The Impossibles

Janifer, Laurence M., 1933-2002Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
287K words
Chapters
29

Tags

English Originals Science Fiction SuperpowersLegendary LivesSci-Fi AdventureHeroismHuman NaturePsychological InsightPotential DevelopmentCriminal PsychologyLight ReadingHumor Relief

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Impossibles by Randall Garrett and Laurence M. JaniferAuthor: Janifer, Laurence M., 1933-2002,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 16, 2007

Editor's review

The Impossibles, a collaboration between Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer, is a light science fiction adventure built around the gimmick of "impossible" missions. The story follows a team tasked with handling jobs that seem beyond completion; the pace is brisk, the dialogue witty, and the tone firmly that of popular genre entertainment. The two authors excel at pairing absurd premises with tight action, giving readers a steady stream of puzzles and reversals within a short span. It works best as leisure reading within the genre rather than as hard science fiction or deep speculation. The original English text is short and plainly written, suited to readers curious about early science fiction who would rather avoid dense terminology. Those who prefer full character arcs and heavily built worlds may find it slight, but for a commute or bedtime read its lightness and humor serve well.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Move chapter by chapter and pause at each chapter's end to review the mission's progress, so the fast pace doesn't make you miss planted clues.
  2. Read the dialogue closely; much of the humor and character comes through in banter and reactions.
  3. English readers can finish a chapter once without looking anything up, then revisit unfamiliar words to keep the rhythm.
  4. After finishing, compare it with other works by the same authors to see how they write team-comedy science fiction.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29

FAQ

Is this book hard science fiction? No. It leans toward light adventure and humorous puzzle-solving; the science serves plot and jokes rather than rigorous technical extrapolation. If you want hard physics or social speculation, you may be disappointed; if you just want fast-paced genre fun, it fits.
How difficult is the English? The language is generally plain, sentences are short, and dialogue makes up much of the text, placing it at the easier end of intermediate science fiction reading. Early science fiction vocabulary and slang appear now and then but don't block the main story. Readers with basic proficiency can finish it with a dictionary.
Do I need to read earlier books in the series first? The available information doesn't show that it depends on earlier books for comprehension. As a story driven by missions and character interaction, it can usually be entered directly; if you notice prior relationships, you can fill them in later without losing the main pleasure of reading.

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About the author

Janifer, Laurence M., 1933-2002 Author

Laurence M. Janifer (1933–2002) was an American science fiction writer. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life are rarely covered in Chinese-language sources. The library holds 14 of his works, including Brain Twister, Supermind, The Impossibles, Charley de Milo, Occasion for Disaster, Lost in Translation, Sight Gag, and The Man Who Played to Lose. Judging from these titles, he was skilled at handling science fiction with a light, humorous touch, building plots around bizarre premises with irony and ingenuity; some works belong to series. His brisk, entertaining style earned him a place in the mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazine and paperback market, and he retains appeal for readers who enjoy traditional humorous science fiction.