In Deathworld, readers were introduced to series star Jason dinAlt, a professional gambler who has psychic powers. By the book's end, Jason is living with his girlfriend on a mining planet called Pyrrus. Deathworld 2 begins on Pyrrus as Jason is watching a vehicle enter the planet's atmosphere and touch down. When he greets the ship he is captured by a crazed man named Mikah. Apparently Jason's casino winnings on the planet Cassylia (taking place in Deathworld) using psychic abilities has made him a wanted fugitive. Mikah's intention was to take Jason to Cassylia so he could pay for his crimes. But, in an attempt to escape, Jason smashes the ship's steering and the craft crashes on a barbarically neanderthal planet.
Both Mikah and Jason are slaved by a warring clan and are forced to escape. However, their escape leads to another enslavement by a rival clan. Jason then tricks the clan and manages to escape only to be captured again by another rival clan. Do you see where this is going? Jason then manages to escape that clan, bring electricity to a rival clan and send a rescue beacon for a possible rescue.
There are so many things wrong with Deathworld 2. I contemplate whether Harrison actually wrote this novel as a sequel to Deathworld. Perhaps he wrote the meat and potatoes of this novel and then carefully just changed the main character's name to Jason and added in a page or two at the beginning to bridge the books. This version of Jason doesn't seem to possess any psychic ability, but instead has an abundant knowledge of engineering – something that wasn't elaborated on in the series debut. Jason can create electricity and build spaceships while retooling complex engines and factory machines. If Jason was an engineer of this magnitude then there was really no reason for him to be a professional gambler/criminal in Deathworld. The characterization isn't uniform. Additionally, Harrison just recycles the basic plot design – capture, trick, escape – repeatedly. There is also an injection of machismo and a philosophical debate on religion and faith.
As much as I love Harry Harrison's writing style, Deathworld 2 is a real clunker. Skip this book.
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