2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Light hearted amusing and wonderful., 10 Aug 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Monument (Paperback)
Possibly the finest example of light hearted science fiction I have ever read. This is not a comic story, and the underlying rebellion against authority, beaurocracy and tourism is quite serious. Having said that it is presented as a good read and is not meant to eb taken seriously.
Set on a "Garden of Eden" style planet peopled with untroubled innocents, the story is about the fight of a small forgotten planet (colonists crashlanded long ago and are now natives) to preserve their way of life against encroaching tourism. An impossible task on the face of it, the natives have one advantage. The Plan. Left to them as the dying legacy of an reprobate prospector turned village elder the plan resides in the memory of an encyclopedia on two legs with a habit of napping in the sun shine. The plan details how the first corporation to contact the planet will behave and what steps to take when.
It is a typical underdog against all odds story and as such is very satisfying. If you have read any other Biggle then you will know what to expect, and if you haven't this is a good place to start. Not noticably set in the same universe as his other stories this, like all his books, stands alone. Despite its vintage it has not dated at all, and probably never will.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Spot On, 18 May 2007
This review is from: Monument (Paperback)
Like other reviewers I first read this when it was first published in the UK at the tail end of the 70's. I remember it had a really cool crashed spaceship cover, but apart from that this book has lost non of its brilliance, it was so good that I remembered the end thirty years later!
Well worth a read - bit steep at 12 quid though!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A personal favourite, 16 Feb 2006
This review is from: Monument (Paperback)
First published in 1974 but expanded from a short story published in 1962 this book has a message years ahead of its time. My first copy came from a friends older brother who worked in a local printing works and who knew I liked science fiction. They were printing the book but had run off so many copies with the pages upside down. I had never heard of he book or the author but was hooked within the first few pages. At first look a fairly typical little guy versus big development corporation but on a global or indeed interplanetary scale. Full of twists, good humour and a great ending. A personal favourite and a bit of a forgotten classic.
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