Deathworld
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Deathworld is the name of a trilogy of science fiction novels by Harry Harrison.
The trilogy consists of the books Deathworld (first published 1960, anthologized in Astounding Science Fiction), Deathworld 2 (1964) and Deathworld 3 (1968).
Deathworld centers on psychic Jason dinAlt, a successful professional gambler who continually seeks to test his psychic abilities. He travels to the planet Pyrrus, reputed to be the most challenging for humans to live on -- hence its nickname "Deathworld". Pyrrus is very dense, with a gravity of 2 g; its high axial tilt contributes to severe weather; it is very tectonically active, with frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; it has massive tides; and the native plants and animals, endowed with psychic abilities, are unremittingly hostile to all foreign life. The settlers are engaged every day in a ceaseless struggle for life -- which they are losing. Its very name is a reference to Pyrrhic victory, a succes that comes at devastating cost to the victor.
Deathworld 2 has Jason being kidnapped by a nemesis of his; he forces a crash-landing on a planet where what technology exists appears only in extremely primitive versions and is split up among many small nations, each nation claiming monopoly over a certain technology. Jason uses his ingenuity to survive, trading his knowledge for protection and power.
In Deathworld 3, Jason invites his fellow Pyrrans to help colonize "Felicity", a planet rich in mineral wealth but home to humans, who are divided into two societies, reminiscent of early Asia. One society builds towns and cities, the other is composed of clans of raiders, highly reminiscent of the Mongols before they invaded China and settled down. These clans have recently united under a man calling himself Temujin, to form a formidable fighting force which fights all invaders.
In The Mothballed Spaceship, Jason and the Pyrrans are contracted by the Earth government to reactivate an ancient mothballed battleship, while an armada is heading towards Earth in order to conquer it. That battleship, a relic from the time of the First Galactic War, is the only ship capable of saving the planet. The shpi itself fires on any object entering its weapons range, and, should someone try to board it, a self-destruct sequence is engaged. Jason dinAlt and Kerk Pyrrus must race against time to enter the ship and reactivate it to save humanity's cradle. This was a short story featured in ASTOUNDING: The John W. Campbell Anthology which was published after the death of the famed, influential editor.
The Return to Deathworld series has never been published in English.
In Return to Deathworld, a strange planetoid is detected heading for a densely-populated star cluster. Anybody who looks at it is overcome by irrational fear. The collective governing body of the cluster hires the Pyrrans to investigate and, if the planetoid is dangerous, destroy it. Things get complicated when the planetoid is discovered to arrive from another universe with different physical laws (e.g. π is exactly 2) and Jason and Meta get kidnapped by the insane master in control of the thing.
The second part of Return to Deathworld describes Jason's adventures at the galactic core, strangely mirroring the ancient myth of the Argonauts (including the fact that the hero is named Jason and the battleship's new name is Argo).
In Deathworld vs. Filibusterers, the remains of the defeated armada (mentioned in The Mothballed Spaceship) turn to piracy under the leadership of one Henry Morgan. Jason dinAlt is hired by the same casino he won 3 million from to steal back the money Morgan took from the casino. Jason's plan fails when he and Meta are captured by Morgan's men and taken to their hidden planet. In no time Jason makes up another daring plan - lead the pirates to Pyrrus for a pirate-Pyrran face-off.
In The Creatures from Hell, strange eruptions occur all over a semi-backward planet. Unknown creatures are seen rising from the lava. As usual, the planetary authorities come to Pyrrus for help. As the Pyrrans begin to investigate the phenomenon, truth is revealed about the rulers of the planet and the crops they are growing there.
