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Ragnarok #2
Space Prison
A ship heading from Earth to Athena, a planet 500 light years away, is suddenly attacked by the Gerns, an alien empire in its expansion phase. People aboard are divided by the invaders into Acceptables and Rejects. The Acceptables would become slave labor for the Gerns on Athena, and the Rejects are forced ashore on the nearest 'Earth-like' planet, called Ragnarok. The Gerns say they will return for the Rejects, but the Rejects quickly realise that that isn't going to happen.
92 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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721 people want to read
About the author
Tom Godwin
93 books32 followersTom Godwin (1915 - 1980) was a science fiction author. Godwin published three novels and thirty short stories. His controversial hard SF short story "The Cold Equations" is a notable in the mid-1950s science fiction genre. He also had three novels published, but these stayed more firmly in John W. Campbell's preferred styles and are less notable. Graduated from Bay Village High School in Bay Village, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
June 19, 2024
Godwin serves up some classic, pulpy goodness with Space Prison; AKA The Survivors. Humanity apparently is at war (or close to it) with the 'evil' Gern, a hominoid race; one ship, carrying 8 thousand colonists, makes a break from Earth to an Eden like planet only to be discovered and shot up by the Gern. 4000 are made into slaves and the other 4000, the 'rejects', were landed on the planet Ragnarok.
A few of the rejects knew about Ragnorok; inhospitable to say the least, with 1.5 gravity, two suns, and a climate that ranged from extreme heat to artic in the space of a year. Oh, and lots of really nasty predators! The first night saw several hundred die, from disease or animal attacks. Well, the survivors settle in to make the best of it, with only revenge keeping them going...
I know there are lots of science fiction stories about inhospitable planets and people stranded there, but Space Prison came out in 1958 and helped establish this trope. Godwin takes us through several generations of survivors and their numerous trials and tribulations, with the desire for revenge motivating them. Godwin paces the story nicely, spending some time on the first generation, but then quickly leapfrogging through time for about 200 years. Not really a masterpiece, but you could do a lot worse with survival fiction on strange planets. 3.5 doomed stars, rounding up as this was just fun!
A few of the rejects knew about Ragnorok; inhospitable to say the least, with 1.5 gravity, two suns, and a climate that ranged from extreme heat to artic in the space of a year. Oh, and lots of really nasty predators! The first night saw several hundred die, from disease or animal attacks. Well, the survivors settle in to make the best of it, with only revenge keeping them going...
I know there are lots of science fiction stories about inhospitable planets and people stranded there, but Space Prison came out in 1958 and helped establish this trope. Godwin takes us through several generations of survivors and their numerous trials and tribulations, with the desire for revenge motivating them. Godwin paces the story nicely, spending some time on the first generation, but then quickly leapfrogging through time for about 200 years. Not really a masterpiece, but you could do a lot worse with survival fiction on strange planets. 3.5 doomed stars, rounding up as this was just fun!
June 23, 2011
Tom Godwin's place in SF history is secured by his classic short story, The Cold Equations, in which human concerns batter uselessly against an indifferent universe; so I was intrigued to find out what he could achieve at greater length. Alas, not much.
A human colonising spaceship is captured by the evil Gerns, who dump the unwanted half of the colonists on a hostile planet called Ragnarok, expecting them to die. Indeed, most of them do, falling prey to the local fauna, climate and diseases, as well as the strain of the 1.5g gravity. However, some few survive (the novel's original and better title was The Survivors) and arrange that their descendants will not forget the wrong done to them by the Gerns. Then ensues a couple of centuries of harsh adaptation and scheming for revenge.
Meh. This mundane and linear plot might have been enlivened by a colourfully imagined setting and engaging characters; but neither is present. The fauna seem entirely unexotic (there are goat-analogs that even provide milk, for heaven's sake!) and the planet, despite its extreme climatic swings, sounds boringly Earth-like. Even the Gerns are just humans with no sense of humour, spluttering and fuming like badly-written Bond villains: give me Vogons any day.
However, it's the characterisation that really lets the book down. Peter Hamilton would have gotten a thousand pages out of this story, no bother, and peopled it with vibrant characters; but Godwin (writing, to be fair, in 1958, long before the age of the blockbuster) tries to tell his 200-year epic in 160 pages, and it ends up feeling more like a synopsis than a novel. 'Characters' flash past, lucky to be granted a first name, let alone a motivation. We're given no time to get to know or care about anyone, and their single-minded vengeful bloodlust is not attractive to the modern eye even when it's well conveyed. Probably the best-developed character is a talkative chipmunk, who, like everyone else, dies within a few pages.
Worse still, the sexual politics are anything but futuristic. There are barely any women in this book, and what heroism they are permitted is almost entirely confined to the domain of motherhood. After two centuries of shared pioneer survival, the "women and children" are still sent to hide when the enemy shows up. In this respect, the book tells us more about the past than the future!
On top of all this - and prose that is plain, bordering on clumsy - there is some wildly implausible plotting. For example, a great deal of effort is spent (by colonists and author) on building an electric smelter to extract aluminium to make wire to build a generator to power a hyperspace transmitter. But no explanation is offered as to what was used for wire in the smaller generator built to power the smelter! And whilst the humans advance from zero-tech to hi-tech over ten generations, the Gerns have not so much as changed the internal layout of their spaceships!
I think Godwin intended this story to be an optimistic portrayal of the human spirit grasping opportunities and overcoming adversity; but to me it seemed like a bunch of dogmatic psychotics blindly pursuing their ancestors' outdated agenda, engaging in torture and hinting at genocide to come. I was kinda hoping they'd fail. Instead, the book does.
A human colonising spaceship is captured by the evil Gerns, who dump the unwanted half of the colonists on a hostile planet called Ragnarok, expecting them to die. Indeed, most of them do, falling prey to the local fauna, climate and diseases, as well as the strain of the 1.5g gravity. However, some few survive (the novel's original and better title was The Survivors) and arrange that their descendants will not forget the wrong done to them by the Gerns. Then ensues a couple of centuries of harsh adaptation and scheming for revenge.
Meh. This mundane and linear plot might have been enlivened by a colourfully imagined setting and engaging characters; but neither is present. The fauna seem entirely unexotic (there are goat-analogs that even provide milk, for heaven's sake!) and the planet, despite its extreme climatic swings, sounds boringly Earth-like. Even the Gerns are just humans with no sense of humour, spluttering and fuming like badly-written Bond villains: give me Vogons any day.
However, it's the characterisation that really lets the book down. Peter Hamilton would have gotten a thousand pages out of this story, no bother, and peopled it with vibrant characters; but Godwin (writing, to be fair, in 1958, long before the age of the blockbuster) tries to tell his 200-year epic in 160 pages, and it ends up feeling more like a synopsis than a novel. 'Characters' flash past, lucky to be granted a first name, let alone a motivation. We're given no time to get to know or care about anyone, and their single-minded vengeful bloodlust is not attractive to the modern eye even when it's well conveyed. Probably the best-developed character is a talkative chipmunk, who, like everyone else, dies within a few pages.
Worse still, the sexual politics are anything but futuristic. There are barely any women in this book, and what heroism they are permitted is almost entirely confined to the domain of motherhood. After two centuries of shared pioneer survival, the "women and children" are still sent to hide when the enemy shows up. In this respect, the book tells us more about the past than the future!
On top of all this - and prose that is plain, bordering on clumsy - there is some wildly implausible plotting. For example, a great deal of effort is spent (by colonists and author) on building an electric smelter to extract aluminium to make wire to build a generator to power a hyperspace transmitter. But no explanation is offered as to what was used for wire in the smaller generator built to power the smelter! And whilst the humans advance from zero-tech to hi-tech over ten generations, the Gerns have not so much as changed the internal layout of their spaceships!
I think Godwin intended this story to be an optimistic portrayal of the human spirit grasping opportunities and overcoming adversity; but to me it seemed like a bunch of dogmatic psychotics blindly pursuing their ancestors' outdated agenda, engaging in torture and hinting at genocide to come. I was kinda hoping they'd fail. Instead, the book does.
July 7, 2024
This was pretty great. 158 pages of unexpectedly bleak 1950s SF with a killer ending. Nowadays it would be 1000 pages long and all the worse for it.
May 30, 2024
Space prison
This book reminded me of another older sci-fi I read recently called the forgotten planet by Murray Leinster; this was a much better version of a similar story.
Both books deposit a group of humans from a spaceship onto a barely habitable world; this one does a much better job.
Right off the bat, with a name like space prison, I was expecting it to be a whimsical pulp adventure with handsome, headstrong he-men and helpless yet buxom beauties in need of rescue. I’m not opposed to those stories, they can be pretty fun but this has a different approach.
It starts with an earth ship heading for a colony world. The ship is waylaid by aliens who are at war with humanity. The aliens board the ship and take anyone with technical know-how as slaves and dump everyone else on a “piece of shit planet” called Ragnarok.
This immediately splits up families and even orphans children. It gets really interesting with the very grim tone of the book and the extent the author goes to with world building.
The planet has 1.5 earth’s gravity making things difficult for everyone but deadly to the very young and very old. The planet is also in a binary star system, creating strange and extreme weather conditions that the humans are unprepared for at irregular intervals. There are diseases, hostile animals and few natural resources.
Facing all the well thought out conditions of ragnarok makes survival prospects very grim for the dwindling population.
