Deathworld

Harry Harrison's first novel, allegedly derived from an illustrated serial in The Eagle, is popular pulp with a hero who is evidently a practice run for The Stainless Steel Rat except that Jason dinAlt is a tough gambler (not a criminal) with the ethics you might expect from a 'boy's own' author.

Nevertheless, Harrison tells a good story about an unforgiving planet and the wrong turn its human society took because it failed to understand the nature of the life forms it was dealing with. The novel is above the average and fast-paced with many intelligent and entertaining twists and turns.

There are moments of very fine writing - notably when dinAlt crash lands a space lifeboat, is left with minimal resources on a violent planet and almost show more dies of exposure. It feels desperate and yet the rescue is explained rationally so that it is not an absurd 'deus ex machina'.

There is not a lot more to be said about it except that Harrison writes fluently, the characterisations are strong (with a decent strong female character who is not allowed to weigh down the action), the planetary environment plausible and the story thrilling. show less

Imagine a planet at war with the people that settled there. Everything from the animals and plants to the weather seems to want to get rid of them. A world where despite training, most die young and civilisation is forced to live behind guarded walls. Welcome to Pyrrus. And the professional gambler Jason dinAlt is its first tourist. Of course he doesn't know what he's doing and of course everyone is scared of the danger that may cause.

Although short, this book accomplishes a lot. Despite being older SciFi, I don't think I have come across anything like it before. (Since I'm mentioning its older SciFi, it's surprisingly free of misogyny! Jason does make some questionable remarks but Pyrrus is surprisingly equal and we get a relatively show more strong female character in Meta. Maybe there are still some stereotypes woven in and maybe she asks too many questions but it's a lot for its time. Maybe not quite what we'd expect in modern times but hey, at least she is there for more than sex appeal). As a biologist I'm very interested in Pyrran life and how it evolved. I'd love the opportunity to study such a unique system. I'm planning on picking up the next book soon and hope we get to see some more of it. Maybe the characters and writing/events are a bit simplistic at times but it was a fun read! show less

I haven't read a ton of science fiction. My genre reading often leaned towards fantasy more than sci-fi. The author, Harry Harrison, was apparently quite a prolific writer and seemed to be generally well liked so when this book came on my radar and I decided to give it a try.

I enjoyed the way the book introduced the reader to the fiction of the universe being presented. Our main protagonist is a man named Jason who lives his life as a professional gambler. He is introduced to us during a conversation with the other primary character, Kerk, a large and ultra-strong man from the planet Pyrrus. During their initial conversation we learn that Kerk is ambassador to Pyrrus and they make money mining and trading. We see a moment of amazing show more quick draw as both men pull their guns in suspicion of one another. And we learn that Jason is a gambler who, according to Kerk, can seem to win whenever he wants to.

We later learn that Jason trades the risk of losing big to the risk of angering the high money players and casinos by using psychic abilities to manipulate the odds in his favor. As a result, Jason is often making hasty get aways from one big win after another. Kerk hires Jason to gamble money for Pyrrus and within a couple of chapters Jason's victory has angered the wrong people and we have a high speed getaway that could be something out of a mid-20th century gangster movie but instead is souped up with sci-fi vehicles and weapons and a getaway plan involving manipulation of class and cultural biases.

In the short span of these early chapters, we not only learn a bit about the character but we also find out about the universe that Harrison is creating. It's one with the gritty underbellies of casinos and gambling much as we might find on Earth but with added sci-fi elements of beings both psychically enabled and super-strong.

I really enjoyed the way the book quickly established so many key elements without berating the reader with endless pages of exposition or boring futuristic history lessons. Instead, we're given a fairly fast paced plot and character driven romp using concepts we're familiar with to introduce us to the nuances of the fictional universe. The writing may not be perfect, but as a lesson in how to "show" rather than "tell", it earned my nod of approval.

As the book continues, we learn about the Pyrrus, the Deathworld of the book's title. Kerk and his people are in a constant war. Not against another nation or advanced alien race but against the planet itself and all of the plant and animal life on Pyrrus. Jason is given a chance to leave but his curiosity draws him to the planet and he sees firsthand how every plant and animal seems to have adapted not only to be deadly to humans but to have an active desire to hunt down and attack the human colony where Kerk and Jason land.

