Bill, The Galactic Hero On The Planet Of The Robot Slaves (1989) - Plot & Excerpts
It took Harry Harrison nearly 40 years to write a sequel to his underrated anti-war satirical novel, "Bill the Galactic Hero", and, while it's not nearly as clever, scathing, and apropos as the original, "Bill the Galactic Hero: The Planet of the Robot Slaves" is still humorous and entertaining.Published in 1989, "Bill Part 2" (as I will henceforth refer to it, even though it is inexplicably numbered "Volume 1" on the cover, which doesn't make sense as the first "Bill" book was actually published in 1965, although I'm guessing that Harrison was basically trying to distance himself from the original book due to the sharp contrast in theme and political commentary, of which there is really little to none in this sequel, in an attempt to recreate the series---the contemporary term would be "reboot"---as a light, comedic sci-fi parody, which ultimately succeeds, and which continued in six more sequels) basically carries on where the first book left off."Bill Part 2" is silly-dumb. It's closer in spirit to the goofiness of Mad magazine and Heavy Metal comic books than it is to the social commentary of the original, which is fine by me, as I grew up reading both magazines. It helps to be a sci-fi geek when reading this, as it abounds with a ridiculous amount of sci-fi in-jokes and references. Everything from cyberpunk, Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" series, Edgar Rice Burrough's "John Carter of Mars" series, and Arthurian legends are lampooned here, and there are probably a half-dozen more references I missed.Needless to say, there's not much plot of which to speak. It's just Bill and a group of rag-tag characters thrown together jumping from one ridiculously silly situation to another, with a plethora of bad puns, knee-slappers, and groaners along the way. There's even some occasional T&A, but it's mostly PG-13 rated, so don't expect it.All in all, "Bill 2" was good, clean fun. Utterly pointless, but nonetheless entertaining. I have already been searching Amazon for the other six books in the series.
An enjoyable read with a messageBill does not like danger, although he is supposed to really get a kick out of it, him being a Space Trooper and all. But no matter what he does -mainly trying to get danger as far as possible away from him or vice versa- heroism keeps following Bill without mercy. That is why he is still alive and kicking. That is, because of an earlier accident: kicking with his two right arms -there weren't any spare left ones- and his chicken leg -there weren't any human legs left. When his camp is attacked by gigantic metal dragons he volunteers not to be made member of the revenge mission, and that is exactly what his commander officer decides not to do.Harry Harrison has a talent for the absurd. With seemingly no effort he paradises the whole science fiction genre and gets away with it. If you would want to compare him with to writers, you are bound to think of him as Terry Pratchett being genetically cloned in the neighborhood of Douglas Adams. Although Harrison never reaches the level of absurdness of Adams and is only a few times as funny as Pratchett, he still has created a quite enjoyable character in the hero of Bill. What makes this story special is its continuous anti-war message. Although most of the characters crave for some kind of unending battle, it is clear to the reader that the absurdness of the wars described in this book is certainly not far from what is happening in our world. It is certainly quite surprising and refreshing to see such theme appear in this kind of book.
What do You think about Bill, The Galactic Hero On The Planet Of The Robot Slaves (1989)?
Though it claims to be Volume 1, this is technically a sequel. However, there's a complete summary of Bill the Galactic Hero at the beginning of this book, so it's a fine standalone read.I don't know where the title came from, since there aren't really any robot slaves anywhere. Bill of the ever-changing military rank is stranded with a few others on a planet inhabited by metal creatures, Virginians, Romans, and various characters from Arthurian legend. It is, in a word, silly. Extremely silly. But I would expect nothing less from Harrison. I don't think I could read multiple books in a row from this series but it's a nice diversion from time to time.
—melydia
I really wanted to like this book, I really did. Stainless Steel Rat is my old time favourite and this book being written by the same author must be as good, right? Not so much.I don't like the main character and I don't think he was made to be likeable, but there is absolutly nobody who reader could care about and keep fingers crossed for. Somebody told me that this book was written as a pastiche on goverment, but at some point it became so riddicules that it reminded me one of the comments from 'Princess Bride'. In additional notes author of 'Princess..' was saying that he cut out a whole fragment of the book that lasted for 14 pages and described how woman was unpacking her clothes. Apparently in times when orginal author of 'Princess Bride' lived it was consider a beautiful satire on french high society, but on us was lost. This book sounded for me like that removed fragment.
—Witchi
