Customer Reviews

Interstellar Patrol

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

 

 

This book is a collection of stories that have been published before in one form or another. The introduction by David Weber makes that very clear.

What is not clear is that this is space opera of the old style. If you liked (loved?) E.E. Doc Smith's Lensmen series, then you are going to enjoy this. It is simple story telling, without any of the pscyhobabble claptrap that seems to encumber most SF today.

The characters are gruff, they smoke cigarettes(?), they carouse and they shoot first and sometimes ask questions later. In short, Lensman type space opera.

Reccommended without reservation.

Interstellar Patrol is a collection of stories in the Colonization universe, including the early tales of Roberts, Hammell and Morrisey. This volume also includes several other tales related to Federation agencies other than the IP.

The Paradise tales describe how the captain and crew of the Orion, an Interstellar Rapid Transport ship, found themselves stranded off the planet Boschock III, misnamed Paradise. The Captain Vaughn Roberts, the cargomaster Hammell, and the comtech Morrissey brought the worst injured down to the planet in their tender, but crashed in the jungle outside the only city. Nearby settlers took the injured back to their village for treatment in return for some weapons and ammo, but the city officials, under the overall command of the central computer, were less than helpful.

After escaping from the city, Roberts and Hammel returned to the tender to discover that Morrissey, having time on his hands, had stumbled across an unusual application of their communications system; it generated a field that induced various emotions in anyone within range of the equipment. Experimenting with the effect, they learned how to project and overlap several fields as desired. Using this want-generator to control the emotions of the various factions on the planet, they created sufficient chaos that the central computer of the city decided to provide repairs to their ship and equipment just to get them offworld.

In subsequent visits to the planet, the trio found themselves somehow becoming responsible for the whole planet under the guise of Dukes of the Empire. Then they found that the Interstellar Patrol had been observing their progress with interest and was offering them a chance to become recruits in that organization.

The Boot Camp tales introduce Dan Bergen, another IP recruit, as well as Colonel Valentine Sanders, who becomes their commanding officer. In these stories, the IP submits the recruits to various tests, both to evaluate their capabilities and to induce the proper attitudes. Some of the tests are live and others are simulated, although it is hard to tell the difference. However, it is better to be eaten alive by carnivorous fish in a simulation than in the real world, although the sensations are much the same.

The Others tales present a broader view of the Federation and various unaligned worlds. A major theme in all these stories is interservice rivalry, particularly between the PDA and the Space Force. Another ongoing theme in some of these stories, particularly the Stellar Scouts tales, is the failure of new and improved equipment under field conditions; while some improved devices work as expected, others display quirky and sometimes harmful behavior in the real world.

All these stories say something about the foolishness of human beings. The author has specialized in writing Murphy's Law yarns, where things go wrong in ways none had realized were possible. The author has a rare insight and ability to illustrate the SNAFUs and FUBARs that haunt all human activities, particular in bureaucratic environments. Although such stories are probably not as popular today, there are still enough readers with military, or corporate, experience to relate to these situations.

Only the first three stories have been previously published in book form, so this is a rare opportunity for those who don't have the original magazine versions. However, there are many more out there slowly rotting in attics and basements. The editor has promised that some of those will be appearing in the sequel volume(s).

Highly recommended for Anvil fans and for anyone else who enjoys seeing other people make foolish mistakes much like the ones we ourselves have made.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Marooned space sailors are to expect hardships, but not in a planet designed to be an Utopia! Savage beasts, robot policemen, social experiments out of control and an experimental machine that could solve all the troubles of Utopia...if it didn't get everybody killed. And then there is the ultimate solution space captain Robert Vaungh came up with to deal with the warring factions of Utopia: unite them under his rulership against a wizard that did not exist.
Now it is a toss who will get him; the factions, the hostile planet, Space Fleet(which loves to hunt pirates), real pirates, the machine or the Interstellar Patrol drafting ship! Because people who survive mad situations like these are just the kind of people Interstellar Patrol needs.

A collection of the best of Christopher Anvil, Interstellar Patrol is a lengthy book composed of a large main story and a dozen small ones, all set in the futuristic universe of the Interstellar Patrol.

