Harry Harrison's classic adventure/SF novel DEATHWORLD(1960) is now available for free reading, at ManyBooks.net.And why should you read it? Not only because it's a tremendously entertaining story; it is also a textbook example of how to write a good, fast-paced story. (Also check out the sequels.)
Take note of the story's structure, and how the characters are used to describe and reflect the environment they live in.
Harrison's master stroke, I think, is that he
doesn't immediately throw the male protagonist into the "Deathworld" of the title (a planet that tries to kill you as soon as you set your foot on it).
Instead he starts out by introducing a female character who was born on the Deathworld, and the male protagonist gets to know her while they are
on their way to the Deathworld.
To begin with, the female protagonist is tough but sympathetic; there are hints that she is used to living in danger, but she befriends the male protagonist.
As soon as she and the male protagonist land on the Deathworld, her character changes radically: she and every other native turn out to be stone-cold survivalists who carry a gun at all times, from childhood and up.
The male protagonist discovers that on Deathworld, an alien planet colonized by humans, every plant and animal is implacably hostile to humans. The adventure begins in earnest.
This plot structure does several things to strengthen the story:
1. The reader gets to sympathize with one of the Deathworld "natives"
before the "action" starts, to root for her and think "How can the protagonist help her survive?"
2. The female protagonist is shown as a product of her environment: She is extremely tough, like every other native of the Deathworld -- because that is how she was raised on that planet in order to survive it.
3. By introducing one of the Deathworld natives outside of her culture, one gets a hint of what "might have been," i.e. that the natives might have been less tough and violent if they hadn't been raised in the hyper-lethal environment of the Deathworld.
So the reader can start to think about how people are shaped by circumstances and environment -- and this prepares the reader for the big twist which occurs later on.
Imagine a much inferior structuring of the story DEATHWORLD: In the first lines of Chapter 1, the male protagonist lands on the Deathworld, without having met the natives beforehand. Immediately, he is thrown into danger. The environment tries to kill him at every turn, while the armed natives fight it constanstly.
The reader gets confused. A slower start could have been used to build suspense and anticipation and introduce the female protagonist. Since the reader didn't get to know one of the Deathworld natives first, the first impression of them is negative and the reader thinks "Why should I care about what happens to these nasty people?"
My point here is: characterization and plot structure are not mutually exclusive. They can work with each other or against each other; the writer can choose.
And if you haven't read DEATHWORLD already , I can only say: Enjoy the ride...
This is a "product test."
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