The Fugitive Worlds

Land and Overland Series #3

by Bob Shaw

The opening of The Fugitive Worlds finds Toller Maraquine II—grandson of the hero of The Ragged Astronauts and The Wooden Spaceships—bemoaning the fact that life on the twin planets of Land and Overland has become dull and uneventful compared to the stirring times in which his illustrious forebear lived.

Then, while on a balloon flight between the worlds, he makes an astonishing discovery—a rapidly growing crystal disc, many miles across, is creating a barrier between Land and Overland. Precipitated for personal reasons into investigating the enigmatic disc, Toller—armed with only his sword and boundless courage—becomes a pivotal figure in events which will decide the future of entire planets and their civilisations.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Steampunk, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Aliens

254 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Bob Shaw was born in Northern Ireland. After working in structural engineering, industrial public relations, and journalism he became a full time science fiction writer in 1975.

Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.

Reviews

[Steventhesteve]

The final installment in this "Hot air balloons in space!!" trilogy. Good, fun adventure novel, little bit more in the classic SF style of "minds immeasurably superior to ours" as was the second installment.

A good trilogy overall but I rate the first book as the best and perfectly standalone.

[Steef]

This was the first book I've read by Bob Shaw (I know it's #3 in a series) and it was better than I expected. Sure, most of the characters are a bit two dimensional, and the depiction of the alien race even less than that, but there are some really interesting ideas in here.

I particularly like the idea of twin world system, connected by a small zone filled with air that can be traversed by wooden airships / balloons. It's not exactly new to me, as Don Lawrence and Martin Lodewijk already did this in the Storm comic series in 1983.

[Nabil Hussain]

Splendid, Original and Fantastic Work which ended the Land and Overland trilogy well!!

This book was wonderfully written and was original in its composition. The story was remarkably different to the other 2 novels but was very interesting to read. I didn't know what to expect from Bob Shaw but I was pleasantly surprised. It really was of a unique storyline which was innovative and kept the reader hooked. The ending of the 3rd book of the Land and Overland trilogy was worth searching for. These 3 books overall were a splendid read and worth having. Thanks a lot, Bob!

[Hugo]

Seems mostly an addendum to the previous instalments rather than a true trilogy finale, with a Next Generation protagonist identical to his grandfather (hero of the previous books), but saddled with a juvenile love interest which propels the narrative in place of actual reasonable characterisation. Takes off once the alien plot kicks in, but then muddles to a close.

[H]

Lo que más me llamó la atención de esta lectura fue el sistema de planetas gemelos en que se sitúa la acción, y supongo que por eso me decepcionó cuando la trama se mudó al espacio (necesitaba más sobre la historia y la cultura kolkorronesas). No obstante, el final lo merece.

[Luís Baixinho]

Review no segundo volume.

[Xabi1990]

7/10. Media de los 6 libros leídos del autor : 6/10

Bastante buena la saga esta de los Astronautas Harapientos, aunque este tercero no es el mejor. Lo de estirar una idea es lo que suele tener.

[Sam Arnold]

Not the best shaw book but very entertaining and full of mind-bending concepts. It kinda lacks compelling characters though.

[Vanjr]

Starts off very slow, but about halfway it gets going. Reads old school, more 1950s or 1960s imo.

[Magda Revetllat]

El viaje no ha terminado, la aventura sigue con nuevos personajes y nuevos mundos por explorar.

Una inacabable imaginación y un sorprendente final.

[Metaphorosis]

3 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews.

Summary
Toller Maraquine II, cast in his grandfather's mold, is impatient, eager, and adventurous. When a trip to the other planet of his world's binary pair encounters an unexpected obstacle and his love interest is missing, he is in his milieu.

Review
When in doubt, write the same story again. That’s an exaggeration, but there’s no question that, having killed off hero Toller Maraquine in the previous book, Shaw here resurrects him in the nominal form of his grandson – emotionally and characteristically the spitting image of his ancestor.

The first part of the book – dealing with a trip back to Land from Overland – goes fairly well, though there are some character notes that are never really explained – chiefly the attitude of Toller’s love interest, who initially disdains him. In the second half, Shaw unabashedly plunges fully into a Doc Smith-era pulp narrative. It works, but the halves of the book are awkwardly married, and I can’t say that Shaw really brings anything new to the pulp feeling of it.

I felt that Shaw closed out the prior book in this series, The Ragged Astronauts, without quite knowing where to take it. This book doesn’t really show any more planning. This has been a messy series, with a good idea and fun characters, but none of it really as well developed is it could have been. Shaw gives the appearance of making it all up as he goes along (which is fine) and of not bothering to tie everything together very smoothly (which is not). While there’s a new situation and new adversary to handle in this final book, it all feels like an awkward patchwork. Despite my positive memory of the trilogy from reading it in the early ’90s, I cannot, on reflection, say that this is Shaw’s best work. It’s entertaining, but not really memorable.

[Joy Stephenson]

This is the third book of a trilogy (starting with The Ragged AstronautsThe Ragged Astronauts) and, although it can stand alone, it is probably best enjoyed in context.
The story begins on one of a pair of binary planets which share a common atmosphere, thus enabling travel in hot-air balloons between the two. When an airship and its crew go missing Toller Maraquine (the grandson of the hero of the first two books) sets off to rescue them. However he discovers the hour-glass-shaped area of atmosphere between the planets is filled with an expanding crystalline structure.
This is an imaginative and fast paced book - classic sci-fi / space adventure.

[Chrissey Harrison]

In the concluding part of the Land-Overland trilogy, Bob Shaw confronts the intrepid humans of his world with an advanced alien race whose presence threatens the very existence of the binary world.

Toller Maraquine II, grandson of the adventurous hero of the first two books, struggles to live up to his grandfather's legacy in more ways that one. His superficial mooning after the Countess Vantara, a singularly unpleasant woman, does make this book a more difficult read than the earlier installments. Toller II's self doubt over whether he can be worthy of the world somehow makes for less interesting reading that Toller I's personal crises over whether the world can offer a challenge worthy of him.

Nevertheless, Shaw's continued mental exploration of the "what ifs" of his universe make for compelling reading.

[James]

In the universe that this book is set it, Pi is exactly three. I think that is about all you need to know about this book.