Lucky Starr

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Lucky Starr is the hero of the six-volume science fiction novel series of the same name by Isaac Asimov from the 1950s. The series is known for the idea of ​​force field blades, which may have inspired the lightsabers in Star Wars .

Lucky Starr

David "Lucky" Starr is a member of the Science Council and mostly acts in secret. The Science Council is an organization that protects the earth and has special rights vis-à-vis other bodies (e.g. the military), but does not seek political power. Starr is an orphan whose parents were killed in a space pirate attack on their way to Venus. He himself only got away because his mother got him off the ship in an escape pod. Starr was raised by family friends who are themselves members of the Science Council. Which led to the fact that he also pursued this same career after studying biophysics and became the youngest member of the council.

During his first deployment on Mars , he meets mysterious beings who live inside Mars as beings of pure energy. None of the human inhabitants of Mars suspected that Mars had already been inhabited. He receives a mask from them, with the help of which he can build up a protective shield around himself and cannot be recognized - in this disguise he calls himself a “Space Ranger”. In the course of the novels, however, this protective shield (and the alter ego) is rarely used, and the Martian beings no longer appear. At the same time he meets his future, short companion John "Bigman" Jones, who because of his size has an inferiority complex and tends to violent outbursts of anger when someone speaks to him about it.

Locations

The novels of the Lucky Starr series take place in the solar system on the different planets ( Mars , Venus  ...), it looks as if Isaac Asimov wanted to write a novel for each planet; however, this was not realized. The Lucky Starr series is an exception to Asimov's other works. Usually his novels are set either on earth or the moon or on fictional planets outside the solar system, but never on other planets of the solar system.

Asimov goes into the environmental conditions of the planet at every scene, as was the state of knowledge at the time. This is how he describes huge oceans and semi-intelligent life in them on Venus. However, he refrains from exaggerated representations and tries to use moderate descriptions. It is extremely hot on Mercury due to its proximity to the sun, but Lucky does not find any lakes of liquid metal.

Comparison with Captain Future

There are some amazing parallels to Captain Future - the structure of the novels is very similar ( cliffhanger at the end of the chapters, tension arcs as in detective novels with a resolution at the end, etc.) David Starr and Curtis Newton are both orphans, both have paternal friends and use partly a pseudonym (Captain Future / space ranger), whereby the real identity (Curtis Newton) is not secret with Captain Future.

The planets are populated in both series of novels, with Isaac Asimov being more scientifically realistic than Edmond Hamilton . Captain Future is a US pulp series by Edmond Hamilton that appeared from 1940 to 1944.

bibliography

The bibliography shows the first editions and the first German translations, as well as different titles and new translations.

  • 1 Lucky Starr: Space Ranger (1952, also: David Starr: Space Ranger ; also: Space Ranger , 1973; also: David Starr, Space Ranger , 1971; also: David Starr - Space Ranger , 2001)
    • German: Poison from Mars. Moewig (Terra # 277), 1963. Also called: Poison from Mars. Translated by Heinz Zwack. Pabel Terra TB # 240, 1974. Also as: Lucky Starr. Translated by Jens Rösner. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction Action # 21138, 1981, ISBN 3-404-21138-3 . Also called: Lucky Starr, the space ranger. In: Isaac Asimov: Lucky Starr. Translated by Jens Rösner and Ekkehart Reinke. Lübbe (Bastei-Lübbe SF Bestseller # 22103), Bergisch Gladbach 1987, ISBN 3-404-22103-6 . Also as: Lucky Starr - space ranger. In: Isaac Asimov: Lucky Starr. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction # 23200, 1998, ISBN 3-404-23200-3 .
  • 2 Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids (1953, also: Lucky Starr and the Space Pirates ; also: Pirates of the Asteroids , 1973)
    • English: Flight through the sun. Moewig (Terra # 279), 1963. Also called: Lucky Starr in the asteroid belt. Translated by Jens Rösner. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction Action # 21141, 1981, ISBN 3-404-21141-3 .
  • 3 Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus (1954; also: Oceans of Venus , 1980; also: The Oceans of Venus , 1983)
    • English: In the ocean of Venus. Moewig (Terra # 282), 1963. Also called: Lucky Starr on Venus. Translated by Jens Rösner. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction Action # 21143, 1981, ISBN 3-404-21143-X .
  • 4 Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury (1956; also: The Big Sun of Mercury , 1974)
    • English: In the light of the Mercury sun. Moewig (Terra # 285), 1963. Also as: In the light of the Mercury sun. Translated by Günter Riedmeier. Pabel Terra TB # 246, 1974. Also as: Lucky Starr in the light of the Mercury sun. Translated by Ekkehart Reinke. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction Action # 21145, 1981, ISBN 3-404-21145-6 .
  • 5 Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter (1957; also: The Moons of Jupiter , 1974)
    • English: On the moons of Jupiter. Translated by Heinz Zwack. Moewig (Terra # 287), 1963. Also called: Lucky Starr on Jupiter's moons. Translated by Ekkehart Reinke. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction Action # 21147, 1982, ISBN 3-404-21147-2 .
  • 6 Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn (1958; also: The Rings of Saturn , 1974)
    • English: The Rings of Saturn. Moewig (Terra # 290), 1963. Also called: Lucky Starr and the rings of Saturn. Translated by Ekkehart Reinke. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction Action # 21149, 1982, ISBN 3-404-21149-9 .

Collective issues:

  • To Isaac Asimov Double: Space Ranger and Pirates of the Asteroids (collective edition of 1 and 2; 1972; also: David Starr, Space Ranger & Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids , 1993)
  • A Second Asimov Double: The Big Sun of Mercury and The Oceans of Venus (collective edition of 3 and 4; 1973; also: Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus & Lucky Star and the Big Sun of Mercury , 1993)
  • The Third Isaac Asimov Double: The Rings of Saturn, The Moons of Jupiter (collective edition of 5 and 6; 1973; also: Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter & Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn , 1993)
  • The Adventures of Lucky Starr (collective edition from 1–3; 1985)
  • The Further Adventures of Lucky Starr (collective edition from 4–6; 1985)
  • The Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr (collective edition from 1–6; 2001)
  • The Astounding Adventures of Space Ranger Starr, Agent of the Council of Space (collective edition from 1–6; collective edition)

German collective editions:

  • Lucky Starr. Translated by Jens Rösner and Ekkehart Reinke. Lübbe (Bastei-Lübbe SF bestseller # 22103), Bergisch Gladbach 1987, ISBN 3-404-22103-6 (collective edition of 1-2).
  • Lucky Starr. Bastei Lübbe Science Fiction # 23200, 1998, ISBN 3-404-23200-3 (collective edition from 1–6).