Description

A few good con men....

The starship crew was stuck on a planet where the well-meaning schemes of ivory tower social engineers had created a nightmare of battling gangs. So they pretended to be the "Royal Legions" from a distant star kingdom in hot pursuit of an unspeakably evil and nearly all-powerful villain who was hiding somewhere on the planet.

Things went even better than they had hoped, and the planet was rapidly becoming civilized . . . and then the real Royal Flagship showed up. They thought they were doomed, but instead the new arrivals (who also weren't quite what they claimed to be) thought the crew had shown just the sort of initiative and ingenuity that the Interstellar Patrol was looking for. So they were inducted into the Patrol.

And that was just the beginning. . . .

Quotes

"I am delighted that someone is making Christopher Anvil's work available once again. Especially the Interstellar Patrol stories. I've always loved Anvil's . . . peculiar sense of humor."
—David Weber

"[Anvil is] insistently readable!"
&mdashThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

Extended Copyright Information

Copyright 2003 by Christopher Anvil.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Previously published by Baen Books.

"Strangers to Paradise" was first published in Analog, October 1966. "The Dukes of Desire" was first published in Analog, June 1967. "The King's Legions" was first published in Analog, September 1967. (These three stories were later combined and issued as the novel Strangers in Paradise, Tower 1969.) "A Question of Attitude" was first published in Analog, December 1967. "The Royal Road" was first published in Analog, June 1968. "The Nitrocellulose Doormat" was first published in Analog, June 1969. "Basic" was first published in Venture Science Fiction, November 1969. "Test Ultimate" was first published in Analog, October 1969. "Compound Interest" was first published in Analog, July 1967. "Experts in the Field" was first published in Analog, May 1967. "The Hunch" was first published in Analog, July 1961. "Star Tiger" was first published in Astounding, June 1960. "Revolt! " was first published in Astounding, April 1958. "Stranglehold" was first published in Analog, June 1966.

Publisher's Note:A short portion of Interstellar Patrol was previously published in Strangers in Paradise. This is the first unified publication of the Interstellar Patrol saga.

Cover art by Mark Hennessey-Barratt.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Opening Lines (Experimental)

Vaughan Nathan Roberts, captain of the fast interstellar transport Orion, stood in the huge room amidst all the wheeled and antennaed metal shapes, large and small, and thought of his ship orbiting the planet with its drive knocked out. The idea of coming to this place, he told himself stubbornly, ...

Copyright

Copyright 2003 by Christopher Anvil.

All Rights Reserved.