John Rackham (1916–1976)

The fifth entry in the Man From U.N.C.L.E. novel series is a lightweight romp even by the standards of the series. There’s no real sense of threat or menace from either the titular crazy scientist, or the Thrush agents on the scene.

Having said that it’s still a fun quick read with the banter between the two leads well represented. It also nice to see the the obligatory damsel who gets dragged into the adventure show character growth as she develops from innocent bystander to an equal show more partner in the action stakes by the story’s conclusion. show less

Two completely separate novels bundled together as one. - They are printed in reverse direction so each starts at one cover and both finish in the middle of the book. ACE made a whole series of these doubles, this is the first I've had a chance to come across. It sort of works, given the typically short nature of 70s sf.

The Anything Tree.

Enjoyable enough SF/Fantasy nothing really special - there are telepathic plants which is neat, although they aren't explained at all. The lead heroine does show more well for a 70s independent woman, but she still falls over all gushy at the sight of a healthy male. She's really an undercover operative chasing rumours of this vegetative wonder, but finds herself trapped on it being pursued by some criminals intent on making money.

The Winds Of Darkover:
I've been meaning to read this widely regarded series for some time, but never got around to it, jumping in at book 5 isn't the best place to begin, but it sort of makes sense.

Darkover appears to be a planet inhabited by many sentient and semi-sentient races. Terrans being the major technological force in the galaxy use it as a stopover. Terrans are however barely telepathic at all, and hence don't' really appreciate the abilities of the other races. One young engineer has his career ruined when he catches a stray telepathic that distracts him during a critical spaceship landing maneuver. He is sent out in tot he wilderness to teach the locals some of the technology they do desire. But he finds himself increasingly succumbing to these thoughts, and gets involved int he local politics of who inherits which castle. There is a bit of commentary on how the darkover society responds to technology, which probably needs more backstory to explain than is given in this volume.

Very little links the two plots other than they both involve telepathy and have some notions of science and technology are taking mankind down the 'wrong' roads. There is of course no evidence given to support these positions other that that major characters appear to take them. Fun reads though if not exactly breathtaking. show less

This is Phillifent’s second and final Interstellar Security story. Hierarchies was published in book form after this volume, but it was serialized in Analog in 1971.

There’s a formula to these stories. Interstellar Security’s best operatives, Rex Sixx and Roger Lowry again find themselves in sort of a spy adventure involving playing bodyguard to a beautiful and peculiar woman. Here that’s Louise Latham, daughter of the head of the Interstellar Police and adoptive niece and the show more daughter of the head of Interstellar Police. She has a preternatural ability to sense danger, a product of her highly intuitive to sort out mysteries. She also needs to drink a lot of alcohol to calm her nerves though it doesn’t impair her functioning.

And we also have a strange culture at the heart of things, and it’s more interesting than the one in Hierarchies since, basically, that was based on the improbable notion of a ruling elite using mind control to ensure social stability. Iskola, on the other hand, is much more plausible in its sociological and technological aspects

Fifty years ago, the Hungarian genius Bardak was part of the Colony Probe expedition that discovered Martas, a planet of fertile soil and mineral wealth. He stayed behind to lead its successful development. Things went well, but Bardak chafed under the constraints of “civilized society” and sold out at the height of Martas’ economic boom and, on a small landmass of the planet, set up a society of geniuses – admittance subject to careful screening — called Iskola.

And now this society of geniuses has a problem, a crime problem. They aren’t going to turn to Dolgonzi for help. That’s the main settlement on Martas where Bardak is regarded with some hostility as a man who knowingly abandoned colonial development when he knew it was going to turn difficult. So, they’ve asked for help from the head of the Interstellar Police who sent Latham.

Rex is surprised by this development. Lowry isn’t. What would you expect from a society of geniuses who thought they could dispense with “law and order, rule and punishment – discipline from outside”?

On the way to Martas, an attempt is made on Latham’s life, foiled by her intuitive sense. Also, en route, the news comes that Solar Senator Arthur Vancec, suspcious of Iskola, was shot while visiting there. And another attempt is made on Latham’s life after the trio meet Dolgonzi’s chief of police who lets his assistant Dobny run a brainscan on Latham, allegedly to verify her identity and purpose.

Contact is made with Iskola which have a radio link on Dolgonzi since they very occassionally agree to do technical consultation on problems presented to them. Iskolans aren’t exactly autistic, but they don’t like to live close to each other. Instead, they live in widely scattered dwellings, all connected to a central computer data bank, in a land of jungle-like growth where the houses all have their own defensive fields.

The designated genius the party contacts is the beautiful biologist Alma Tillet. She explains that Iskola is primarily designed to study sociology, and it’s a society not built around any central rules. Those were thought unnecessary in a society of screened geniuses. No rules were thought necessary.

On the way to Iskola, the trio fights off some armed boats trying to stop them from arriving at Iskola. There they meet Graham Packard, determined to make a science of history, and another beautiful woman, Olga Glink, a genius concerned with the “art of living”. It’s discovered Vancec’s death was the result of machinations before he every came to Iskola.

Soon, Iskola’s problem is revealed. There’s way more people on the island than expected – and they’ve made their move to seize control. A chase ensues as the Interstellar Party and some geniuses make their way, courtesy of machines that cut through the thick foilage, to Bardak’s house. He can’t figure out why anyone would want to take over Iskola. Its members aren’t “power-oriented”. Well, points out Lowry, others are motivated by power and seek it in the technical research done on Iskola.

Battle lines are drawn, and Phillifent concisely depicts the armed struggle for Iskola and intersperses it with some quick philosophical discussions on the tenability of Iskola’s set up and other matters like what motivates self-sacrifice, love or abstract allegiances. The technological details are more credible than those in Hierarchies. We get a credible power system using water evaporation and, of all things, a discussion of soil laterization (possibly the only mention of it in a science fiction novel).

So, all in all, a nice, breezy science fiction adventure with the air of a spy story and short enough not to wear out its welcome. show less

The Electric Sword-Swallowers - a tale of a robot technician in trouble. Ferdie Foxlee, an electronics expert specializing in eepees, semi-sentient robots, builds a custom robotic woman for a politician, only to have it fall apart and find himself on the run from the underworld.

Beyond Capella - The United Nations of Earth has seen incredible progress in space exploration technology, allowing humans to spread virulently throughout the cosmos, looking for planets to mine for resources. When show more the spacecrafts reach mysterious Capella, fleets of alien Snakes meet them in superior warships, destroying everything that comes within their domain and preventing humans from progressing beyond Capella. show less