The Planet Buyer [Mass Market Paperback]

Cordwainer Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1976

First U.K. edition of Smith's classic.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Sphere; 1st U.K. edition (1976)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000L4HHHE
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,398,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual Rod, June 22, 2009

By 

Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Planet Buyer (Mass Market Paperback)

Rod McBan is sixteen and in many ways just like any other wide-eyed youth of that age. But Rod lives on the planet Old North Australia, or as the inhabitants commonly call it, Norstrilia. People need to be tough on this harsh, dry planet. In order to make the people tough the government had long ago banned all luxuries, so now everyone lives simple, hard-working lives that vaguely resemble those lived in that long-gone, original, rural region of Northern Australia. Rod's property, like all those in Norstrilia, raises sheep, or what passes as sheep. They are mutated animals, now huge in size. The sheep are not breed for wool, but for stroon. This is a substance produced by a virus that infects the sheep. When consumed stroon has the effect of extending the life span of humans indefinitely. The virus that produces stroon, however, can only survive in the unique atmosphere of Norstrilia. Stroon means that people can live as long as they want, but in Norstrilia, before an individual becomes an adult, they must pass a test which proves that they are mentally and physically fit. If they fail the test the youths are sent to the 'giggle room', a place where they are drugged and experience a happy and quick death. Rod has a major handicap and so it seems that he might not see seventeen. How can Rod pass the test and what adventures await him after that?

This book explores the issue of social rules. Most societies demand that people behave in certain ways, for example that couples pair of in monogamous relationships. These 'rules' usually exist for the benefit of the members of the society. Monogamous relationships, foe example, provide a stable environment for the raising of children. The question arises, however, are the 'rules' always right in all circumstances, and indeed are there other ways of doing things that might be equally effective? Life on Norstrilia is greatly restricted and the reader finds himself asking: "Should things really be like that?"

Also the question of eugenics is explored in some detail. Should we end life on the basis of handicap? In doing so we prevent suffering and, by purifying the gene pool, prevent reoccurrence of the problem. But how much do the handicapped suffer? Indeed, what if the individual concerned also possessed characteristics of giftedness? What if, in unforeseen circumstances, the 'handicap' was itself an advantage? In this world of abortion and in-uterus genetic testing these questions are less academic than they seem.

The plot of the book moves along in an interesting way. Often a new chapter takes the story in new and unexpected directions. Smith manages to convincingly draw the Norstrilians as 'red-neck' characters, though they come out more like 'backwoods' Americans than 'outback' Australians. Considering the connection with 'real' Australians is, in the story, in the very remote past this does not really matter.

If you feel that this novel ends up-in-the-air and rather suddenly that is because the story continues in a sequel, called The Underpeople, which takes up exactly where this novel leaves off. Smith later combined these two novels, added extra text and published the resulting book under the title Norstrilia (1975).

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual Rod, June 22, 2009

By 

Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Planet Buyer (Paperback)

Rod McBan is sixteen and in many ways just like any other wide-eyed youth of that age. But Rod lives on the planet Old North Australia, or as the inhabitants commonly call it, Norstrilia. People need to be tough on this harsh, dry planet. In order to make the people tough the government had long ago banned all luxuries, so now everyone lives simple, hard-working lives that vaguely resemble those lived in that long-gone, original, rural region of Northern Australia. Rod's property, like all those in Norstrilia, raises sheep, or what passes as sheep. They are mutated animals, now huge in size. The sheep are not breed for wool, but for stroon. This is a substance produced by a virus that infects the sheep. When consumed stroon has the effect of extending the life span of humans indefinitely. The virus that produces stroon, however, can only survive in the unique atmosphere of Norstrilia. Stroon means that people can live as long as they want, but in Norstrilia, before an individual becomes an adult, they must pass a test which proves that they are mentally and physically fit. If they fail the test the youths are sent to the 'giggle room', a place where they are drugged and experience a happy and quick death. Rod has a major handicap and so it seems that he might not see seventeen. How can Rod pass the test and what adventures await him after that?

