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Deathworld #1
Deathworld 1
The planet was called Pyrrus...a strange place where all the beasts, plants and natural elements were designed for one specific purpose: to destroy man.
The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder...
It was up to Jason dinAlt, interplanetary gambler, to discover why Pyrrus had become so hostile during man's brief habitation...
The settlers there were supermen...twice as strong as ordinary men and with milli-second reflexes. They had to be. For their business was murder...
It was up to Jason dinAlt, interplanetary gambler, to discover why Pyrrus had become so hostile during man's brief habitation...
157 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1960
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3,355 people want to read
About the author
Harry Harrison
1,116books1,023followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the ŷ 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 (1973). He was also (with Brian W. Aldiss) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.
Excerpted from .
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 (1973). He was also (with Brian W. Aldiss) co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.
Excerpted from .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 550 reviews
January 13, 2019
A solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for the fabulous memory it evoked. In fact it was so good, that I intend very soon to continue with 2 & 3 which have also survived since 1976.
Full review to follow tomorrow 😊
The inside sleeve of the book tells me I bought this book on 6th October 1975, obviously with my birthday money (I was 16 a couple of weeks before), and to be honest I think I read it then and not since. (As a slight aside it is unfortunately one of only maybe 20 books that have managed to stay with me through my various house moves).
The book is an easy reading roller coaster of a book with the hero Jason getting bashed, battered and bruised through out the whole book before coming good in the end. Is it a classic ? No, but what it is, is a fun read, not too long with a good story, some good characters and a happy ending.
As I said, I enjoyed it so much I've checked and the initial 2 sequels also survived my travels and are still with me, so I shall read them as soon as my tight schedule allows.
So if you enjoy a bit of escapist fun sci-fi then check out Harry Harrison's Deathworld books
Full review to follow tomorrow 😊
The inside sleeve of the book tells me I bought this book on 6th October 1975, obviously with my birthday money (I was 16 a couple of weeks before), and to be honest I think I read it then and not since. (As a slight aside it is unfortunately one of only maybe 20 books that have managed to stay with me through my various house moves).
The book is an easy reading roller coaster of a book with the hero Jason getting bashed, battered and bruised through out the whole book before coming good in the end. Is it a classic ? No, but what it is, is a fun read, not too long with a good story, some good characters and a happy ending.
As I said, I enjoyed it so much I've checked and the initial 2 sequels also survived my travels and are still with me, so I shall read them as soon as my tight schedule allows.
So if you enjoy a bit of escapist fun sci-fi then check out Harry Harrison's Deathworld books
May 27, 2014
When professional gambler Jason dinAlt is hired to run a stake up into the billions by some colonists, he is intrigued by tales of their world and opts to return to it. However, Pyrrus is the most hostile world in the universe, with every life form bent on the extermination of the colonists, even the plant life.
I read a few of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books years ago and decided to give this one a try. It was free on the Kindle so the price was right.
Deathworld is a tale of man vs. environment. Is it better to tame the wilderness or live in harmony with it? That seems to be the theme of the novel.
Jason dinAlt is a gambling scoundrel, probably a literary descendant of C.L. Moore's Northwest Smith. Jason goes to Pyrrus out of curiosity and winds up leading a revolution of sorts.
Deathworld, aka Pyrrus, is a heavy gravity world where the plants and animals are trying to kill the colonists and have been for centuries, evolving at a frightening rate. The colonists continually try to exterminate the hostile life forms and keep on colonizing. Sound familiar?
The story kicks into high gear when it becomes apparent that the colonists aren't the only humans on the planet and the core theme is really driven home.
Even though there's an ecological message, it's not heavy handed and even people who are anti-environment will find it entertaining.
It's a pretty slim book and I don't want to blow all the surprises. It's a fun read and doesn't feel as dated to me as a lot of its contemporaries. Three out of five stars.
I read a few of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books years ago and decided to give this one a try. It was free on the Kindle so the price was right.
Deathworld is a tale of man vs. environment. Is it better to tame the wilderness or live in harmony with it? That seems to be the theme of the novel.
Jason dinAlt is a gambling scoundrel, probably a literary descendant of C.L. Moore's Northwest Smith. Jason goes to Pyrrus out of curiosity and winds up leading a revolution of sorts.
Deathworld, aka Pyrrus, is a heavy gravity world where the plants and animals are trying to kill the colonists and have been for centuries, evolving at a frightening rate. The colonists continually try to exterminate the hostile life forms and keep on colonizing. Sound familiar?
The story kicks into high gear when it becomes apparent that the colonists aren't the only humans on the planet and the core theme is really driven home.
Even though there's an ecological message, it's not heavy handed and even people who are anti-environment will find it entertaining.
It's a pretty slim book and I don't want to blow all the surprises. It's a fun read and doesn't feel as dated to me as a lot of its contemporaries. Three out of five stars.
April 9, 2023
When I first acquired my Kindle, I was told that I could access classics for free, and so I immediately loaded up on many of the classics I read in my youth, to re-visit at some time in the future. That of course began my never-ending struggle with my TBR list that most constant readers recognize as that list of books we eventually plan to get to read. 2023 will be my intentional look at some of those books that have been on my TBR for more than 5 years. I originally read Deathworld during my Middle School years, when I was finally allowed to go to the library by myself (no adult supervision means I took my younger sibs with me.) This is the first of a trilogy of books by Harry Harrison published in 1960. The protagonist Jason is a gambler who has a rather carefree life. He is hired to use his skill at games of chance to earn as much as possible to buy protection for the human beings that have colonized the planet of Pyrrus. Pyrrus is a hostile world that seems to adapt environmentally to repel the colonizers. Jason has decided not just to help the people of Pyrrus, but make it his mission to find a happy measure of coexistence between planet and people. Definitely a classic under my three criteria of identifying classics: longevity, constructing new paradigms, and exceptionalism.
May 11, 2018
“Everything here was deadly to man� from the smallest insect to the largest plant.�
Deathworld is basically about a world that wants to kill you at every opportunity. is a dab hand at old-school sci-fi adventures, not a lot of nuances or anything to contemplate after you are done, just a ripping yarn and a good time. Generally, this works for me, I seldom look for enlightenment when I am reading for leisure. Anyway, the most important thing I have to tell you at this point is that this book is in the public domain (first published in 1960) and is free to read online or download as an e-book or an audiobook (links after the review).
The setting is Pyrrus, a habitable but inhospitable human-colonized planet with a 2 G gravity and horrendous weather. For some reason, every life form, including plants, appears to have it in for humanity. The human colonists live in a walled city with sealed off buildings. Each colonist is never without a weapon even indoors, and always armed to the teeth when they venture outside. Through centuries of living in constant danger the people of Pyrrus are all very strong with deadly reflexes and highly skilled with weapons. Even so the human population on this planet is dwindling. What they need is an outside perspective, someone off-world, to help to find a solution.
Deathworld is basically just a high octane monster blasting fun with no literary ambition. It is fast-paced and quite short (about 150 pages in the paperback edition), there are themes about adjusting to a new environment, empathy and tolerance but the emphasis is on the action and the priority is to entertain. The protagonist Jason is likable enough but there is not a lot of depth to him, the other characters even less so. This is fine in a novel this short and fast-paced. The world building is where this book really shines, Pyrrus is a great setting for an old-school sci-fi adventure with danger and monstrosities lurking in every corner, even in a sealed building something can slip through and take your leg off. The writing is clear and the descriptions are vivid, the dialogue seems somewhat dated, clearly a product of its time. A free, entertaining, action-packed book, what’s not to like? Go grab a copy today.
Notes:
� Download or read online at
� version
� There are some very nice Illustrations by van Dongen scattered through the book, even in the free e-book editions.
