This book is an ACE Double from 1967. The stories are by two moderately successful writers from the "Golden Age" of science fiction. Both had stories published in SF pulps of the 1950s and 1960s. Both went on to write several SF novels.

"Lord of the Green Planet" by Emil Petaja: is a Juvenile SF novella that would make a Disney movie.script. It's mostly a medieval fantasy to include princess and castle but explained by futuristic science. If I had read this as a teen I would have given it 4 stars.

"Five Against Arlane" by Tom Purdom is the story of individuals attempting to fight against a future police state were all the technology is against them. ( )

Both these novels feature rebels and smashers of systems.

The Purdom novel has five young revolutionaries against a tyrant determined to eliminate man’s violent nature. The tyrant has, as weapons, people enslaved by mind control devices enabling their bodies to be used as weapons, hostages, and surveillance tools. There are a few interesting bits of weaponry as well as an examination of how life extension technologies could lead to a cultural conservatism that won’t resist oppression.

However, ultimately, as competent as it is, it’s really only of interest to Purdom fans like me or those curious about the background details to Purdom’s later, and much better, story, “Haggle Chips”.

Petaja’s novel is, for more than half its length, annoying in its prose style which unsuccessfully mixes humor, slang, and the pseudo-archaic language of some heroic fantasy. The plot is predictable too with our hero conveniently rescued at crucial moments and, of course, a prophesized figure to the inhabitants of the world his scout ship has crashed on. Naturally, there’s love at first sight with a noble woman.

About page 70, though, the novel does pick up interest with the true nature of some of the world’s creatures revealed as well as the true nature of the world: an elaborate stage for a god-like figure obsessed with Celtic legends. I won’t be reading the sequel though. ( )