Random Book Review, March-April 2002

Something quite cheesy.

Review of 'Escape Velocity' by Christopher Stasheff, 1983
by Jack Carlson

What attracted me to this book at first was, unfortunately, not the cover. Even though the cover is quite cheesy, a garish yellow background/sky with a green knight that really stands out from the bright yellow. One might think this book was about an era like the middle ages at first glance, because of the green knight is fighting a silvery knight. However, the three spaceships flying overhead at full thrust quickly dispenses with that vision. That might lead the beholder to the thought that this has absolutely nothing to do with the book. What is then a surprise is that this actually happens in the heavily Deus Exed ending.

What actually drew me to this book was that the name is the same as my favorite computer game.

The book start out boring, and ends up worse. The two main characters of this book, Dar and Samantha, meet on a out-of-the-way planet called Wolmar in, not surprisingly in this predictable book, a bar. Dar works as a trader for a man called Cholly, who wants to barely to turn a profit so he can 'teach the natives about trade and commerce.' So, he sells the violent natives powerful handguns made specifically for the Terran Army, but as an excuse, he sells them as spare parts so the the Wolmen can 'learn how to construct things.'

Luckily, the book begins to get better at this point, but only in places. This is one of them. The reader finds out about regularly scheduled wars. The 'wars' are not meant to injure participants, instead the men and Wolmen hit each other with sticks that have chalk on the end of them. If someone gets hit, they have to pay the one who hit them. Then, they go off to the 'Dead' table and trade beer jokes.

If you enjoy boredom, you can attempt to find this book. Because it was printed in 1983, you will NOT be able to find it on Amazon.com or in Barnes and Noble. I found a single copy in the Parchment used book store, where it has undoubtedly been sitting ever since it came out. If you are able to find this book, be forewarned: Two Sequels!

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