would be pretty pissed that Ashby only wanted me after the only other women on the planet was killed.

I give it two stars because it had some cool scifi concepts about sentient plants, though it failed to use them well at all. I also enjoyed the writing style which was heavy on quotes from famous poets.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank goodness it was a short book.

[Terry Mulcahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written; moves right along. Interesting concept and well executed. While the characters might offend modern sensibilities, they are perfectly honest, and are able to change within a 1970's framework, with a little help from a planet.

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cover author John Boyd. Grade C+.