Yeah, he was an annoying Esperanto fan. But you ain’t done anti-authoritarianism until you’ve done Bill the Galactic Hero.
RIP.
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They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
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Grew up reading his stuff.
Thanks for introducing me to him! Already downloaded two of his books to the kindle app.
Bummer. One of the greatest authors ever.
One of the best thing Harry Harrison wrote was a novel called ‘Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers.’ He will be missed for sure.
Never read that one. Actually I’ve never heard of it.
Bill The Galactic Hero and the Stainless Steel Rat influenced my High School days…but after 5th Grade in boarding-school my anti-authoritarianism had taken a firm set. Godspeed Harry.
@ Joel… This is from wikipedia: Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers (1973) is a comic science fiction novel by Harry Harrison. It is about two college students, Chuck van Chider and his friend Jerry Courtenay, who accidentally invent a device that can transport them through space, powered by a substance called “Cheddite”, which is created by irradiating Cheddar cheese.
Through a bizarre chain of events, Chuck and Jerry, their mutual love interest Sally Goodfellow and their janitor-turned-KGB spy Old John find themselves flung into the far reaches of the galaxy, where they become involved in an intergalactic war that could change the universe forever.
If you had an Amazon.com Wish List, I would get it for you. Sigh…
I had forgotten about the Stainless Steel Rat. Thanks for the morbid reminder.
Thanks! I haven’t thought of those in forever, gonna have to track them down and give them another read!