Wasp

ISBN: 978-0-575-12904-7

First published 1957

180 pages

Publisher: Gollancz / www.orionbooks.co.uk / www.gollancz.co.uk

Cover illustration by Dominic Harman

3.5 / 5 Stars

A different type of science fiction book. Although an interstellar war is the backdrop, all the action takes place on one planet, and a single region on that planet.

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities with the Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison. James Mowry is easily cast as a pseudo-Slippery James (Jim) Di Griz, and both are written in the first person.

Whereas the Stainless Steel Rat is funny and has oodles of personality and character, the character of James Mowry is only thinly drawn. He too gets out of tight spots and causes havoc, and it is those plot twists and cliff hangers that keep the reader engaged.

The book could also been seen as a treatise against all-out war. No-one is keen on the war, the population only endures until it is finally over. James Mowry lands on Jaimec, 94th planet of the Sirian Empire at war with Earth. Earth has better tech, the Sirian Empire has more people. James causes trouble and paranoia amongst the army that causes them to look for more than one man.

However the war endures and endures, and at the finale there is no resolution of the war, and no resolution of the storyline. James is sent to another planet to do the same thing.

A better climax would have earned more stars.