| Author: | Poul Anderson |
| Copyright: | 1982 |
| Date Reviewed: | 3/2/85 |
| Rating: | 5.0 |
Review/Synopsis: "Starship" is the final anthology in "The Psychotechnic League" trilogy and a definite disappointment. The first book, called "The Psychotechnic League" was also disappointing - fours stories, two of which were virtually identical. However the second book, "Cold Victory" was much better so it was reasonable to expect the next one to be better still. Instead we are given several too similar stories, most of which take place in some now primitive society.
"Gypsy" is much like first stories of the previous two books. It's about a husband and wife who along with several other families landed on a deserted planet 20 years ago after searching for Earth for the previous 20 years. They decide that they really liked roaming the galaxy and they go off and do it again. No story, just an introduction to the rest of the book.
"Starship" is about a group of humans who crash landed in a primitive society many years go. Their starship is still in orbit and it's taken them many years to teach and convince the locals to build a shuttle so they can return. Soon before the shuttle is to take off, there is a coupe and the humans still who are alive plot to steal the ship from the new rebel king. Considering the tremendous effort it took us to put a man in orbit, I find it difficult to believe that a society that doesn't even use guns could achieve the same ends.
"Virgin Planet" was even more unbelievable. Hundreds of years ago a ship with only women on board destined for a planet with only men (give me a break!) crashes into an uncharted planet. For all this time they've cloned copies of themselves so that one original is now a whole class of women. They dream about the day when the godlike Men will arrive and set them free. When a ship does land, the man is taken as a Monster and caged. He escapes during a bloody coupe (another one fought with knives and swords) and with three other women go in search of aid to get his ship back. During the rest of the story he almost has sex four times but each time he's stopped just at the last moment. After the second incident, the rest were tediously obvious. Another fault with this story is that the women demonstrated love and jealousy as if these emotions are a basic part of womanhood instead of learned through society; very sexist.
In "Tuecan", a man arrives at a primitive society and becomes a cherished god for one year until he is sacrifices.
"The Pirate" was the best story of the lot about an agent tracking a known white collar criminal. The criminal claims to be able to set up living space for a planet, complete with houses and facilities, for the same price as a new planet. In reality he's found a planet where the population was killed 500 years before by a supernova. This planet really belongs to the scientists to preserve the memory of the lost civilization and through a somewhat interesting duel, the agent ensures this.
The trilogy ends with "The Chapter Ends" which unlike the other stories, takes place 50,000 years in the future. At this time Earth consists only of backwater country folk. By mutual agreement, the galactics have given Earth to another totally alien civilization whose power and transportation tools interfere with the humans. The story is about the final evacuation of mother Earth and the one man who wouldn't leave. It is not a bad story but it doesn't belong in this anthology. Overall "The Psychotechnic League" trilogy is quite a waste.