There are a few instances where my ability to suspend my disbelief was sorely tested but all-in-all this was a really good read.
This book reminded me of another older sci-fi I read recently called the forgotten planet by Murray Leinster; this was a much better version of a similar story.
Both books deposit a group of humans from a spaceship onto a barely habitable world; this one does a much better job.
Right off the bat, with a name like space prison, I was expecting it to be a whimsical pulp adventure with handsome, headstrong he-men and helpless yet buxom beauties in need of rescue. I’m not opposed to those stories, they can be pretty fun but this has a different approach.
It starts with an earth ship heading for a colony world. The ship is waylaid by aliens who are at war with humanity. The aliens board the ship and take anyone with technical know-how as slaves and dump everyone else on a “piece of shit planet” called Ragnarok.
This immediately splits up families and even orphans children. It gets really interesting with the very grim tone of the book and the extent the author goes to with world building.
The planet has 1.5 earth’s gravity making things difficult for everyone but deadly to the very young and very old. The planet is also in a binary star system, creating strange and extreme weather conditions that the humans are unprepared for at irregular intervals. There are diseases, hostile animals and few natural resources.
Facing all the well thought out conditions of ragnarok makes survival prospects very grim for the dwindling population.
There are a few instances where my ability to suspend my disbelief was sorely tested but all-in-all this was a really good read.
April 12, 2011
Amazon recommend this book to me, and I'm glad they did. I make a habit of skipping sci fi books published before 1990, but I've been on a colonizationg kick ever since I read "The Last Colony" by John Scalzi.
A bunch of colonists get dumped off on a fairly hostile planet with no technology, and have to survive with what they can find and make there.
This book still works because it depends little on advanced technology that seems quaint / rediculous to me. Most of the technology is on the level of city walls, waterwheels, and crossbows.
The other reason I avoid old sci fi books is that the stories are just too predictable. In the early going, Space Prison seemed to be headed in that way. One character moved to prominance in a way that might as well be him declaring, "My name is Preston. I will be the hero of this story. Stick with me, and we will all get through this."
Then the book became brutal. Really brutal. Characters die, and generally in meaningless ways. But that is what I would expect would happen to a group of ill equipted settlers put down on a hostile planent. They don't understand the world at first, and the gaining of understanding comes at an incredibly high price.
We learn about the world along with them, and I also learned several things about physics, geology, and even animal husbandry as I read the book. The author did his research very well.
The story covers alot of time. Over 200 years. That is really what it had to do for the colonists to adapt to the world and learn how to survive and thrive there.
I love this book. I wish there were more books like it. I wish more authors would do their research without spending overmuch time dweling on technobable. I recommend this book to anyone who can tolerate the loss of beloved characters.
A bunch of colonists get dumped off on a fairly hostile planet with no technology, and have to survive with what they can find and make there.
This book still works because it depends little on advanced technology that seems quaint / rediculous to me. Most of the technology is on the level of city walls, waterwheels, and crossbows.
The other reason I avoid old sci fi books is that the stories are just too predictable. In the early going, Space Prison seemed to be headed in that way. One character moved to prominance in a way that might as well be him declaring, "My name is Preston. I will be the hero of this story. Stick with me, and we will all get through this."
Then the book became brutal. Really brutal. Characters die, and generally in meaningless ways. But that is what I would expect would happen to a group of ill equipted settlers put down on a hostile planent. They don't understand the world at first, and the gaining of understanding comes at an incredibly high price.
We learn about the world along with them, and I also learned several things about physics, geology, and even animal husbandry as I read the book. The author did his research very well.
The story covers alot of time. Over 200 years. That is really what it had to do for the colonists to adapt to the world and learn how to survive and thrive there.
I love this book. I wish there were more books like it. I wish more authors would do their research without spending overmuch time dweling on technobable. I recommend this book to anyone who can tolerate the loss of beloved characters.
June 7, 2024
I listened to this as part of the Eigtht Science Fiction Megapack. All the books were interesting. 2023
I listened to this again and found it very interesting and would recommend to readers of Space Opera novels 2024
I listened to this again and found it very interesting and would recommend to readers of Space Opera novels 2024
July 1, 2019
I read this because the recent novel Semiosis reminded me of it. The weird thing is that I don’t recall having read this. I must’ve just seen the synopsis at some point and remembered that.
The two books are remarkably similar: colonists are stranded on an inhospitable world not of their choosing, where they must combat the elements, 1.5 gravity, and semi-intelligent natives in order to overcome adversity, eventually battling aliens, and the story is told over a period of about 160 years in successive generations during which brutal things happen. It makes me wonder if Burke read this book and accidentally regurgitated it years later.
The primary difference is that in Semiosis the humans do it to themselves, while here the humans are taken captive by hostile aliens and stranded to die. Despite the fact this was written in 1958 and has that era’s white male privilege all over it, I much preferred this book. The women aren’t wallflowers by any means — in fact, two of the strongest and most courageous characters are women. But they never rise to leadership positions, mostly because that just wasn’t done in the 1950s. It would be easy to simply substitute one of the male tribal leaders with a woman... which is exactly what Burke did with Semiosis.
This book is kind of thin on character but moves at a brisk clip. It’s implausible the way much older SF is, but we have 60 years of scientific and technological advances under our belt today, so some of that is excusable. After all, when Godwin wrote this, TV had only existed for about 8 years.
It’s available for free at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22549...
The two books are remarkably similar: colonists are stranded on an inhospitable world not of their choosing, where they must combat the elements, 1.5 gravity, and semi-intelligent natives in order to overcome adversity, eventually battling aliens, and the story is told over a period of about 160 years in successive generations during which brutal things happen. It makes me wonder if Burke read this book and accidentally regurgitated it years later.
The primary difference is that in Semiosis the humans do it to themselves, while here the humans are taken captive by hostile aliens and stranded to die. Despite the fact this was written in 1958 and has that era’s white male privilege all over it, I much preferred this book. The women aren’t wallflowers by any means — in fact, two of the strongest and most courageous characters are women. But they never rise to leadership positions, mostly because that just wasn’t done in the 1950s. It would be easy to simply substitute one of the male tribal leaders with a woman... which is exactly what Burke did with Semiosis.
This book is kind of thin on character but moves at a brisk clip. It’s implausible the way much older SF is, but we have 60 years of scientific and technological advances under our belt today, so some of that is excusable. After all, when Godwin wrote this, TV had only existed for about 8 years.
It’s available for free at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22549...
February 9, 2011
Crushing gravity. Thin air. Winters of unimaginable cold Searing summers under two suns. A deadly wasteland teeming with monsters and killing fever. That was Ragnarok, the most dreaded planet yet discovered. And Ragnarok was where a thousand untrained Earthmen -- and women and children -- were brutally marooned by a sadistic enemy. Two hundred died the first night. ...moreCrushing gravity. Thin air. Winters of unimaginable cold Searing summers under two suns. A deadly wasteland teeming with monsters and killing fever. That was Ragnarok, the most dreaded planet yet discovered. And Ragnarok was where a thousand untrained Earthmen -- and women and children -- were brutally marooned by a sadistic enemy. Two hundred died the first night. In the morning, the survivors knew what they must live for...revenge!(less)
I know this book as prison planet. It is one of my all time favorite books. I have read it about five times.
May 28, 2013
Godwin will always be remembered for his classic "The Cold Equations," one of the darkest stories ever published in the field. In fact, I was unable to think of anything else he'd written when I stumbled across this slim volume. It's the story of a planetary colonization ship that's taken over by evil aliens; some of the "useful" people are kept as prisoners, but the majority of the passengers are rejected and left on a very harsh and inhospitable world. The viewpoint characters change every few pages because of the high death rate... It's a very dark and bleak story, not in the same class as "The Cold Equations," but still pretty effective. I was tempted to re-watch ON THE BEACH to cheer me up when I finished it.
August 5, 2009
This book was also published under the title "Space Prison." It's pretty good.
October 20, 2014
The thing you need to know going into this is: It's a big story. I don't mean long; I mean big. If you expect to be presented with characters whose heads you can get into, whose individual stories you can get involved with, this book is likely to disappoint you. It isn't the story of a single character, or even a small group. It's the story of a civilization developing almost from scratch.
How much from scratch? It goes like this: The Gerns have attacked Earth. A shipload of humans flees in the direction of a planet called Athena, whose resources are humanity's last hope for survival. In transit, they are intercepted by the Gerns. Those with skills useful to their new overlords are taken as slaves; four thousand men, women, and children deemed useless are dumped on a planet called Ragnarok with minimal supplies to sustain them. Ragnarok boasts a gravity 1.5 times Earth's, a binary star system that gives the planet a weather cycle swinging back and forth between extreme heat and extreme cold, no significant deposits of metals or minerals which could be used to build helpful things like spaceships or weapons, a "hell fever" that kills overnight, and at least three species of animals intent on killing these new interlopers. Also, it's the beginning of winter, and the Gerns don't provide the humans with niceties like shelter. This is intended to be an execution.
It's rough. It's really rough. Four thousand dwindle to under a hundred in the space of a few years and the humans are reduced to near stone-age levels of civilization. But the scant handful of survivors are just that -- survivors. And they hate the Gerns with a blazing passion that drives them to take the only practical view of their situation: the long term. They expect the Gerns to return, in fact actively work to lure them back, and the intervening time is not spent in idleness. Knowledge is preserved until it can be useful again, each new generation is better adapted to Ragnarok, and the humans begin to claw their way back up out of the abyss into which they have been thrown.
