Doom of the Green Planet / Star Quest

This is the stuff that gave SF a bad name for so long, but we didn't notice it when we were young because it was energetic and didn't stop to let us think.

Of the two, Star Quest by Koontz is sillier. He appears to have used comic books as his science reference. There's a human brain in an armored tank. The tank has rocket engines capable of interplanetary flight, perhaps even interstellar. Planets just seem to be close to hand. The tank has a lab where he can build a human body to hold his brain. He has a belt that lets him fly everywhere. Neither the tank nor the belt ever need refueling. He has a gun that shoots gas pellets that enter a body and explode internally. It never needs reloading. While this is not meant as serious SF, it show more doesn't seem to be meant as a spoof.

Petaja's Doom of the Green Planet is a sequel to Lord of the Green Planet, which I have not read. There are enough clunky info-dumps to mostly catch up. The first three quarters of this is mostly straight planet-bound adventure. In the previous book, our hero was an astronaut who pierced the green deadly gaseous shell that hid the planet from prying eyes. A human, playing god, had created the green shell in order to establish a static social order where various tribes fought each other to become immortalized in the epic Song. He was eventually defeated by our hero. In Doom, the shell is starting to weaken and another astronaut, with far greedier aims, has landed. Meanwhile the tribe of Nords is taking arms to undo the positive social changes our hero has instituted.

Doom is quite readable at times. A few minor characters are given a chance to act thoughtfully. There is even has a bit of SF innovation. Written in 1968, nanobots play an important role in the latter chapters. But the book is done by its pulpishness. Major plot turns depend on coincidences. The prose turns purple every page or so, e.g., " A shudder of despair rivered from the prickling hair-roots on Diarmid's neck to the soles of his boots." The sex roles are 1930s not 1960s, as in one character, a woman who fights like a man, but "somewhere underneath those luscious curves bawled for needlepoint and hearth."

If there was an MST3K for books, Star Quest would be prime fodder. Doom of the Green Planet is not without some good parts, but marred by many bad bits. show less

This is a two story book. You read one then flip to read the other. Both are 127 pages and take about 2 hrs or less to read.

Star Quest by Dean Koontz
Space & time travel, alternate universes, mutants, bodiless brains - everything a young boy likes. This obviously wasn't my thing. But it wasn't a horrible book if it is what you like.
Tohm awakes to find his body gone and replaced by a machine. He produces a new body for himself and goes in search of his love, Tarnilee. He finds adventure and love, just not where or how he imagined.

Doom of the Green Planet by Emil Petaja

The only reason I read this is because it came with the Koontz book. I never heard of Emil Petaja before.

Another book for young boys, but it was interesting and held my show more attention. Characters are well written and somewhat likable. Plot is simple.
Shalda was my main problem. She was a smart girl and trained fighter. Yet when she meets a stranger from the sky, it takes no prodding or time for her to tell everything there is about her planet, the people, and the situation there. show less