(Dean Ellis’ cover for the 1972 edition)

3/5 (Average)

I’ve found that the science fiction trope reconstructing a fallen empire/meandering in the wreckage of an empire one of the most seductive of the genre.  The idea of a disconnected landscape filled with the ruins of empire — giant edifice ever more consumed by vegetation, technology unable to be used, spaceships empty in space — is so transfixing that I pick up every example published before 1980 that I find.  Unfortunately, works like David Gerrold’s Space Skimmer (1972) and John Brunner’s collection Interstellar Empire  (1976) are evidence that seductive trope or not, the delivery is often less than delectable.

I must confess that I picked up the novel because of the cover blurb: “The ultimate spaceship in the hands of a barbarian…”  And the intriguing Dean Ellis cover…  Little did I know the blurb should read “the ultimate spaceship in the hands of a barbarian who spouts endless streams of bad poetry, an annoying little prince, Continue reading →