This book explores the issue of social rules. Most societies demand that people behave in certain ways, for example that couples pair of in monogamous relationships. These 'rules' usually exist for the benefit of the members of the society. Monogamous relationships, foe example, provide a stable environment for the raising of children. The question arises, however, are the 'rules' always right in all circumstances, and indeed are there other ways of doing things that might be equally effective? Life on Norstrilia is greatly restricted and the reader finds himself asking: "Should things really be like that?"

Also the question of eugenics is explored in some detail. Should we end life on the basis of handicap? In doing so we prevent suffering and, by purifying the gene pool, prevent reoccurrence of the problem. But how much do the handicapped suffer? Indeed, what if the individual concerned also possessed characteristics of giftedness? What if, in unforeseen circumstances, the 'handicap' was itself an advantage? In this world of abortion and in-uterus genetic testing these questions are less academic than they seem.

The plot of the book moves along in an interesting way. Often a new chapter takes the story in new and unexpected directions. Smith manages to convincingly draw the Norstrilians as 'red-neck' characters, though they come out more like 'backwoods' Americans than 'outback' Australians. Considering the connection with 'real' Australians is, in the story, in the very remote past this does not really matter.

If you feel that this novel ends up-in-the-air and rather suddenly that is because the story continues in a sequel, called The Underpeople, which takes up exactly where this novel leaves off. Smith later combined these two novels, added extra text and published the resulting book under the title Norstrilia (1975).

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual Rod, June 22, 2009

By 

Raymond Mathiesen (Armidale, N.S.W., Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Rod McBan is sixteen and in many ways just like any other wide-eyed youth of that age. But Rod lives on the planet Old North Australia, or as the inhabitants commonly call it, Norstrilia. People need to be tough on this harsh, dry planet. In order to make the people tough the government had long ago banned all luxuries, so now everyone lives simple, hard-working lives that vaguely resemble those lived in that long-gone, original, rural region of Northern Australia. Rod's property, like all those in Norstrilia, raises sheep, or what passes as sheep. They are mutated animals, now huge in size. The sheep are not breed for wool, but for stroon. This is a substance produced by a virus that infects the sheep. When consumed stroon has the effect of extending the life span of humans indefinitely. The virus that produces stroon, however, can only survive in the unique atmosphere of Norstrilia. Stroon means that people can live as long as they want, but in Norstrilia, before an individual becomes an adult, they must pass a test which proves that they are mentally and physically fit. If they fail the test the youths are sent to the 'giggle room', a place where they are drugged and experience a happy and quick death. Rod has a major handicap and so it seems that he might not see seventeen. How can Rod pass the test and what adventures await him after that?

This book explores the issue of social rules. Most societies demand that people behave in certain ways, for example that couples pair of in monogamous relationships. These 'rules' usually exist for the benefit of the members of the society. Monogamous relationships, foe example, provide a stable environment for the raising of children. The question arises, however, are the 'rules' always right in all circumstances, and indeed are there other ways of doing things that might be equally effective? Life on Norstrilia is greatly restricted and the reader finds himself asking: "Should things really be like that?"

Also the question of eugenics is explored in some detail. Should we end life on the basis of handicap? In doing so we prevent suffering and, by purifying the gene pool, prevent reoccurrence of the problem. But how much do the handicapped suffer? Indeed, what if the individual concerned also possessed characteristics of giftedness? What if, in unforeseen circumstances, the 'handicap' was itself an advantage? In this world of abortion and in-uterus genetic testing these questions are less academic than they seem.

The plot of the book moves along in an interesting way. Often a new chapter takes the story in new and unexpected directions. Smith manages to convincingly draw the Norstrilians as 'red-neck' characters, though they come out more like 'backwoods' Americans than 'outback' Australians. Considering the connection with 'real' Australians is, in the story, in the very remote past this does not really matter.

If you feel that this novel ends up-in-the-air and rather suddenly that is because the story continues in a sequel, called The Underpeople, which takes up exactly where this novel leaves off. Smith later combined these two novels, added extra text and published the resulting book under the title Norstrilia (1975).