� Deathworld is actually the first volume of a trilogy, followed by the brilliantly titled and . Only the first book is in the public domain and, if I remember correctly, the remaining volumes are not so great. This first book is also a self-contained narrative, no hanging plot threads or cliffhangers to worry about.
Quotes:
“Hundreds of thousands of years of genetic weeding-out have produced things that would give even an electronic brain nightmares. Armor-plated, poisonous, claw-tipped and fanged-mouthed. That describes everything that walks, flaps or just sits and grows. Ever see a plant with teeth� that bite? I don't think you want to. You'd have to be on Pyrrus and that means you would be dead within seconds of leaving the ship.�
“Two G's don't seem that bad� at first. Walking required the same exertion as would carrying a man of his own weight on his shoulders. When Jason lifted his arm to unlatch the door it was heavy as two arms.�
“Wasn't it true that both ends of the artistic scale were dominated by simplicity? The untutored aborigine made a simple expression of a clear idea, and created beauty. At the other extreme, the sophisticated critic rejected over-elaboration and decoration and sought the truthful clarity of uncluttered art. At which end of the scale was he looking now?�
Deathworld is basically about a world that wants to kill you at every opportunity. is a dab hand at old-school sci-fi adventures, not a lot of nuances or anything to contemplate after you are done, just a ripping yarn and a good time. Generally, this works for me, I seldom look for enlightenment when I am reading for leisure. Anyway, the most important thing I have to tell you at this point is that this book is in the public domain (first published in 1960) and is free to read online or download as an e-book or an audiobook (links after the review).
The setting is Pyrrus, a habitable but inhospitable human-colonized planet with a 2 G gravity and horrendous weather. For some reason, every life form, including plants, appears to have it in for humanity. The human colonists live in a walled city with sealed off buildings. Each colonist is never without a weapon even indoors, and always armed to the teeth when they venture outside. Through centuries of living in constant danger the people of Pyrrus are all very strong with deadly reflexes and highly skilled with weapons. Even so the human population on this planet is dwindling. What they need is an outside perspective, someone off-world, to help to find a solution.
Deathworld is basically just a high octane monster blasting fun with no literary ambition. It is fast-paced and quite short (about 150 pages in the paperback edition), there are themes about adjusting to a new environment, empathy and tolerance but the emphasis is on the action and the priority is to entertain. The protagonist Jason is likable enough but there is not a lot of depth to him, the other characters even less so. This is fine in a novel this short and fast-paced. The world building is where this book really shines, Pyrrus is a great setting for an old-school sci-fi adventure with danger and monstrosities lurking in every corner, even in a sealed building something can slip through and take your leg off. The writing is clear and the descriptions are vivid, the dialogue seems somewhat dated, clearly a product of its time. A free, entertaining, action-packed book, what’s not to like? Go grab a copy today.
Notes:
� Download or read online at
� version
� There are some very nice Illustrations by van Dongen scattered through the book, even in the free e-book editions.
� Deathworld is actually the first volume of a trilogy, followed by the brilliantly titled and . Only the first book is in the public domain and, if I remember correctly, the remaining volumes are not so great. This first book is also a self-contained narrative, no hanging plot threads or cliffhangers to worry about.
Quotes:
“Hundreds of thousands of years of genetic weeding-out have produced things that would give even an electronic brain nightmares. Armor-plated, poisonous, claw-tipped and fanged-mouthed. That describes everything that walks, flaps or just sits and grows. Ever see a plant with teeth� that bite? I don't think you want to. You'd have to be on Pyrrus and that means you would be dead within seconds of leaving the ship.�
“Two G's don't seem that bad� at first. Walking required the same exertion as would carrying a man of his own weight on his shoulders. When Jason lifted his arm to unlatch the door it was heavy as two arms.�
“Wasn't it true that both ends of the artistic scale were dominated by simplicity? The untutored aborigine made a simple expression of a clear idea, and created beauty. At the other extreme, the sophisticated critic rejected over-elaboration and decoration and sought the truthful clarity of uncluttered art. At which end of the scale was he looking now?�
May 13, 2022
Yet another accidental reread but feel pretty much the same as last year. Might continue on with the series. But as I counted of many i started/continued this year (119 series in total), I'm not sure if I'm gonna rush it
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3.7 stars. An fun non to seriously taking sci-fi adventure on a planet where the creature and beasts tries to kill you. Enjoyed it but didn't love it hence the rating. Might continue on with the series though. Enjoyed the narration of B.J Harrison as well, which was one of the main reason why I looked this book up, glad I did
---
3.7 stars. An fun non to seriously taking sci-fi adventure on a planet where the creature and beasts tries to kill you. Enjoyed it but didn't love it hence the rating. Might continue on with the series though. Enjoyed the narration of B.J Harrison as well, which was one of the main reason why I looked this book up, glad I did
January 18, 2023
Another one of those books where the concept triumphs over the story in general. While Deathworld deals with, for example, ecological science and anthropological science, these themes are somewhat buried under a story that is deceptively simple, and told in broad strokes.
All in all, though, it is a good yarn, possibly indicative of the way Science Fiction adventures were approached in the 1950s (Deathworld was first published in early 1960). There isn't too much character development, and the story moves back and forth at a fair trot. Harrison addresses prejudice and censorship (or at least miscommunication) and envisions a rather interesting (if extremely hostile) alien world along the way. Of course, there is a mystery at the heart of it all, and a big reveal (which is actually quite fascinating, truth be told).
If only the narrative had a few more layers and the characters had more depth, this could easily have been a great story. Still, I found it good enough to be an easy 3 - 3.5 stars.
All in all, though, it is a good yarn, possibly indicative of the way Science Fiction adventures were approached in the 1950s (Deathworld was first published in early 1960). There isn't too much character development, and the story moves back and forth at a fair trot. Harrison addresses prejudice and censorship (or at least miscommunication) and envisions a rather interesting (if extremely hostile) alien world along the way. Of course, there is a mystery at the heart of it all, and a big reveal (which is actually quite fascinating, truth be told).
If only the narrative had a few more layers and the characters had more depth, this could easily have been a great story. Still, I found it good enough to be an easy 3 - 3.5 stars.
May 9, 2021
When I picked up this Harry Harrison, I did so in full knowledge of his general humor, his delightful action, and lighthearted adventure.
In this, we at least get a lighthearted adventure with a fair smattering of action. The characters are merely so/so. Even so, the tale progresses fairly nicely with a visit to an extremely deadly (and heavy) planet with all kinds of creatures so ready to kill you. The hardiness of the human race, survival, and being the biggest bad-ass being the heaviest focus.
Of course, when it comes to an outsider with an outsider's viewpoint, things take on a different kind of feel.
Let's just say this is a pretty feel-good tale that is a sign of its times. Sure, we get a bunch of bang-bang going on, but we also get a fair amount of peace, love, and communication, too. :)
Too bad that wasn't as interesting as I would have hoped. I'm a bit jaded now, I guess. I like more subtlety.
In this, we at least get a lighthearted adventure with a fair smattering of action. The characters are merely so/so. Even so, the tale progresses fairly nicely with a visit to an extremely deadly (and heavy) planet with all kinds of creatures so ready to kill you. The hardiness of the human race, survival, and being the biggest bad-ass being the heaviest focus.
Of course, when it comes to an outsider with an outsider's viewpoint, things take on a different kind of feel.
Let's just say this is a pretty feel-good tale that is a sign of its times. Sure, we get a bunch of bang-bang going on, but we also get a fair amount of peace, love, and communication, too. :)
Too bad that wasn't as interesting as I would have hoped. I'm a bit jaded now, I guess. I like more subtlety.
