Customer Reviews

Infinity Hold

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been searching for another copy of this book for quite some time. My original copy was loaned out so many times, it apparently decided make a go of it on its own. An excellent read. The main character is a piece of human filth at the beginning of the story, and is landed on a prison planet in a shipload of similar creatures. Being thrown together in adversity makes a group of these lowlifes, and they find themselves fighting back-to-back against a whole planet of people like themselves, bloodthirsty, implacable and despairing. With no laws to break, and no society to offend, they find they have to construct such from scratch or die under the heels of the gangs they face.

It took me a long time before I got around to reading this book, but once I did, I wondered why I hadn't read it earlier! Dumping prisoners on an empty planet is a fairly old Si-Fi concept and has been used many times, but never with the angle Longyear takes on it. Not only is it facinating as a fiction novel in itself, but is also a psycological book that will open your eyes to the modern day prison system and its flaws. Although I have never been very interested, or had many opinions on 'Justice', this book has helped me form some of my opinions on it. I found the book to be very realistic portrayal of the criminal mind/society and I would recomend this book to EVERYONE!!!!! I have already recomended this book to my history and psycology teachers after hearing concepts in their classes that this book could apply to. Please give the book a try. I garenttee that you will be glad you did! I was! :)

In 2115 Bando Nicos is a twenty-seven year-old inmate of "The Crotch", the Union of Terran Republics' prison for incorrigibles in Greenville, Mississippi. Like many other prisons, The Crotch is shut down and the entire population deposited on the planet Tartaros, named for the lowest level of hell, the galaxy's dumping ground for the unwanted. Soon after they are abandoned in the sandy desert of Tartaros, the seventeen thousand-plus population is reduced to three thousand. The remaining "sharks" decide they must band together if they want to survive, and elect a leader who makes Bando the first police officer of the newly-christened Razai gang. With the help of pre-teen killers, homicidal maniacs, and political dissidents, Bando makes up the brutally simple Law of the Razai as they travel in search of a place of refuge. In between trials and fights for survival against the gangs already in residence, Bando and his compatriots must think about the meaning of justice, and Bando examines his own heart to see if he is worthy of the trust placed in him.

This edition contains all three books in the series: INFINITY HOLD, KILL ALL THE LAWYERS, and KEEP THE LAW, and features a lengthy introduction by the author (in which he hints that there may be more Tartaros books in the future).

There are substantial edits in this version of Infinity Hold (the first of three stories in the book). In my opinion the edits do nothing to improve the story and in some instances steal the heart from the story to the extent that they make what is one of the greatest SF stories of all time rather poor and unejoyable to read.

I would strongly urge owners of the first edition who love the story never to read the reprint in this book.

As to the second and third stories they are well writen but I feel they lack the soul of the original

Finally, I can read the Series. It is the complete and unabridged Infinity Hold trilogy: Infinity Hold, Kill All The Lawyers, and Keep The Law. In a world of terrorists, murderers, and criminally insane, one man rises to become the world's first police officer and the guardian of their most precious possession: The Law. Three full novels, the complete saga from before the landing to Bando Nicos's murder trial. Kill All The Lawyers: First time in book form. Keep The Law: First publication!

It's not spectacular literature, but it is well written. In Enemy Mine he took on prejudice and war, in Infinity Hold Longyear takes on Prisons and Justice. Major thematic ideas and they are well executed. Realistic criminals, with a plot reminiscent of transporting criminals to Australia. But the story is more about the creation of Law and justice from nothing, and the redemption of themselves. It's not about how it turns out as much as how it begins.

I have only read part I so far.

The book definatley deserves at least 4 stars, as it is well written, but there is more to the book. To understand this book, read the dedicaton of Infintity Hold part I. It is dedicated to NA and those who died along the way.

The book IS NOT about a group of prisoners dumped on a planet, thAt is just the setting. (A digression here. NA is a 12 step fellowship, like AA.) Most people are familiar with the fact that AA has 12 steps, but there are also 12 Tradtions and 12 Concepts.

Using those it is possible to set up a society, and that is what Barry is doing.Meanwhile Nicos is getting into recovery from his rage.("I didn't get into trouble every time I [fill in the blank] but every time I was in trouble I was [***ing]"). There is also a saying in the rooms, "Some of us may die, so that others can recover". Find it in the novel. Barry has actually written the meditation book he talks about "Yesterday's Tommorrows; Meditation for Hard Cases". Available on Amazon.

I've been reading cheap science fiction ebooks for months, looking for good writers. It hasn't been easy - the Amazon rating system is practically useless. I read a lot of classic science fiction in my younger years, and I came to take certain things for granted - the writer understood the English language, understood how to drive a plot, could build a character, understood that a really good book should present some kind of moral or philosophical problem that would cause thought to happen in the reader, whether he knew it or not, etc. Restricting my reading pretty much to 4 and 5-star books, I have not found a single new writer who could do more than one of these things.

That's changed. Infinity Hold is a book that would have taken its place along with the classic writers of 50 years ago, had it been written then. Barry Longyear - if Infinity Hold is a fair sample - is a better writer than China Mieville. He's a better writer than Neal Stephenson. He makes S.M.Stirling seem barely literate (of course I thought that before I read Infinity Hold, but now I know I don't have to settle).

So, excellent book. Known Universe decides to dump its prison population on one terrible planet to fend for themselves. One bunch of losers somehow manages to stay together, survive, and reinvent law, justice, and personal responsibility. Nicely done. Five stars - not because it's on par with the best books I've ever read, but because it's damn good and four stars would put it on the level of some writers who aren't worth a minute of your time.

I first read this book many years ago and was totally intrigued with the concept of dumping prisoners on a planet to fend for themselves. Their development of law was fascinating to me and keeps coming back whenever our current laws somehow fail. I would love to see this book as a movie.

This is my favorite Longyear book. The premise is interesting with a lot of action, believable characters and a great big dose of uplifting hope for the future of mankind. Well crafted and a book I find I have to reread once a year just for sheer pleasure. This a not so gentle hint that I would like to see another book on the Razai.