Flandry of Terra by Poul Anderson (1965, 291 pages) – I enjoyed this although I couldn’t quite decide if Mr. Anderson was being tongue-in-cheeky or creating a real space hero. The three separate novellas about the same character (each with its own conflict and resolution) describe a colorful hero. He’s an officer in the Terran Space Navy who’s a little full of himself. Since he single-handedly stops revolutions and conquers bad guys, perhaps he deserves his reputation. He knows the Terran Navy forces are too weak (and thin) to deal with planetary revolution so he has to make do with what he has – himself and his fabulous wardrobe. He has to rely on his wits and his enemy’s weaknesses to bring rebellious planets back into the fold. Some of them are too easily persuaded by the reptilian enemy to switch sides.
Actually, the stories are quite similar. There’s always a very competent, very curvaceous damsel in distress willing to help him and fall into his bed, but he’s bound to do his duty and assists in helping the damsel find her one true love (not him). Although he looks like a playboy with his good looks and his love of military garb, he’s capable of handling the worst conditions and prevailing against overwhelming odds. There’s always a misguided politician and easily-swayed rebels. There’s an underground on his side, usually the heroine’s people, and lots of clever ways to defeat the enemy.
Okay, I think I’ve decided on tongue-in-cheekiness (although I didn’t realize it was written in the sixties). Captain Dominic Flandry is a fun read and definitely the guy I’d want on my side in an alien rebellion. Several times, I found myself thinking, “this is really good writing for such a silly story” and then I remembered this is fricking Poul Anderson. He’s written so many books, he couldn’t create a comma splice if he wanted to. And some of his other books are a little cheeky, too.
The final story in the collection is a little different from the earlier format of boy-almost-gets-girl because he finally does get the girl (although briefly). He’s still chain-smokes, is surgically handsome, and too lucky for his own good, but at least he has a little fun while he’s saving a world. On this isolated planet, the One Percent have turned the rest of the population into slaves. If each person on the planet doesn’t get an antitoxin pill every thirty days, they die a horrible death from the germs in the atmosphere. It’s easy to see how the controllers of the antidote became gods, but how can one man survive long enough to produce a low-cost, readily available medicine and wrest control from the evil overlords? Only Flandry could even begin to give the bad guys their comeuppance.
I see there are other Flandry books, but I may have to read something a little more serious before then.
