The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph
by Jack Vance
Reviewed date: 2012 Jun 18
146 pages
Reviewed date: 2012 Jun 18
146 pages
These weren't great stories, but they are good. I enjoy good science fiction mysteries.
- The Kokod Warriors: Ridolph travels to Kokod and arranges to shut down a resort that caters to clients wishing to watch the native tribes engage in their savage, ritual warfare.
- The Unspeakable McInch: A murderer named McInch is terrorizing the planet of Sclerotto.
- The Howling Bounders: Ridolph is swindled into purchasing a ticholama plantation that is being destroyed by howling bounders, an indestructible species of ape-like creature.
- The King of Thieves: The planet Moritaba is the only source of telex ore, and Ridolph hopes to get permission from the local regent--the King of Thieves--to mine the telex. But the natives' habit of stealing anything and everything they can get their hands on, which complicates--or perhaps simplifies--things.
- The Spa of the Stars: A beach resort on an idyllic planet is threatened by deadly dragons, so the owners hire Ridolph to discover why.
- Coup de Grace: A murder at a space hotel prompts Ridolph to investigate the suspects and determine their possible motives based on an analysis of their home planets' customs.