In broad terms, I liked it as long as I could look at it in the appropriate context. I warn my readers about the nature of the story not to drive them away, but because I did not understand it at first and found myself disliking the story for the personal details it skipped, the continual killing off of what seemed to be main characters, the appalling madonna complex all the female characters seemed to have (product of the '50's? yes indeedy), and the rather simplistic nature of the basic overarching plot. I think it was after the fourth or fifth viewpoint character died, though, that I started to get it. This is not a story about Irene, or Bill, or any of their descendants. It isn't even really the story of a scrappy band of humans triumphing over cruel alien invaders. It's about what happens when you dump a bunch of people on a planet with everything against them and no resources, and they have to be tough and innovative and yet also cooperative to survive. And most of all, they have to think not just of their own survival, but of how their actions can allow future generations to survive even longer, how they can ensure freedom for their great-great-grandchildren if they can't get it for themselves. It's never about the character you're looking at, it's about the next generation, and the one after that, and the one after that. As long as you look at it like that, it's a fairly interesting little thought-experiment.
It does have some serious faults. There are times when things seem almost a little too easy -- which is quite a feat given what the humans are up against. Time seems to have stood still outside of the immediate scope of Ragnarok while all this evolution was going on. There are places where a spouse, a child, a relative, a friend springs up seemingly from nowhere and even if this character's life isn't the point it might have been nice to have a teeny bit of background slipped in. There are things about Ragnarok itself that don't quite make sense to me. Theoretical knowledge of things no one has seen or done for generations seems to transmit remarkably well to practical skill. And really, honestly, no one does seem to have given much thought to what happens after this story is over, which... For people who spend generations plotting their escape, seems a little short-sighted.
In a weird sort of way, though, this almost complements the story itself. The humans dropped on Ragnarok have had to put aside everything that wasn't relevant to their project of surviving long enough to get off the planet again. Given that they are required to maintain a certain level of theoretical knowledge in order to have any hope of success, even if things like operating a blaster and flying a Gern cruiser are beyond their actual technical capabilities, what gets kept is sort of eclectic and might not appear to make sense if you don't have a good feel for their goals and methods. Likewise, Godwin has neglected everything that wasn't directly relevant to the core concept of this group of people starting from the bottom and working their way back up through the layers of civilization. The point is to have hostile species on the planet, not to explain said species' motivations; the point is that there is another generation, not the story of its conception; the point is how these people rise from the depths, not what they see or where they go when they return to the heights. The point is that the struggle exists and where it goes, not to detail every last movement of the battle.
In that respect, I'd call this work successful. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good piece of broad-scope old-school sci-fi. The arc is very different from that of most fiction we're used to, and that does take a little effort to assimilate, but it's well worth it.
How much from scratch? It goes like this: The Gerns have attacked Earth. A shipload of humans flees in the direction of a planet called Athena, whose resources are humanity's last hope for survival. In transit, they are intercepted by the Gerns. Those with skills useful to their new overlords are taken as slaves; four thousand men, women, and children deemed useless are dumped on a planet called Ragnarok with minimal supplies to sustain them. Ragnarok boasts a gravity 1.5 times Earth's, a binary star system that gives the planet a weather cycle swinging back and forth between extreme heat and extreme cold, no significant deposits of metals or minerals which could be used to build helpful things like spaceships or weapons, a "hell fever" that kills overnight, and at least three species of animals intent on killing these new interlopers. Also, it's the beginning of winter, and the Gerns don't provide the humans with niceties like shelter. This is intended to be an execution.
It's rough. It's really rough. Four thousand dwindle to under a hundred in the space of a few years and the humans are reduced to near stone-age levels of civilization. But the scant handful of survivors are just that -- survivors. And they hate the Gerns with a blazing passion that drives them to take the only practical view of their situation: the long term. They expect the Gerns to return, in fact actively work to lure them back, and the intervening time is not spent in idleness. Knowledge is preserved until it can be useful again, each new generation is better adapted to Ragnarok, and the humans begin to claw their way back up out of the abyss into which they have been thrown.
In broad terms, I liked it as long as I could look at it in the appropriate context. I warn my readers about the nature of the story not to drive them away, but because I did not understand it at first and found myself disliking the story for the personal details it skipped, the continual killing off of what seemed to be main characters, the appalling madonna complex all the female characters seemed to have (product of the '50's? yes indeedy), and the rather simplistic nature of the basic overarching plot. I think it was after the fourth or fifth viewpoint character died, though, that I started to get it. This is not a story about Irene, or Bill, or any of their descendants. It isn't even really the story of a scrappy band of humans triumphing over cruel alien invaders. It's about what happens when you dump a bunch of people on a planet with everything against them and no resources, and they have to be tough and innovative and yet also cooperative to survive. And most of all, they have to think not just of their own survival, but of how their actions can allow future generations to survive even longer, how they can ensure freedom for their great-great-grandchildren if they can't get it for themselves. It's never about the character you're looking at, it's about the next generation, and the one after that, and the one after that. As long as you look at it like that, it's a fairly interesting little thought-experiment.
It does have some serious faults. There are times when things seem almost a little too easy -- which is quite a feat given what the humans are up against. Time seems to have stood still outside of the immediate scope of Ragnarok while all this evolution was going on. There are places where a spouse, a child, a relative, a friend springs up seemingly from nowhere and even if this character's life isn't the point it might have been nice to have a teeny bit of background slipped in. There are things about Ragnarok itself that don't quite make sense to me. Theoretical knowledge of things no one has seen or done for generations seems to transmit remarkably well to practical skill. And really, honestly, no one does seem to have given much thought to what happens after this story is over, which... For people who spend generations plotting their escape, seems a little short-sighted.
In a weird sort of way, though, this almost complements the story itself. The humans dropped on Ragnarok have had to put aside everything that wasn't relevant to their project of surviving long enough to get off the planet again. Given that they are required to maintain a certain level of theoretical knowledge in order to have any hope of success, even if things like operating a blaster and flying a Gern cruiser are beyond their actual technical capabilities, what gets kept is sort of eclectic and might not appear to make sense if you don't have a good feel for their goals and methods. Likewise, Godwin has neglected everything that wasn't directly relevant to the core concept of this group of people starting from the bottom and working their way back up through the layers of civilization. The point is to have hostile species on the planet, not to explain said species' motivations; the point is that there is another generation, not the story of its conception; the point is how these people rise from the depths, not what they see or where they go when they return to the heights. The point is that the struggle exists and where it goes, not to detail every last movement of the battle.
In that respect, I'd call this work successful. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good piece of broad-scope old-school sci-fi. The arc is very different from that of most fiction we're used to, and that does take a little effort to assimilate, but it's well worth it.
November 18, 2023
A group of prisoners of a space war are abandoned on an extremely challenging planet - high gravity, extreme climate, aggressive fauna, extremely limited resources, and so on. Most of them don't make it. But the rest adapts - over generations -, and prepares for a rematch.
For sheer speed of action and satisfactory retribution, this is a 5-star book. But some of the ideology is very questionable - and since the author has full control over his world, the excuse "but in these dire circumstances..." does not really cut it. Especially since in most aspects of the world, the author feels very free to arrange animals, space drives, and other things very much as the plot requires it.
It's a fun read, and it's a largely forgotten classic, available for free from Project Gutenberg. So give it a read if you are into 1950s science fiction.
For sheer speed of action and satisfactory retribution, this is a 5-star book. But some of the ideology is very questionable - and since the author has full control over his world, the excuse "but in these dire circumstances..." does not really cut it. Especially since in most aspects of the world, the author feels very free to arrange animals, space drives, and other things very much as the plot requires it.
It's a fun read, and it's a largely forgotten classic, available for free from Project Gutenberg. So give it a read if you are into 1950s science fiction.
June 12, 2020
Joyless sci-fi hack job.
Not that a story about a prison planet should be full of the joys of spring. Four thousand human 'Rejects' are captured by an enemy alien race and exiled on Ragnarok, a desolate planet of seasonal extremes with 1.5x the gravity of Earth, deadly predators and devastating deseases such as the Hell Fever.
Within a few months there are less than four hundred survivors, leading characters are violently killed off, later on as the colony adapts to their inhospitable new home they die less dramatically. As the decades go by they foster a dream of revenge.
This is a grim novel, and not because of the situation the prisoners find themselves in. The writing was just as dreary as the surroundings. There was a certain grim satisfaction to be taken from the largely futile efforts of the community to establish itself.
Later on they encountered a species of telepathic squirrels. Even they were boring.
Not that a story about a prison planet should be full of the joys of spring. Four thousand human 'Rejects' are captured by an enemy alien race and exiled on Ragnarok, a desolate planet of seasonal extremes with 1.5x the gravity of Earth, deadly predators and devastating deseases such as the Hell Fever.
Within a few months there are less than four hundred survivors, leading characters are violently killed off, later on as the colony adapts to their inhospitable new home they die less dramatically. As the decades go by they foster a dream of revenge.
This is a grim novel, and not because of the situation the prisoners find themselves in. The writing was just as dreary as the surroundings. There was a certain grim satisfaction to be taken from the largely futile efforts of the community to establish itself.
Later on they encountered a species of telepathic squirrels. Even they were boring.
