Pulp Science Fiction Library: Spartan Planet

For a change of pace, I thought it might be enjoyable if this week's installment of Pulp Fantasy Library were instead an installment of Pulp Science Fiction Library. I've done this a few times in the past, though probably not often enough. Depending on how well this post is received, I might add more pulp sci-fi to the mix in future, since many of these writers and stories have a had huge influence on the early hobby, even beyond the realm of SF RPGs. Beyond that, I've always been more of a science fiction fan than a fantasy one, so this is a subject near and dear to my heart.

The science fiction stories written by A. Bertram Chandler were significant influences on Traveller. Indeed, Chandler's most famous character, John Grimes, is in many ways an archetypal Traveller player character. He begins his career as lowly ensign in the Federation Survey Service, having many adventures along the way. He slowly rises up the ranks of the Service before taking up the life of an interstellar merchant, which leads to even more adventures. That's pretty close to the career trajectory of many Traveller PCs, the only difference being that Chandler devotes a great many stories to Grimes's time in the Service, rather than leaving those years as backstory.

"Spartan Planet" (as it was known in the USA; its original title was "False Fatherland" in Australia and New Zealand) is, in terms of publication, the second story of the now-Lieutenant Commander John Grimes. Split into two parts, it appeared in the March and May 1968 issues of Fantastic. The following year, it was be published complete as a novel by Dell and featured a cover by legendary illustrator John Berkey. I first read the story in a hardcover collection produced by the Science Fiction Book Club – remember that? – whose cover was done by another remarkable artist, Vincent DiFate.

The novel quickly introduces the reader to several characters, all of whom have names either directly taken from or inspired by Classical Greece: Achron, Brasidus, Heraklion, Telemachus. These characters, when speaking to one another, likewise make references to things normally associated with the ancient Mediterranean world, like Zeus, the Acropolis, or helots. Yet, it's also clear that, while the place where these characters dwell is called Sparta, it cannot be that Sparta or indeed anywhere in Greece. For one, there are references to wristwatches, the Air Navy, and even spaceships. Beyond that, there's something decidedly strange about these Spartans, namely, they reproduce by budding – or, rather, they did in the past, until advanced medical technology was developed that could handle this messy process instead.

Brasidus is a police officer by profession and the viewpoint character of "Spartan Planet," which took me by surprise. When I first read the story, I assumed that John Grimes would be the story's protagonist. Rather, Grimes does not enter the story until Chapter 4, when his starship, the Seeker III, lands at Sparta's spaceport, to which Brasidus had been sent. The spaceport rarely received starships and, when they did, they were one of two annually scheduled vessels that came bring and take cargo. The Seeker III was not one of these vessels and that was cause for concern, hence the need for Brasidus and the spaceport security officers to be present.

From out of this unexpected starship came two men, the first of whom is formally dressed in some kind of uniform – John Grimes, we soon learn.

Another man came out of the airlock, followed the first one to the ground. He, although his uniform was similar, was dressed more sensibly, with a knee-length black kilt instead of the constricting trousers.

But was it a man, or was it some kind of alien? Brasidus once again recalled those imaginative stories, and the assumptions made by some writers that natives of worlds with thin atmospheres would run to abnormal (by Spartan standards) lung development. This being, then, could be deformed, or a mutant, or an alien. Somebody muttered, "What an odd-looking creature!"

[…] Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Commander John Grimes, Interstellar Federation Survey Service. This lady is Doctor Margaret Lazenby, our ethnologist …"

Lady, thought Brasidus. Then he must be a member of some other race. The Ladies? I wonder where they come from …

The Spartans are an all-male colony, one settled long ago, and for whom all knowledge of the existence of the female of the species has been lost – or, as events eventually reveal, hidden. The arrival of Grimes and especially Margaret Lazenby sets off a historical and cultural bomb on Sparta that has wide ranging consequences. 

"Spartan Planet" is an odd story, both in terms of its structure and its content. As I stated above, Grimes is present and plays a very important role in the story, but it's Brasidus who is the novel's focal character. Though surprising, it does make narrative sense, since it's his worldview that is tested by the revelations that the crew of the Seeker III inadvertently bring to Sparta. This is the central conflict of the tale and I suspect one's enjoyment of it hinges on what you think of Chandler's portrayal of an all-male society loosely modeled on an idealized vision of ancient Greece. For myself, I don't completely buy into it, but I nevertheless find the clash of cultures compelling, particularly since Chandler makes an effort to show us the Spartans' perspective on their own history and society. Even with its shortcomings, that's the kind of science fiction I've long enjoyed.

