- Paperback: 141 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Reissue edition (Mar 1988)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451151453
- ISBN-13: 978-0451151452
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.9 x 1.9 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,415,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Solid, Fun Space Opera by Anderson
20 Jun 2009
Format:Paperback
This is the first Poul Anderson book I have finished (I got bogged down in one of his later novels a few years ago). The Rebel Worlds is part of a series of books by Anderson about his main character Dominic Flandry and the failing Terran Empire. The series includes Ensign Flandry (1966), a Circus of Hells (1970), etc. The paradigm of collapsing civilization, decentralization, corruption, despair, rebellion, is by far my favorite sci-fi premise. Space Opera thrives off this sprawling format. What makes Dominic Flandry so appealing (at least to me) was that he sees the state of the failing empire and remains an servant of the Empire. The Hero is content to remain loyal to the Empire. Although I had not read the previous books in the series Anderson gives ample descriptions of his character for first time readers.
(brief plot summary - no spoilers) The story takes place in the last days of the Terran Empire. Barbarians (hark, Ancient Rome analogies proliferate!) threaten the borders of the Empire. ex-Admiral McCormac forced into rebellion gathers discontents (he even employs Barbarians to help his cause!). McCormac's ravishing wive, Kathryn, is rescued by Flandry from a corrupt governor. Flandry falls in love of course. The result of the love triangle is a MAJOR spoiler so I will stop here. Along the way we learn about a particularly fascinating jungle planet and its unique alien inhabitants (comprised of three distinct live forms that gather together to become sentient). Anderson does dwell on descriptions but I did not find that it distracted much from the plot. My main complaint comes from the fact that Anderson skips over MAJOR action sequences. For example, very early in the story Flandry rescues Kathryn and an ingenious plan is hinted at but Anderson never tells us how she was rescued. A nice chapter could have been devoted to this sequence. Perhaps Anderson was working under a stringent page number limit.
Overall, this is fun (albeit semi-empty) Space Opera. The paradigm of decaying empire always holds my attention. Take a peek. 3.75/5
(brief plot summary - no spoilers) The story takes place in the last days of the Terran Empire. Barbarians (hark, Ancient Rome analogies proliferate!) threaten the borders of the Empire. ex-Admiral McCormac forced into rebellion gathers discontents (he even employs Barbarians to help his cause!). McCormac's ravishing wive, Kathryn, is rescued by Flandry from a corrupt governor. Flandry falls in love of course. The result of the love triangle is a MAJOR spoiler so I will stop here. Along the way we learn about a particularly fascinating jungle planet and its unique alien inhabitants (comprised of three distinct live forms that gather together to become sentient). Anderson does dwell on descriptions but I did not find that it distracted much from the plot. My main complaint comes from the fact that Anderson skips over MAJOR action sequences. For example, very early in the story Flandry rescues Kathryn and an ingenious plan is hinted at but Anderson never tells us how she was rescued. A nice chapter could have been devoted to this sequence. Perhaps Anderson was working under a stringent page number limit.
Overall, this is fun (albeit semi-empty) Space Opera. The paradigm of decaying empire always holds my attention. Take a peek. 3.75/5
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
No development.
2 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback
I only recently discovered Poul Anderson and plan to read more of his works. Unfortunately, I picked a bad place to start. From his Hugo Award and his many rave reviews, I know he must deserve recognition, but not for this book. He spends most of The Rebel Worlds trying to explain the plot and the different races to the readers, but never really develops much in terms of character or action.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