I won't spoil the plot of the book other than to say that Jason's curiosity leads him first to see if he can train himself to survive on the planet in the same way that the native Pyrrans do but also to try and deduce why the planet and its creatures are attacking the humans. His quest for answers seems fruitless but he's persistent and the end result was interesting and unpredictable, at least to me.

I found the sci-fi elements generally believable. Naturally there were some things that felt a bit dated which is understandable considering the book is nearly 60 years old. And yet, the way plot, characters and technology worked together felt natural. The language and behaviors also seemed to generally transcend time and work well enough. I remember reading some Heinlein and Bradbury stories and finding myself laugh sometimes at the "Leave it to Beaver" interactions and language that sometimes happen. There are some moments in Deathworld that felt a little stilted but generally it felt alright.

It was also refreshing to see a female main character that wasn't a simpering damsel in distress. There were small twinges of male-centric ideals in the book but not nearly as much as some other older novels I've read. I think part of this could be due to the concept that on Pyrrus everyone must become fully able to defend themselves against everything the planet throws at them. Thus the women, as well as the men, must be strong and fully capable. Jason's initial observations of Meta, the main female character, seem to balance between the stereotypical chauvinistic thoughts and other more modern and equitable treatment of women. It's not perfect but it was better and more thoughtful than some stories I've read from the era.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was simple and to the point while also carrying enough depth of plot and character development to make for a fun and interesting story. The story arc was intricate enough to propel from one segment to another and keep me guessing as to the final trajectory and yet the whole progression felt fairly natural. While I approached this as a sci-fi novel, the science-fiction elements often took a back seat to the adventure and exploration. I enjoyed the fact that the science and technology didn't become a character unto itself. The story was entertaining and the ending was fun. I was happy to learn that there are two more books following the adventures of Jason. I'm not sure when I'll read them but I've put them on my radar and I look forward to reading more in the future.

****
3.5 out of 5 stars show less

What happens with people if the world itself wages war against them? The colonists of Pyrrus (a very aptly chosen name) make this experience first-hand, they live a life where one's grown up at age 6 and where every ounce of energy and resources is dedicated towards survival in a more than hostile environment.

This is not a war between many factions, it's a war between a planet and its inhabitants - and humans are losing. And it takes the off-worlder Jason, a scoundrel who so far made a living by abusing his latent psi abilities, to see behind this ancient enmity, go to its roots and tear them out of the deeply ingrained mindsets of the native Pyrrans. All this is wrapped into lots of action, and although the plot was pretty simple and show more the characters were painted with a broad brush and very nuances, I enjoyed the read. A badass woman character who sends Jason packing because she has much more important things to do than to deal with a clueless stranger is another cherry on the cake. show less

Jason DinAlt, a professional gambler with erratic psionic abilities, is bored and seeking a challenge. He visits Pyrrus, a planet with high gravity, extreme weather, and fauna/flora that have evolved to kill humans. Jason must determine why the planet is hostile and if a peaceful coexistence is possible.

He is challenged by Kerk Pyrrus, an ambassador, to win money on Cassylia and bring it to Pyrrus to buy weapons. Upon arrival, Jason discovers that the intense hatred between the humans and the planet is unnatural and driven by an intense ecological, psychological, and evolutionary arms race.

It has been a long time since I read this and it was free on Kindle, so I read that instead of digging out the paper copy. It was a romp. Since it was action-packed adventure, it held up fairly well with the technology, so it didn't feel as dated as some 1960s science fiction. Meta, the only female character, was competent as well as pretty.

It ultimately had a message that resonates today: if you project hatred at the unknown, it gets returned as the unknown becomes your enemy.

If you enjoy action-adventure science fiction, I think you'll enjoy this book. Be forewarned: Deathworld 2 is weaker (as I recall) and as an ebook is truncated. Bite the bullet and get it in paper if you want to continue the series with 2 and 3.

