The ''Land and Overland'' trilogy is a group of three

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scienti ...

novels by Northern Irish writer

Bob Shaw Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story " Light of Other Day ...

. The trilogy consists of the books '' The Ragged Astronauts'' (published in 1986), ''The Wooden Spaceships'' (1988) and ''The Fugitive Worlds'' (1989). In the United Kingdom, all three novels were originally published by

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...

. ''The Ragged Astronauts'' won the

BSFA Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, ...

for best Novel in 1987. The setting for the trilogy is a pair of planets, ''Land and Overland'', which orbit about a common centre of gravity, close enough to each other that they share a common atmosphere.

Plot

''The Ragged Astronauts''

Land is a strictly feudal society that undergoes a peak energy crisis (the trees that provide energy and hard materials are scarce), and is undergoing a process of cultural decay. Much of the human population of Land travels to Overland via hot-air balloon to escape airborne creatures called the Ptertha.

Translations

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ("Astonauts in Rags"), 2003 * German: , 1991 () *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

: , 1993 *

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: ("Space removal"), 1994 () * Italian: ("The Ptertha invasion, or Challenge to the sky"), 1999 () * Romanian:

''The Wooden Spaceships''

Conflict breaks out between the new inhabitants of Overland and those who stayed behind on Land and, having developed an immunity to the Ptertha, intend to invade Overland. The inhabitants of Overland manage to defeat them by erecting a network of fortresses between the two planets. The spaceships of the title are made of a super-hard wood, brakka.

Translations

: ("The Wooden Spaceships"), 2003 * German: , 1991 () *

: , 1996 * Italian: ("The attack to the world"), 2000 () * Romanian: N/A

''The Fugitive Worlds''

A strange object begins to approach the planets from outer space.

Translations

: ("The Fugitive Planets"), 2003 * German: , 1991 () * Italian: ("Towards the Unknown"), 2000 ()

Reception

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for bo ...

reviewed the first volume favourably, saying "''The Ragged Astronauts'' is what an 18th-century hard-sf novel might have been, if Swift or Defoe had paid more attention to Newton. There are marvels enough to make you feel like you're discovering science fiction for the first time. . . . Shaw writes with an extraordinary combination of intelligence, clarity, and compassion.""Books to Look for"
''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'', November 1987

References

Science fiction book series Novels by Bob Shaw {{1980s-sf-novel-stub