September 23, 2009
A trickier book than it first appears. At first, you're sure you know exactly what's going to happen. Jason dinAlt, a typical cool SF superhero kinda guy, finds himself en route to Pyrrhus, the most dangerous planet in the known universe. The native fauna, and even flora, is so terrifyingly aggressive that the Pyrrhans all use special holsters for their guns to get an extra-fast draw. You just point your arm at whatever it is, tense your muscles, and blam! your gun is in your hand and already firing. I've a feeling that the safety aspects would be hard to debug, but as a 14 year old I loved this detail.
So, um, our Jason is going to figure out some kind of gas or robot or radioactive whatever, kill all those nasty alien life-forms, get the girl, and live happily ever after? (There is a girl, by the way, and she's seriously badass. My 14 year old self was very fond of Meta). I wasn't yet aware that Harrison's standard modus operandi is to subvert the clichés of pulp SF. Jason does some background reading on some old records he's managed to locate. Was the planet always this deadly? If so, why did people ever decide to colonize it?
It turns out, to his surprise, that when humans arrived a few hundred years ago the animals weren't dangerous to them at all. But one of the original colonists remarked on their amazingly coordinated ability to respond to natural threats. Jason puts the pieces together. Somehow, native Pyrrhan life is telepathic, and can detect hostile intent. There were a couple of unfortunate incidents where colonists got scared of native animals, and shot them. The alien creature picked up the bad vibes, and retaliated. Pretty soon, both sides were headed down a vicious spiral.
So... the solution is just to show those deadly alien creatures a little love and understanding! And, to everyone's incredulous surprise, it works. Such a nice twist on the standard space-hero-versus-bug-eyed-monster story.
So, um, our Jason is going to figure out some kind of gas or robot or radioactive whatever, kill all those nasty alien life-forms, get the girl, and live happily ever after? (There is a girl, by the way, and she's seriously badass. My 14 year old self was very fond of Meta). I wasn't yet aware that Harrison's standard modus operandi is to subvert the clichés of pulp SF. Jason does some background reading on some old records he's managed to locate. Was the planet always this deadly? If so, why did people ever decide to colonize it?
It turns out, to his surprise, that when humans arrived a few hundred years ago the animals weren't dangerous to them at all. But one of the original colonists remarked on their amazingly coordinated ability to respond to natural threats. Jason puts the pieces together. Somehow, native Pyrrhan life is telepathic, and can detect hostile intent. There were a couple of unfortunate incidents where colonists got scared of native animals, and shot them. The alien creature picked up the bad vibes, and retaliated. Pretty soon, both sides were headed down a vicious spiral.
So... the solution is just to show those deadly alien creatures a little love and understanding! And, to everyone's incredulous surprise, it works. Such a nice twist on the standard space-hero-versus-bug-eyed-monster story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2017
I've read this many times before & my paperback copy of it is tattered enough to have a packing tape binding. I first read it about a decade after it was published & thought Jason second only to the Stainless Steel Rat for sheer panache. I've always liked the other 2 books more than this one since they have better, realistic points. This one is OK, but has kind of a depressing theme - a society so wrapped up in its beliefs that it would rather knowingly follow them in to destruction than change. (Sound familiar? And this was written in 1961.) Still, it's a cheery step up from my last book, , but then almost anything would be. I'm using it as a mental palate cleanser.
It was a great romp. It's not really a 4 star book, but a lot of nostalgia pours out of this one for me & it's overall message is upbeat. As tough as things are, Jason manages to figure them out & still make a snappy quip. If you like the Stainless Steel Rat, you'll probably like this. Similar character.
While looking up the correct edition to review, I was surprised to see this is a LibriVox recording which is strange since I got it from my library. Same narrator & cover, but no announcement of origins. LibriVox has the second of this trilogy (Deathworld 2, aka "The Ethical Engineer"), but not the third & neither does my library. Bummer.
It was a great romp. It's not really a 4 star book, but a lot of nostalgia pours out of this one for me & it's overall message is upbeat. As tough as things are, Jason manages to figure them out & still make a snappy quip. If you like the Stainless Steel Rat, you'll probably like this. Similar character.
While looking up the correct edition to review, I was surprised to see this is a LibriVox recording which is strange since I got it from my library. Same narrator & cover, but no announcement of origins. LibriVox has the second of this trilogy (Deathworld 2, aka "The Ethical Engineer"), but not the third & neither does my library. Bummer.
May 31, 2017
I have read several of the other reviews of this book and I think the majority have missed the point. It may be fantasy or science fiction, whatever you might want to call it. It has flaws, but remember it was written in 1960 when modern Sci-Fy was barely in its infancy and during some of he highest points of the Cold War. Also his first novel! Most reviewers miss the point I believe Harry was trying to make - how to stop wars. I doubt he thought it possible though. I read it a long time ago for the first time and I still love it the 2nd time around! It's free on LibriVox and the reader is excellent.
February 2, 2012
Deathworld
By Harry Harrison
Since I can't find for Kindle and I can't find my hard copy, or the time to read a hard copy, I read Deathworld. Thank you again for the recommendation Jim.
Deathworld was first published in 1961 (maybe earlier). This is a classic science fiction story. If, as I believe, is a satirical response to books like 's and by , Deathworld is Harrison's original work that looks at how Humanity handles conflict change, crisis and stress (which include war, however it's more likely about the Korean War, since we were not yet fully into Vietnam in 1961). I may learn that the Bill books came out before our involvement in the Vietnam War and those other works that I mentioned. In that case try John Wyndham, George Orwell and Alex Huxley.
In many ways, this is one of the better examples of a good old fashioned sci-fi story from the days before Nixon, the oil crisis, Tehran and the assassination of John F. Kennedy and his brother. This was written during the days that "duck and cover" stood as a standing drill in public schools and boisterous threatening Soviet leaders like Khrushchev, Stalin and Brezhnev threatened to crush the US and her Allies. The US was recovering from WWII and the Korean Conflict whiles the Soviets Overpowered and intimidated the Chezchlaslovakia and kept an Iron grip over East Germany and Poland defying reunification.
Sputnik had already passed over our heads showing what we believed was Soviet tenacity and a desire to annex the entire world in defense of the Communist state (or so we thought then). This was the time that other classics, that have, for some reason, become forgotten and passed by the way-side like by and 's and either explayed .
It was a different era where science fiction writers had a role in warning us how the future might turn out in dystopian novels that told of self-assured mutual destruction.
Enter Harry Harrison and Deathworld, 1961. The story of psionic gambler, Jason DinAlt with an altruistic core of gold in his heart and a stubborn pride that makes him want to prove his worth even in an environment that gives everyone around him a physical superiority.
Lord Kerk from Pyrrus, a straightforward, unlucky ambassador from the Deathworld whit limited intellectual curiosity and an even more limited sense of creativity and imagination. He and his people are survivors of colonists that settled on Pyrrus a violent, untamed world with two times the gravity of Earth and the most lethal life forms in the universe. Kerk hires Jason DinAlt to take his paltry few million credits and turn it into a few billion credits so he can finance weponry equipment and supplies needed to keep the flora and fauna of Pyrrus from literally eating every city-dwelling Pyrran on the planet.
Jason succeeds and, as part of his payment, convinces Kerk to take him to see this "Deathworld." From the moment he arrives, he's practically an invalid compared to the naturally robust Pyrrans because of the double gravity. He manages to make his way through survival school where every 6 year old learns to survive in the hostile Pyrran wilderness and even convinces Kerk to let him leave the protection of the city. He quickly finds out that there are some Pyrran Secrets and something is wrong with this planet...very wrong.
