Bill, the Galactic Hero

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Bill, the Galactic Hero is a satirical science fiction novel by Harry Harrison, first published in 1965.

It is a response to Heinlein's controversially militaristic Starship Troopers. The overall plot is similar, the details rather less so; and Harrison makes the most of an opportunity to spoof the work of other authors including Isaac Asimov, "Doc" Smith, and Joseph Heller. Harrison reports having been approached by a Vietnam veteran who described Bill as "the only book that's true about the military"

Plot summary

Bill is a farmboy who is shanghaied into the Space Troopers by an unscrupulous recruiting sergeant at a parade. After many drugged drinks, promises of medals, and fitting for uniforms on the spot, Bill and the rest of the recruits march off for basic training, aided by a hypno-coil the recruiter attaches to each of their boots.

Basic is at Camp Leon Trotsky with a drill sergeant named Deathwish Drang. Deathwish has fashioned his teeth into fangs in order to better scare the recruits. There he meets fellow recruits such as Eager Beager, who has volunteered for permanent latrine duty and shines the shoes of the rest of the platoon.

Bill is introduced to the "enemy" -- seven foot lizards called "Chingers" -- via propaganda posters in the latrine. Basic is cut short, however, when a battle in the war against the Chingers goes horribly wrong and the entire staff of Leon Trotsky is called up to reinforce the warfighters. The recruits are shipped out sans armor or food, since those personnel had already deployed.

He is then assigned to the ship Christine Keeler, where he becomes a Fuse Tender Sixth Class. Beager is one of the only people he knows from Basic. He also meets FT6 Reverend Tembo, who keeps trying to convert Bill to Voodoo from Zoroastrianism, the latter of which Tembo dismisses as "Pure Superstition."

FT1 Spleen, their boss, trains them on the job as fuse tenders, which he says normally takes a year. The process involves the relatively simple process of replacing burned out fuses with new ones. After the training Beager and Bill enter the shipboard defense room, where Bill sees Beager take pictures of the classified material and scurry off.

Bill decides to tell the chaplain what he saw. He has to skip lunch and goes to the chaplain's office. In the office is a gruff, overworked laundry officer, who informs Bill that the chaplain does not arrive for another fifteen minutes. As a result Bill is put to work sorting jockstraps. At 1300 the laundry officer flips a sign and his collar to become the chaplain. The chaplain assures the strictest confidence. Bill tells him about Beager and the officer calls him a liar. After a steady berating, the laundry officer comes back on duty. He says that he never made the oath and tells Bill to lead him to Beager.

When they find Beager he is shining shoes in his quarters. The Military Police grab him, and Beager's head opens to reveal a 7-inch high lizard who escapes in a small flying saucer. This is the true height of the Chinger. With the threat gone, nobody bothers to move Beager's body. Bill talks to it in lieu of friends.

While walking around the ship Bill runs into Deathwish Drang. He's scared, but Drang tells him that it's all an act. Drang laments that criminal acts and his connection to the "good old boy" network didn't save him from deployment.

Then the Keeler is called to action. Bill is excited to do his part against the Chingers. Bill stares at the fuses during the battle and has to ask what is going on. At different times he hears torpedoes or feels the ship maneuvering. The shields go up, which means that all heat is trapped inside the storeroom, where Bill is assigned. It's hot but the regulations don't permit taking off the uniform. They do it anyway. After a few hours Bill is bored by the battle. It ends and a memo is circulated detailing the ribbons the participants are awarded, and the penalty of death for those who wear the ribbon incorrectly.

Series

Six sequels were published, from 1989 to 1992.

The first, Bill, the Galactic Hero On the Planet of Robot Slaves (1989), is by Harry Harrison.

The second, Bill the Galactic Hero On the Planet of Bottled Brains (1990), is by Robert Sheckley and Harry Harrison

The third, Bill the Galactic Hero On the Planet of Tasteless Pleasure (1991), is by David Bischoff and Harry Harrison

The fourth, Bill the Galactic Hero On the Planet of Zombie Vampires (1991), is by Jack C. Haldeman and Harry Harrison

The fifth, Bill the Galactic Hero On the Planet of Ten Thousand Bars (1991), is by David Bischoff and Harry Harrison (Was also published under the title: "Bill, the Galactic Hero on the Planet of the Hippies from Hell")

The sixth, Bill the Galactic Hero: The Final Incoherent Adventure (1991), is by David Harris and Harry Harrison

The Bloater Drive

The standard ways of circumventing relativity in 1950s and 1960s science fiction were hyperspace, subspace and spacewarp. Harrison's contribution was the Bloater Drive. This enlarges the gaps between the atoms of the ship until it spans the distance to the destination, whereupon the atoms are moved back together again, reconstituting the ship at its previous size but in the new location. An occasional side-effect is that the occupants see a planet drifting, in miniature, through the hull. ("No-no! Don't touch it!")

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Sunday January 27, 2008 at 13:22:50 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation