Harry Harrison: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

* ''[[The Stainless Steel Rat]]'' series

* ''[[The Technicolor Time Machine]]''

* ''[[West of Eden]]'' trilogy

 

* [[All Trolls Are Different]]: In ''One King's Way'', second volume of ''The Hammer and the Cross'' trilogy, a troll or "marbendill" is a large intelligent humanoid that sometimes feeds on human flesh, lurks in the water to pull unwary boaters under, but otherwise is rather likeable, actually. Distinguished from humans by, among other things, a much lower sex drive; human behavior in that regard rather amuses them.

* [[Alternate History]]

** The ''Stars & Stripes'' series envisions the Trent incident from the American civil war blowing up into a full-scale war between the United States and the British Empire. A navigational error brings the Confederacy in on the Union side, ending the civil war, and resulting in the British getting their asses handed to them by Generals Lee, Grant, Sherman, and Stonewall Jackson.

** The trilogy ''The Hammer and the Cross'' has a more organized and benevolent form of the Norse religion coming into conflict both with the more traditional Norse religion and Christianity.

* [[Arbitrary Maximum Range]]: ''Starworld'' (part of the ''To the Stars'' trilogy) has the rebel admiral point out to the protagonist how energy weapons don't work due to the energy diffusion problem. Although missiles are being used by both sides, the rebels use linear accelerators firing unguided ''cannon balls'' to gain the decisive edge, then finish them off with a [[Flechette Storm]] of rocket-propelled bullets (fired from the standard infantry weapons of the time) which work well over infinite ranges due to the lack of air resistance.

* [[BFG]]: One of the Israeli commandoes is firing a handheld .50 calibre recoilless machine gun during the attack on Spaceconcert in ''Starworld'' (part of the ''To the Stars'' trilogy).

* [[Car Cushion]]: Played with in "Portrait of the Artist", in which {{spoiler|a comic book artist, who has just lost his job to a machine, creates a suicide note in comic-book form that ends with a depiction of him jumping off his publisher's office building and landing on a car. After he commits suicide in the manner depicted, his ex-boss's only reaction is remark that he landed on the wrong car}}.

* [[Esperanto, the Universal Language]]: Esperanto is the universal second language in the ''Deathworld'' series.

* [[Future Food Is Artificial]]: In ''Make Room! Make Room!'', soylent steaks made of soy and lentils were an expensive item.

* [[Garden of Evil]]: In ''Deathworld'', due to a misunderstanding, the very peculiar wildlife on the planet has altered itself to wage war against humanity, changing to the point where even every blade of grass has a venomous claw dangling from it.

* [[Generation Ships]]: In ''Captive Universe'', a generation ship with a seamless environment is launched; by design the highly repressive, extremely stable Aztec cities onboard believe themselves to be in an inaccessible river valley. The ship tenders are if anything more rigid and religious: an extraordinary asceticism rules their lives and repairs are sacred rituals.

* [[Improbable Age]]: Justified in "War With the Robots"; the command staff are all teenagers as anyone older lacks the reflexes and flexibility of mind needed to plot strategy in the fast-paced war. They retire after four or five years.

* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]]: ''Starworld'' (part of the ''To the Stars'' trilogy) has the rebel admiral explain to the protagonist why energy weapons don't work in the [[Arbitrary Maximum Range|vast distances of space]]. Although missiles are being used by both sides, the rebels use linear accelerators firing unguided ''cannon balls'' to gain the decisive edge, then finish them off with a [[Flechette Storm]] of rocket-propelled bullets.

* [[Mercurial Base]]

* [[Mobile Suit Human]]: The inverse (a human concealed inside a robotic alien suit) happens often in Harry Harrison sci-fi, such as ''Repairman'' and ''Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers''.

 

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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Creator Index]]

[[Category:Authors]]

[[Category:Harry Harrison]]