The Pyrrans are hard boiled stoic people who know little of the universe outside of the Deathworld. They are the Spartans of Ancient Greece, born, bread and trained for battle against the Pyrran creatures that assail their city every hour of every day. Yet, some part of Jason can feel that this can be fixed. That this war can be ended and he sets about trying to do just that...but what can one man do against decades of hate, and battle hardened minds and emotions? Is change even possible or are the Pyrrans doomed to die in battle?
This is a wonderful, relatively straight foreword look at human conflict in a way, which like animal farm and 1984, has themes that could can be found in any age where humans are pitted against humans or against the environment in which we live. There is a lesson here about hate, racism, change, and living in concert with nature for those willing to think about it. Boy, would I love having the power to force congress, the senate and the white house to read this.
Of course, unlike those other works that were so clearly an analogy with a message about Stalin, War, and Corruption, this is also a wonderful space adventure story with powerful adversaries, beautiful people and mysteries to uncover. It's a tale of danger and excitement, of war and death.
I've given 4 stars to Deathworld, and the only reason it's not a 5 star read is, I believe, Harry Harrison didn't want to write a five star read. He didn't want an involved symbolic tale where the symbols and intellectual nature of the work often robs from the entertainment value. This is a story for blue collar workers who favor directness like to be entertained. The message is simple an clear about how important it is to "just get along." The story exciting and the setting fantastic. So it's 4 stars for a lack of complexity, a lack of commitment to it's broader message, and the fact it's too short (there are sequels but this will work as a standalone story). It's 4 stars because I think that's how it was designed to be. A Science Fiction Story for the everyman, not just the educated inteligencia.
Well worth reading. No warnings other than violence...lots and lots of violence but it's well managed, in keeping with themes and settings in the story and not particularly gratuitous.
This story is about us, if we let ourselves take us too seriously. It's about the dangers of getting set in our ways and it's about saving lives, not losing them. If you read this and cannot relate this to the war against terrorism, the communication problems in our government, and the struggle between business and the environment, then, you’re not trying� not that you have to, it’s still fun story without a message-a really good read.
By Harry Harrison
Since I can't find for Kindle and I can't find my hard copy, or the time to read a hard copy, I read Deathworld. Thank you again for the recommendation Jim.
Deathworld was first published in 1961 (maybe earlier). This is a classic science fiction story. If, as I believe, is a satirical response to books like 's and by , Deathworld is Harrison's original work that looks at how Humanity handles conflict change, crisis and stress (which include war, however it's more likely about the Korean War, since we were not yet fully into Vietnam in 1961). I may learn that the Bill books came out before our involvement in the Vietnam War and those other works that I mentioned. In that case try John Wyndham, George Orwell and Alex Huxley.
In many ways, this is one of the better examples of a good old fashioned sci-fi story from the days before Nixon, the oil crisis, Tehran and the assassination of John F. Kennedy and his brother. This was written during the days that "duck and cover" stood as a standing drill in public schools and boisterous threatening Soviet leaders like Khrushchev, Stalin and Brezhnev threatened to crush the US and her Allies. The US was recovering from WWII and the Korean Conflict whiles the Soviets Overpowered and intimidated the Chezchlaslovakia and kept an Iron grip over East Germany and Poland defying reunification.
Sputnik had already passed over our heads showing what we believed was Soviet tenacity and a desire to annex the entire world in defense of the Communist state (or so we thought then). This was the time that other classics, that have, for some reason, become forgotten and passed by the way-side like by and 's and either explayed .
It was a different era where science fiction writers had a role in warning us how the future might turn out in dystopian novels that told of self-assured mutual destruction.
Enter Harry Harrison and Deathworld, 1961. The story of psionic gambler, Jason DinAlt with an altruistic core of gold in his heart and a stubborn pride that makes him want to prove his worth even in an environment that gives everyone around him a physical superiority.
Lord Kerk from Pyrrus, a straightforward, unlucky ambassador from the Deathworld whit limited intellectual curiosity and an even more limited sense of creativity and imagination. He and his people are survivors of colonists that settled on Pyrrus a violent, untamed world with two times the gravity of Earth and the most lethal life forms in the universe. Kerk hires Jason DinAlt to take his paltry few million credits and turn it into a few billion credits so he can finance weponry equipment and supplies needed to keep the flora and fauna of Pyrrus from literally eating every city-dwelling Pyrran on the planet.
Jason succeeds and, as part of his payment, convinces Kerk to take him to see this "Deathworld." From the moment he arrives, he's practically an invalid compared to the naturally robust Pyrrans because of the double gravity. He manages to make his way through survival school where every 6 year old learns to survive in the hostile Pyrran wilderness and even convinces Kerk to let him leave the protection of the city. He quickly finds out that there are some Pyrran Secrets and something is wrong with this planet...very wrong.
The Pyrrans are hard boiled stoic people who know little of the universe outside of the Deathworld. They are the Spartans of Ancient Greece, born, bread and trained for battle against the Pyrran creatures that assail their city every hour of every day. Yet, some part of Jason can feel that this can be fixed. That this war can be ended and he sets about trying to do just that...but what can one man do against decades of hate, and battle hardened minds and emotions? Is change even possible or are the Pyrrans doomed to die in battle?
This is a wonderful, relatively straight foreword look at human conflict in a way, which like animal farm and 1984, has themes that could can be found in any age where humans are pitted against humans or against the environment in which we live. There is a lesson here about hate, racism, change, and living in concert with nature for those willing to think about it. Boy, would I love having the power to force congress, the senate and the white house to read this.
Of course, unlike those other works that were so clearly an analogy with a message about Stalin, War, and Corruption, this is also a wonderful space adventure story with powerful adversaries, beautiful people and mysteries to uncover. It's a tale of danger and excitement, of war and death.
I've given 4 stars to Deathworld, and the only reason it's not a 5 star read is, I believe, Harry Harrison didn't want to write a five star read. He didn't want an involved symbolic tale where the symbols and intellectual nature of the work often robs from the entertainment value. This is a story for blue collar workers who favor directness like to be entertained. The message is simple an clear about how important it is to "just get along." The story exciting and the setting fantastic. So it's 4 stars for a lack of complexity, a lack of commitment to it's broader message, and the fact it's too short (there are sequels but this will work as a standalone story). It's 4 stars because I think that's how it was designed to be. A Science Fiction Story for the everyman, not just the educated inteligencia.
Well worth reading. No warnings other than violence...lots and lots of violence but it's well managed, in keeping with themes and settings in the story and not particularly gratuitous.
This story is about us, if we let ourselves take us too seriously. It's about the dangers of getting set in our ways and it's about saving lives, not losing them. If you read this and cannot relate this to the war against terrorism, the communication problems in our government, and the struggle between business and the environment, then, you’re not trying� not that you have to, it’s still fun story without a message-a really good read.
November 20, 2020
Kaboom! Its 1960s Science Fiction, coming at you faster than a thinly veiled reference to communism, a raygun blast that'll whizz past in less time than the author spent on his two-dimensional female characters!
Old SF loves some over the top action. The guns are big. The martinis are massive, and as the title for this novel might suggest, characters don’t just go to slightly scary locations � they go to THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!
Personally, I love delving into old SF. There's something fun about a distant future where starship logbooks are actual paper books and high technology includes such marvels as tape decks. It's like some sort of unintentional future steampunk, with people puffing away on cigarettes, reading broadsheet newspapers and getting hardcopy letters in the post while they zip around the galaxy at lightspeed.
Deathworld is totally, completely of its era - a tale of action, derring-do and a lone outsider/saviour who arrives on THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!! and shows everyone there how they’ve been doing everything in their lives wrong for centuries.
