Planets of Adventure

Murray Leinster Planets of Adventure (2003)
Much as I loves me some Leinster, a little can go a long way and once the page count passes five-hundred, it's probably best to proceed with caution; which is what I've done here, working through one novel at a time with substantial breaks in between, and now finishing off the remaining short stories. Planets of Adventure assembles a couple of novels - albeit novels made by sewing a few short stories together - with five autonomous but thematically related short stories, the theme being that they're all set on planets and feature characters having adventures. I already wrote about The Forgotten Planet and Planet Explorer back in May and June respectively, and of the remainder, Anthropological Note and Scrimshaw - both dating from the fifties - don't really seem to do a whole lot. On the other hand, Assignment on Pasik, Regulations, and The Skit-Tree Planet all date from the forties and benefit from the sort of characteristically peculiar elements which Leinster did so well, and which contrast so effectively with his otherwise amiably polite style - I'd say something with a touch of the Wodehouse, had I actually read any Wodehouse. In any case, you can tell he was nicely turned out right down to the bow tie as he sat tapping these out on his Remington.

Had literary history been kinder to Leinster, he might have been remembered as one of the hard science-fiction guys along with Isaac and the rest - as evinced by the peculiar ecosystem of Oryx in Regulations where magnesium is more common than sodium, as is apparently the case on Earth; but ultimately he probably had too much fun to ever make more than honorary membership of the chess club. As titles go Planets of Adventure may be somewhat overselling the collection, but it's mostly respectable and some of it is genuinely great.