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Perry Rhodan
Infinity Flight
Science-Fiction
- GenresScience FictionFiction
164 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 1962
About the author
Clark Darlton
961 books11 followersPen name of German science fiction author Walter Ernsting.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 8, 2023
Infinity is slightly exaggerated. Rhodan flies to the strange Planet of Barkon that somehow is located in the middle of nowhere 150.000 light years from our galaxy. He does it, not altogether voluntarily, with It the near God-like being that for some reason wants Rhodan to “inherit” the Universe.
The Barkonides, we learn, were the first humanoid species to colonize the Galaxy. A long time ago. A very long time ago. And now they are trying to get back home.
This is the first novel of the Rhodans I really liked reading. Nearly as much as I did 50 years ago. For a change it really is Science Fiction. A bit like Liu Cixin.
The attempt at humor is questionable even more so the ultimate reason why Rhodan contacted It. He wants weapons. But in this case, I found myself able to ignore this.
The Barkonides, we learn, were the first humanoid species to colonize the Galaxy. A long time ago. A very long time ago. And now they are trying to get back home.
This is the first novel of the Rhodans I really liked reading. Nearly as much as I did 50 years ago. For a change it really is Science Fiction. A bit like Liu Cixin.
The attempt at humor is questionable even more so the ultimate reason why Rhodan contacted It. He wants weapons. But in this case, I found myself able to ignore this.
May 23, 2020
For one magical moment, early in the Perry Rhodan series, things are not just cheesy, gosh-wow space opera - not just robots, bombs, and mutants (Robots, Bombs, and Mutants is an actual translated title of a later Perry Rhodan book, from when the series briefly became "mail order only" for North American fans) - not just space battles and awkward dialogue. All of a sudden, Infinity Flight punches beyond its weight class, and we get a sprinkling of Stapledon. Well, more than a sprinkling, actually; I would say this is fifty per cent dated space opera, and fifty per cent visionary SF of some sophistication.
Perry Rhodan and Reginald Bell absent themselves from the war with the Springers, to return to the Planet of Eternal Life, where they expect to cajole It, the Immortal Unknown, out of another big favour: they want a death-dealing super-weapon. They fully expect to deal with It's eccentric sense of humour and teasing, and maybe more tests, like last time...
The Immortal Unknown pulls some weird, (cringe-y?) pranks...but no hoops to jump. Instead, as Perry gets a gander at some displays of ancient cosmic history, he gets up to speed on how the Barkonides, whose solar system drifted away into a state of galactic isolation, accidentally destroyed themselves trying to re-locate their planet out of the cosmic boondocks. Perry sort of casually mentions to the Immortal Unknown that he feels pity, and wishes he could go back and save the Barkonides from extinction, and It casually says "Well, let's at least go back 150,000 years and take a look...".
The resulting incredible journey through time and space, plus back again, leads to hints at how intelligent life evolved in the universe and spread across it - and of course we see if Perry Rhodan can alter a major chunk cosmic history.
Any jokes from anybody are still pretty lousy - certainly in translation from German to English - and the stuff to do with the Springers, and ultimate weapons, is still fairly simplistic, and typical of this action-oriented, somewhat militaristic space opera series in its early days. Later, the elements that elevate Infinity Flight would become the norm, is my understanding (it is a pity later Perry Rhodan story arcs spanning many books have never been translated into English. yet.)
This is a bit like watching Star Trek TOS, and suddenly getting to 'City on the Edge of Forever'.
Perry Rhodan and Reginald Bell absent themselves from the war with the Springers, to return to the Planet of Eternal Life, where they expect to cajole It, the Immortal Unknown, out of another big favour: they want a death-dealing super-weapon. They fully expect to deal with It's eccentric sense of humour and teasing, and maybe more tests, like last time...
The Immortal Unknown pulls some weird, (cringe-y?) pranks...but no hoops to jump. Instead, as Perry gets a gander at some displays of ancient cosmic history, he gets up to speed on how the Barkonides, whose solar system drifted away into a state of galactic isolation, accidentally destroyed themselves trying to re-locate their planet out of the cosmic boondocks. Perry sort of casually mentions to the Immortal Unknown that he feels pity, and wishes he could go back and save the Barkonides from extinction, and It casually says "Well, let's at least go back 150,000 years and take a look...".
The resulting incredible journey through time and space, plus back again, leads to hints at how intelligent life evolved in the universe and spread across it - and of course we see if Perry Rhodan can alter a major chunk cosmic history.
Any jokes from anybody are still pretty lousy - certainly in translation from German to English - and the stuff to do with the Springers, and ultimate weapons, is still fairly simplistic, and typical of this action-oriented, somewhat militaristic space opera series in its early days. Later, the elements that elevate Infinity Flight would become the norm, is my understanding (it is a pity later Perry Rhodan story arcs spanning many books have never been translated into English. yet.)
This is a bit like watching Star Trek TOS, and suddenly getting to 'City on the Edge of Forever'.
March 9, 2020
Чуть ли не лучший выпуск на данный момент. Тут и завязка в духе оригинального Звездного Пути, и интересная и полная деталей основная история, и мощная концовка со взрывами ядерных бомб.
Практически полностью состоит из статей с tvTropes, но хуже это никому не делает.
Практически полностью состоит из статей с tvTropes, но хуже это никому не делает.
May 17, 2023
We take a pause here from the 'snowman' plot to go on a little metaphysical journey. Apparently, Ace books decided we Americans only like 'space stuff', so they skipped what sounds like an awesome story about the Springers managing to start a robot revolutio on Earth... this is one of those days where I think I might need to learn German to actually read these! Anyway, this story has Perry being concerned that the Springers have found Earth and wanting a new 'peace through superior Firepower' weapon, so he goes back to the Wanderer (now called IT) and gets it. IN the process it takes a trip in between Galaxies to find the Barkons, who many or may not have seeded the Galaxy with intelligent life before their sun broke away from the Milky Way. Lots of Timey-Wimey stuff, but some fun pretend physics... and the god-like It takes the time to prank Reggie, because that's what you do if you're in a Perry Rhodan story.
The 'shock shorts' here are 1/2 pages that were uncredited and could have been written by high schoolers.. but the continuation of Richard Vaughan's story is pretty good... the lands on the planet of his exile, finds a girl lab assistant stowed away, and they get to work fixing the planet they landed on, which of course will also save Earth from the doom he predicted. Nothing too out of the ordinary for classic sci fi, but a solid story.
The 'shock shorts' here are 1/2 pages that were uncredited and could have been written by high schoolers.. but the continuation of Richard Vaughan's story is pretty good... the lands on the planet of his exile, finds a girl lab assistant stowed away, and they get to work fixing the planet they landed on, which of course will also save Earth from the doom he predicted. Nothing too out of the ordinary for classic sci fi, but a solid story.
February 20, 2020
A nice excursion from the main plot, with Rhodan doing some time travel shenanigans that could pay off in the future
November 15, 2015
Perry Rhodan #24 - English translation.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews