The Pirates Of Ersatz

It was not mere impulsive action when Bron Hoddan started for the planet Walden by stowing away on a ship that had come to his native planet to hang all his relatives. He'd planned it long before. It was a long-cherished and carefully worked out scheme. He didn't expect the hanging of his relatives, of course. He knew that they'd act grieved and innocent, and give proof that they were simple people leading blameless lives. They'd make their would-be executioners feel ashamed and apologetic for having thought evil of them, and as soon as the strangers left they'd return to their normal way of life, which was piracy. But while this was going on, Bron Hoddan stowed away on the menacing vessel. Presently he arrived at its home world. But his ambition was to reach Walden, so he set about getting there. It took a long time because he had to earn ship-passage from one solar system to another, but he held to his idea. Walden was the most civilized planet in that part of the galaxy. On Walden, Hoddan intended, in order (a) to achieve splendid things as an electronic engineer, (b) to grow satisfactorily rich, (c) to marry a delightful girl, and (d) end his life a great man. But he had to spend two years trying to arrange even the first....

An impulsive action, on his part? Hardly. Bron Hoddan went to the ship that landed on his native planet of Zan, the ship whose heartless crew was intent on lining up all his relatives for execution . . . and he stowed away. Bron had planned it all long before, hoping to escape to the planet Walden, a place of wealth and peace where he might have a chance to prove himself as an electrical engineer, then find the beautiful wife of his dreams . . . And compared with Zan, home of space pirates, Walden turns out to be a fine place indeed, where he quickly establishes himself with his brilliant work . . . Until suddenly the police broke down his door! Will Jenkins (1896-1975), writing as Murray Leinster, was called the Dean of Science Fiction, and was author of such popular novels as "Timeslip!" He won the Hugo award for 1956 novelette "Exploration Team."

The Pirates of Zan is a science fiction novel by Murray Leinster, originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction in 1959 as "The Pirates of Ersatz". It was nominated for the 1960 Hugo Award for Best Novel. It first appeared in book form in 1959 as one component of an Ace Double, bound with Leinster's The Mutant Weapon; this edition was reissued in 1971. A German translation was issued in hardcover in 1962, an Italian translation appeared in 1968, and a Dutch translation was published in 1972. Bart Books published a stand-alone American paperback edition in 1989. and Baen Books included Pirates in a Leinster omnibus, A Logic Named Joe, in 2005. The Pirates of Zan tells the story of Bron Hoddan, a one-time engineer who sets out on a career of interstellar piracy ostensibly to further more legitimate goals. Frederik Pohl reviewed Pirates favorably, saying "It would not seem possible that after thirty years of space-pirate stories any writer could make one come alive; but Bron Hoddan is a rather unique space pirate, and Murray Leinster is a nearly unique science-fiction writer". P. Schuyler Miller praised the novel as "a rare old piece of Leinsterian adventure yarning". Amazing Stories reviewer S. E. Cotts was less enthusiastic, describing it as a "piece of lightweight science fiction, guaranteed for entertainment purposes only". In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, John Clute describes Pirates as "a competent but unremarkable Space Opera". (wikipedia.org)

Because Bran Hoddan was a serious electronice engineer, he didn't want any part of his planet's heritage. For he was from Zan -- and Zan's only occupation was spaceship piracy!

The Pirates of ErsatzBy y Murray Leinster

Bron is the offspring of infamous space pirates but instead of following in the family footsteps he decides to become an electronic engineer. Unfortunately, every time he tries to get out, something pulls him back in. This is a tongue-in-cheek space adventure along the lines of the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. It was originally published in the FEB-APR issues of Astounding Science Fiction in 1959.

The Pirates of Ersatz tells the story of Bran Hodder, a one-time engineer who sets out on a career of interstellar piracy ostensibly to further more legitimate goals. The revised version of this tale was nominated for the 1960 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Frederik Pohl reviewed Pirates favorably, saying It would not seem possible that after thirty years of space-pirate stories any writer could make one come alive; but Bron Hoddan is a rather unique space pirate, and Murray Leinster is a nearly unique science-fiction writer.

Show Excerpt ou. After all, I caused your arrest. I urged you not to connect up your receptor without permission!" "I know," growled Hoddan, "but there are some people so stupid you have to show them everything. I didn't realize that there are people so stupid you can't show them anything." "You ... showed something you didn't intend," said Derec miserably. "Bron, I ... I have to tell you. When they went to charge the carbon bins at the power station, they ... they found a dead man, Bron!" Hoddan sat up. "What's that?" "Your machine--killed him. He was outside the building at the foot of a tree. Your receptor killed him through a stone wall! It broke his bones and killed him.... Bron--" Derec wrung his hands. "At some stage of power-drain your receptor makes deathrays!" Hoddan had had a good many shocks today. When Derec arrived, he'd been incredulously comparing the treatment he'd received and the panic about him, with the charges made against him in court. They didn't add up. Th