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djryan's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh. Randian nonsense strikes again; what is it about white American males that makes them mistake their privilege for exceptionalism?
gmvader's review against another edition
5.0
Most people, when asked, probably could not name a book written by Lester Del Rey. A very small number of people (who happened to be following the science fiction literature world at the time) might remember that he worked as an editor for John W. Campbell. What most people remember about Lester Del Rey, possibly without even knowing it, is that, in 1977 he founded Del Rey Publishing, an imprint of Ballantine.
Lester Del Rey was working as an editor at the time when a manuscript for a new fantasy novel (something largely unheard of at the time) by Terry Brooks came across his desk. The marketing groups told him it was unpublishable so Del Rey, along with his wife, founded Del Rey Publishing and published Terry Brook's first book, the Sword of Shannara. Thus started the fantasy genre as we know it today. Terry Brook's book hit the New York Times bestseller list and nearly every book he's written since then has followed suit. Shortly after that Del Rey picked up such authors as Stephen R. Donaldson, Piers Anthony and David Eddings and the rest, as they say, is history.
Thus ended the mostly unsuccessful writing career of Lester Del Rey. Lester Del Rey was never popular as a writer but many of his authors freely claim that their ideas stemmed from things that Lester Del Rey suggested to them.
He had the potential, when he was younger to be one of the most prolific authors in science fiction. If only he had been more successful at selling his novels and stories.
There is an anecdote by David Gerrold in his book, Worlds of Wonder. He mentions that Lester Del Rey was frequently frustrated with how long it took his authors to finish their manuscripts. He explains that Lester Del Rey would go home from working on the magazine all day, sit down at his typewriter and come in the next morning with a completed manuscript for a novel.
Books back then were not nearly as long as they are now but even if the book was only fifty thousand words that's still more than ten times what most full time writers can manage in a day.
Because of this anecdote I sort of felt leery of such a writer. Can anybody who writes that fast be any good? Could it be well done?
Well, his books have all long since passed out of print and are even difficult to find in used book stores – they were never very available in any case. Some of his books have even fallen into the public domain and still I avoided them.
Finally I came across Badge of Infamy and, lacking any inspiration or drive to read anything else at the moment, I decided to give it a try. After all, if its horrible then I don't ever have to think about his books again.
Imagine my shock when the first chapter ended with me breathless and unable to put the book away. This was possibly the most intense book I've read in a long time.
Badge of Infamy is about Doctor Daniel Feldman in the year 2100. Dr. Feldman performed an emergency surgery on a friend who accidently shot himself – an emergency surgery against the doctrines of the Medical Lobby. In punishment he was labeled a pariah and forbidden to ever practice medicine again. His wife, Chris Ryan, leaves him and he is shunned by all of his associates. Living on the streets he watches a man from the Space Lobby die and takes the man's ID card, using it to get work aboard a ship bound for Mars.
He is discovered and the other spacers beat him senseless and leave him to die in the cold, thin air of Mars.
He is saved when a representative of the Villages invites him to go be their country doctor. They live too far away from any Medical Lobby hospitals and they can't get anybody who is still on good terms with the Lobby to break rules that might mean a death sentence.
Figuring he is dead anyway he agrees. While treating their patients he discovers a new disease, one that has lain dormant on Mars for over a million years. One that has an incubation period of fourteen years. One that the Medical Lobby has missed completely because of their strict ban on all medical research. A disease that at least eighty percent of the human race will die from.
Frantic to find a cure for a disease immune to all Earth medicines he delves into research that he knows nothing about, having no training. Meanwhile his ex-wife, the new head of the Medical Lobby on Mars hunts him with singular purpose, intent on bringing him to justice.
Doc Feldman is not treated nicely in this book. He is hunted at every turn by his ex-wife, who left him for saving a friend. He is hated and beaten and betrayed and sold out time and time again. Just when things seem hopeless they get worse.
I couldn't leave this book alone. When I wasn't reading this book I was thinking about it. The intensity of emotion surprised me for a book written in the seventies. I have no idea if this book was written in a single night but it was an incredible experience.
The rise of the Lobbies in government feels eerily prophetic of where we are headed today with socialized health care and government controlled medical services. So much so that I actually looked up the publishing date to make sure it wasn't a new book. (I know, Lester Del Rey is dead. It can't be knew, but it was seriously clairvoyant.)
I will definitely be seeking out more of Lester Del Rey.
On a side note there is some debate as to what Lester Del Rey's name really is. He often told people that his real name was Ramon Felipe Alvarez-del Rey or even Ramon Felipe San Juan Mario Silvio Enrico Smith Heartcourt-Brace Sierra y Alvarez del Rey y de los Uerdes. I suspect that last was a joke. His sister said his real name was Leonard Knapp.
(9/10)
Lester Del Rey was working as an editor at the time when a manuscript for a new fantasy novel (something largely unheard of at the time) by Terry Brooks came across his desk. The marketing groups told him it was unpublishable so Del Rey, along with his wife, founded Del Rey Publishing and published Terry Brook's first book, the Sword of Shannara. Thus started the fantasy genre as we know it today. Terry Brook's book hit the New York Times bestseller list and nearly every book he's written since then has followed suit. Shortly after that Del Rey picked up such authors as Stephen R. Donaldson, Piers Anthony and David Eddings and the rest, as they say, is history.
