Colonizing other planets

[ookey]

I'm interested in writing a novel dealing with a ship that departed Earth and colonized another earth-like planet. I would like to read the books of this sort that have already been written so I can take a new and different angle.

So, does anyone know of any of this type? The one that I know of is Jerry Pournelle's The Legacy of Heorot and Beowulf's Children. Anyone else know of any?

Thanks,
Kevin

[fortytwo]

Eric Frank Russell wrote a rather lighthearted story called The Great Explosion in which an Earth ship revisits previously colonised planets after several thousand years. This may not be what you had in mind though, but I had to mention it because it's one of my favourite stories!
Incidentally don't forget that Jerry Pournelle wrote The Legacy Of Heorot and The Dragons Of Heorot with Larry Niven and Steven Barnes...sorry to mention that but I really enjoyed those two books.

[This message has been edited by fortytwo (edited April 17, 2002).]

[Penumbra]

I just published my 6th novel called Luna Parabella which you can check out by looking at my profile and finding my website. It's about the colonization of the moon over a period of time, not quite what you are interested in but close. My first novels were called The Kaska Trilogy, about one human being's explot to colonize Gam which is more in line with your idea. If you decide to read them, you will perhaps get some fresh insight into colonization and the mysteries of the unknown. Please give it a shot and feel free to consult.

[Kamakhya]

There are so many novels of this kind that I really don't know where to begin. But, someone on this forum reminded me of Salt by Adam Roberts, so I thought I would mention it here. Salt pretty much fits your description.

You might also check out Ursula K. LeGuin's novels: The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, Rocannon's World and Planet in Exile. None of these focus on the trip out, but all are about humans settling new planets.

You might also check out some of the books that look at settling the Moon and Mars. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein and the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson come to mind first.

Kamakhya

[ookey]

Cool, thanks all. Any you can name will be a help, since I'd like to read as much on this topic as possible.

Kevin

[Hobbit]

Nearly there - Heinlein wrote 'Orphans of the Sky' about a 'generations' space ship which I remember as being quite good. Greg Bear wrote something similar whose name escapes me...Anvil of Stars (I think!)

There's also Heinlein's 'Tunnel in the Sky' which is about a group of teenagers stranded by circumstance having to survive against all the odds on an earthlike planet, etc etc. 'Farmer in the Sky' too.

Many of Anne McCaffrey's series look at this too - Pern is the obvious one, try the Freedom/Catteni sequence (be warned...they are not for everyone) and I nearly forgot one of my favourites though it looks more at the effects of ditance and travel...Arthur C Clarke's Songs of Distant Earth.

Harry Harrison's 'Deathworld'? (3 books but there is an omnibus edition).

and sort of...try Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series as example of altering a planet to meet human needs, which I like but Brian Aldiss's White Mars is another view of the colonisation.

More recently, try Jack Williamson's 'Terraforming Earth' (2001), which I thought was rather good. It deals with a group of people/robots living on the Moon who try to move back to living on a devastated Earth. Not bad for an 80+ year writing career!

Hobbit

Christopher Stasheff's Warlock series give and unusual and sometimes humourous slant on this kind of tale.

The 'settlers' are living in a medieaval fuedal society, and people with special abilitiies (ie.. ESP, Telikinisis, precognition) have had them enhanced by the local flora... and and are classes as witches and warlock. The hero of the books is doing a recon mission, to find out what has happened after 200 years of non-communication.

I also second Hobbit's recommendation of Ann Macaffry's Dragon Riders Of Pern series... we know from the outset it is a colony... but it is easy to forget that, the books are so good.

[Bachgen Cymro]

It's simply this, im a really selective reader im usually introduced to certain sci-fi authors by my friends ive been reading Larry niven for ages but i find it hard to move onto another style of writing. Can anyone suggest to me authors that write about world settling in the kind of eerie style that of the legacy of heorot.

Any help would be gratefull thank you.

[ArthurFrayn]

One I really liked that dealt with this theme is a real short one by John Brunner entitled Polymath.

In involves a ship sent out to colonize a planet that crash lands instead on a dangerous unhospitable world .The title refers to a specially trained individual of the crew with mutliple skills- a polymath as the term is defined, who now has to change his mindset, and apply these skills that would have been used to start the colony on the goal planet, to keep them alive on this planet.
Definitely a real man vs. nature/meat and taters read, as I understand the Legacy of Heorot to be.



Here's an Amazon US link- I'm sure it's available in the UK as well, especially since Brunner is a native son.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books