good, solid classic science fiction. interesting idea throughout, even as a few too many characters were mostly static cardboard... ( )

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 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! ( )

An enjoyable action packed adventure set on a dangerous planet at war with its colonists, and the journey of an Interstellar Gambler. ( )

I love old school science fiction. These are a little bit dopey, but still a lot of fun. Lots of good gaming ideas. ( )

This is a satisfying old-fashioned sci fi novel with new tech but it doesn’t drive the story, it enhances it. Old-fashioned “tech” is the star here. Looking forward to the next two novels in the series. ( )