It’s all fairly by the numbers, but that's not to say it isn't a good read - this is Harry Harrison after all, author of the Stainless Steel Rat. He knows how to spin a story, and keep a reader engaged, even if this one feels a bit cheesy at times.
The main character, Jason Dinalt (I had to look up his name as, honestly, he isn’t the most interesting fellow) is a professional gambler, approached by a hard-as-nails warrior from another world with a proposition � use our massive stake to make us three billion dollars at the local casino tables, and we will give you the surplus.
Why does this man need three large? Because the world he comes from is supremely hostile to human life, so he needs to buy a shipload of weaponry to fight off the local beasties. Of course, Jason agrees to help, and ends up travelling with his new friend to Pyrrus, THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!!, where of course, only Jason can solve the problems that have beset the place for centuries.
It doesn’t get much more old-school SF than that. I was expecting Buck Rogers to jump out from behind a door, and zap someone with a raygun cheesy enough to make it onto a Foo Fighters album cover.
Anyway, what follows is an exploration of Pyrrus - THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!! - where the local lifeforms are evolving at super speed and becoming ever more deadly to their homo-sapien enemy.
The question as to why people stay on this shithole of a planet, when their lives are under threat pretty much every second of every day, is one I asked myself all the way through the story. It’s explained away with a ‘this is our home and we won’t leave it� line, but it didn’t really wash with me. People need a damn good reason to live somewhere that is killing them in droves every day and where every resource has to be directed at massacring the local flora and fauna.
Go into Deathworld Prepared. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief all the way up to the level required to enjoy one of the later seasons of the The Walking Dead with this novel, and that isn’t the last of its faults.
As with much SF from this period any female characters here (and there is, drum roll... one) are pretty thin, really just existing to romantically motivate the male lead and provide some contrast to the sausage fest of male actors in the narrative.
There’s also an eco-fiction angle in Deathworld that reminds me of Phillip Mann's much later novel The Disestablishment of Paradise, although in a far more rudimentary fashion. Harrison really only touches on the actual details of the environment on Pyrrus compared to Mann's beautiful evocation of the planet Paradise and it's magnificent flora.
The two novels are thematically similar, but Mann’s work towers over Deathworld in many ways, the least being that when Mann’s environment becomes a fraction as unaccommodating as Pyrrus everyone very sensibly packs up and seeks greener pastures elsewhere. There’s also a female character on Paradise that is more than a cutout picture of boobs stuck to a stick.
Still, Deathworld is a short, entertaining read and generally pretty fun if you try not to think too much, look past the dated elements and simply enjoy the ride to THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!!
2.5 male saviours of of five.
Old SF loves some over the top action. The guns are big. The martinis are massive, and as the title for this novel might suggest, characters don’t just go to slightly scary locations � they go to THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!
Personally, I love delving into old SF. There's something fun about a distant future where starship logbooks are actual paper books and high technology includes such marvels as tape decks. It's like some sort of unintentional future steampunk, with people puffing away on cigarettes, reading broadsheet newspapers and getting hardcopy letters in the post while they zip around the galaxy at lightspeed.
Deathworld is totally, completely of its era - a tale of action, derring-do and a lone outsider/saviour who arrives on THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!! and shows everyone there how they’ve been doing everything in their lives wrong for centuries.
It’s all fairly by the numbers, but that's not to say it isn't a good read - this is Harry Harrison after all, author of the Stainless Steel Rat. He knows how to spin a story, and keep a reader engaged, even if this one feels a bit cheesy at times.
The main character, Jason Dinalt (I had to look up his name as, honestly, he isn’t the most interesting fellow) is a professional gambler, approached by a hard-as-nails warrior from another world with a proposition � use our massive stake to make us three billion dollars at the local casino tables, and we will give you the surplus.
Why does this man need three large? Because the world he comes from is supremely hostile to human life, so he needs to buy a shipload of weaponry to fight off the local beasties. Of course, Jason agrees to help, and ends up travelling with his new friend to Pyrrus, THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!!, where of course, only Jason can solve the problems that have beset the place for centuries.
It doesn’t get much more old-school SF than that. I was expecting Buck Rogers to jump out from behind a door, and zap someone with a raygun cheesy enough to make it onto a Foo Fighters album cover.
Anyway, what follows is an exploration of Pyrrus - THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!! - where the local lifeforms are evolving at super speed and becoming ever more deadly to their homo-sapien enemy.
The question as to why people stay on this shithole of a planet, when their lives are under threat pretty much every second of every day, is one I asked myself all the way through the story. It’s explained away with a ‘this is our home and we won’t leave it� line, but it didn’t really wash with me. People need a damn good reason to live somewhere that is killing them in droves every day and where every resource has to be directed at massacring the local flora and fauna.
Go into Deathworld Prepared. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief all the way up to the level required to enjoy one of the later seasons of the The Walking Dead with this novel, and that isn’t the last of its faults.
As with much SF from this period any female characters here (and there is, drum roll... one) are pretty thin, really just existing to romantically motivate the male lead and provide some contrast to the sausage fest of male actors in the narrative.
There’s also an eco-fiction angle in Deathworld that reminds me of Phillip Mann's much later novel The Disestablishment of Paradise, although in a far more rudimentary fashion. Harrison really only touches on the actual details of the environment on Pyrrus compared to Mann's beautiful evocation of the planet Paradise and it's magnificent flora.
The two novels are thematically similar, but Mann’s work towers over Deathworld in many ways, the least being that when Mann’s environment becomes a fraction as unaccommodating as Pyrrus everyone very sensibly packs up and seeks greener pastures elsewhere. There’s also a female character on Paradise that is more than a cutout picture of boobs stuck to a stick.
Still, Deathworld is a short, entertaining read and generally pretty fun if you try not to think too much, look past the dated elements and simply enjoy the ride to THE MOST DANGEROUS WORLD IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY!!!!
2.5 male saviours of of five.
May 21, 2018
Set on the most deadly planet you can imagine where everything from the smallest insect to the largest bird of prey is out to get you and where even the plants have fangs. I quite liked it when I first read it (in German) many years ago. Now I read it again, for the first time in English, and I have to say I’m still thrilled to visit planet Pyrrus and its inhabitants. The characters haven’t lost their charm, which comes along as being a little rough sometimes. Some technical stuff seems a little outdated now, but far from being embarrassing. I admit I had a little crush on Meta, and although this feeling is long gone she is still my favorite figure. What’s not to love about a girl who breaks the arm of the men who make unwanted advances to her. Although a pulp novel in nature, the story has also some finer points. Psychological, philosophical, and ecological themes well worth to think about. And where does the hero find the ultimate answer to the most pressing problem? .
This work is licensed under a .
This work is licensed under a .
September 23, 2024
A science-fiction novel from 1960 about a gambler who flees from the law to a planet named Pyrrus covered in jungle where the entire local flora and fauna is extremely dangerous to human life.
Anyway, soon after our hero arrives on Pyrrus he gets caught up in a complicated power struggle between the 2 factions of human colonists: One who lives in a fortified high-tech city, and the other of which has taken up a hunter-gatherer lifestyle out in the jungle living in symbiosis with the psychic gestalt that unified all the native life on the planet. (from tentacled eldritch abominations that look like a weird mix between plant and animal, to animals that look like six-legged leopards with armoured frog heads but the hunter-gatherers call "dogs" because they behave in a surprisingly similar way) So far you can see a clear influence on not just the jungle planet Catachan in "Warhammer 40,000" (the home of the best guerilla fighters in the Imperial Guard) but also James Cameron's "Avatar" except I find "Deathworld" a much more interesting story because author Harry Harrison puts a lot of thought into not making any of the factions the clear-cut good guys or bad guys.