October 15, 2020
4.5 stars, rounding up to 5.
A revenge story spanning more than 200 years, this short novella is a high action page turner straight out of the 1950’s Sci Fi pulps.
If you want lengthy back stories and character histories or explorations of deep emotional meaning, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for action oriented high adventure in space and on a hostile alien world you could a lot worse that this one.
A revenge story spanning more than 200 years, this short novella is a high action page turner straight out of the 1950’s Sci Fi pulps.
If you want lengthy back stories and character histories or explorations of deep emotional meaning, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for action oriented high adventure in space and on a hostile alien world you could a lot worse that this one.
April 12, 2023
I cannot remember how I came across this book, it isn't something I would have picked up just walking through a book store, but here it is and so I read it. This book has to be a one of a kind type of book, it certainly is one for me anyway. We start the book on a space ship, the Constellation plunging through hyperspace - whatever that is - with eight thousand colonists from earth. They should almost be safe, Athena is only forty days away we're told. However, now there is an explosion, then another, than the voice of Lieutenant Commander Lake comes over the address system speakers:
"War was declared upon Earth by the Gern Empire ten days ago. Two Gern cruisers have attacked us and their blasters have destroyed the stern and bow of the ship. We are without a drive and without power but for a few emergency batteries. I am the Constellation's only surviving officer and the Gern commander is boarding us to give me the surrender terms.
"None of you will leave your compartments until ordered to do so. Wherever you may be, remain there. This is necessary to avoid confusion and to have as many as possible in known locations for future instructions. I repeat: you will not leave your compartments."
And so we're told the Athena Colonization Plan was ended. And while they had known such a thing might happen, they thought they just might make it—that was why the Constellation had been made ready in secret and why they had waited for months for the chance to slip through the ring of Gern spy ships; that was why they had raced at full speed, with communicators silenced so there would be no radiations for the Gerns to find them by. Only forty days more would have brought them to the green, new world of Athena, four hundred light-years beyond the boundary of the Gern Empire. There they should have been safe from Gern detection for many years to come; long enough to build planetary defenses against attack. And there they would have used Athena's rich resources to make ships and weapons to defend mineral-depleted Earth against the inexorably increasing inclosure of the mighty, coldly calculating Gern Empire.
That was the plan anyway. Why these Gerns want to take over everything is beyond me. People do that all the time, countries want to take over other countries. I'll never understand why. You think you would have enough problems to deal with in your own country without starting a war with the one next to you. In this case though it's one world against another.
So now the Gern commander gets on the speaker telling them that this section of space, together with Athena, is an extension of the Gern Empire. Of course it is, just add another one to the list. Because the ship has deliberately invaded Gern territory they are in really big trouble. The evil Gern people will look through the eight thousand people from earth and take the ones they can use as technicians and skilled workers that can be used in the factories they shall build on Athena. The rest of them will be left behind. You are either an Acceptable or a Reject. In a very short period of time we will never see the Acceptables again, the Rejects will be taken back to earth eventually. So he says. For now the Rejects will be taken to an Earth-type planet nearby and left, together with their personal possessions and additional, and ample, supplies. So he says. And with that they arrive at the earth-type planet are thrown off the ship:
And somewhere a voice asking, "Where are we? In the name of God—what have they done to us?"
She looked at the snow streaming from the ragged hills, felt the hard pull of the gravity, and knew where they were. They were on Ragnarok, the hell-world of 1.5 gravity and fierce beasts and raging fevers where men could not survive. The name came from an old Teutonic myth and meant: The last day for gods and men. The Dunbar Expedition had discovered Ragnarok and her father had told her of it, of how it had killed six of the eight men who had left the ship and would have killed all of them if they had remained any longer.
She knew where they were and she knew the Gerns had lied to them and would never send a ship to take them to Earth. Their abandonment there had been intended as a death sentence for all of them.
And here are the things they have to deal with on the Earth-type planet:
1. Prowlers:
"Prowlers!"
The warning cry came from an outer guard and black shadows were suddenly sweeping out of the dark dawn.
They were things that might have been half wolf, half tiger; each of them three hundred pounds of incredible ferocity with eyes blazing like yellow fire in their white-fanged tiger-wolf faces. They came like the wind, in a flowing black wave, and ripped through the outer guard line as though it had not existed. The inner guards fired in a chattering roll of gunshots, trying to turn them, and Prentiss's rifle licked out pale tongues of flame as he added his own fire. The prowlers came on, breaking through, but part of them went down and the others were swerved by the fire so that they struck only the outer edge of the area where the Rejects were grouped.
The prowlers came then.
They feinted against the east and west guard lines, then hit the south line in massed, ferocious attack. Twenty got through, past the slaughtered south guards, and charged into the interior of the camp. As they did so the call, prearranged by him in case of such an event, went up the guard lines:
"Emergency guards, east and west—close in!"
In the camp, above the triumphant, demoniac yammering of the prowlers, came the screams of women, the thinner cries of children, and the shouting and cursing of men as they tried to fight the prowlers with knives and clubs. Then the emergency guards—every third man from the east and west lines—came plunging through the snow, firing as they came.
The prowlers launched themselves away from their victims and toward the guards, leaving a woman to stagger aimlessly with blood spurting from a severed artery and splashing dark in the starlight on the blue-white snow. The air was filled with the cracking of gunfire and the deep, savage snarling of the prowlers. Half of the prowlers broke through, leaving seven dead guards behind them. The others lay in the snow where they had fallen and the surviving emergency guards turned to hurry back to their stations, reloading as they went.
The wounded woman had crumpled down in the snow and a first aid man knelt over her. He straightened, shaking his head, and joined the others as they searched for injured among the prowlers' victims.
They found no injured; only the dead. The prowlers killed with grim efficiency.
2. Hell Fever:
He found that the prowlers had killed seventy during the night. One hundred more had died from the Hell Fever that often followed exposure and killed within an hour.
He went the half mile to the group that had arrived on the second cruiser as soon as he had eaten a delayed breakfast. He saw, before he had quite reached the other group, that the Constellation's Lieutenant Commander, Vincent Lake, was in charge of it.
Lake, a tall, hard-jawed man with pale blue eyes under pale brows, walked forth to meet him as soon as he recognized him.
"Glad to see you're still alive," Lake greeted him. "I thought that second Gern blast got you along with the others."
"I was visiting midship and wasn't home when it happened," he said.
He looked at Lake's group of Rejects, in their misery and uncertainty so much like his own, and asked, "How was it last night?"
"Bad—damned bad," Lake said. "Prowlers and Hell Fever, and no wood for fires. Two hundred died last night."
"I came down to see if anyone was in charge here and to tell them that we'll have to move into the woods at once—today. We'll have plenty of wood for the fires there, some protection from the wind, and by combining our defenses we can stand off the prowlers better."
The days turned suddenly hot, with nights that still went below freezing. The Hell Fever took a constant, relentless toll. They needed adequate shelters—but the dwindling supply of ammunition and the nightly prowler attacks made the need for a stockade wall even more imperative. The shelters would have to wait.
He went looking for Dr. Chiara one evening and found him just leaving one of the makeshift shelters.
A boy lay inside it, his face flushed with Hell Fever and his eyes too bright and too dark as he looked up into the face of his mother who sat beside him. She was dry-eyed and silent as she looked down at him but she was holding his hand in hers, tightly, desperately, as though she might that way somehow keep him from leaving her.
Prentiss walked beside Chiara and when the shelter was behind them he asked, "There's no hope?"
"None," Chiara said. "There never is with Hell Fever."
3. Gravity:
The work was made many times more exhausting by the 1.5 gravity. People moved heavily at their jobs and even at night there was no surcease from the gravity. They could only go into a coma-like sleep in which there was no real rest and from which they awoke tired and aching. Each morning there would be some who did not awaken at all, though their hearts had been sound enough for working on Earth or Athena.
4. Wood goats:
The first hunting party went out and returned with six of the tawny-yellow sharp-horned woods goats, each as large as an Earth deer. The hunters reported the woods goats to be hard to stalk and dangerous when cornered. One hunter was killed and another injured because of not knowing that.
5. Unicorns: (I found it very hard to be afraid of a unicorn)
The answer came in a savage, squealing scream and the pound of cloven hooves. A formless shadow beside the trees materialized into a monstrous charging bulk; a thing like a gigantic gray bull, eight feet tall at the shoulders, with the tusked, snarling head of a boar and the starlight glinting along the curving, vicious length of its single horn.
"Unicorn!" Prentiss said, and jerked up his rifle.
The rifles cracked in a ragged volley. The unicorn squealed in fury and struck the hunter, catching him on its horn and hurling him thirty feet. One of the riflemen went down under the unicorn's hooves, his cry ending almost as soon as it began.
The unicorn ripped the sod in deep furrows as it whirled back to Prentiss and the remaining rifleman; not turning in the manner of four-footed beasts of Earth but rearing and spinning on its hind feet. It towered above them as it whirled, the tip of its horn fifteen feet above the ground and its hooves swinging around like great clubs.
Prentiss shot again, his sights on what he hoped would be a vital area, and the rifleman shot an instant later.
The shots went true. The unicorn's swing brought it on around but it collapsed, falling to the ground with jarring heaviness.
"We got it!" the rifleman said. "We——"
It half scrambled to its feet and made a noise; a call that went out through the night like the blast of a mighty trumpet. Then it dropped back to the ground, to die while its call was still echoing from the nearer hills.
