Space Prison

For $0.99, you can download and read the science fiction novel, "Space Prison" from Amazon.com.  This book is probably the most entertaining read I have ever purchased for $1.00.  I was hard pressed to put my e-reader down, the read was so thrilling and fast-paced.  Only the need to charge my e-reader forced me to interrupt my race to the finish.

"Space Prison", formerly called "The Survivors", was written in the 1950's by little known author, Tom Godwin.  The book is about a group of humans who are left to die on an inhospitable planet by the Gerns, an antagonistic alien race. The same night of their arrival on the planet, before the marooned humans can even find shelter, they are attacked by prowlers, a vicious indigenous feline species that remind me of the feline "thanators" that inhabit the planet, Pandora, in the movie Avatar. Not only are there vicious species predating on the humans, however, but there is also the unrelenting 1.5 G of their planet, as well as the 50 year long mini ice-age cycles which make it nearly impossible for humankind to adapt.

This tale is about how humans prevailed, even after running out of ammunition and food, and being diminished from the original population of 4000 to a mere 80. What keeps the humans going, is 200 years of gradual evolutionary adaptation, but more importantly the mission that unites them in exacting revenge against the Gerns.

What this book does well is to portray the hardship and cross-generational sacrifices the survivors undergo. The attempt to build a "hyper transmitter" device, for example takes humankind more than 150 years, and requires scouring the planet for metal, and many many deaths. Strikingly, design and fabrication of intermediary tools and equipment are ordered, which are later dismantled when their use is exhausted, pointing to the extreme long view of the leaders in charge. What is involved with surviving on this harsh planet also are endless experimentations with flora and fauna, and even accelerated species domestication and genetic selection. The relentless physiological adaptations made by the humans and domesticated animals, I found to be quite ingenious.

What this book does not do well is character development. Also, since it was written in the '50s, there is a slightly sexist flavor to the book.  All of the main characters without exception are males.  The only female characters stand apart for their nursing capabilities, or their dying during childbirth.  Many other reviewers have noted that the ending was rather abrupt. I agree with this criticism, but it did make for a quick read, which was exactly what I needed at the time: a good romping space opera.

I was aimlessly browsing for good science fiction books online when, for some reason, I found this book.  I don't know how the Amazon browsing algorithm works exactly, but I found this book within a couple of mouse clicks. It deserves to be at the top of the heap. In addition to being available at Amazon.com, the book is offered for free at gutenberg.org. Download this book and give it a spin. I personally, am looking forward to reading the sequel, "Space Barbarians" for free online, and I am hoping that a Hollywood movie will eventually be made.