This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids
Series: Lucky Starr #2
Author: Isaac Asimov
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 144
Format: Digital Scan
| Synopsis: |
Something funny is going on with the Pirates who inhabit the asteroids. While they seem to be growing in number and strength, their attacks have become more focused, tighter and a lot more strategic. Lucky and others from the Science Council build a spaceship meant to be captured and then exploded in a Pirate base. It’s all a double, triple, never ending ruse though, as Lucky sneaks on board after alerting the Syrian Embassy anonymously of the “real” mission of the ship. The Syrians are in league with the Pirates and when everything in place, Earth will face a two fronted war.
Lucky uncovers just how far along the plans actually are and sets in motion events to prevent the war from ever starting. He comes across the man who had his parents killed 25 years ago who is the mastermind of the Pirates. While the Military is looking at dealing with the Syrians, the Science Council goes in secretly to the asteroid belt and using the information from the mastermind, clean out all the pirate nests. This collapses one front of the potential war, so the Syrians withdraw without a fight.
| My Thoughts: |
Yeah….this was rather boring. Also, Lucky wasn’t much of a Space Ranger at all. He only used the mask the aliens gave him, in the first book, as protection so he could fly closer to the sun and catch up with some bad guys. No cool fight scene with it.
There were a couple of “fights” but they took place mainly in space and were as slow and clunky as you would imagine. No space ninjas here! It really boiled down to Lucky figuring things out last minute but not willing to tell his mentors because he didn’t have all the “facts” to back them up. Then he’d race off to get facts.
I must have glossed over it in the first book, but apparently there is another Galactic Empire of the Syrians, from Sirius. I felt like I was stumbling over them without knowing who or what they were. Are they humans or aliens? What is their beef with Earth? This should have been dealt with a little more clearly.
If the series stays tonally the same as this book instead of the first, it is going to be real easy to understand why this series never became very famous. Even Andre Norton wrote more exciting stuff.
★★★☆☆
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
I still need to read my first AA
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, he does have a bunch of short stories. If you want, I can email you one of the collections. That way you can just read a short story here and there and see if he’s for you. I think he’s a much better writer when writing short stories…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Id appreciate that, Milou has a Foundation novel on the shelf that I still have to pick up
LikeLiked by 1 person
And done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Even Andre Norton wrote more exciting stuff.”
Oooh, nice burn 🙂
I like Norton’s work a lot, mostly because I read so much of it in my teens, but she doesn’t have a lot of action in a bunch of her books..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, I considered that a real nice burn 🙂
I like her stuff, for the most part, too. But I’d be hesitant to recommend her to any modern reader.
LikeLike
And I’m glad you put that “a” in your name. Helped me place you so I didn’t confuse you with all the other DJ’s I know 😉
LikeLike
I’ve wanted to read a book by Isaac Asimov for a while now but I’m worried that I won’t finish it. Or even reach the halfway mark. I tried reading the first few pages of Nightfall but, gosh, it just didn’t strike my fancy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is too bad. Nightfall is considered one of his seminal works. You can always try some of his books of short stories. That way you’re not invested in a whole book if it doesn’t work for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, I like Asimov’s short stories a lot. Mr. Wyrm enjoys the Foundation series, though, so I’ll be trying that one at some point, too. It sounds like the Lucky Starr books will be a pass for me, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unless they dramatically improve over the course of the next 4 books, I suspect I’ll not be recommending these to anyone 🙂
LikeLike
Read and enjoyed these in Middle School – probably where they should stay. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, if you enjoyed them then, I’d leave them be and remember them fondly 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
If memory serves me, these books were written for a young audience, so that might be the reason at the roots of your boredom: once we grow up, our sense of wonder is adjusted accordingly… 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It would definitely make a LOT of sense if these were aimed at the middle grade…
LikeLike
I haven’t read nearly enough Asimov books.
Guess i won’t jump into this one tho… 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend it for a starting place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve never heard of this one, but it sounds like I should pretend I never heard of it too at this point… The next Asimov book I want to check out is The End of Eternity or I, Robot. What did you think of the former? Did you review it (can’t find it through the search engine)? Probably hidden in one of those massive review posts from way back then huh? 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did read I, Robot and liked the bunch of short stories. It was back in the very early ’00’s, so yeah, its like one line in a huge post 🙂 I think I retcon rated it to 3 stars?
In the same vein, his Complete Robot is a good work too.
I have NOT read End of Eternity.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sort stunned to hear you haven’t tried The End of Eternity though 😱 Any reason for that? Will you be trying it out at some point? Besides his Foundation trilogy and I, Robot stuff, The End of Eternity has always seemed to be his other major work to me hahah
LikeLiked by 1 person
I suspect it is because I read almost all of his stuff back in the 90’s and very early ’00’s and near the end I was getting into his later works (later foundation novels, etc) where you can really see the change in style and him as an author and I didn’t like those changes. So instead of trying various other works of his, I just figured I’d read enough and let well enough alone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Black on black in the Charg I’m creepin’ Rub me the right way, you might get a genie B.o.B, black Houdini
LikeLike