Interstellar Patrol II: The Federation of Humanity
Christopher Anvil ISBN: 0743498925
Publisher: Baen Books
Here we have a collection of stories based on the exploits of Vaughan Roberts and his erstwhile partners who work for the Interstellar Patrol, a special branch of the government tasked with the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. Roberts and his friends often are forced to use their wits instead of guns but are not above that when pushed into it.
As good confidence men, he and his crew are able to come up with some ingenious ideas and put them to work against the dirty tricks of the bad guys with little trouble.
Mainly because Roberts dirty tricks are often worse (or more sneaky) then theirs.
This time they are faced with rescuing human prisoners taken as both information and hostages prior to an invasion; stopping another band of con men from introducing a drug to a planet under the guise of helping save the population from a deadly plague and even rescuing a Princess by turning her brother into the ruler he is supposed to be.
The 23 stories in this book are divided up into four sections, with the first being about the Interstellar Patrol. Last year saw the publication of the first "Interstellar Patrol" and these are a direct follow-up to them.
The next group is sort of a Sci-Fi hodge-podge; they deal with space colonies, alien invasions and various ways to deal with them. Section three is a set of interconnected stories dealing with the various problems that might be encountered by shipping freight between the planets.
From crewmembers who are nothing but trouble to space birds that bite, to a nasty little –thing- that actually makes you smarter [gasp], these stories are fun and reminded me of some of the classic golden age stories I used to read. Heck, I still read them when I can. Finally we have the last section, which looks at the struggles of human colonies on hostile and distant worlds. From deadly fauna to human killers, to crazed animals, these stories will make you think and wonder about how anyone could want to travel to the stars.
If you still wonder, just ask me. I can tell you why I want to go.