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Federation of Humanity
Warlord's World
Book by Anuil, Christopher
- GenresScience FictionFiction
207 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
45 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Anvil
163 books31 followersChristopher Anvil was a pseudonym used by author Harry C. Crosby. He began publishing science fiction with the story "Cinderella, Inc." in the December 1952 issue of the science fiction magazine Imagination. By 1956, he had adopted his pseudonym and was being published in Astounding Magazine.
Anvil's repeated appearances in Astounding/Analog were due in part to his ability to write to one of Campbell's preferred plots: alien opponents with superior firepower losing out to the superior intelligence or indomitable will of humans. A second factor is his stories are nearly always humorous throughout. Another was his characterization and manner of story crafting, where his protagonists slid from disaster to disaster with the best of intentions, and through exercise of fast thinking, managed to snatch victory somehow from the jaws of defeat.
Anvil's repeated appearances in Astounding/Analog were due in part to his ability to write to one of Campbell's preferred plots: alien opponents with superior firepower losing out to the superior intelligence or indomitable will of humans. A second factor is his stories are nearly always humorous throughout. Another was his characterization and manner of story crafting, where his protagonists slid from disaster to disaster with the best of intentions, and through exercise of fast thinking, managed to snatch victory somehow from the jaws of defeat.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 12, 2020
DAW Collectors #168
Cover Artist: Kelly Freas.
Name: Crosby, Harry Christopher, Birthplace: Norwich, Connecticut, USA, (11 March 1925 - 30 November 2009)
Alternate Names Harry C. Crosby.
Federation of Humanity Series.
Vaughan Roberts, go-to Interstellar Patrol interloper and guinea pig gets his mind transferred into the body of a nobleman on a planet where a takeover power play looks like is happening.
Cover Artist: Kelly Freas.
Name: Crosby, Harry Christopher, Birthplace: Norwich, Connecticut, USA, (11 March 1925 - 30 November 2009)
Alternate Names Harry C. Crosby.
Federation of Humanity Series.
Vaughan Roberts, go-to Interstellar Patrol interloper and guinea pig gets his mind transferred into the body of a nobleman on a planet where a takeover power play looks like is happening.
October 2, 2025
Warlord's World is a fun interstellar romp in Anvil's (pseudonym of Harry C. Crosby) Interstellar Patrol sequence, which was a part of his Federation of Humanity series. Vaughan Roberts is an I.P. agent who gets involved with a damsel-in-distress (a princess, to boot) on the planet Festhold, a place overrun with warlords and military adventures. Despite a kind of prolonged sidetrack in the middle involving mind/body swapping it's a fun romp, a caper in the spirit of Keith Laumer or James H. Schmitz, good for fans of Eric Frank Russell. The original DAW edition has a neat Kelly Freas cover that fits it perfectly.
November 6, 2018
Warlord's World is decidedly pulp. The Interstellar Patrol is a service in the Federation of Humanity with excellent ships and technology, and a fair amount of latitude in powers (one wonders just what the organization of the Federation is, but this is obviously out on the outskirts or frontiers).
The first section of the book starts the action immediately when Vaughan Roberts senses an appeal for help from a beautiful woman (who of course turns out to be a princess), and rescues here through quick reflexes and bluff. He swears her in as a candidate member of the Patrol—which of course entitles her to the protection of the Patrol. And then the novel does not go anywhere you might expect from that, and while an important act for the plot in a couple of places, it doesn't really come up again until the denouement.
The middle section is interesting in it's own right, as Roberts goes on an 'inside job', where his consciousness is transferred into the princess' brother, and they're combined competences allow the defeat of a wide variety of dastardly plots. It's actually well done, but not what you expect after the first few chapters. The ending section leaves that behind, with both protagonists getting screen time, and finally setting things to rights.
One of Anvil's strengths is he does very well with action and derring-do, and this novel has lots of that. It's a light, fun, uncomplicated book in the best pulp tradition, and keeps a fast pace throughout, with a couple pauses to transition from one overall section to another. The ending section gets a bit overdone, with more complications and curves thrown at it that it needed, but it still doesn't bog down.
The first section of the book starts the action immediately when Vaughan Roberts senses an appeal for help from a beautiful woman (who of course turns out to be a princess), and rescues here through quick reflexes and bluff. He swears her in as a candidate member of the Patrol—which of course entitles her to the protection of the Patrol. And then the novel does not go anywhere you might expect from that, and while an important act for the plot in a couple of places, it doesn't really come up again until the denouement.
The middle section is interesting in it's own right, as Roberts goes on an 'inside job', where his consciousness is transferred into the princess' brother, and they're combined competences allow the defeat of a wide variety of dastardly plots. It's actually well done, but not what you expect after the first few chapters. The ending section leaves that behind, with both protagonists getting screen time, and finally setting things to rights.
One of Anvil's strengths is he does very well with action and derring-do, and this novel has lots of that. It's a light, fun, uncomplicated book in the best pulp tradition, and keeps a fast pace throughout, with a couple pauses to transition from one overall section to another. The ending section gets a bit overdone, with more complications and curves thrown at it that it needed, but it still doesn't bog down.
March 26, 2018
Very amusing and silly, a good study for 50's SF tropes.
1. Rescue the trophy princess!
2. Silly science supports story! (say it 3 times fast)
3. Monarchy and nobility are mankind's future.
Anvil wrote a whole slew of these over an almost forty year period using a formula, the last was in 1990. A fun example of pulp SF.
1. Rescue the trophy princess!
2. Silly science supports story! (say it 3 times fast)
3. Monarchy and nobility are mankind's future.
Anvil wrote a whole slew of these over an almost forty year period using a formula, the last was in 1990. A fun example of pulp SF.
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August 22, 2008Warlord's World by Christopher Anvil (2000)
February 2, 2011
Grade C+
June 10, 2015
I read this as part of the Interstellar Patrol omnibuses. I liked the book and was hoping that there was a sequel somewhere.
May 22, 2015
The Interstellar Patrol strikes again!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews