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Lucky Starr
Apr. 11th, 2006 09:39 amBack in the 1950s, Isaac Asimov wrote a series of books for children, following the adventures of David "Lucky" Starr. Since there was some chance that the books could be options for television (and SF Television was a horror at the time), he wrote the books under the pseudonym of Paul French. The books each focused on a different planet of the Solar System and were scientifically plausible, based on the information known at that time. These stories are all somewhat more action-oriented than the rest of Asimov's writings, but still rely heavily on the use of intellect to wend the protagonist's way through a series of clever plot twists/mysteries. The inclusion of scientific information in the stories is done in a rather pedantic manner, but the books are still quite readable.
17. David Starr, Space Ranger
This is the first book in the Lucky Starr series and introduces us to the titular hero, David Starr. He is the newest member of the Council of Science, which apparently governs and polices the worlds at a high level. Really, the governing of the planets is nearly completely glossed over. Also essentially glossed over is the idea that Lucky was mutated by stellar radiation as a young child, when he was lost in space after his parents were killed by a pirate attack. I suppose that Asimov felt compelled to come up with some rationale for why Lucky was better, stronger, faster, smarter (we can rebuild him, we have the technology) than the rest of the world.
There is trouble...trouble right there on Mars city, my friends. Someone is poisoning the food coming from the vast farms of Mars, breadbasket of the Solar System. The person involved is blackmailing the powerful farming czars over the whole deal, as well. This is, of course, an excuse for Asimov to write a Spaghetti western, full of unabashed stereotypes. Lets start with John "Bigman" Jones, pint sized farmboy with a chip on his shoulder. We have the standard formula of everyone suddenly supporting and respecting the outsider after he beats the hell out of the nasty veteran farmboy. Asimov doesn't stint the western cliches at all.
The key sequence (for the series) in this book is the one where Lucky is taken beneath the surface of the planet by the ancient martians. These are beings of pure mental energy (a cliche later, but not yet an overused idea at the time) who give him a bizarre soft mask that surrounds him in a forcefield when he wears it. He uses this to create the character of the (dah dah DAH!) Space Ranger, who resolves the entire situation neatly, trapping the (literally) mad scientist who is poisoning the food. Bigman proves himself clever and observant by cracking the Space Ranger disguise and is recruited as Tonto to Lucky's Lone Ranger for the remainder of the series.
A decent book for kids, more so when it was written than today. Still, not a waste of paper even now. Asimov's writing is a bit plodding for most children, but it isn't too bad.
18. Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids
This is the second in the series. Pirates swarm the asteroids, interfering with legitimate shipping between the planets. Lucky sneaks on to a decoy ship that is being sent out, loaded with explosives, in order to draw in the pirates for destruction. He reveals the bombs to the captain and is taken aboard as a possible recruit. Not quite trusted enough to be let free on the huge pirate base, he is left with a hermit on another asteroid in order to be held safely while they determine whether he is trustworthy.
The hermit recognizes him (by his resemblance to his father when his temper flares) and performs other feats of insight for the admiring crowd (of readers). They journey to the nearby base of the Council of Science on one of the major asteroids and there is a raid, where the hermit is taken by the pirates. Suddenly it all makes sense for Lucky, though not everyone else. He backtracks his way to the hermit's asteroid, melts the tin-can trash heap near it and confronts the pirates. He reveals that he knows that their base is on the other side of the asteroid from the hermit's dome and that he knows the asteroid has engines so that it can be moved. Space fight action and clever conversation ensues, ending with him taking the pirate leaders into custody once they know they can't escape (easy to track even a powered asteroid if there is a large metal mirror on it - the melted cans). The lower level pirates become citizens of the asteroids, Lucky reveals that he knows the hermit was captain of the pirate ship that killed his parents and all is well that ends well. Moral lessons learned, information about the asteroids is dispensed to the children and we move onward towards another book.
"A decent book for kids, more so when it was written than today. Still, not a waste of paper even now. Asimov's writing is a bit plodding for most children, but it isn't too bad." :)
17. David Starr, Space Ranger
This is the first book in the Lucky Starr series and introduces us to the titular hero, David Starr. He is the newest member of the Council of Science, which apparently governs and polices the worlds at a high level. Really, the governing of the planets is nearly completely glossed over. Also essentially glossed over is the idea that Lucky was mutated by stellar radiation as a young child, when he was lost in space after his parents were killed by a pirate attack. I suppose that Asimov felt compelled to come up with some rationale for why Lucky was better, stronger, faster, smarter (we can rebuild him, we have the technology) than the rest of the world.
There is trouble...trouble right there on Mars city, my friends. Someone is poisoning the food coming from the vast farms of Mars, breadbasket of the Solar System. The person involved is blackmailing the powerful farming czars over the whole deal, as well. This is, of course, an excuse for Asimov to write a Spaghetti western, full of unabashed stereotypes. Lets start with John "Bigman" Jones, pint sized farmboy with a chip on his shoulder. We have the standard formula of everyone suddenly supporting and respecting the outsider after he beats the hell out of the nasty veteran farmboy. Asimov doesn't stint the western cliches at all.
The key sequence (for the series) in this book is the one where Lucky is taken beneath the surface of the planet by the ancient martians. These are beings of pure mental energy (a cliche later, but not yet an overused idea at the time) who give him a bizarre soft mask that surrounds him in a forcefield when he wears it. He uses this to create the character of the (dah dah DAH!) Space Ranger, who resolves the entire situation neatly, trapping the (literally) mad scientist who is poisoning the food. Bigman proves himself clever and observant by cracking the Space Ranger disguise and is recruited as Tonto to Lucky's Lone Ranger for the remainder of the series.
A decent book for kids, more so when it was written than today. Still, not a waste of paper even now. Asimov's writing is a bit plodding for most children, but it isn't too bad.
18. Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids
This is the second in the series. Pirates swarm the asteroids, interfering with legitimate shipping between the planets. Lucky sneaks on to a decoy ship that is being sent out, loaded with explosives, in order to draw in the pirates for destruction. He reveals the bombs to the captain and is taken aboard as a possible recruit. Not quite trusted enough to be let free on the huge pirate base, he is left with a hermit on another asteroid in order to be held safely while they determine whether he is trustworthy.
The hermit recognizes him (by his resemblance to his father when his temper flares) and performs other feats of insight for the admiring crowd (of readers). They journey to the nearby base of the Council of Science on one of the major asteroids and there is a raid, where the hermit is taken by the pirates. Suddenly it all makes sense for Lucky, though not everyone else. He backtracks his way to the hermit's asteroid, melts the tin-can trash heap near it and confronts the pirates. He reveals that he knows that their base is on the other side of the asteroid from the hermit's dome and that he knows the asteroid has engines so that it can be moved. Space fight action and clever conversation ensues, ending with him taking the pirate leaders into custody once they know they can't escape (easy to track even a powered asteroid if there is a large metal mirror on it - the melted cans). The lower level pirates become citizens of the asteroids, Lucky reveals that he knows the hermit was captain of the pirate ship that killed his parents and all is well that ends well. Moral lessons learned, information about the asteroids is dispensed to the children and we move onward towards another book.
"A decent book for kids, more so when it was written than today. Still, not a waste of paper even now. Asimov's writing is a bit plodding for most children, but it isn't too bad." :)