I also liked the same things about "Deathworld" that I enjoy about 1960's/1970's science-fiction literature in general, and the genre mostly abandoned afterwards: Its brisk pace going through a very complex twisty plot that constantly throws new and audacious ideas at the reader, in just a little over 150 pages. For example, for the first 50 pages the novel is basically a futuristic hardboiled crime story, and there are even elements of that throughout the story e. g. the protagonist's love interest on Pyrrus being a spin on the classic femme fatale archetype, but then it becomes a futuristic-in-setting yet more psychologically realistic take on jungle adventures and a serious thoughtful political drama at the same time.
I am very curious about reading the 2 sequels to this that Harrison later wrote.
Anyway, soon after our hero arrives on Pyrrus he gets caught up in a complicated power struggle between the 2 factions of human colonists: One who lives in a fortified high-tech city, and the other of which has taken up a hunter-gatherer lifestyle out in the jungle living in symbiosis with the psychic gestalt that unified all the native life on the planet. (from tentacled eldritch abominations that look like a weird mix between plant and animal, to animals that look like six-legged leopards with armoured frog heads but the hunter-gatherers call "dogs" because they behave in a surprisingly similar way) So far you can see a clear influence on not just the jungle planet Catachan in "Warhammer 40,000" (the home of the best guerilla fighters in the Imperial Guard) but also James Cameron's "Avatar" except I find "Deathworld" a much more interesting story because author Harry Harrison puts a lot of thought into not making any of the factions the clear-cut good guys or bad guys.
I also liked the same things about "Deathworld" that I enjoy about 1960's/1970's science-fiction literature in general, and the genre mostly abandoned afterwards: Its brisk pace going through a very complex twisty plot that constantly throws new and audacious ideas at the reader, in just a little over 150 pages. For example, for the first 50 pages the novel is basically a futuristic hardboiled crime story, and there are even elements of that throughout the story e. g. the protagonist's love interest on Pyrrus being a spin on the classic femme fatale archetype, but then it becomes a futuristic-in-setting yet more psychologically realistic take on jungle adventures and a serious thoughtful political drama at the same time.
I am very curious about reading the 2 sequels to this that Harrison later wrote.
August 8, 2021
I enjoyed the book but honestly I can not give it more than three and half stars.
The main premise is very interesting but the development of the plot is a bit silly; the novel was published in 1960 and obviously time takes its toll. Also I consider that the characters are excessively flat, except maybe the protagonist. Still it is a Harry Harrison's book and an enjoyable classic science fiction adventure so for me this is great.
I suppose that someday I will read the two sequels but now I want to explore different authors and new frontiers, where no man has gone before ;-)
The main premise is very interesting but the development of the plot is a bit silly; the novel was published in 1960 and obviously time takes its toll. Also I consider that the characters are excessively flat, except maybe the protagonist. Still it is a Harry Harrison's book and an enjoyable classic science fiction adventure so for me this is great.
I suppose that someday I will read the two sequels but now I want to explore different authors and new frontiers, where no man has gone before ;-)
January 14, 2025
It’s definitely a page turner! 🍿Lots of cool monsters and combat scenes. 🪲
October 1, 2020
As good a read as it was when I read it in the mid-sixties fast paced, and fast actions.
September 16, 2019
This is a wild scifi ride in a world where everything's trying to kill its human colonists, probably having influenced Warhammer 40k in more ways than anyone is willing to admit. We've got bizarre animals, hardened badass survivors, good action, revelations and twists, and people that act mostly reasonably within the confines of information they've been given - even when they do get angry and try to deny something, you can see where they're coming from. All in all it's pretty great.
My only trifle is with the main hero Jason, whose attitude I'm not buying. He seems like a too good and high-moraled person for his history and background and prior personality. At the beginning of the story he's a professional gambler and a psychic cheat, out for himself, with a bit of an obsession with being the best there is and finding the idea of a whole world of proto-Catachan killers something he'd like to see... but as soon as he comes to the planet, some switch in his brain is flipped and he now wants to help everyone solve all their problems. It's almost like he was switched with a more generic all-loving hero at some point during transit. I'm not sure what was up with that.
It doesn't bother me nearly as much, anyway. It's just something that caught my eye and wouldn't leave. On the whole I'd recommend this book if you like anything scifi - and if you don't, maybe it'll make for a good place to shake yourself off your comfort zones a little.
My only trifle is with the main hero Jason, whose attitude I'm not buying. He seems like a too good and high-moraled person for his history and background and prior personality. At the beginning of the story he's a professional gambler and a psychic cheat, out for himself, with a bit of an obsession with being the best there is and finding the idea of a whole world of proto-Catachan killers something he'd like to see... but as soon as he comes to the planet, some switch in his brain is flipped and he now wants to help everyone solve all their problems. It's almost like he was switched with a more generic all-loving hero at some point during transit. I'm not sure what was up with that.
It doesn't bother me nearly as much, anyway. It's just something that caught my eye and wouldn't leave. On the whole I'd recommend this book if you like anything scifi - and if you don't, maybe it'll make for a good place to shake yourself off your comfort zones a little.
July 23, 2021
This is probably the third time I have read this story and the trilogy as a whole-- good pulp space opera from Harrison for sure. Harrison is probably known best today for his novel and his series, but he was writing good pulp back in the 60s as well.
Deathworld chronicles Jason dinAlt's adventures on Pyrrus-- the so-called deathworld. Jason is a 'stock' character that should be familiar to many readers of Harrison or even of Vance-- basically a good guy who uses his brains rather than his brawn to get by. Here, Jason is a professional gambler who has certain psi talents that help him in his career so to speak. On arrival on a new world, one with a casino he has yet to exploit, he encounters a strange man (Kerk) who makes him an offer-- will he take his 27 million in credit to the casino and make him 3 billion? Jason agrees, and after some trials and tribulations (of course) the pair of them leave the planet with their winnings and 3 billion worth of arms destined for Pyrrus.
Pyrrus has valuable mines of heavy metals, but also a horrible climate and flora and fauna that seem to be dedicated to wiping out humanity. The Pyrrians live in a walled city constantly under attack and worse, the 'war' is not going well for them at all. Can Jason come up with a way out? Is there a solution? Read the novella to find out!
Deathplanet does, however, have a somewhat dated feel; latent sexism abounds (this was first published in 1960) and the tech is clunky (tape recorders, etc.). Yet, the heart of the novel concerns the socioeconomic conditions on Pyrrus and Jason's adventures, so these negatives do not slow it down much. Not the best work of Harrison, but definitely better than a lot of other old pulp out there. 3 stars!
Deathworld chronicles Jason dinAlt's adventures on Pyrrus-- the so-called deathworld. Jason is a 'stock' character that should be familiar to many readers of Harrison or even of Vance-- basically a good guy who uses his brains rather than his brawn to get by. Here, Jason is a professional gambler who has certain psi talents that help him in his career so to speak. On arrival on a new world, one with a casino he has yet to exploit, he encounters a strange man (Kerk) who makes him an offer-- will he take his 27 million in credit to the casino and make him 3 billion? Jason agrees, and after some trials and tribulations (of course) the pair of them leave the planet with their winnings and 3 billion worth of arms destined for Pyrrus.
Pyrrus has valuable mines of heavy metals, but also a horrible climate and flora and fauna that seem to be dedicated to wiping out humanity. The Pyrrians live in a walled city constantly under attack and worse, the 'war' is not going well for them at all. Can Jason come up with a way out? Is there a solution? Read the novella to find out!