Pulp Science Fiction Library: The Road to the Rim

Among the lasting accomplishments of the old school renaissance has been a greater knowledge and appreciation for the books that inspired our hobby. Indeed, the phrase "Appendix N" has now become a widely used shorthand for the literary origins of RPGs. I take great pleasure in this, since it's a central contention of this blog that the collective amnesia of our hobby about where it came from has played a role in its decline and deformation. But despite the much larger number of gamers who've now read Jack Vance or Fritz Leiber or even Robert E. Howard, many continue to remain ignorant of other authors who've nevertheless had a significant influence on some of the foundational games of the hobby.

A prime example of an influential but not well known author is A. Bertram Chandler, a British-Australian writer of science fiction who wrote numerous short stories and novels during the '60s, '70s, and early '80s. Many of his works are set within the same universe, the bulk of which have as their protagonist a man named John Grimes. Grimes begins his career as a lowly ensign of the Federation Survey Service but who later becomes a free trader beyond the borders of the Federation, then a spy in the Federation's employ, and finally a commodore in the navy of the Rim Worlds Alliance, an independent coalition of planets who seek freedom outside the confines of the stifling Federation. If any of the foregoing sounds familiar to you, that's probably because you're a Traveller player. Chandler, along with E.C. Tubb -- another Brit -- is one of the great unsung inspirations for Marc Miller's RPG of science fiction adventure in the far future.

The first appearance of John Grimes was in 1967 in the novel The Road to the Rim. The novel tells the story of a newly-commissioned Grimes, who's traveling via a merchant vessel, the Delta Orionis, to his first assignment outside the Solar System. The young Grimes is snobbish and overconfident, dreaming of the brilliant career he is certain he will one day have. He's also certain of the superiority of his native Federation, looking down on the other interstellar states, both human and alien, that border it, just as easily as he looks down on the merchantmen whom he believes lack his education and training. Over the course of his journey, Grimes comes to realize that the situation "out there" is far different than his youthful fancies imagined, such as the nature of politics between the Federation and its neighbors. A Rim Worlder also traveling aboard the Delta Orionis explains it to him thusly:

"Just think about a Pact of Perpetual Amity between an elephant and a tom cat," said Baxter. "A fat an' lazy elephant. A lean, scrawny, vicious tom cat. If the elephant wanted to he could convert that cat into a fur bedside rug just by steppin' on him. But he doesn't want to. He leave the cat alone, just because the cat is useful to him. He does more than just leave him alone. He an' this feline pull out their pens from wherever they keep 'em an' sign their famous Pact.

"In case you haven't worked it out for yourself, the elephant's the Federation, and the tom cat's the Duchy of Waldegren."

"But why?" asked Grimes. "Why?"

"Don't they teach you puppies any interstellar politics? Or are those courses reserved for the top brass? Well, Mr. Grimes, I'll tell you. There's one animal that has the elephant really worried. Believe it or not, he's scared o' mice. An' there're quite a few mice inside the Federation, mice that make the elephant nervous by their rustling an' scurryings an' their squeaky demands for full autonomy. That's where the cat comes in. By his free use of his teeth an' claws, by his very presence, he keeps the mice quiet."

That pretty well describes the situation at the start of Grimes's career, before the Rim Worlds have broken away from the Federation -- and before Grimes has become fully sympathetic to their cause. However, the seeds are planted early and a lot of the action in The Road to the Rim depends on understanding Mr Baxter's metaphor of the elephant, the cat, and the mouse. Of course, the real pleasure of Chandler's stories is watching not just Grimes but the entire galaxy in which he lives evolve over time. This is not a static universe and Grimes is not a static character.

I discovered Chandler fairly late, well after I'd begun playing Traveller and that's a pity. If you have a chance to read this or any of the other books in the series, it's well worth it. Not only are the stories fun space operas wit intriguing characters, they're short. The Road to the Rim is just a little over a hundred pages in length and that's fairly typical of most of the Grimes tales. Chandler has a spare but not spartan style and he's quite good at using "small" stories to share Big Ideas, which I think is one of the key features that separates a lot of the best SF from its competition.