Legacy of the Stars, by John Gregory
It’s been a while since I used to read cheap SF paperbacks from second-hand bookshops. At the time they were often all I could afford, but in these days of earning a salary and working in a place where I get free books, I don’t often feel the urge to trawl through the ‘three for a pound’ shelves in search of gaudy spaceship-based covers. However, on a slightly depressing shopping trip to Holyhead recently I found myself with nothing to do but browse the charity shops, and at one of them this book sang out to me. Well, at fifty pence a book it was this or the Target novelisation of Doctor Who: The Happiness patrol. Some would say that I made the wrong choice, but I stand by my decision.
The thing I liked most about this book is the fact that the back-cover has, above the blurb, in big letters, in the same font as the cover, the words The Star People. Now, if you look again at the title of the book I’m reading, you’ll notice that it isn’t called The Star People, is it? No, it’s called Legacy of the Stars. That, combined with the fact that the events described in the blurb all occur within the first twenty pages of this one hundred and sixty-nine page book, suggests to me that the publisher wasn’t all that concerned about someone picking it up, looking at the back, not realising that they’d already read it and buying it again. In fact, I would say that the publishers wanted that to happen! I know, shockingly cynical of me. However, given that there are no spaceships after the first ten pages, yet they appear on the cover, it seems like a reasonable guess. I won’t even mention the terrible proof-reading, or the fact that the strap-line above the title on the front cover (“They came from outer space seeking a home, but instead found a hostile world of death!”) only applies to the first twelve pages of the book. Oh whoops, I already have.
Actually, I think my most favourite thing about this book is in fact the sequence of ads at the back. You know, where normally the publisher would put ‘Also by this author’ or ‘Other books in our series of SF novels you won’t realise you’ve already read’. Instead, we get five pages (five!) of ads for “High Quality Reproductions” of … lamps. You can order a Miner’s lamp (“superb full size reproduction of the original coal miner’s lamp”), a Lacemaker’s lamp (“unique and quaint”), a Handcandle lamp (“not just a beautiful ornament”), a Mini Vesta lamp (“supplied with an ‘Opal Vesta’ shade”) or Wall Brackets (“A choice of two”). Most are available for the low price of £19.50, which, given the book itself cost £1.50 when published, I would guess is about £100 now. “If the impossible should happen and you’re not completely satisfied”, you can return the products to the vendor. Who are Book Peddlar Products. Which is such a wonderful name for the supplier of low-cost tat from the back of random SF books that I can’t believe it. I suspect that they may be part of the same company as the book’s publisher Ace/Stoneshire, but I wouldn’t want to spread rumour or tarnish the publisher’s name. Ahem.
Anyway, apart from all that, the book is quite a nice little read. Short, yes, but with a half-interesting premise. Aliens are exploring the galaxy after their planet has blown up, come to a nice looking solar system, get hit by a meteor and land on the third planet out from the sun. Soon struck down by a mysterious illness, their last act is to set up a giant computer whose goal will be to shepherd the backward creatures who live on the planet towards a brighter future. Yes, the third rock from the sun was actually Earth. Who would have guessed! Oh, I’m being a bit sarcastic again, and the book doesn’t really deserve that. We bounce forward through the beginnings of human intelligence, and then the author pulls a rather fun switch and what I was expecting to happen didn’t. The second half of the book is rather more formulaic at first - creepy creatures in the middle of America come up from the ground and attack people - but again, there’s a bit of a nice twist. The author actually tries to say some things about racism and the mob mentality, and actually succeeds to a certain extent, and there’s an epilogue which is really quote moving (if you agree with that sort of thing). Overall, while this book isn’t a classic, it’s far better than the way in which it was published would suggest.
I read a tatty old paperback on holiday on the 23rd of August.
The thing I liked most about this book is the fact that the back-cover has, above the blurb, in big letters, in the same font as the cover, the words The Star People. Now, if you look again at the title of the book I’m reading, you’ll notice that it isn’t called The Star People, is it? No, it’s called Legacy of the Stars. That, combined with the fact that the events described in the blurb all occur within the first twenty pages of this one hundred and sixty-nine page book, suggests to me that the publisher wasn’t all that concerned about someone picking it up, looking at the back, not realising that they’d already read it and buying it again. In fact, I would say that the publishers wanted that to happen! I know, shockingly cynical of me. However, given that there are no spaceships after the first ten pages, yet they appear on the cover, it seems like a reasonable guess. I won’t even mention the terrible proof-reading, or the fact that the strap-line above the title on the front cover (“They came from outer space seeking a home, but instead found a hostile world of death!”) only applies to the first twelve pages of the book. Oh whoops, I already have.
Actually, I think my most favourite thing about this book is in fact the sequence of ads at the back. You know, where normally the publisher would put ‘Also by this author’ or ‘Other books in our series of SF novels you won’t realise you’ve already read’. Instead, we get five pages (five!) of ads for “High Quality Reproductions” of … lamps. You can order a Miner’s lamp (“superb full size reproduction of the original coal miner’s lamp”), a Lacemaker’s lamp (“unique and quaint”), a Handcandle lamp (“not just a beautiful ornament”), a Mini Vesta lamp (“supplied with an ‘Opal Vesta’ shade”) or Wall Brackets (“A choice of two”). Most are available for the low price of £19.50, which, given the book itself cost £1.50 when published, I would guess is about £100 now. “If the impossible should happen and you’re not completely satisfied”, you can return the products to the vendor. Who are Book Peddlar Products. Which is such a wonderful name for the supplier of low-cost tat from the back of random SF books that I can’t believe it. I suspect that they may be part of the same company as the book’s publisher Ace/Stoneshire, but I wouldn’t want to spread rumour or tarnish the publisher’s name. Ahem.
Anyway, apart from all that, the book is quite a nice little read. Short, yes, but with a half-interesting premise. Aliens are exploring the galaxy after their planet has blown up, come to a nice looking solar system, get hit by a meteor and land on the third planet out from the sun. Soon struck down by a mysterious illness, their last act is to set up a giant computer whose goal will be to shepherd the backward creatures who live on the planet towards a brighter future. Yes, the third rock from the sun was actually Earth. Who would have guessed! Oh, I’m being a bit sarcastic again, and the book doesn’t really deserve that. We bounce forward through the beginnings of human intelligence, and then the author pulls a rather fun switch and what I was expecting to happen didn’t. The second half of the book is rather more formulaic at first - creepy creatures in the middle of America come up from the ground and attack people - but again, there’s a bit of a nice twist. The author actually tries to say some things about racism and the mob mentality, and actually succeeds to a certain extent, and there’s an epilogue which is really quote moving (if you agree with that sort of thing). Overall, while this book isn’t a classic, it’s far better than the way in which it was published would suggest.
I read a tatty old paperback on holiday on the 23rd of August.