No, this is not another book in the endless STAR WARS saga despite the title. I really like the crimson cover by Richard Powers for Ian Wallace’s Deathstar Voyage (1969). Last week, Scott Cupp featured another one of Ian Wallace’s creations, the super-human Croyd. This week, another of Wallace’s unique characters, the brilliant and beautiful Claudine St. Cyr of the Galactic Police attempts to solve a series of murders on a mile-long starship whose faster-than-light drive has been compromised to the point that the ship will explode within hours. Ian Wallace has read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and A.E. Van Vogt’s short stories. It’s apparent in the twisted plot of Deathstar Voyage. If you’re in the mood for a science fiction mystery, Deathstar Voyage will keep you entertained.
I really liked this when it came out forever ago. Thanks, George.
I’m rereading the Claudine St. Cyr series, Scott. They’re a lot of fun.
I have this one, but never managed to read it. i guess I should.
Like most off-beat books, you have to be in the mood for a SF mystery, Randy. DEATHSTAR VOYAGE won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.
SF mysteries are a sub-sub genre I usually enjoy a lot. My current favorites are Katherine Rusch’s Retrieval Artist books. I haven’t read this one or any of the St. Cyr books, I may not have read any Ian Wallace at all. I’ll kep and eye out for his stuff at the used book sale in a week or two.
Ian Wallace specializes in convoluted plots and mind-boggling SF, Rick. Wallace won’t be to everybody’s taste, but Scott Cupp and I are fans.
It definitely sounds like Wallace was a more careful version of van Vogt! I’ll have to go look up what happened to him, why he stopped (i fear the worst reason).
Ian Wallace was never a prolific writer, Todd, but he did publish a respectable series of science fiction novels. I told Scott Cupp that if you put A. E. Van Vogt and Philip K. Dick in a blender, the result would be Ian Wallace.
I like cross-over mystery/sf hybrids so will check one of these out. Thanks.
You have to be in the mood for some dense SF, Jeff, when you tackle an Ian Wallace book. He’s the Harry Stephen Keeler of the SF genre.
He died in 1988, Todd.
I ordered a couple of his books, George.
Hope you enjoy Ian Wallace, Jeff. His works are definitely off-beat.
I figured I’d missed him by him ceasing to publish in the early ’70s, but no (from ISFDb):
Fiction Series
Croyd
Croyd Spacetime Maneuvres
Croyd (1967)
Dr. Orpheus (1968)
Pan Sagittarius (1973)
A Voyage to Dari (1974)
The World Asunder (1976)
Z-Sting (1978)
Heller’s Leap (1979)
The Lucifer Comet (1980)
Megalomania (1989)
St. Cyr Interplanetary Detective
Deathstar Voyage (1969)
The Purloined Prince (1971)
The Sign of the Mute Medusa (1977)
Novels
Every Crazy Wind (1952) [only as by John Wallace Pritchard ]
The Rape of the Sun (1982)
I’ve read most of Ian Wallace’s works, Todd. As I’ve stated before, Wallace will not be to everyone’s taste. His books are quirky and weird, but fun if you’re in that kind of mood.
This is the only Ian Wallace book I’ve read, but I remember enjoying it quite a bit.
There’s plenty of plot twists in DEATHSTAR VOYAGE, James. I was able to pick up several of your LONGARMs from our closing BORDERS stores. Can’t wait to read them!
I corresponded with him for a while in the late 1980s. Nice man, very bright. I named one of my dogs after EVERY CRAZY WIND, and after that he considered her and her offspring “his” dogs.
You can tell from his novels that Ian Wallace was a very bright guy, Reziac.