Deathplanet does, however, have a somewhat dated feel; latent sexism abounds (this was first published in 1960) and the tech is clunky (tape recorders, etc.). Yet, the heart of the novel concerns the socioeconomic conditions on Pyrrus and Jason's adventures, so these negatives do not slow it down much. Not the best work of Harrison, but definitely better than a lot of other old pulp out there. 3 stars!
January 17, 2019
Хари Харисън е един от малкото автори на фантастика, чиито романи са четими и ако си надвишил младежката възраст. Първо, са задоволително кратки, така че няма време да ти писнат. После, въпреки, че са кратки, успяват да са зарибителни и интересни и да имат задоволително действие и завършек.
Освен това, Харисън успява да направи една малка, но според мен истинска магия, или фокус ако щете, която толкова много други автори на фантастика и трилъри не успяват да направят - а именно да създадат може би минимална, но все пак толкова нужна дълбочина на образите на героите си. Не ме разбирайте погрешно, все пак какво толкова да искаш на 150 страници. Но все пак хората, които шават в книгите на Харисън не са ЧАК толкова плоски, картонени изрезки, едва наподобяващи живи хора, колкото са в останалата литература от тоя тип.
Харисън освен това залага на антропологичния ъгъл така, че практически всяка от книгите му се занимава с различна планета, на която човешкото общество, откъснато от останалата част от човечеството и/или поставено пред невъзможни условия на живот, се е развило по различен и интересен начин. И Свят на смъртта I не прави изключение.
Това е началото на приключенията на прекалено наподобяващ "Стоманения плъх" но все пак различен (LOL не съм казал, че Харисън е особено оригинален в хрумванията си) комарджия, който е умел в уловките и хитрините на цивилизования живот, но изведнъж се сблъсква челно с реалността на една особено дива планета и хората, живеещи и оцеляващи на нея - и е запленен от нея и от тях.
Освен това, Харисън успява да направи една малка, но според мен истинска магия, или фокус ако щете, която толкова много други автори на фантастика и трилъри не успяват да направят - а именно да създадат може би минимална, но все пак толкова нужна дълбочина на образите на героите си. Не ме разбирайте погрешно, все пак какво толкова да искаш на 150 страници. Но все пак хората, които шават в книгите на Харисън не са ЧАК толкова плоски, картонени изрезки, едва наподобяващи живи хора, колкото са в останалата литература от тоя тип.
Харисън освен това залага на антропологичния ъгъл така, че практически всяка от книгите му се занимава с различна планета, на която човешкото общество, откъснато от останалата част от човечеството и/или поставено пред невъзможни условия на живот, се е развило по различен и интересен начин. И Свят на смъртта I не прави изключение.
Това е началото на приключенията на прекалено наподобяващ "Стоманения плъх" но все пак различен (LOL не съм казал, че Харисън е особено оригинален в хрумванията си) комарджия, който е умел в уловките и хитрините на цивилизования живот, но изведнъж се сблъсква челно с реалността на една особено дива планета и хората, живеещи и оцеляващи на нея - и е запленен от нея и от тях.
June 26, 2011
Enjoyable story about a planet... OF DEATH! Pretty fun tale about karma (kind of). In death world the ecology of a planet seems hellbent on killing its human inhabitants to the degree that evolution has steered the plants and animals in such a way that all their offensive and defensive traits are specifically geared towards killing and maiming humans. The funny thing is the humans have only been on the planet for a few hundred years, not nearly enough time for any kind of evolution to respond to their presence, under normal conditions. Our protagonist, a singularly lucky gambler, decides to visit this planet and finds himself compelled to solve this strange riddle despite not receiving much help from the rough single minded people he's trying to assist.
March 6, 2012
This book was an enormous surprise for me. I expected it to be a brainless romp through monster-infested jungle, which is indeed what it appears to be until you get about halfway into it. Then the story unfolds into a brilliant political and social satire, about the nature of war, our relationship with the environment and (I'm not sure if the author intended this but he hit the nail on the head) Russian politics. Just grit your teeth through the stupid beginning and read the damn thing.
January 20, 2017
Imagine a world where all native living forms, both plant and animal, are against the humans living in its only city. Not only is the gravity twice that of earth, but in order to survive, every city dweller on Pyrrus must constantly be armed and ready to shoot any plant, insect, bird, or animal in sight.
The only humans on Pyrrus that do not have to combat the plannet's biota are the so-called "grubbers," who manage to live in peace with the planet. What do they know that the city dwellers do not?
Jason dinAlt, a gambler and an other-worlder, aims to find out, and does so.
's is the first volume of the Deathworld Trilogy. He writes well, and there is a good chance that I will tackle the rest of the trilogy before long.
The only humans on Pyrrus that do not have to combat the plannet's biota are the so-called "grubbers," who manage to live in peace with the planet. What do they know that the city dwellers do not?
Jason dinAlt, a gambler and an other-worlder, aims to find out, and does so.
's is the first volume of the Deathworld Trilogy. He writes well, and there is a good chance that I will tackle the rest of the trilogy before long.
June 3, 2016
Death World is a really entertaining read. Jason dinAlt is the hero, a gambler with psionic abilities who is hired by the ambassador of planet Pyrrus (hint, hint) to engineer a gambling coup. He ends up visiting Pyrrus, the most deadly planet ever colonised by humans. All plant and animal life is predatory, and the colonists are locked in a ceaseless battle with them. The colonists, despite their incredible toughness and discipline are slowly losing the battle. Jason sets out to understand this mysterious phenomenon and save the colony. It was a clever story and I really enjoyed it.
September 15, 2011
You know how there are free books for Kindle, especially older books, maybe especially out-of-print or not-so-widely-read books? And you know how you sometimes have to take a six-hour plane trip somewhere and you know you're not going to sleep? And you know how sometimes you just want mental Cheetos? Yes? I have a book for you.
January 14, 2019
A psy-powered gambler Jason dinAlt receives a visit from a burly man with lightning gun-drawing reflexes, who gives him money, which should be multiplied manifold in a casino in order to pay for military goods for planet Pyrrus. Jason gets to the planet to discover that the whole planet fights against human colonists.
I must admit, I’m biased about this book. This was one of my first SF reads, for the first time at the age of 8 or so, and I assume it heavily contributed to the fact that I chose SF&F over other genres.
Of course, when I read it in my tender age, I was most impressed by the adventure part: guns jumping into hands, deadly beasts all around, some psy-powers. Later I saw the other layers: a question of environmental damage, of people blindfolded by the necessity of survival and so on. Yes, the book is much simpler than say, by , but it is not a pulpy SF of the Golden Age despite some facetious similarities.
I must admit, I’m biased about this book. This was one of my first SF reads, for the first time at the age of 8 or so, and I assume it heavily contributed to the fact that I chose SF&F over other genres.
Of course, when I read it in my tender age, I was most impressed by the adventure part: guns jumping into hands, deadly beasts all around, some psy-powers. Later I saw the other layers: a question of environmental damage, of people blindfolded by the necessity of survival and so on. Yes, the book is much simpler than say, by , but it is not a pulpy SF of the Golden Age despite some facetious similarities.
January 31, 2019
I loved this book and can easily see how it was a candidate to win awards and launched Harry Harrison's career. There is a lot of commonality with this series and the Stainless Steel Rat series, which I am listening to with audiobooks currently rather than reread it. The protagonists in both I feel pretty certain are an idealized version of the author himself, how he imagines he would react in the situations he concocts. Harrison's comfort level writing and sense of humor developed later in his life. It's barely visible here in this first novel.
There was so much done with this book that was right that I can overlook or forgive its minor flaws: the slightly overdramatized confrontations, the unbelievable and unscientific psi capabilities so popular in twentieth century SF, and the impossibly capable (at points) protagonist. Like every Harrison protagonist, Jason relies on his brains rather than any physical attributes, so we have to give Harrison some slack when he writes protagonists as brighter than everyone around, and luckier.
