Re: Highlights and Lowlights - September-October 2024

On 11/11/2024 11:57 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
[snip]
 > [re: The Stainless Steel Rat books and Harry Harrison]
 > I believe I read all the SSR books at one time but I cannot now
 > recall any specifics beyond the premise.  Perhaps time for another
 > go.
I loved the first book (1961) and liked the next two (1970-1972). I thought that the series began to deteriorate around book 4 (1978).
 > As far as Harrison, I recall liking the "Deathword" books,
The first book was very nice. The two sequels were not as good, but still readable.
 > "Technicolor Time Machine" (though admittedly, it's a one joke
 > premise) & "Star Smashers Of the Galaxy Rangers".  As we discussed
 > recently here, I read that when I was about 13, and when I looked
 > at "Bill The Galactic Hero" it seemed very heavy handed to me and
 > I didn't finish it.  I'm a bit scared I would think the same about
 > Smashers now.  Of his late works, I liked the King of the North
 > series (or whatever it was called) though I suspect a lot of it was
 > his co-author, and it fell a bit off the rails at the end.
FWIW, I thought that _Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers_ (1973) was even more heavy-handed than _Bill the Galactic Hero_ (1965), but it's worth noting that I read _Bill the Galactic Hero_ first. It's possible that it was a case of:
 > Are two types of jokes. One sort goes on being funny forever.
 > Other sort is funny once. Second time it's dull.
I liked _The Technicolor Time Machine_ (1967) a lot more even though it was, as you said, a one joke book. (In retrospect, it may have been inspired by G. C. Edmondson's _The Ship That Sailed the Time Stream_ (1965).)
Scanning the rest of Harrison's output (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?28), my recollections are as follows:
1. _Planet of the Damned_ (1962). A passable adventure, but not in the same league as the first Deathworld novel.
2. _Make Room! Make Room!_ (1966). No introductions are needed since it was filmed as _Soylent Green_ in 1973
3. _Captive Universe_ (1969). A decent take on Heinlein's _Orphans of the Sky_.
4. The _Eden_ trilogy (1984-1988). A dinosaurs-vs-humanoids alternative history. Forgettable writing/characterization, but possibly Harrison's most ambitious world-building effort.