Reviews for The Pirates of Ersatz

The average rating for The Pirates of Ersatz based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-12-17 00:00:00 Andrew Bildwin What do you do if you are from a planet famous for its pirates, but you would rather play with electronics? Well, you unconsciously absorb all your Grandfather's pirate wisdom until you are old enough to be on your own, then you go off to another planet and start working on the Master Plan for your life: (a) to achieve splendid things as an electronic engineer, (b) to grow satisfactorily rich, (c) to marry a delightful girl, and (d) end life a great man. But when do Master Plans ever run smoothly? Our hero Bron Hoddan has a problem that is not compatible with Civilized Society: he has a brain and he knows how to use it. He can't help it if Civilized Society doesn't want him to use his brain. But that is where his trouble begins. Hoddan is an endearing combination of Jimmy Stewart naiveness (things seem to happen to him without his being aware of quite why) and James Cagney tough guy (he knows just how to handle himself when these things happen, he never panics. Well, okay, maybe just a little that one time.) On his newly adopted civilized planet, he created a receptor that would save the Power Company millions in credits but they are not interested in allowing him to give a demonstration so (here comes Cagney) he breaks into the Power plant and attaches his device anyway. But the next morning the police are at his door and he reverts to Jimmy Stewart. And the situation spirals out of control from this point on. This late 1950's story was interesting, with bits of sarcastic wisdom tucked here and there. For example, here is what the Interstellar Ambassador tells Hoddan: You proposed to improve a technical process in a society which considers itself beyond improvement. If you'd succeeded, the idea of change would have spread, people now poor would have gotten rich, people now rich would have gotten poor, and you'd have done what all governments are established to prevent. Or this, when Hoddan (in Cagney mode) has kidnapped a few soldiers to use as a pirate crew: When men are to be led it is rarely wise to discuss policy or tactics with them. Most men work best when they know only what is expected of them. Then they can't get confused and they do not get ideas of how to do things better. I had the distinct feeling that Leinster was commenting on the high muckety-mucks of his day, and enjoying himself while doing so. This was the second or maybe third Leinster story I've read, and it won't be the last.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-09-22 00:00:00 Your Punisher This Hugo nominated novel is a lot of fun, it didn't win the Hugo, neither did the other nominees "The Sirens of Titan" and "Dorsai!" they all lost out to "Starship Troopers", a pretty nice group of novels for 1959. I'd decided to read it in celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day 2017, so a few days later I had time to read it. The beginning is decidedly pirate free but the fast moving story doesn't take too long to get to the pirates. I've never seen pirates such as these and the way they turn a profit while saving galactic civilization is highly entertaining.