From the east came an answering trumpet blast; a trumpeting that was sounded again from the south and from the north. Then there came a low and muffled drumming, like the pounding of thousands of hooves.
The rifleman's face was blue-white in the starlight. "The others are coming—we'll have to run for it!"
He turned, and began to run toward the distant bulk of the stockade.
"No!" Prentiss commanded, quick and harsh. "Not the stockade!"
The rifleman kept running, seeming not to hear him in his panic. Prentiss called to him once more:
"Not the stockade—you'll lead the unicorns into it!"
Again the rifleman seemed not to hear him.
The unicorns were coming in sight, converging in from the north and east and south, the rumble of their hooves swelling to a thunder that filled the night. The rifleman would reach the stockade only a little ahead of them and they would go through the wall as though it had been made of paper.
For a little while the area inside the stockade would be filled with dust, with the squealing of the swirling, charging unicorns and the screams of the dying. Those inside the stockade would have no chance whatever of escaping. Within two minutes it would be over, the last child would have been found among the shattered shelters and trampled into lifeless shapelessness in the bloody ground.
Within two minutes all human life on Ragnarok would be gone.
6. Mockers:
He stopped at the mouth of the cave to let his eyes become accustomed to the darkness inside it. As he did so the things inside came out to meet him.
They emerged into full view; six little animals the size of squirrels, each of them a different color. They walked on short hind legs like miniature bears and the dark eyes in the bear-chipmunk faces were fixed on him with intense interest. They stopped five feet in front of him, p. 81there to stand in a neat row and continue the fascinated staring up at him.
The yellow one in the center scratched absently at its stomach with a furry paw and he lowered the bow, feeling a little foolish at having bothered to raise it against animals so small and harmless.
Then he half brought it up again as the yellow one opened its mouth and said in a tone that held distinct anticipation:
"I think we'll eat you for supper."
He darted glances to right and left but there was nothing near him except the six little animals. The yellow one, having spoken, was staring silently at him with only curiosity on its furry face. He wondered if some miasma or some scent from the vegetation in the valley had warped his mind into sudden insanity and asked:
"You think you'll do what?"
It opened its mouth again, to stutter, "I—I——" Then, with a note of alarm, "Hey...."
It said no more and the next sound was that of Barber hurrying toward him and calling, "Hey—Bill—where are you?"
"Here," he answered, and he was already sure that he knew why the little animal had spoken to him.
Barber came up and saw the six chipmunk-bears. "Six of them!" he exclaimed. "There's one in the next cave—the damned thing spoke to me!"
"I thought so," he replied. "You told it we'd have it for supper and then it said, 'You think you'll do what?' didn't it?"
Barber's face showed surprise. "How did you know that?"
"They're telepathic between one another," he said. "The yellow one there repeated what the one you spoke to heard you say and it repeated what the yellow one heard me say. It has to be telepathy between them."
"Telepathy——" Barber stared at the six little animals, who stared back with their fascinated curiosity undiminished. "But why should they want to repeat aloud what they receive telepathically?"
"I don't know. Maybe at some stage in their evolution only part of them were telepaths and the telepaths broadcasted danger warnings to the others that way. So far as that goes, why does a parrot repeat what it hears?"
There was a scurry of movement behind Barber and another of the little animals, a white one, hurried past them. It went to the yellow one and they stood close together as they stared up. Apparently they were mates....
"That's the other one—those are the two that mocked us," Barber said, and thereby gave them the name by which they would be known: mockers.
After this people walk around with these things on their shoulders so they can talk to each other through the mockers. It takes some getting used to. I thought the deadly unicorns were silly but this tops them.
7. Crawlers:
There they saw the crawlers; hideous things that p. 86crawled on multiple legs like three-ton centipedes, their mouths set with six mandibles and dripping a stinking saliva. The bite of a crawler was poisonous, instantly paralyzing even to a unicorn, though not instantly killing them. The crawlers ate their victims at once, however, ripping the helpless and still living flesh from its bones.
Although the unicorns feared the crawlers, the prowlers hated them with a fanatical intensity and made use of their superior quickness to kill every crawler they found; ripping at the crawler until the crawler, in an insanity of rage, bit itself and died of its own poison.
They had taken one of the powerful longbows with them, in addition to their crossbows, and they killed a crawler with it one day. As they did so a band of twenty prowlers came suddenly upon them.
Twenty prowlers, with the advantage of surprise at short range, could have slaughtered them. Instead, the prowlers continued on their way without as much as a challenging snarl.
"Now why," Bob Craig wondered, "did they do that?"
"They saw we had just killed a crawler," Humbolt said. "The crawlers are their enemies and I guess letting us live was their way of showing appreciation."
Somewhere about the time I was reading about unicorns tearing people to shreds an old movie came to mind. It was an old horror movie and I was supposed to be terrified of the evil creatures running around killing everyone. I guess I should say hopping around killing everyone because the evil creatures were rabbits. They kept showing these pictures of rabbits hopping around and killing people and the whole thing was silly. That's how this book was, silly. It was still fun though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnJWf...
"War was declared upon Earth by the Gern Empire ten days ago. Two Gern cruisers have attacked us and their blasters have destroyed the stern and bow of the ship. We are without a drive and without power but for a few emergency batteries. I am the Constellation's only surviving officer and the Gern commander is boarding us to give me the surrender terms.
"None of you will leave your compartments until ordered to do so. Wherever you may be, remain there. This is necessary to avoid confusion and to have as many as possible in known locations for future instructions. I repeat: you will not leave your compartments."
And so we're told the Athena Colonization Plan was ended. And while they had known such a thing might happen, they thought they just might make it—that was why the Constellation had been made ready in secret and why they had waited for months for the chance to slip through the ring of Gern spy ships; that was why they had raced at full speed, with communicators silenced so there would be no radiations for the Gerns to find them by. Only forty days more would have brought them to the green, new world of Athena, four hundred light-years beyond the boundary of the Gern Empire. There they should have been safe from Gern detection for many years to come; long enough to build planetary defenses against attack. And there they would have used Athena's rich resources to make ships and weapons to defend mineral-depleted Earth against the inexorably increasing inclosure of the mighty, coldly calculating Gern Empire.
That was the plan anyway. Why these Gerns want to take over everything is beyond me. People do that all the time, countries want to take over other countries. I'll never understand why. You think you would have enough problems to deal with in your own country without starting a war with the one next to you. In this case though it's one world against another.
So now the Gern commander gets on the speaker telling them that this section of space, together with Athena, is an extension of the Gern Empire. Of course it is, just add another one to the list. Because the ship has deliberately invaded Gern territory they are in really big trouble. The evil Gern people will look through the eight thousand people from earth and take the ones they can use as technicians and skilled workers that can be used in the factories they shall build on Athena. The rest of them will be left behind. You are either an Acceptable or a Reject. In a very short period of time we will never see the Acceptables again, the Rejects will be taken back to earth eventually. So he says. For now the Rejects will be taken to an Earth-type planet nearby and left, together with their personal possessions and additional, and ample, supplies. So he says. And with that they arrive at the earth-type planet are thrown off the ship:
And somewhere a voice asking, "Where are we? In the name of God—what have they done to us?"
She looked at the snow streaming from the ragged hills, felt the hard pull of the gravity, and knew where they were. They were on Ragnarok, the hell-world of 1.5 gravity and fierce beasts and raging fevers where men could not survive. The name came from an old Teutonic myth and meant: The last day for gods and men. The Dunbar Expedition had discovered Ragnarok and her father had told her of it, of how it had killed six of the eight men who had left the ship and would have killed all of them if they had remained any longer.
She knew where they were and she knew the Gerns had lied to them and would never send a ship to take them to Earth. Their abandonment there had been intended as a death sentence for all of them.
And here are the things they have to deal with on the Earth-type planet:
1. Prowlers:
"Prowlers!"
The warning cry came from an outer guard and black shadows were suddenly sweeping out of the dark dawn.
They were things that might have been half wolf, half tiger; each of them three hundred pounds of incredible ferocity with eyes blazing like yellow fire in their white-fanged tiger-wolf faces. They came like the wind, in a flowing black wave, and ripped through the outer guard line as though it had not existed. The inner guards fired in a chattering roll of gunshots, trying to turn them, and Prentiss's rifle licked out pale tongues of flame as he added his own fire. The prowlers came on, breaking through, but part of them went down and the others were swerved by the fire so that they struck only the outer edge of the area where the Rejects were grouped.
The prowlers came then.
They feinted against the east and west guard lines, then hit the south line in massed, ferocious attack. Twenty got through, past the slaughtered south guards, and charged into the interior of the camp. As they did so the call, prearranged by him in case of such an event, went up the guard lines:
"Emergency guards, east and west—close in!"
In the camp, above the triumphant, demoniac yammering of the prowlers, came the screams of women, the thinner cries of children, and the shouting and cursing of men as they tried to fight the prowlers with knives and clubs. Then the emergency guards—every third man from the east and west lines—came plunging through the snow, firing as they came.
The prowlers launched themselves away from their victims and toward the guards, leaving a woman to stagger aimlessly with blood spurting from a severed artery and splashing dark in the starlight on the blue-white snow. The air was filled with the cracking of gunfire and the deep, savage snarling of the prowlers. Half of the prowlers broke through, leaving seven dead guards behind them. The others lay in the snow where they had fallen and the surviving emergency guards turned to hurry back to their stations, reloading as they went.