I'm not going to summarize the plot or offer a synopsis. Wikipedia does way too much of that. Don't read that article until you have read the book because spoilers abound there.
One surprise feature of the book I loved was Meta's character. First, she has one of the coolest, most unique names in all fiction. Second, although she was a background or support character for Harrison, she easily could have stolen the show. As a Pyrran, she was a bridge character between Jason's cosmopolitan worldview and the Pyrrans' parochial outlook. Her character grew throughout the book making for a fascinating character arc. She is incredibly competent, knows who she is from when we first see her, what she wants, and is unafraid to think for herself. This is actually quite an achievement for 1960 writing of a female character. Meta not only saves Jason a few times during the novel, she has to go up against her entire culture once to do it. If this book were rewritten from Meta's perspective with her as the heroine protagonist, I'd give it six stars even if it broke GoodReads' software.
Another interesting factor of this book for me is its analysis of the social schisms rending Pyrran society. I see us as having very similar problems in our society in the U.S.A. today with our two highly polarized factions and supporters. I have less hope we will be able to resolve our differences than Jason has for Pyrran society.
There was so much done with this book that was right that I can overlook or forgive its minor flaws: the slightly overdramatized confrontations, the unbelievable and unscientific psi capabilities so popular in twentieth century SF, and the impossibly capable (at points) protagonist. Like every Harrison protagonist, Jason relies on his brains rather than any physical attributes, so we have to give Harrison some slack when he writes protagonists as brighter than everyone around, and luckier.
I'm not going to summarize the plot or offer a synopsis. Wikipedia does way too much of that. Don't read that article until you have read the book because spoilers abound there.
One surprise feature of the book I loved was Meta's character. First, she has one of the coolest, most unique names in all fiction. Second, although she was a background or support character for Harrison, she easily could have stolen the show. As a Pyrran, she was a bridge character between Jason's cosmopolitan worldview and the Pyrrans' parochial outlook. Her character grew throughout the book making for a fascinating character arc. She is incredibly competent, knows who she is from when we first see her, what she wants, and is unafraid to think for herself. This is actually quite an achievement for 1960 writing of a female character. Meta not only saves Jason a few times during the novel, she has to go up against her entire culture once to do it. If this book were rewritten from Meta's perspective with her as the heroine protagonist, I'd give it six stars even if it broke GoodReads' software.
Another interesting factor of this book for me is its analysis of the social schisms rending Pyrran society. I see us as having very similar problems in our society in the U.S.A. today with our two highly polarized factions and supporters. I have less hope we will be able to resolve our differences than Jason has for Pyrran society.
April 22, 2021
Scifi can give a lot of insight into the culture and time in which it was written. It's often about complex cultural or political issues, and as such, it can be really interesting to read old Scifi. This is not that kind of scifi.
This book is one of the worst I've read. Completely one dimensional characters across the board, simplistic plot, most of the story is told by the character as it's happening. Not going to go into depth about the weird sexism in this one, it's honestly not even worth my time to evaluate it, I'll just say this. There is a single woman character who is 19 and is shockingly attracted to an inferior male character (shock) and is also extremely stupid (but very hot) and has to be explained everything by the main character (which also seems to be the story telling style throughout). There are other women VERY briefly mentioned, and even seems to be insinuated that they share equal parts in these societies, but SOMEHOW none of them are at all involved in the plot other than banging the main character.
And to that character: rather than shedding any insight onto the cultural or political situation this story was written into, the character is just an extremely tedious mary sue. he's a genius with psionic powers who solves a centuries long war/struggle to survive like right away, while two whole cultures failed to solve it this whole time. It's really very stupid. The whole thing felt like a power fantasy dude novel. And it was even exciting or fun.
TBH, the underlying idea for the story COULD have been interesting. Planet where all living things are deadly and aggresive towards humans who were shipped there to mine the place centuries ago. Kinda cool. There is a second group of humans who manage to survive on the planet without struggling with the animal life. Ok, interesting turn. The animals are attacking because of psionic pressure, and evolving at super speed. Hmm, alright, could be some cool turns there. Oh no, there aren't? Just gonna be solved by this one dude in like 15 mins? And now the lone girl character wants to go with him in his ship to explore other planets cause she's a dumb dumb. Ok.
Sometimes I read bad books and rant to friends throughout the reading. This one was so stupid and simplisitic, I couldn't even come up with good rants.
Also: Not giving this a pass because it was written in the 60s. I've read books from BC that had more depth than this shit.
This book is one of the worst I've read. Completely one dimensional characters across the board, simplistic plot, most of the story is told by the character as it's happening. Not going to go into depth about the weird sexism in this one, it's honestly not even worth my time to evaluate it, I'll just say this. There is a single woman character who is 19 and is shockingly attracted to an inferior male character (shock) and is also extremely stupid (but very hot) and has to be explained everything by the main character (which also seems to be the story telling style throughout). There are other women VERY briefly mentioned, and even seems to be insinuated that they share equal parts in these societies, but SOMEHOW none of them are at all involved in the plot other than banging the main character.
And to that character: rather than shedding any insight onto the cultural or political situation this story was written into, the character is just an extremely tedious mary sue. he's a genius with psionic powers who solves a centuries long war/struggle to survive like right away, while two whole cultures failed to solve it this whole time. It's really very stupid. The whole thing felt like a power fantasy dude novel. And it was even exciting or fun.
TBH, the underlying idea for the story COULD have been interesting. Planet where all living things are deadly and aggresive towards humans who were shipped there to mine the place centuries ago. Kinda cool. There is a second group of humans who manage to survive on the planet without struggling with the animal life. Ok, interesting turn. The animals are attacking because of psionic pressure, and evolving at super speed. Hmm, alright, could be some cool turns there. Oh no, there aren't? Just gonna be solved by this one dude in like 15 mins? And now the lone girl character wants to go with him in his ship to explore other planets cause she's a dumb dumb. Ok.
Sometimes I read bad books and rant to friends throughout the reading. This one was so stupid and simplisitic, I couldn't even come up with good rants.
Also: Not giving this a pass because it was written in the 60s. I've read books from BC that had more depth than this shit.
August 9, 2014
-Otras formas y otros tiempos.-
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. Jason dinAlt es un aventurero y jugador profesional acostumbrado a luchar contra los grandes casinos del espacio conocido. Cuando Kerk Pyrrus, embajador del planeta Pyrrus de aspecto impresionante y capacidades todavía más sobresalientes, le propone jugar para él con una cantidad enorme de dinero y conseguir una todavía más importante, Jason acepta y acabará metiéndose en toda una aventura. Primer volumen de la saga El Mundo de la Muerte.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
Género. Ciencia-Ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. Jason dinAlt es un aventurero y jugador profesional acostumbrado a luchar contra los grandes casinos del espacio conocido. Cuando Kerk Pyrrus, embajador del planeta Pyrrus de aspecto impresionante y capacidades todavía más sobresalientes, le propone jugar para él con una cantidad enorme de dinero y conseguir una todavía más importante, Jason acepta y acabará metiéndose en toda una aventura. Primer volumen de la saga El Mundo de la Muerte.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
December 26, 2017
I read this many years ago when I fist discoverd Sci-Fi ... and it was old even then !! Fun, fast and highly enjoyable. The pace is good as is the idea and Mr Harrison knows how to keep you turning the pages. It doesn't warrant a lengthy review, there isn't any depth here, it's just a fun ride. Just as much fun second time around but it seemed way too short this time. So I re-read Deathworld 2 as well :)
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