Customer Reviews

Deathworld

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read and re-read my original paperback containing the three novels until it was tattered and torn. I recently received a shipment containing many of my old books, including this one. When I saw its condition, I wanted to replace it, but found it was out of print. Then I stumbled on a copy of this edition in a specialty bookstore and had to have it.

The books are classics -- the main character, Jason dinAlt, is a gambler and a scoundrel, with an ability to influence luck in his favor. He's recruited to help raise money for the inhabitants of Pyrrus, and has to follow the girl sent to arrange the deal to see the place for himself.

In the second book, dinAlt is kidnapped by a self-righteous man angry at his home planet's making dinAlt a hero, inspiring others to gamble. He plans to take dinAlt back to face trial, but things go awry and they both end up enslaved on a primitive desert world. DinAlt's luck and knowledge allow him to survive.

In the third and final book, many of the key people from Pyrrus join dinAlt in taming other planets. Their first assignment is a tough one, a planet of fierce nomadic warriors. DinAlt must learn their ways in order to defeat them.

This volume also includes "The Mothballed Spaceship", a short story featuring dinAlt and other Pyrrans not included in the original volume.

I refer to Deathworld and the others in the triology everytime someone asks me to recommend a SF classic. Believe it or not, I still have the fan magazine where it was first published. Unfortunately, this was the high point of Harry Harrison's career. The Stainless Steel rat series was good (but should have died several volumes earlier), and so was Soylent Green; but Harrison never again captured the magic that was Deathowrld... and I believe I have read and own them all.

Imagine a planet where the grass has curved, needle sharp tips, you sit on a rock and the lichen tries to get you, all the animals have one thing in common - kill the human invaders. Imagine that to survive you need to attend a pre-school for colonists and your survival skills never extend beyond "first grade". This is Deathworld.

If you never read another SF, at least read his finest - Deathworld.

I have a copy of the original printing of this trilogy that was in pretty bad shape when I bought it and now it is starting to just fall apart because I have read it so much. This is just the first book of the trilogy and it is really good. The second two books are also wonderful and I can hardly wait for them to come out again. In this book Jason must try to save an entire world from being annihilated by the native lifeforms. The people who settled this planet are bullheaded and very violent, they have to be to survive.

DEATHWORLD is a trilogy (plus one short story) of related Far-Future SciFi adventure stories:

DEATHWORLD (1960): Shwashbuckling interplanetary gambler "Jason dinAlt" (using his latest "assumed" name), is able to use his "Psi" capabilities to gain an "advantage over the house". A small group of "Super Humans" from the 2G world of Pyrrus force Jason to accept their grubstake in return for a huge cut of the winnings - the multi-million dollar gambit pays off, and the Pyrrans are able to effect an escape from the mob & government running the corrupt gambling world of Cassylia. Jason and the desparate Pyrrans (who need the money to buy arms to help fight their "war") make their way back to Pyrrus, which turns out to be a nasty world full of deadly creatures and plant life, which is slowly beating down the human population on Pyrrus. Jason's unique "Psi" capabilites come into play in the eventual unraveling of the mystery behind the unique ever-changing, and ever-more-deadly to humankind, rapid evolution of flora and fauna on Pyrrus. In turn, in order to be able to survive against the evolving deadly environment, the Pyrrans themselves have also evolved over hundreds of years to be "Super Humans" on this 2G world.

DEATHWORLD 2 - [originally serialized as THE ETHICAL ENGINEER] (1964): Jason is snatched from Pyrrus by a religious zealot, bent on returning Jason to Cassylia, where Jason has become a folk hero, to "face justice" and ostensibly to "destroy the legend of the immoral hero"... Jason manages to disable the spacecraft that is taking him back to Cassylia, and the two crash-land on a technological-backwards semi-populated planet, where the two have to fight and use their wits to survive one day at a time.

DEATHWORLD 3 - [originally serialized as THE HORSE BARBARIANS] (1968): Jason convinces a group of about 150 Pyrrans to make a go of it on another harsh world, in a nothern continent inhabited by Mongolian-like Barbarians. To be honest, this story doesn't make a lot of sense... there is a lot of action, but in the end, you wonder what the heck the continuous fights and struggles were all about.

These stories are somewhat "timeless" in that Harry Harrison does not use or describe much advanced technology. However, when he does, it is usually to expound on whatever new technology or meme is currently "en vogue" at the time the stories were written:

DEATHWORLD (1960): The meme or zeitgeist here is "Psi"... note, that the Jason DinAlt character only makes use of his Psi capabilities in this first story... in the later stories (even the last part of this story), he switches to use of intelligence and knowledge to overcome the numerous "cliff-hanger situations" he manages to get mixed up in.

DEATHWORLD 2 (1964): The meme is "Computer Tapes"... while this was a "new technology" in the early 60's, the idea is totally anachronistic in the interstellar travelling era where the story unfolds.

DEATHWORD 3 (1968): The meme is "Integrated Circuit Technology"... while Harrison attempts to predict that continuing improvements in this technology will allow astounding improvements in memory storage capability of digital machines, he doesn't go far enough - as his anachronistic Volkswagen-sized Mark IX mobile "Library" device can be replaced by a modern-day laptop.

The one new SciFi technology which Harrison introduces and uses consistently throughout the series, is the idea of the "Medikit", a Pyrran technology that acts a portable analysis and treatment center... one simply places the device against a person's skin, and the Medikit will take blood samples, and administer whatever treatment is required.

I like Harry Harrison's writing -- generally the earlier better, before he 'grew out' of pulp-style stories. He has literary sci-fi classics (Make Room,Make Room, et al), but my favorites are his Death World trilogy and the Stainless Steel Rat series. The Deathworld and Stainless Steel Rat series are related, not in their plots, but in that the protagonist in each is basically the same smart, tough, wise-a** character -- if you like the Stainless Steel Rat, you'll love Deathworld. I've had this volume (three books in one) since I was a teenager, and reread it every few years when I feel like taking a day off and just having fun. While there is an ecological theme to the first book, you don't read these for the 'message' looking for hidden metaphors and meaning, and you won't find any of the New Wave anger boiling beneath the surface. But if you enjoy classic sci-fi, these three stores are all an enjoyable ride, and I can't imagine a better way to spend a day on the couch...or transatlantic flight...or day by the pool...

These three books are absolutely great fun to read. I enjoyed them thoroughly. IMO they are better than the Stainless Steel Rat series.

The classic science fiction trilogy is reprinted together with a short story from the same universe. Deathworld 1 (1960), Deathworld 2 (1964), and Deathworld 3 (1968) represent formulaic science fiction in which the set of main characters battle for their lives on three separate but quite deadly worlds. The object of their adventures is always survival. The obstacles that Jason dinAlt (a gambler and scoundrel) and his friends overcome are different in each story, yet the components of each feel very much the same, only employed in different settings.

My first reading of these novels, when I was a teen, happened at a time when I had only recently discovered science fiction. I read them then because my school library had them all. I found them to be worthwhile entertainment. I chose to read these stories again many years later to see if, as sometimes happens, my opinion of the entertainment value had changed over the years. Now, I find that the first novel is a little better written than the sequels, though if you like this sort of story, you should at least read the sequels once. They're a fun and interesting way to spend an evening or two.

A Deathworld short story, "The Mothballed Spaceship" is included in my copy of this classic Science Fiction omnibus, and I was excited, at first, to discover that there was something new to me. My excitement quickly evaporated as I read through the first page or two of the story; dull and forgettable are the kindest things I can say about the short story, which should never have been published. It feels unfinished, as if "The Mothballed Spaceship" were the seed of a fourth Deathworld novel that was never fully developed - but for good reason. There's really not much about the story that's interesting enough to develop further.

I couldn't help but care for Jason, scoundrel though he may be...he's lovable in his own way, and his girlfriend, Meta, is just awesome...in fact, I'm just a little bit jealous of her capabilities. That said, Deathworld isn't for everyone. There's major violence involved and the fights get bloody at times. Recommended for ages 16 and up if you don't mind some violence in your entertainment, and of course if you like Science Fiction.

Harrison might well be known for his short story "Make Room, Make Room" which was the basis for teh classic movie "Soylent Green". This is not 7000 page long epics like something from Asimov. This is pulp science fiction at its best.
Our Hero, Jason Din Alt is just that. A hero. He could have been played by any modern top actor. Dynamic and smart and, yeah sure, a of a smart alic but what does that mater. The character has a mild Psy ability that allows him to "help" the odds while gambling at dice games. His skill draws the attention of the Pyrans in their desparate battle for survival.
The World images are harsh and strong. The stoic attitude of the Pyrans in their struggle is harsh and pulls at you. The solution is a science fiction classic.
The other two stories take us to other worlds where death is at ever doorstep. Here we have a hero that uses his brains to solve problems. Much like teh Stainless Steel Rat series. Brains prove more powerful than brawn.

There are three main reasons to why I did not enjoy this trilogy. First, the story and overall flavor is a bit juvenile. The first story in the trilogy is decent, but the latter two were simple and uninteresting. Second, the main character of these stories is incredibly annoying. A know-it-all, the book repeatedly showed how great the main character was in stark contrast to the rest of the characters who are portrayed as stupid, and well below the greatness of the main character. Third, several things bothered me with the writing style of the books. The author used a lot of words and phrases over and over again. "Jason shuddered" must have been used at least two dozen times, trying to show how much smarter Jason was than the other characters. Also, the second book tries to get philosophical and really does a poor job. The author attempts to promote moral relativism, but does so in an overly obvious dialogue between two characters. I appreciate philosophy in narrative, but it must be done well like CS Lewis and Arthur Clarke. All this to say that the book is a disappointment, there are much better science fiction books out there to read.

A pathetic title for a brilliant book. I wonder who the clown was that named it. It could not have been Harrison.