The wounded woman had crumpled down in the snow and a first aid man knelt over her. He straightened, shaking his head, and joined the others as they searched for injured among the prowlers' victims.
They found no injured; only the dead. The prowlers killed with grim efficiency.
2. Hell Fever:
He found that the prowlers had killed seventy during the night. One hundred more had died from the Hell Fever that often followed exposure and killed within an hour.
He went the half mile to the group that had arrived on the second cruiser as soon as he had eaten a delayed breakfast. He saw, before he had quite reached the other group, that the Constellation's Lieutenant Commander, Vincent Lake, was in charge of it.
Lake, a tall, hard-jawed man with pale blue eyes under pale brows, walked forth to meet him as soon as he recognized him.
"Glad to see you're still alive," Lake greeted him. "I thought that second Gern blast got you along with the others."
"I was visiting midship and wasn't home when it happened," he said.
He looked at Lake's group of Rejects, in their misery and uncertainty so much like his own, and asked, "How was it last night?"
"Bad—damned bad," Lake said. "Prowlers and Hell Fever, and no wood for fires. Two hundred died last night."
"I came down to see if anyone was in charge here and to tell them that we'll have to move into the woods at once—today. We'll have plenty of wood for the fires there, some protection from the wind, and by combining our defenses we can stand off the prowlers better."
The days turned suddenly hot, with nights that still went below freezing. The Hell Fever took a constant, relentless toll. They needed adequate shelters—but the dwindling supply of ammunition and the nightly prowler attacks made the need for a stockade wall even more imperative. The shelters would have to wait.
He went looking for Dr. Chiara one evening and found him just leaving one of the makeshift shelters.
A boy lay inside it, his face flushed with Hell Fever and his eyes too bright and too dark as he looked up into the face of his mother who sat beside him. She was dry-eyed and silent as she looked down at him but she was holding his hand in hers, tightly, desperately, as though she might that way somehow keep him from leaving her.
Prentiss walked beside Chiara and when the shelter was behind them he asked, "There's no hope?"
"None," Chiara said. "There never is with Hell Fever."
3. Gravity:
The work was made many times more exhausting by the 1.5 gravity. People moved heavily at their jobs and even at night there was no surcease from the gravity. They could only go into a coma-like sleep in which there was no real rest and from which they awoke tired and aching. Each morning there would be some who did not awaken at all, though their hearts had been sound enough for working on Earth or Athena.
4. Wood goats:
The first hunting party went out and returned with six of the tawny-yellow sharp-horned woods goats, each as large as an Earth deer. The hunters reported the woods goats to be hard to stalk and dangerous when cornered. One hunter was killed and another injured because of not knowing that.
5. Unicorns: (I found it very hard to be afraid of a unicorn)
The answer came in a savage, squealing scream and the pound of cloven hooves. A formless shadow beside the trees materialized into a monstrous charging bulk; a thing like a gigantic gray bull, eight feet tall at the shoulders, with the tusked, snarling head of a boar and the starlight glinting along the curving, vicious length of its single horn.
"Unicorn!" Prentiss said, and jerked up his rifle.
The rifles cracked in a ragged volley. The unicorn squealed in fury and struck the hunter, catching him on its horn and hurling him thirty feet. One of the riflemen went down under the unicorn's hooves, his cry ending almost as soon as it began.
The unicorn ripped the sod in deep furrows as it whirled back to Prentiss and the remaining rifleman; not turning in the manner of four-footed beasts of Earth but rearing and spinning on its hind feet. It towered above them as it whirled, the tip of its horn fifteen feet above the ground and its hooves swinging around like great clubs.
Prentiss shot again, his sights on what he hoped would be a vital area, and the rifleman shot an instant later.
The shots went true. The unicorn's swing brought it on around but it collapsed, falling to the ground with jarring heaviness.
"We got it!" the rifleman said. "We——"
It half scrambled to its feet and made a noise; a call that went out through the night like the blast of a mighty trumpet. Then it dropped back to the ground, to die while its call was still echoing from the nearer hills.
From the east came an answering trumpet blast; a trumpeting that was sounded again from the south and from the north. Then there came a low and muffled drumming, like the pounding of thousands of hooves.
The rifleman's face was blue-white in the starlight. "The others are coming—we'll have to run for it!"
He turned, and began to run toward the distant bulk of the stockade.
"No!" Prentiss commanded, quick and harsh. "Not the stockade!"
The rifleman kept running, seeming not to hear him in his panic. Prentiss called to him once more:
"Not the stockade—you'll lead the unicorns into it!"
Again the rifleman seemed not to hear him.
The unicorns were coming in sight, converging in from the north and east and south, the rumble of their hooves swelling to a thunder that filled the night. The rifleman would reach the stockade only a little ahead of them and they would go through the wall as though it had been made of paper.
For a little while the area inside the stockade would be filled with dust, with the squealing of the swirling, charging unicorns and the screams of the dying. Those inside the stockade would have no chance whatever of escaping. Within two minutes it would be over, the last child would have been found among the shattered shelters and trampled into lifeless shapelessness in the bloody ground.
Within two minutes all human life on Ragnarok would be gone.
6. Mockers:
He stopped at the mouth of the cave to let his eyes become accustomed to the darkness inside it. As he did so the things inside came out to meet him.
They emerged into full view; six little animals the size of squirrels, each of them a different color. They walked on short hind legs like miniature bears and the dark eyes in the bear-chipmunk faces were fixed on him with intense interest. They stopped five feet in front of him, p. 81there to stand in a neat row and continue the fascinated staring up at him.
The yellow one in the center scratched absently at its stomach with a furry paw and he lowered the bow, feeling a little foolish at having bothered to raise it against animals so small and harmless.
Then he half brought it up again as the yellow one opened its mouth and said in a tone that held distinct anticipation:
"I think we'll eat you for supper."
He darted glances to right and left but there was nothing near him except the six little animals. The yellow one, having spoken, was staring silently at him with only curiosity on its furry face. He wondered if some miasma or some scent from the vegetation in the valley had warped his mind into sudden insanity and asked:
"You think you'll do what?"
It opened its mouth again, to stutter, "I—I——" Then, with a note of alarm, "Hey...."
It said no more and the next sound was that of Barber hurrying toward him and calling, "Hey—Bill—where are you?"
"Here," he answered, and he was already sure that he knew why the little animal had spoken to him.
Barber came up and saw the six chipmunk-bears. "Six of them!" he exclaimed. "There's one in the next cave—the damned thing spoke to me!"
"I thought so," he replied. "You told it we'd have it for supper and then it said, 'You think you'll do what?' didn't it?"
Barber's face showed surprise. "How did you know that?"
"They're telepathic between one another," he said. "The yellow one there repeated what the one you spoke to heard you say and it repeated what the yellow one heard me say. It has to be telepathy between them."
"Telepathy——" Barber stared at the six little animals, who stared back with their fascinated curiosity undiminished. "But why should they want to repeat aloud what they receive telepathically?"
"I don't know. Maybe at some stage in their evolution only part of them were telepaths and the telepaths broadcasted danger warnings to the others that way. So far as that goes, why does a parrot repeat what it hears?"
There was a scurry of movement behind Barber and another of the little animals, a white one, hurried past them. It went to the yellow one and they stood close together as they stared up. Apparently they were mates....
"That's the other one—those are the two that mocked us," Barber said, and thereby gave them the name by which they would be known: mockers.
After this people walk around with these things on their shoulders so they can talk to each other through the mockers. It takes some getting used to. I thought the deadly unicorns were silly but this tops them.
7. Crawlers:
There they saw the crawlers; hideous things that p. 86crawled on multiple legs like three-ton centipedes, their mouths set with six mandibles and dripping a stinking saliva. The bite of a crawler was poisonous, instantly paralyzing even to a unicorn, though not instantly killing them. The crawlers ate their victims at once, however, ripping the helpless and still living flesh from its bones.
Although the unicorns feared the crawlers, the prowlers hated them with a fanatical intensity and made use of their superior quickness to kill every crawler they found; ripping at the crawler until the crawler, in an insanity of rage, bit itself and died of its own poison.
They had taken one of the powerful longbows with them, in addition to their crossbows, and they killed a crawler with it one day. As they did so a band of twenty prowlers came suddenly upon them.
Twenty prowlers, with the advantage of surprise at short range, could have slaughtered them. Instead, the prowlers continued on their way without as much as a challenging snarl.
"Now why," Bob Craig wondered, "did they do that?"
"They saw we had just killed a crawler," Humbolt said. "The crawlers are their enemies and I guess letting us live was their way of showing appreciation."
Somewhere about the time I was reading about unicorns tearing people to shreds an old movie came to mind. It was an old horror movie and I was supposed to be terrified of the evil creatures running around killing everyone. I guess I should say hopping around killing everyone because the evil creatures were rabbits. They kept showing these pictures of rabbits hopping around and killing people and the whole thing was silly. That's how this book was, silly. It was still fun though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnJWf...
August 20, 2021
The story of an abandoned people who use every resource they have to bring down the race that left them. They have a single-minded purpose which they never lose sight of. 200 years of a human history told in 136 pages. There are basically no characters or dialog, so it is very different from most books. Almost like a military recap, rather than a tale. Interesting, but not my new favorite.
