The Makeshift Rocket
Poul Anderson
- A
- spaceship
- engineer
- held
- captive
- by
- would-be
- revolutionaries
- plots
- a
- daring
- escape
- in
- a
- rocket
- constructed
- of
- odds
- and
- ends
- and
- powered
- by
- beer
- in
- this
- hilarious
- romp
- from
- a
- master
- of
- golden-age
- speculative
- fictionThe
- last
- thing
- the
- crew
- of
- the
- Mercury
- Girl
- expected
- to
- find
- on
- the
- terraformed
- worldlet
- known
- as
- Grendel
- was
- a
- band
- of
- Irish
- revolutionaries.
- As
- far
- as
- the
- ship’s
- engineer,
- Knud
- Axel
- Syrup,
- is
- concerned,
- being
- taken
- prisoner
- by
- the
- more-than-slightly-nutty
- Shamrock
- League
- Irredentist
- Expeditionary
- Force
- could
- be
- a
- lot
- worse.
- At
- least
- there’s
- plenty
- of
- cold
- brew
- available
- to
- keep
- him
- occupied
- .
- .
- .
- and
- more
- than
- a
- little
- tipsy.
- But
- these
- crazed
- Fenians
- are
- spoiling
- for
- a
- fight,
- and
- the
- last
- thing
- Syrup
- needs
- is
- to
- get
- caught
- in
- the
- middle
- of
- a
- war
- between
- the
- Shamrocks
- and
- their
- sworn
- rivals,
- the
- Anglians.Luckily
- Syrup
- has
- a
- plan.
- With
- the
- help
- of
- a
- somewhat-ditzy
- dancer
- named
- Emily
- and
- an
- alien
- in
- six-legged
- lederhosen,
- he
- intends
- to
- pull
- off
- a
- daring
- escape
- from
- the
- miniplanet
- in
- a
- spaceship
- constructed
- of
- pretzel
- boxes,
- old
- bicycle
- parts,
- and
- anything
- else
- he
- finds
- lying
- around,
- trusting
- their
- liftoff
- to
- the
- considerable
- propulsive
- power
- of
- beer.Multiple
- award
- winner
- Poul
- Anderson
- is
- one
- of
- science
- fiction’s
- most
- respected
- maestros,
- and
- here
- he
- displays
- another
- side
- of
- his
- creative
- genius
- with
- his
- tongue
- planted
- firmly
- in
- his
- cheek.
- Hilarious,
- outrageous,
- and
- delightfully
- imaginative,
- The
- Makeshift
- Rocket
- is
- a
- wonderfully
- wild
- and
- wacky
- romp
- through
- a
- very
- different
- cosmos
- with
- one
- of
- the
- genre’s
- best
- pilots
- at
- the controls.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
