Kill or be killed! The trilogy is one of Harrisons best machinegun typewriter books by far. The opening premise of the first novel is that Deathworld is a jungle planet teeming with life that evolves with a speed and ferocity unlike any other planet in the universe. To survive for even a moment on the surface you must be superbly trained and superbly armed and prepared to kill hordes of clever and supremely deadly predators. And then you need to figure out how to get work done in the meanwhile! ...
This was the first science fiction book I read as a kid (too many years ago than I care to count) and it stimulated my interest in the genre. Planet of the Damned is classic science fiction and a coming of age story. The hero, Brion, is a young man given his first opportunity to prove his worthiness by trying to save Dis, a horrible planet that seems hell bent on self destruction. Harrisons imagination fills the page with sweeping scenery. It is proof that epic science fiction does not need to...
