Planet of the Damned
Planet of the Damned is a 1962 science fiction novel by Harry Harrison, originally serialized in 1961 as Sense of Obligation. The story follows Brion Brandd, a man with a heightened sense of empathy, who wins a brutal competition known as the Twenties on the planet Anvhar. Shortly after his victory, he is thrust into a perilous mission on the planet Dis, where he must negotiate with hostile forces to prevent a global nuclear disaster. The novel explores themes of moral responsibility and the complexities of human-alien interactions, and it was nominated for the Hugo Award.
Editions
X-Ray
“DIS ... DIS ... DIS ... it was a word it was a planet and the word thundered like a drum a drum the sound of its thunder surrounded and was a wasteland a planet of death a planet where living was dying and dying was very better than living DIS””
— Harry Harrison
“We no longer attempt to guide cultures towards what we consider a beneficial goal. There are too many goals, and from our limited vantage point it is hard to tell the good ones from the bad ones. All we do now is try to protect the growing cultures, give a little jolt to the stagnating ones”
— Harry Harrison
“Like all of the other sciences, we have found out that the more we know, the more there is to know.””
— Harry Harrison
