Space Prison, The Survivors (The science fiction thriller classic!)
The science fiction novel by author Tom Godwin was first published in 1958 under the title The Survivors. It was later published in 1960 under the title Space Prison. The novel is an expansion of Godwin’s story “Too Soon to Die” which first appeared in the magazine Venture. A ship heading from Earth to Athena, a planet 500 light years away, is suddenly attacked by the Gerns, an alien empire in its expansion phase. People aboard are divided by the invaders into Acceptables and Rejects. The Acceptables would become slave labor for the Gerns on Athena, and the Rejects are forced ashore on the nearest ‘Earth-like’ planet, called Ragnarok. The Gerns say they will return for the Rejects, but the Rejects quickly realise that that isn’t going to happen…
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A truly great find!,
I agree with the previous reviewer. This is great sci-fi writing. Epic storytelling that is full of action and adventure. There are also quite a few surprises along the way. The pulpy name of the novel might turn off some, but it’s really not reflective of the how good the story really is. I know it was re-released a couple of years ago as “The Survivors” and that name is more accurate.
The story and plot are several notches above most writing of the period and this now one of my favorite books. They should try to make a movie out of this….
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|A very entertaining book, but not without flaws,
Overall, this was a very entertaining book, and when I was finished with it, checked to see if there was a sequel (there isn’t); so I would definitely recommend it. It’s original title, “The Survivors”, describes the book well. It follows a group of people who are stranded on an uninhabited but hostile planet. Over several generations, they have to adapt to their environment in order to survive.
The book does a great job of portraying the feelings of helplessness and despair the people feel in the beginning, and how that changes to acceptance and survival, and ultimately to confidence and mastery. The challenges are interesting and come from both the environment and from the people themselves. The challenges are varied enough that the book stays fresh throughout.
The beginning and especially the end almost feel like afterthoughts. This doesn’t detract too much from the excellent middle part, but it’s definitely jarring how quickly things get resolved in the end. You also definitely need to suspend your disbelief to an extent while you’re reading, since some of the events are fairly incredible, e.g. the speed with which they adapt to the environment. In addition, because the story spans multiple generations, it makes it more difficult to identify with the characters.
Altogether though, none of these flaws ruins what was a very enjoyable read that left me wanting more.
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|Surviving and Preparing for Revenge!,
Tom Godwin (1915-1980) has a strange career as a sci-fi writer. He has written only three novels and around thirty short stories. With such exiguous production he managed to deliver an outstanding tale: “The Cold Equations” (1954) and a very readable novel: “Space Prison” (1958) (aka “The Survivors”).
His works are very representative of the sci-fi from the `50s: not so great character development, action centered storyline, young adult readers oriented.
Nevertheless the present book managed to have a Gnome Press edition and at least two Pyramid Books edition, a good performance for a little known author.
The story starts when war between Humans and Gerns erupted. In this context a human interstellar ship with eight thousand colonists is captured. Half of the group is stranded in a hellish planet very suitably named Ragnarok.
The four thousand Rejects has to face 1.5 gravity pull, prowlers (a deadly mixture of wolf & tiger), unicorns (massive murderous bulls), Hell Fever, rotten weather (in short term and long term) amongst other “hazards”.
Their numbers soon dwindle to forty nine!
From that point on generation after generation the Rejected, steel themselves with only one aim: take revenge on the Gerns.
One special attribute of this novel is, not being centered on a character but on successive generations of them, encompassing a two hundred years span.
This is a good sample of 50’s sci-fi lit.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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