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| Cover art by Barclay Shaw |
Film This!
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| Cover art by Barclay Shaw |
| SENTENCED TO PRISM Alan Dean Foster New York: Del Rey Books, September 1985 | Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-345-31980-7 | ||||
| ISBN-10 0-345-31980-X | 273pp. | SC | $3.50 | |
The company had high hopes for the world of Prism that one of their spacegoing hunters had stumbled upon. It lay far off across the galaxy, and was as yet unknown to the Humanx Commonwealth authorities. The company very much wanted to keep it that way, for the unprecedented forms of life there appeared to be a treasure trove they intended to exploit.
To that end they had covertly set up a research station there. Enough had been learned to support their original assessment, and a few samples had been sent back to Samstead, the company's homeworld. But then the station went silent without warning. They tapped Evan Orgell, their best troubleshooter, and provided him with an MHW — an automated suit that represented the best protection Samstead's technology could provide.
It was not enough.
"A fine day it was: clear and cloudless, bright (oh, how bright!) and cheerful, a day on which all things seemed possible. Even dying. Dying had not been on Evan Orgell's schedule for the day, but that was the result he was on the verge of achieving. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to prevent it. Because his suit was broken. – Page 1 |
But Evan abandons the disabled suit and survives, despite some harrowing encounters with weird and hostile Prismatic life forms. Others have demolished the station quite effectively, leaching out its metals and minerals, vital nutrients to them. Only one of the 24 personnel might be alive, and he sets off in search of her beacon signal which indicates she is days away.
Along the way he finds some help, makes many astounnding discoveries, and undergoes a spiritual transformation. In the end, he finds the station was doomed not by the monsters native to Prism, but by a monster that came with it. Then his problem becomes one of contacting offworld help with the station's damaged equipment.
Full marks for this novel. Despite some awkward passages and one continuity error, the story is fast-paced and provides a satisfyingly bizarre and threatening collection of life forms.
To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.