Looking for something to read...

[Tom Hendricks]

I'm looking for some science fiction to read this summer. However right now I'm looking for something kind of specific. I was wondering if there is any stories about people with space travel technology that get marooned on a planet without technology and have to survive?

I kinda got this from watching Pandorum yesterday. After the escape from the ship, what are they going to do.

So any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[Greg Cox]

I'm looking for some science fiction to read this summer. However right now I'm looking for something kind of specific. I was wondering if there is any stories about people with space travel technology that get marooned on a planet without technology and have to survive?

I kinda got this from watching Pandorum yesterday. After the escape from the ship, what are they going to do.

So any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

WE ARE WHO ABOUT TO . . . by Joanna Russ?

 

[Silvercrest]

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series features these themes, particularly the prequel, "Dragonsdawn". However, it may not be quite what you're looking for. The colonists still have their technology, but only a limited amount of it which they are forced to rapidly use up as the story progresses. Ditto with her "Dinosaur Planet" books (which have other problems).

Oh, I know. Try Jack Vance's "Planet of Adventure." Four books that have been collected in one volume. A single spacefarer is marooned and looking for a way home on a planet inhabited by four alien races and numerous human cultures. He has a survival kit with a few gadgets, but primarily he has to survive by his wits. (The other humans do not have spaceflight and have been under the thumb of the various aliens for so long they've forgotten Earth exists.) It's really entertaining if you can get past all the long alien names.

 

[Starbreaker]

Deepsix by Jack McDevitt

A group lands on a planet, but their shuttle goes down quickly and they have to fend for themselves against the wildlife.

 

[Canadave]

You might be interested in Allen Steele's Coyote series. While no one is marooned anywhere, strictly speaking, it does feature colonists on a one-way journey who try to tame a hostile planet.

 

[Mistral]

You might be interested in Allen Steele's Coyote series. While no one is marooned anywhere, strictly speaking, it does feature colonists on a one-way journey who try to tame a hostile planet.

Beat me to it!

Also, Beowulf's Children by Pournelle/Niven(see description above)

Tunnel In the Sky by Heinlein (no spaceship but the concept is there)

David Weber has a series (Upcountry?) or something like that

Andre Norton's The Star Rangers

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Thank you all for the suggestions so far.

 

[Silvercrest]

You might be interested in Allen Steele's Coyote series. While no one is marooned anywhere, strictly speaking, it does feature colonists on a one-way journey who try to tame a hostile planet.

Beat me to it!

Also, Beowulf's Children by Pournelle/Niven(see description above)

Tunnel In the Sky by Heinlein (no spaceship but the concept is there)

David Weber has a series (Upcountry?) or something like that

Andre Norton's The Star Rangers

D'oh! How could I forget Star Rangers, aka The Last Planet? I just read it! That fits the bill perfectly.

Also recommend Norton's Star Gate, except that the spacefarers are not the main characters. The main character is from a more or less medieval background who is privileged to hang out with them. That might be too far from what you're asking.

And Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky doesn't involve marooning either, but it does feature low-tech but scrappy colonists scratching out a living away from civilized worlds, in the best "Firefly" tradition.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Anne McCaffrey's Pern series features these themes

Agree, but the PERN series isn't one I would start at the "beginning", as it were, chronologically. Its best if you start in the middle and work your way forward and backward in time, by following production dates.

Kind of like watching Star Wars IV, V, VI, I, II, III so you don't learn certain truths before you are ready.

 

[Silvercrest]

Very true. And since the original (later) books have nothing to do with his request...

Well, I stand by my other suggestions.

 

[Mistral]

You might be interested in Allen Steele's Coyote series. While no one is marooned anywhere, strictly speaking, it does feature colonists on a one-way journey who try to tame a hostile planet.

Beat me to it!

Also, Beowulf's Children by Pournelle/Niven(see description above)

Tunnel In the Sky by Heinlein (no spaceship but the concept is there)

David Weber has a series (Upcountry?) or something like that

Andre Norton's The Star Rangers

D'oh! How could I forget Star Rangers, aka The Last Planet? I just read it! That fits the bill perfectly.

Also recommend Norton's Star Gate, except that the spacefarers are not the main characters. The main character is from a more or less medieval background who is privileged to hang out with them. That might be too far from what you're asking.

And Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky doesn't involve marooning either, but it does feature low-tech but scrappy colonists scratching out a living away from civilized worlds, in the best "Firefly" tradition.

Starman Jones almost works better from Heinlein-except only a piece represents what he wants

I believe there;'s a novel called The Wreck of the River Of Stars that might fit...

 

[Ubik]

I think you've just described half of Heinlein's output. There's Tunnel in the Sky, which exactly fits what you're looking for, and Farmer in the Sky, and Farnham's Freehold, and.....in all seriousness, I'd say Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky sounds like what you're looking for (if my memory is correct.)

 

[Mistral]

I think you've just described half of Heinlein's output. There's Tunnel in the Sky, which exactly fits what you're looking for, and Farmer in the Sky, and Farnham's Freehold, and.....in all seriousness, I'd say Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky sounds like what you're looking for (if my memory is correct.)

Yeah, that's what I was thinking...

Oh, and the title of the Weber book is The March Upcountry, I think...

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I really want to thank everyone for their suggestions! I knew with the breath of knowledge here that I would find something. So I downloaded onto my iPad Deepsix, Coyote and Star Hunter. What is cool, Star Hunter is one of the free books offered by Apples iBook.