This book is from 1958, so I give some credit for pioneering science fiction. There are some innovative ideas and plot shifts.

But this was a tedious read. The characters are thin and repetitive. Seriously, besides names, I couldn't identify a difference between most of them.

I found it interesting how sci-fi has shifted over the years. Kudos to the author for his creativity.

Ohhhhh.... so it's a metaphorical "space prison." Gotcha. Considering that the plot revolves around a society of castoffs who were left behind on a barren planet after their world was taken over and, the original title, "Survivors," makes a whole lot more sense.
Whatever you want to call us, this was a satisfying, pulpy read. I liked it enough to check out the sequel.

This was a fun, pulpy scifi novel about REVENGE. This takes the idea of a "long play" strategy to the extreme! Listen to the audiobook on YouTube; it makes it even more pleasurable!

For a long while, after I got old enough to read big words for myself, my mother would pass books she thought were good to me - Robert Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars, for example. Eventually she approved me going into the collection directly and I worked my way through her shelves which included this gem from HER college years - first published in 1958. A book she loved enough to transport from one end of the country to another through at least four different moves.

I loved it too. Massive worldbuilding, MacGyvering, action. I reread it again and again. Now a group of sci-fi classic lovers have uploaded the book for free viewing on Kindle.

Note for the formatting - this is free, the page numbers are included in the text and there are a couple-few transcription issues. The overall result is fine though - especially free for a book which only had a 5,000 first run.

Rereading the book in 2017, the worldbuilding still remains amazing. The ecology of Ragnarok from its climate to its animals is breathtaking. Originally titled "The Survivors", this book makes you feel the hell planet a group of colonists are dumped on by their enemies. The MacGyvering to survive and then thrive remains really cool - gems always have worth.

Downside for 2017 - no female characters of note. The women and children are a background group - dying but essential to survival. Mr. Godwin does show them working along side the men, doing the same sacrifices and more; much more, there are no old child-bearing women. On a 1.5 gravity world where reproduction is as essential as exploration, the explorers will be limited to the men - and those are the ones Mr. Godwin follows. The women stay home and die in childbirth. Not the exciting part of the story for the 1950's readers. The author never demeans women or says they can't do what the men can do, but because they can do something the men cannot do they are not a part of the story.

The story follows the colonists and their descendants for 200 years.

The main lacking in this story is character attachment, you sympathize with the characters but don't empathize. Consider how many people die, not feeling each death personally is a plus. The initial two nights after the colonists arrival on the hell world makes George R.R. Martin's Red Wedding look sedate.

Still a great worldbuilding story even after 60 years; definitely worth the space on your kindle if you like classic sci-fi.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Eric Flint, in conjunction with Baen Books, has collected many of Tom Godwin's works into "The Cold Equations" (published 2003), including The Survivors/Space Prison and his famous short story "The Cold Equations". While not free, like this particular "Kindle Edition", it's available in paperback so you can have it for your shelves. ... Side amusement, the cover is for "Space Prison" with a person standing holding a crossbow and unicorn goggles (should be black), with a mocker on the shoulder and two prowlers - but, typical of early sci-fi, the person is a scantily garbed woman.

Interesting. Not because the story is any good, because it isn't. But the concept, which I'm sure was more of the point, of starting a world from scratch with whatever resources are available was kinda neat. Didn't necessarily work as novel, but an interesting allegory on hope.

This was pretty great. 158 pages of unexpectedly bleak 1950s SF with a killer ending. Nowadays it would be 1000 pages long and all the worse for it.

This was a fun, pulpy scifi novel about REVENGE. This takes the idea of a "long play" strategy to the extreme! Listen to the audiobook on YouTube; it makes it even more pleasurable!