I loved this book! It wasn't perfect, but boy, was it unique and original! It was so interesting and so intriguing and so action packed, especially for such a small book. And it was really good, surprisingly so for one published as long ago as 1960.

Jason dinAlt, an interplanetary gambler, is forced to take a small sum of money and gamble to make a huge sum of money or face death by some huge, deathly stranger he encounters in his new hotel room. And he does it. But he takes the casino for so much that he has to escape with the stranger. He discovers that this man, Kerk, is an ambassador from a planet he's never heard of -- Pyrrus. The money is for a large weapons shipment. Jason quizzes Kerk about Pyrrus and is intrigued when he is told show more it's the most dangerous planet in the galaxy, that mankind is always at war with every living creature, as well as the whole environment, on the planet. Jason thinks of it as a challenge and decides to go to Pyrrus with Kerk, against Kerk's wishes. And so he does.

When he gets there, he is immediately brought inside a large building and begins survival training with small children. He's outfitted with a hardy gun and develops quick draw instincts. He practices in simulators against predators and plants and insects and learns to use his medkit and how to survive, along with the six year olds. Eventually he's learned all he thinks there is to learn, but he hasn't been released yet, so he complains and they finally let him outside. And he's shocked. He's immediately attacked by some huge beast with large, sharp teeth and giant claws that he manages to shoot. The gravity is twice that of Earth's. There are volcanoes, hurricanes, five or six rainstorms a day, snowstorms, hailstorms, earthquakes, grass blades with real blades on them, insects that can poison you within seconds, etc. The city of 30,000 people is walled off and everyone is trained to kill anything nonhuman that moves.

Jason begins to think something is odd about this. He starts to think that it's weird how everything on the planet is trying to kill all the humans and maybe, just maybe, there's someone or something directing them to do this for some reason. He's determined to find out and put a stop to this war, for that's what it is. He goes to the library and goes through the remains of the old colony's records, but they're all destroyed, except for one, which details life on the planet for the original settlers. And it wasn't quite so bad back then. So what happened? He needs access to more records. However, there's a large scale attack on the city and everyone has to go to the battle. He goes and while trying to escape the killer animals, a Pyrrun man is killed saving Jason. And Kerk is incensed. He banishes Jason to his quarters and tells him he's going off planet the next time a ship leaves in 11 days. However, Jason is restless and can't let it go. He sneaks out and goes to the kitchens. He talks to people, asking for their records. They laugh at him. No one lives long enough on Pyrrus to have records. He asks about oral histories. They laugh at that too. However, someone mentions something about "grubbers" and he asks what that is. And is astonished at the hostile and violent reaction he gets. From more than one person. But a semi-friend, while hostile, suggests he ask someone else, so he finds this person and does and he talks to Jason. Apparently, these city dwellers aren't the only people on the planet. That's shocking. Apparently there are savage barbarians living across the jungles and not only that, but the city trades goods with them for food! Jason is blown away. He asks if he can go on an exchange run and talks his way into it. When he arrives at the destination, he escapes into the jungle and is left alone. However, nothing attacks him. Strange. At some point, though, someone or something grabs him from behind and he is taken captive. He travels some distance and is released from his bonds and he finds he is in the grubbers' hands. They want to know who he is and what he wants. He explains that he's an offworld ecologist, studying animal and plant life on the planet and that he came from the city and wanted to meet them. He strikes up a friendship with them, discovers they're farmers, descended from the original colonists, resent the city dwellers for withholding important goods like medicine and yet live in areas with no environmental hostility. In fact, they have pets and pack animals. Jason is a psi and all of a sudden realizes that everything on this planet has psionic abilities and the truth of the situation comes to him. The rest of the book lies in his efforts to help the city folks attain peace with their attackers and bring the grubbers and the city people back together to live in harmony. Can it be done? Hard task. Maybe he's up to it, maybe he's not. That's what sequels are for, right?

Interesting book. Some people complain that it's too direct, not complex enough, but I have no troubles with that. It was still interesting and entertaining and again, highly original. I've never read anything like it and you rarely get to say something like that. This is the first book in a trilogy and I'll probably end up buying the other two books. Highly recommended. show less