Stranglers’ Moon - E. E. ‘Doc’ Smith
One of a classic SciFi series from the 1970s.
This book is a little over thirty years old, and it feels as though it were written further back than that. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, because I did! But the style and the story seem so stilted by today’s standards, even by the standards of others who were writing at the same time - like Asimov.
The story centres on a brother and sister team, Jules and Yvette d’Alembert, who have been trained in all the martial arts and a number of other skills while part of the most famous circus in the Galaxy - run by a close relation. This Circus, while being the Greatest Show in the Galaxy, also trained - and acted as a cover for the activities of - most of the imperial secret service agents, of whom these two are the best.
They leave their circus performer guises behind to investigate a racket on a planetary moon. The moon is a fabulous place for the wealthy from all over the galaxy to come and gamble - there are more casinos than I’ve had hot dinners. Someone discovers, by accident, that up to thirty-five people a day have been disappearing while visiting the resort, and it has been going on for 20 years! Our secret agents (with dialogue and action reminescent of some of the early ‘007′ books) are sent to investigate. It appears that the victims are all strangled - hence the book’s title.
A well-told story, even though the plot seems a little simple and even predictable. This was the second in the series.
Panther Science Fiction, published 1977.
Copies are available from Alibris.co.uk and Abebooks
May 29th, 2007 at 11:19 am
In your opinion, did it really need to be a science fiction, or would it have been just as valid of a story if the casino had been terrestrial, like say in the Bahamas, and set in the same time period as 007?
June 4th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Well, I suppose other reasons could have been found as to why the brother and sister act were so short and squat and immensely strong, as well as fast - because they were from a planet with something like 3 times Earth-normal gravity, and had trained hard under those conditions.
The puny gravity of this moon (and its parent planet) meant they had to hold back most of the time, not giving the game away.
Apart from that, yes, I suppose it could have almost be a James (and Jennie) Bond story a la Fleming.