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My copy of Alpha Centauri or Die! was previously owned by a Dennis Kragel, who inscribed his name on the book in at least four places. As well as Mr. Kragel's name, on the very first page of the book we see an odd ink stamp, showing a happy child and the letter "A." I want to believe that Mr. Kragel had a vast science fiction library and had a set of stamps, A, B, C, D and F, that he used to record a grade for each book. Or maybe Mr. Kragel had a teacher at school who awarded "A" students with paperback books? Awesome!
So, I already love the hell out of this book as a physical artifact. But is it worth reading?
Yes! Alpha Centauri or Die! is a fun adventure story that makes you say, "Of course George Lucas wanted this chick to write a Star Wars movie!" People are shooting, space ships are exploding, a boarding party breaks into a robot ship that is about to launch a nuclear missile at the defenseless vessel their families are in, a woman is using her telepathic powers, aliens are using their teleportation powers. (My spell check wants to read a story about aliens using their deportation powers.)
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Our hero is Kirby, who spent his early career in space before all the "Stabilization Acts" were passed. Kirby is an Earthman living on Mars with his second wife, a Martian woman, Shari, who has telepathic powers. You can believe those telepathic powers come in handy when Kirby is trying to escape the authorities. The authorities are after him because Kirby and his buddies still dream of sailing the void, and they have been refurbishing an illegal starship in a secluded part of the Martian desert!
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The final third of the 147 page book takes place on a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, where Kirby and company meet benevolent aliens who help protect them from pursuing government drone ships. These aliens do have a deus ex machina element to them (how else will Kirby fight off a space navy which has the resources of the entire solar system at its disposal?) but Brackett also seems to be presenting these aliens as a foil for humankind. The Alpha Centaurans are super-powerful but also absolutely unambitious and even decadent, and Kirby suggests that the human race, because it has to work for its achievements, has actually been dealt a better hand by fate.
I can't resist the temptation to compare Alpha Centauri or Die! with James Blish's And All the Stars a Stage, which I read just a few days ago. Both novels are about people who leave behind a socialistic society to be the first of their race to explore the stars, and both vocally espouse traditional ideas about gender roles. Blish's book is probably more "ambitious" and "sciencefictiony" with its science and economics lectures and its speculations about the origins of Earth religious myths. But Brackett's book is better written when it comes to pacing and characters. And All the Stars a Stage feels cold and slow, and pessimistic, while Alpha Centauri or Die! is quick and passionate, and optimistic about humanity's ability to accomplish great things. (Brackett's optimism is a mature one that doesn't pretend change, progress, and adventure doesn't entail sacrifice and risk.) Brackett also tries to portray love relationships, between Kirby and Shari, between the other adventurous men and their (perhaps not so adventurous) wives, between the mothers and their children, and even between the telepathic Shari and the Alpha Centaurans. I remember the human relationships in Blish's And All the Stars a Stage being uninteresting or actually demeaning.
Alpha Centauri or Die! is a good adventure story, a solid piece of entertainment I'm happy to recommend to SF fans.
I read Brackett's The Big Jump -- it was solid pulp. This sounds even more fun! Did you know she also wrote quite a few screenplays for Westerns? And, her most famous screenplay, The Big Sleep.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in a 1969 essay that appears in Sea-Kings of Mars and Otherworldly Stories (Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks 46) she talks a little about working with William Faulkner, Humphrey Bogart and Howard Hawks.
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