I remember reading most of the stories in Interstellar Patrol, which collects and reissues a series of stories by Christopher Anvil which first appeared (mostly)in Astounding/Analog between 1958 and 69. I remember them fondly, and find on re-reading that they are better than ever.

The science is good, the adventure is fun, but what is most delightful is the interaction between personnel from the Interstellar Patrol, the Stellar Scouts, the Space Navy, and the (civilian and governmental) Planetary Development Authority.

What makes these stories better than before is that when I first read them I was young and, naturally, idealistic. Being much older now and (I hope) more experienced and wiser, I have a better appreciation of the ways in which various branches of government can foul each other up (with some totally civilian entities thrown in for fun) even though they all believe they are working toward the same end. What is fun is to read how one or two intelligent people who keep their eyes on the donut and not the hole can figure out how to overcome the multitude of roadblocks that government agencies (and their devout personnel) can throw in each other's way, given their different views of the end goal. What wins in the end is the ability to think outside the box, which for me is the ultimate joy of science fiction.

I recommend this book (and its promised successors) without reservation - more than worth the money.

Some old sci-fi ages badly, but this collection is like wine and just gets better with age. This book isn't just a page tuner, it funny, insightful, and shows you what makes old sci-fi a totally different 'animal' then what is written today. There is no hand wringing, or rules, or feeling sorry for people who are disadabanged in these stories. These stories are about men solving MAN SIZED issues, but not with pure violence. More often then not the characters create the solutions by being smarter rather then just the end of a gun. Yes, its heavy handed and simpistic, but this book is one that every sci-fi fan should read.

As David Weber puts it in the introduction:
"The stories in this volume are science-fiction in the grand, rip-roaring tradition. Anvil throws around powerful bureaucracies like the PDA, huge space navies like the Space Force, and deviously capable guardians of the Right and Good (although said guardians may be just a mite tarnished around the edges) like the Interstellar Patrol.""

Eric Flint's afterword has Anvil himself explain how he thought of them in previous correspondence :-
". . . As for what to call the group of stories that relate to colonization of interstellar space by humans'including stories about the Interstellar Patrol, the Space Force, Planetary Development Administration (or Authority, depending on what part of it is being discussed, and by whom), the Stellar Scouts, etc., and the colonists themselves...John Campbell and I both thought of these stories as the 'Colonization series.''"

Flint calls the stories that are about the other organisations that are not of the title group the 'second ring' stories, and certainly those featuring Roberts and crew are the better examples, as they get into head-spinningly complicated at times situations.

Old fashioned entertaining SF adventure, of the military hierarchical flavour.

Interstellar Patrol : Strangers to Paradise - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : The Dukes of Desire - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : The Kings Legions - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : A Question of Attitude - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : The Royal Road - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : The Nitrocellulose Doormat - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Basic - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Test Ultimate - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Compound Interest - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Experts in the Field - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : The Hunch - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Star Tiger - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Revolt! - Christopher Anvil
Interstellar Patrol : Stranglehold - Christopher Anvil

Universe Care escape danger generates want stuffups.

3.5 out of 5

Wants generated sorcerer impersonation battle plan.

3.5 out of 5

Take me down to Paradise City where the alien beasts won't eat me and the Space Force gets shatty.

Interstellar Patrol sneaky scuzzbuckets gave me a job, though!

4 out of 5

Patrol test.

3 out of 5

Operation New Vote recruits.

3 out of 5

Guilty blow up.

3.5 out of 5

Gate patience.

3.5 out of 5

Patrol pirahna avoidance.

4 out of 5

Pay own way.

2.5 out of 5

"Doyle, worn out, went back to his ship, congratulating himself that he wouldn't have to fight a war with telepathic entities that could kill at an unspecified range by overloading a man's brain circuits."

3 out of 5

New stuff Scout survival.

3 out of 5

Animal regeneration problem.

3.5 out of 5

Suit correspondence escalation.

3.5 out of 5

Own weapon problem.

3 out of 5

3.5 out of 5

Most excellent collection of C Anvil's work!

Anvil is one of my favorite authors, and I am pleased that his work has been collected and republished

I have purchased all of the republished works

Well worth reading excellent stories and great humor! ;-)