Thus ended the mostly unsuccessful writing career of Lester Del Rey. Lester Del Rey was never popular as a writer but many of his authors freely claim that their ideas stemmed from things that Lester Del Rey suggested to them.
He had the potential, when he was younger to be one of the most prolific authors in science fiction. If only he had been more successful at selling his novels and stories.
There is an anecdote by David Gerrold in his book, Worlds of Wonder. He mentions that Lester Del Rey was frequently frustrated with how long it took his authors to finish their manuscripts. He explains that Lester Del Rey would go home from working on the magazine all day, sit down at his typewriter and come in the next morning with a completed manuscript for a novel.
Books back then were not nearly as long as they are now but even if the book was only fifty thousand words that's still more than ten times what most full time writers can manage in a day.
Because of this anecdote I sort of felt leery of such a writer. Can anybody who writes that fast be any good? Could it be well done?
Well, his books have all long since passed out of print and are even difficult to find in used book stores – they were never very available in any case. Some of his books have even fallen into the public domain and still I avoided them.
Finally I came across Badge of Infamy and, lacking any inspiration or drive to read anything else at the moment, I decided to give it a try. After all, if its horrible then I don't ever have to think about his books again.
Imagine my shock when the first chapter ended with me breathless and unable to put the book away. This was possibly the most intense book I've read in a long time.
Badge of Infamy is about Doctor Daniel Feldman in the year 2100. Dr. Feldman performed an emergency surgery on a friend who accidently shot himself – an emergency surgery against the doctrines of the Medical Lobby. In punishment he was labeled a pariah and forbidden to ever practice medicine again. His wife, Chris Ryan, leaves him and he is shunned by all of his associates. Living on the streets he watches a man from the Space Lobby die and takes the man's ID card, using it to get work aboard a ship bound for Mars.
He is discovered and the other spacers beat him senseless and leave him to die in the cold, thin air of Mars.
He is saved when a representative of the Villages invites him to go be their country doctor. They live too far away from any Medical Lobby hospitals and they can't get anybody who is still on good terms with the Lobby to break rules that might mean a death sentence.
Figuring he is dead anyway he agrees. While treating their patients he discovers a new disease, one that has lain dormant on Mars for over a million years. One that has an incubation period of fourteen years. One that the Medical Lobby has missed completely because of their strict ban on all medical research. A disease that at least eighty percent of the human race will die from.
Frantic to find a cure for a disease immune to all Earth medicines he delves into research that he knows nothing about, having no training. Meanwhile his ex-wife, the new head of the Medical Lobby on Mars hunts him with singular purpose, intent on bringing him to justice.
Doc Feldman is not treated nicely in this book. He is hunted at every turn by his ex-wife, who left him for saving a friend. He is hated and beaten and betrayed and sold out time and time again. Just when things seem hopeless they get worse.
I couldn't leave this book alone. When I wasn't reading this book I was thinking about it. The intensity of emotion surprised me for a book written in the seventies. I have no idea if this book was written in a single night but it was an incredible experience.
The rise of the Lobbies in government feels eerily prophetic of where we are headed today with socialized health care and government controlled medical services. So much so that I actually looked up the publishing date to make sure it wasn't a new book. (I know, Lester Del Rey is dead. It can't be knew, but it was seriously clairvoyant.)
I will definitely be seeking out more of Lester Del Rey.
On a side note there is some debate as to what Lester Del Rey's name really is. He often told people that his real name was Ramon Felipe Alvarez-del Rey or even Ramon Felipe San Juan Mario Silvio Enrico Smith Heartcourt-Brace Sierra y Alvarez del Rey y de los Uerdes. I suspect that last was a joke. His sister said his real name was Leonard Knapp.
(9/10)
furicle's review against another edition
3.0
metaphorosis's review against another edition
3.0
Summary
Kicked off Earth for practicing medicine outside a sanctioned facility, Dr. Daniel Feldman is barred from medicine completely. Faced with a medical emergency on Mars, though, he gives in to temptation and starts a sequence that challenges the Medical Lobby itself.
Review
I may have to go back and re-evaluate my Lester Del Rey reading. Badge of Infamy is a stronger story than Police Your Planet, but it has similar weaknesses in its treatment of women. Again, here, we see an unreasonably angry woman who suddenly turns around at the end and "give[s] in completely". Thankfully, in this story, they don't live happily ever after. But the woman in the story plays a key role, and her actions make very little sense.
Gender issues aside, the setup is an interesting one. While the action is a little on the pulpy, side, the narrator is intriguing, and has some moments of uncertainty. He's a failure much of the time. Scientifically, well, there's a lot of handwaving, and it's enough to keep the plot moving, but it's not something you want to peer too far into.
I enjoyed the story, but it's largely for people really wanting to dig into the post-Golden Age middle period of SFF. It's not your best place to start with Del Rey. In fact, I'm starting to think maybe novels weren't his forte.
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