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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charles Logan's SHIPWRECK: a very good book,
By Mark Koerner (Madison, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Shipwreck (Hardcover)
Charles Logan's SHIPWRECK is what literary critics call a "Robinsonade"--a retelling of the Robinson Crusoe story. It is of course a science fiction "Robinsonade," and therefore has something in common with Rex Gordon's FIRST ON MARS, which is probably the most famous SF Crusoe story ever. But SHIPWRECK is the better book. It covers familiar ground: the last survivor of a spaceship lands on a planet with a breathable atmosphere and has to make the best of it by manipulating the ship's supplies and equipment--along with native materials--to create the necessities of life. As always in a story like this, the manipulations are ingenious; we admire the hero for what he is able to do with his meager resources. He shows himself, like the original Crusoe, to be ingenious but not a genius, giving the reader that familiar feeling of maybe-I-could-have-figured-that-out-too! Among the challenges the protagonist faces: there are no animals on the surface of the planet, and it turns out that there is really only one plant species that covers virtually every square inch of land. In a very Sixties twist (the book was published around 1970), the plant's pollen proves to be hallucinogenic, creating yet another new, unexpected source of peril Two of the many good things about this book are that the main character doesn't discover an intelligent race "far superior to oursselves," and the ending is a genuine surprise--or at least it was to me. As far as I know, SHIPWRECK was/is Charles Logan's only novel.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but eventually depressing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Shipwreck (Hardcover)
I've read this book on several occasions, I found it easy to put myself in the place of the hero. I found the lack of other animal species (other than the nervous sea dwellers) a little bit depressing. The fact that there is virtually only one type of plant, which covers the whole planet is also a little soul destroying - both for the hero and the reader. If there is a weakness in this story then this is it. The main theme however is very Robinson Crusoish and an excellent account of how a person alone tries to cope with an alien environment - with the help. at least initially of technology. The end is a little sad but not unexpected. Definately worth reading.
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