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Space Prison
Space Prison
For seven weeks the Constellation had been plunging through hyperspace with her eight thousand colonists; fleeing like a hunted thing with her communicators silenced and her drives moaning and thundering. Up in the control room, Irene had been told, the needles of the dials danced against the red danger lines day and night. (Original title: The Survivors.)
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t have they done to us?"
She looked at the snow streaming from the ragged hills, felt the hard pull of the gravity, and knew where they were. They were on Ragnarok, the hell-world of 1.5 gravity and fierce beasts and raging fevers where men could not survive. The name came from an old Teutonic myth and meant: The last day for gods and men. The Dunbar Expedition had discovered Ragnarok and her father had told her of it, of how it had killed six of the eight men who had left the ship and would have killed all of them if they had remained any longer.
She knew where they were and she knew the Gerns had lied to them and would never send a ship to take them to Earth. Their abandonment there had been intended as a death sentence for all of them.
And Dale was gone and she and Billy would die helpless and alone....
"It will be dark--so soon." Billy's voice shook with the cold. "If Daddy can't find us in the dark, what will we do?"
"I don't know," she said. "There's no one to
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When I read this book I have a feeling that I read Edgar Rice Burroughs.
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Read this first as a short story many moons ago and considered it a good tale. Making it into a novel once again proves that more is sometimes less.
08/01/2015
As many reviewers already noted, this is an interesting survival story and a gripping read. What constantly annoyed me, however, is the fact that women are almost completely nonexistent in this novel. Considering that the book was published in 1958, I didn't expect to find a woman in a leading capacity, but here they only have the role of bearing children and nothing else; hardly ever is a woman mentioned by name. In fact, there are no relationships between people to speak of (except male friendship). There is of course no love story, but also no dissent, no compassion, just the constant struggle against the hostile environment. Still, in the end the Survivors rather improbably remain "decent human beings", as opposed to the sadistic Gerns ...
08/22/2011
The Space Barbarians is the Sequel to this..
Very good book.. So enjoyable.
Very good book.. So enjoyable.
06/22/2011
I read the paper back book when it came out way back in the early 60's, and never forgot it, what a surprise to find it again after so many years, yes it is a good read.
05/14/2011
Filthy humanoid race! Capture their spaceship and maroon thousands of humans; just leaving them to die on a nasty deserted alien planet, will you? You should know humans are tough and they'll be back to bite your *ss but GOOD for that nasty behavior! May take a while, though; and therein lies the story......
03/26/2011
Wonderful read. Flowing storyline...Science fiction at it's finest. Ready for sequel.
10/07/2010
SF fans will not want to miss this one. Excellent read.
10/05/2010
As good a book as any ever written in ANY genre.
Not for the ignorant or dimwits.
Not for the ignorant or dimwits.
03/26/2010
This has to be one of the best SF books I have ever read. A great story!
02/28/2010