Just Finished Reading: A Man Called Destiny by Lan Wright (FP: 1958)
Richard Argyle knew that it was just dumb bad luck – to land with engine trouble on the only nearby rock that didn’t qualify to have a TeePee (slang for a telepath) in residence for emergency communications. There was nothing for it but wait for the regular monthly supply ship to arrive and ask them to relay a message onwards. But when the new engine arrived so did a representative of one of the largest trading companies in the Galaxy and he carried with him two messages. Firstly that Argyle’s ex-wife had died and second that her ex-boss, one of the richest off-world traders was offering him a job. Given a few weeks to think about it whilst his ship was repaired he finally decided to accept. But on making contact with the representative again Argyle found himself under arrest on suspicion of potential murder. With more deaths to follow Argyle needs to figure out why a common engineer has become so important in the battle between Earth and the trading companies it has become so dependent on. But time is running out as both enemies and dangerous friends try to use him for their own ends.
This was a fairly typical late 50’s SF novel. Short (only 160 pages) with a minimal storyline that could easily have been told in another non-SF genre without too many changes, with precious little character development and a host of sub-plots that ended up going nowhere. Potentially there might have been a half decent idea in there somewhere but the author was clearly incapable of producing one. Barely readable it made little sense overall and I never really cared about any of the characters or their problems. Not recommended even for nostalgic reasons. (R)
9 comments:
i rememberr this book!! i loved it... this sort of mindless sci fi got me hooked on reading; i remember losing myself so thoroughly in it that i (sob)even forgot to mow the lawn! (@16)
Too bad that this was so weak. I love pulpish science fiction but the execution needs to be right. Above all else, books like this need to be fun.
One of the reasons Isaac Asimov supported the original Star Trek, I've read, was that it was using science fiction to tell unique stories that were 100% science fiction, not just generic stories with a SF hat on. This sounds like a story with just a hat on?
@ Mudpuddle: I know what you mean. I DEVOURED books like this back in my teens. I have no problem understanding how I used to be able to read 100 books a year back then. A book like this would take me two days to finish - tops! But after a while the thinness of the narrative pushed me to better and longer books. More from that era to come - hopefully better ones!
@ Brian: Some of the early pulp SF was excellent - from the 30's onward. I loved it in my early reading years. Not sure if I'd have the same reaction now though!
@ Stephen: Yes, pretty much. The SF elements were pretty much purely a thin veneer. It could have easily been a cowboy or a urban crime novel - this just added spaceships and telepaths.
another one i loved was A.E. van Vogt: Slan i thought at the time was the best book i ever read... i picked it up recently and it was duhh, ugh... lo how the mighty have fallen!
Well, some of them were hacks and some were greats. Asimov, sometimes Heinlein. I have read quite a few as part of My Big Fat Reading Project. I have not ever run across this guy.
he was quite popular once upon a time, in the fifties and early sixties...
I guess I should read MUCH more SF if I'm going to get this level of comments! [lol] I'm reading one right now actually & there's MANY more to come....
@ Mudpuddle: Oh, I read LOTS of Van Vogt in my teens and 20's. I can't remember a single plot line but I could probably roll off a list of titles and certainly remember liking them. Never heard of this guy until I rediscovered him in a pile of old books I have.
@ Judy: I think the demand for new work in the 30's to 50's was so intense the publishing bar was quite low. Plus I guess the publishing houses didn't quite know what was 'good' yet. But the era did produce its fair share of dross - and nuggets of greatness!
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