July 11, 2022
I read the Project Gutenberg e-book edition. To lazy to add it to Goodreads...
I enjoyed this story very much. Teared up a few times during the reading, too!
I enjoyed this story very much. Teared up a few times during the reading, too!
February 28, 2017
I really like this book. It is a good read and very entertaining. Some parts were very sad however, knowing that it was a means to an end helped. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the Sci-Fi genre. Though many children and animals die in the book so if that is not your cup of tea then I say pass this book up.
September 10, 2011
Tom Godwin's "Space Prison" (originally named "The Survivors") was an enjoyable read, but far from a masterpiece. As said before by many others, it is almost impossible to come to like any of the characters. They show up for a chapter or two, then quickly die off, replaced by their descendants. I understand that Godwin couldn't focus too much on characters, as he is writing over a span of two hundred years, but a character who gets more than a few paragraphs would have been nice.
The idea of a hellish planet that breeds a race of super humans is a fun idea, but was done much better in Harry Harrison's "Death World." Here, the planet is much too earth like. They have goats for god's sake! I did enjoy the inclusion of a monstrous bull like creature called a unicorn though. It was fairly amusing to have a character scream, "Unicorns!" and have everyone run in terror.
The redeeming feature of this book is its survival story and the ultimate triumph of "savage earth men" over the sophisticated gerns. I love a good survival story, and the promise of a large battle of vengeance at the end of the book kept you reading. Overall, a fun read for if you're bored on a lazy afternoon, but no masterpiece.
The idea of a hellish planet that breeds a race of super humans is a fun idea, but was done much better in Harry Harrison's "Death World." Here, the planet is much too earth like. They have goats for god's sake! I did enjoy the inclusion of a monstrous bull like creature called a unicorn though. It was fairly amusing to have a character scream, "Unicorns!" and have everyone run in terror.
The redeeming feature of this book is its survival story and the ultimate triumph of "savage earth men" over the sophisticated gerns. I love a good survival story, and the promise of a large battle of vengeance at the end of the book kept you reading. Overall, a fun read for if you're bored on a lazy afternoon, but no masterpiece.
August 26, 2017
1958, I read this book as a teen sometime, and had remembered it for a life time. Then trying to search and find it on Amazon, here, many many places I could not find it. = Because I did not kn ow the title or author. At about 64 I told my sister-in-law the plot and most of the story line. Then the day before the eclipse she gave this to me when I traveled from Michigan to Cascade, Idaho and stayed with them a couple days. WOW!! I am amazed that she found this.
This book is how the conquering Gerns took an earth ship killing most and taking some few thousand prisoners, then stranded them on a huge planet where it is almost impossible to survive. Because of the terrible animals that live there, prowlers (huge wolf like)-(unicorns which are more like a wild charging rhino)-(a cute squirrel like pet that has telepathy abilities). But it took 3 generations before these people could become the conquer of a trap they set for the Gerns themselves.
This book is how the conquering Gerns took an earth ship killing most and taking some few thousand prisoners, then stranded them on a huge planet where it is almost impossible to survive. Because of the terrible animals that live there, prowlers (huge wolf like)-(unicorns which are more like a wild charging rhino)-(a cute squirrel like pet that has telepathy abilities). But it took 3 generations before these people could become the conquer of a trap they set for the Gerns themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2010
This odd, little novel was one of those recommended-for-you suggestions that Amazon randomly comes up with. I don’t know what it is about my purchasing habits that told Amazon I needed to read a 1950’s pulp sci-fi novel, but this time Amazon guessed well.
I really enjoyed this light, interesting read. My favorite plot element was the inclusion of killer, hooved animals that had a single horn (when reared the height of these marauding “unicorns” was said to be 15 feet). These unicorns didn’t just stampede a man; rather, they dismembered him and then giddily mashed the bits to pulp. Thus –> pulp fiction! Bwa ha ha ha!
This novel, by Tom Godwin, was originally entitled The Survivors, but has been recently reprinted under the title Space Prison.
I really enjoyed this light, interesting read. My favorite plot element was the inclusion of killer, hooved animals that had a single horn (when reared the height of these marauding “unicorns” was said to be 15 feet). These unicorns didn’t just stampede a man; rather, they dismembered him and then giddily mashed the bits to pulp. Thus –> pulp fiction! Bwa ha ha ha!
This novel, by Tom Godwin, was originally entitled The Survivors, but has been recently reprinted under the title Space Prison.
March 16, 2018
I was very pleased with this short book. It is part of a series, but can be read alone as I'm going to do because the rest of the series isn't available in audiobook format.
First published in 1958. I can't even wrap my little mind around that. It seems crazy to think there were people writing sci-fi 60+ years ago that still holds up today.
The narrator did an excellent job, though the audiobook was a chore to come by. I could only find it available in the UK market under the title Space Prison...I think someone made the right choice with the name change.
Update: Just finished a relisten and liked it just as much this go-around. I really wish the remainder of the series had made it to audio.
First published in 1958. I can't even wrap my little mind around that. It seems crazy to think there were people writing sci-fi 60+ years ago that still holds up today.
The narrator did an excellent job, though the audiobook was a chore to come by. I could only find it available in the UK market under the title Space Prison...I think someone made the right choice with the name change.
Update: Just finished a relisten and liked it just as much this go-around. I really wish the remainder of the series had made it to audio.
May 5, 2011
the book covers such a vast story (an alternate earth history, an alien race, a war, three planets, and 200 years) that a reader has a difficult time getting to know any of the characters except for some very violent unicorns
September 21, 2011
Interesting. Not because the story is any good, because it isn't. But the concept, which I'm sure was more of the point, of starting a world from scratch with whatever resources are available was kinda neat. Didn't necessarily work as novel, but an interesting allegory on hope.
December 17, 2014
Carino. Bella storia. Richiede una sospensione della credulità un po' troppo estesa :)
Ma si legge volentieri.
Ma si legge volentieri.
June 30, 2017
For a long while, after I got old enough to read big words for myself, my mother would pass books she thought were good to me - Robert Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars, for example. Eventually she approved me going into the collection directly and I worked my way through her shelves which included this gem from HER college years - first published in 1958. A book she loved enough to transport from one end of the country to another through at least four different moves.
I loved it too. Massive worldbuilding, MacGyvering, action. I reread it again and again. Now a group of sci-fi classic lovers have uploaded the book for free viewing on Kindle.
Note for the formatting - this is free, the page numbers are included in the text and there are a couple-few transcription issues. The overall result is fine though - especially free for a book which only had a 5,000 first run.
Rereading the book in 2017, the worldbuilding still remains amazing. The ecology of Ragnarok from its climate to its animals is breathtaking. Originally titled "The Survivors", this book makes you feel the hell planet a group of colonists are dumped on by their enemies. The MacGyvering to survive and then thrive remains really cool - gems always have worth.
Downside for 2017 - no female characters of note. The women and children are a background group - dying but essential to survival. Mr. Godwin does show them working along side the men, doing the same sacrifices and more; much more, there are no old child-bearing women. On a 1.5 gravity world where reproduction is as essential as exploration, the explorers will be limited to the men - and those are the ones Mr. Godwin follows. The women stay home and die in childbirth. Not the exciting part of the story for the 1950's readers. The author never demeans women or says they can't do what the men can do, but because they can do something the men cannot do they are not a part of the story.
The story follows the colonists and their descendants for 200 years.
The main lacking in this story is character attachment, you sympathize with the characters but don't empathize. Consider how many people die, not feeling each death personally is a plus. The initial two nights after the colonists arrival on the hell world makes George R.R. Martin's Red Wedding look sedate.
Still a great worldbuilding story even after 60 years; definitely worth the space on your kindle if you like classic sci-fi.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Eric Flint, in conjunction with Baen Books, has collected many of Tom Godwin's works into "The Cold Equations" (published 2003), including The Survivors/Space Prison and his famous short story "The Cold Equations". While not free, like this particular "Kindle Edition", it's available in paperback so you can have it for your shelves. ... Side amusement, the cover is for "Space Prison" with a person standing holding a crossbow and unicorn goggles (should be black), with a mocker on the shoulder and two prowlers - but, typical of early sci-fi, the person is a scantily garbed woman.
I loved it too. Massive worldbuilding, MacGyvering, action. I reread it again and again. Now a group of sci-fi classic lovers have uploaded the book for free viewing on Kindle.
Note for the formatting - this is free, the page numbers are included in the text and there are a couple-few transcription issues. The overall result is fine though - especially free for a book which only had a 5,000 first run.
Rereading the book in 2017, the worldbuilding still remains amazing. The ecology of Ragnarok from its climate to its animals is breathtaking. Originally titled "The Survivors", this book makes you feel the hell planet a group of colonists are dumped on by their enemies. The MacGyvering to survive and then thrive remains really cool - gems always have worth.
Downside for 2017 - no female characters of note. The women and children are a background group - dying but essential to survival. Mr. Godwin does show them working along side the men, doing the same sacrifices and more; much more, there are no old child-bearing women. On a 1.5 gravity world where reproduction is as essential as exploration, the explorers will be limited to the men - and those are the ones Mr. Godwin follows. The women stay home and die in childbirth. Not the exciting part of the story for the 1950's readers. The author never demeans women or says they can't do what the men can do, but because they can do something the men cannot do they are not a part of the story.
The story follows the colonists and their descendants for 200 years.
The main lacking in this story is character attachment, you sympathize with the characters but don't empathize. Consider how many people die, not feeling each death personally is a plus. The initial two nights after the colonists arrival on the hell world makes George R.R. Martin's Red Wedding look sedate.
Still a great worldbuilding story even after 60 years; definitely worth the space on your kindle if you like classic sci-fi.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Eric Flint, in conjunction with Baen Books, has collected many of Tom Godwin's works into "The Cold Equations" (published 2003), including The Survivors/Space Prison and his famous short story "The Cold Equations". While not free, like this particular "Kindle Edition", it's available in paperback so you can have it for your shelves. ... Side amusement, the cover is for "Space Prison" with a person standing holding a crossbow and unicorn goggles (should be black), with a mocker on the shoulder and two prowlers - but, typical of early sci-fi, the person is a scantily garbed woman.
October 19, 2023
Upon discovering an audiobook of "Prison Planet" by Tom Godwin on YouTube, I was plunged into a world that seemed to mirror many of the doubts and fears I've grappled with in my own life. The tale is more than just a narrative of survival against the odds; it speaks profoundly of the human spirit's struggle with the torment of unrealized dreams and the reconciliation of one's purpose beyond the confines of a lifetime.
Throughout the story, the characters on Ragnarok face decisions that push them to the brink of despair. Their initial hopes of survival and revenge against their Gern captors are consistently dashed by the harsh reality of their environment and circumstances. As they navigate deadly fauna, a merciless climate, and a relentless disease, they grapple with a painful truth: many of their dreams and aspirations will remain unfulfilled within their lifetimes.
Yet, it's this very realization that propels them forward with even greater purpose. Understanding that they may never see the fruits of their labor, they dedicate themselves to ensuring that their descendants have the knowledge, tools, and resolve to achieve what the previous generation couldn't. It's a testament to the selfless nature of the human spirit, willing to sacrifice personal desires for the betterment of those who come after.
This resonates deeply with me, especially when paralleled with Tom Godwin's own life. Despite his tragic end, lying alone in a Nevada hospital after a life filed with grief and alcoholism, his literary legacy has lived on, inspiring countless readers, including myself. His story serves as a stark reminder that while our time might be limited, the impact of our deeds can reverberate through the ages.
In my own introspection, I've often been haunted by the fear of ending up like Godwin, isolated and seemingly defeated by life. But his enduring influence highlights a crucial lesson: it's not about the duration of our existence but the depth of our impact. I've come to understand that it's not solely about personal accomplishments but more about what we leave behind for others.
As I navigate my own life's challenges, "Prison Planet" serves as a beacon. It reminds me that while I might grapple with doubts and fears, it's essential to shift focus from personal apprehensions to the broader picture of laying foundations for future generations. Just as the characters in the story realized their purpose extended beyond their lifetimes, I too must come to terms with my role in this vast tapestry of existence, prioritizing legacy over fleeting aspirations.
Throughout the story, the characters on Ragnarok face decisions that push them to the brink of despair. Their initial hopes of survival and revenge against their Gern captors are consistently dashed by the harsh reality of their environment and circumstances. As they navigate deadly fauna, a merciless climate, and a relentless disease, they grapple with a painful truth: many of their dreams and aspirations will remain unfulfilled within their lifetimes.
Yet, it's this very realization that propels them forward with even greater purpose. Understanding that they may never see the fruits of their labor, they dedicate themselves to ensuring that their descendants have the knowledge, tools, and resolve to achieve what the previous generation couldn't. It's a testament to the selfless nature of the human spirit, willing to sacrifice personal desires for the betterment of those who come after.
This resonates deeply with me, especially when paralleled with Tom Godwin's own life. Despite his tragic end, lying alone in a Nevada hospital after a life filed with grief and alcoholism, his literary legacy has lived on, inspiring countless readers, including myself. His story serves as a stark reminder that while our time might be limited, the impact of our deeds can reverberate through the ages.
In my own introspection, I've often been haunted by the fear of ending up like Godwin, isolated and seemingly defeated by life. But his enduring influence highlights a crucial lesson: it's not about the duration of our existence but the depth of our impact. I've come to understand that it's not solely about personal accomplishments but more about what we leave behind for others.
As I navigate my own life's challenges, "Prison Planet" serves as a beacon. It reminds me that while I might grapple with doubts and fears, it's essential to shift focus from personal apprehensions to the broader picture of laying foundations for future generations. Just as the characters in the story realized their purpose extended beyond their lifetimes, I too must come to terms with my role in this vast tapestry of existence, prioritizing legacy over fleeting aspirations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2023
English Review below
Ich habe ein Faible für Vintage Science Fiction, daher kann ich auch diesem Buch viel abgewinnen, auch wenn es viele Fragen offen lässt, streckenweise unlogisch ist und am Ende viel dem Zufall überlässt bzw. darauf baut, dass alles läuft, wie geplant.
Ich will also die Kritik vieler negativer Reviews keineswegs in Frage stellen, es hängt wirklich stark davon ab, was man von einem Buch möchte.
Schade ist definitiv, dass kein Fokus auf die Bildung neuer Gesellschaftsstrukturen gelegt wurde und die Stellung der Frau sich auch über 200 Jahre nicht verändert. Hier hätte ich mir mehr gewünscht - wenn sich ein Mann in den 50/60ern schon nicht vorstellen kann, dass Frauen mehr können als Kinder kriegen, sollte es wenigstens irgendwie logisch dargestellt werden, warum 50% einer Gesellschaft, die ums Überleben kämpft, kaum dafür herangezogen wird. Es ist definitiv eine Geschichte von einem Mann für Männer und über Männer!
Trotzdem bleibe ich bei den vier Sternen - ich hatte meinen Spaß!
I have a soft spot for vintage science fiction, so I got a lot out of this book, even if it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, is illogical at times and in the end leaves a lot to chance or relies on everything going as planned.
So I don't want to question the criticism of many negative reviews, it really depends a lot on what you want from a book.
It is definitely a pity that no focus was placed on the formation of new social structures and the position of women has not changed over 200 years. I would have wished for more here - even if a man in the 50s/60s can't imagine that women can do more than have children, it should at least be shown logically in some way why 50% of a society that is struggling to survive is hardly used. It's definitely a story by a man for men and about men!
Nevertheless, I'll stick with the four stars - I had my fun!
Ich habe ein Faible für Vintage Science Fiction, daher kann ich auch diesem Buch viel abgewinnen, auch wenn es viele Fragen offen lässt, streckenweise unlogisch ist und am Ende viel dem Zufall überlässt bzw. darauf baut, dass alles läuft, wie geplant.
Ich will also die Kritik vieler negativer Reviews keineswegs in Frage stellen, es hängt wirklich stark davon ab, was man von einem Buch möchte.
Schade ist definitiv, dass kein Fokus auf die Bildung neuer Gesellschaftsstrukturen gelegt wurde und die Stellung der Frau sich auch über 200 Jahre nicht verändert. Hier hätte ich mir mehr gewünscht - wenn sich ein Mann in den 50/60ern schon nicht vorstellen kann, dass Frauen mehr können als Kinder kriegen, sollte es wenigstens irgendwie logisch dargestellt werden, warum 50% einer Gesellschaft, die ums Überleben kämpft, kaum dafür herangezogen wird. Es ist definitiv eine Geschichte von einem Mann für Männer und über Männer!
Trotzdem bleibe ich bei den vier Sternen - ich hatte meinen Spaß!
I have a soft spot for vintage science fiction, so I got a lot out of this book, even if it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, is illogical at times and in the end leaves a lot to chance or relies on everything going as planned.
So I don't want to question the criticism of many negative reviews, it really depends a lot on what you want from a book.
It is definitely a pity that no focus was placed on the formation of new social structures and the position of women has not changed over 200 years. I would have wished for more here - even if a man in the 50s/60s can't imagine that women can do more than have children, it should at least be shown logically in some way why 50% of a society that is struggling to survive is hardly used. It's definitely a story by a man for men and about men!
Nevertheless, I'll stick with the four stars - I had my fun!
April 20, 2022
Space Prison has a lot of descriptive writing, which at times is good, especially if you're one for geological or environmental descriptions. However the author uses it too much for certain aspects that do not truly further the plot (there's only so much you want to know about wood goats, for example). The character development is shallow after the first round of characters are introduced at the beginning (to the point where you only get the name of the character). It is difficult to sustain disbelief with this story of fiction. There are oftentimes where the abilities, intelligence, or knowledge of the characters (who are labeled by the Gerns as Rejects, which seems ridiculous when you really think about that aspect of the story) seems to coincide with what the author wanted to accomplish with the plot and outcome, rather than what would actually be plausible, given so many restrictions and limitations of resources, etcetera (Yes, there were books and schools developed on Ragnarok, but how could these cover every topic needed to defeat a massive space empire?). Ultimately, the ending left me feeling conflicted. Yes there is a time for everything (a time for war, a time for peace, and so on). However it seemed that ultimately Godwin's characters *lived* for revenge. That was their end goal. Not hope. Not peace. Just 200 years surviving, bent on revenge. Is that what we are reduced when facing suffering? I hoped for Godwin to demonstrate some sort of redemptive resolution to the story (perhaps that is in a sequel?). Redeeming our pain and injustice calls us to go beyond mere survival for the sake of revenge. At least, that was where I had hoped Space Prison's story arc was going.
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