Author: Harry Harrison
Pages: 137
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Nelson Doubleday, 1964
Synopsis: “Deathworld II” finds our hero Jason dinAlt captured to face justice for his crimes, but the ever-wily gambler crashes his transport on a primitive planet populated by clans that hoard knowledge. It’s a difficult situation for a guy who just wants to get back to Pyrrus.
Review: The first few pages of this book took place on Pyrrus. The rest on a primitive planet where the people have forgotten nearly all the mechanical and scientific knowledge they once had. Their whole society is based on clans and slaves and the people are horrible to one another. Jason traded his own knowledge for survival and manages, eventually, to get rescued by Meta.
With each invention that Jason made out of things gotten from the people of the planet, I had this image in my mind of a MacGyver episode. Take a piece of metal, three paper clips and a matchbook and boom, you have a lamp. It wasn't quite that bad and I'm sure all the things he made could be made just the way the author describes. The problem is, it just wasn't a good enough story to keep me all that interested.
I wanted more about Pyrrus. I wanted to know how Jason's discoveries there changed the planet. None of that was in the offing. The third book is about yet another planet, so I'm going to pass. This one just didn't make me want to read any more.
Rating: 3.5 / 10
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