EXPENDABLE [Hardcover]

James Alan Gardner (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Avon (1954)
• ASIN: B000O8GL6K
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining book with some interesting views of society, July 5, 1999

By A Customer

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This review is from: Expendable (League of Peoples, Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

SF is an excellent vehicle to explore aspects of our human nature or of human society. Expendable examines the definition of "humanness", the nature of bigotry, and the underpinnings of official corruption. The author creates a future in which people with appropriate physical defects are denied available medical care, and become second class citizens assigned to unpleasant and ultimately dangerous work as Explorers in the human interstellar fleet. Explorers make first contact with aliens and sometimes fall victim to injury or death due to misunderstandings. Because Explorers are physically unattractive, other members of the interstellar fleet can accept death or injury of these people (or almost people, in their eyes) more easily. A dark secret is that the Admiralty uses an apparently hospitable planet as a dumping ground for undesirables, since for unknown reasons, no one apparently survives or returns.

Gardner creates an interesting tale that has moral underpinnings without preaching to the reader. The book is well-written and flows nicely. He builds smoothly to a climax and the characters, including some distinctly alien beings, are people who you care about. I did wonder why the marooned Explorers, who have no close attachments in the way of family or friends, are so anxious to return to an institutionally corrupt society that has discarded them. A nice Earth-like world where one could live in peace seemed a pretty good alternative.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't normally like science fiction, but..., December 28, 2000

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Expendable (League of Peoples, Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book because it was on a list of books with strong female characters. I was not disappointed, and I found myself thinking that perhaps I had misjudged science fiction. The plot revolves around the concept that people get upset if attractive people are killed on dangerous missions, but no-one really cares about unattractive or physically flawed people. So although the technology is there to correct birth defects and other physical problems (such as stammering, obesity, or birthmarks), certain children are left with their physical problem uncorrected and raised to be "explorers", so that if they die on a mission of interplanetary exploration, there won't be a public outcry or grief. These people are expendable, and no-one will notice they've died, except for other explorers, who will respond with their motto -- "That's what expendable means." They have been raised from early childhood and specially trained to sacrifice themselves. These "explorers" simultaneously think of themselves as superior and inferior -- "real people", as they call them, are shallow and weak, and yet they envy "real people." This whole concept raises questions about the value placed on physical perfection by our society and what it means to be someone who can't meet those standards.

The main character, Festina Ramos, is a female explorer sent on a suicide mission to a planet from which no explorer has ever returned. She and her partner are being sacrificed as part of a larger plot to deal with another undesirable of society. Needless to say, the planet turns out to be inhabited. Festina sets off on a long adventure of survival. I really couldn't put the book down, and I particularly recommend it to those who are interested in strong, capable female protaganists.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Festina Ramos!!!!, May 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Expendable (League of Peoples, Bk. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was suprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was well-written, with a very interesting plot. But what won me over was Gardner's ability to create a realistic, heroic, kick-@%% female character. This is an extremely rare ability for writers in any genre, and is enough to recommend this novel even without its other outstanding qualities. The constant sarcasm is a wonderful touch, and the outcast Explorers will appeal to any other cynics out there. But Gardner's real twist is that he manages to sneak something close to optimism in there without anybody noticing. Very sneaky. Very good novel.