SOJALS rating:

Awful (1/5)

I first read this in 1967 and most recently on the 30th September 2006

John Bravais thought he was a secret agent for the US government. In fact the organisation he works for is more secret and more powerful than any US agency. He works for Ultimax, an organisation dedicated to protecting and nurturing humanity.

This is serendipitous because, in the course of his work, John Bravais uncovers astonishing and terrifying proof of alien invasion.

Now he and Ultimax are fighting back, but in the end the Earth's future will be decided on a war-torn world far from Earth. On that lonely globe, Bravais and a few loyal warriors will stand against the might of a monstrous alien army.

Ho, ho. I love these gripping tales. It's got everything a teenage boy could want: spies; ancient secret organisations manipulating human affairs; evil powerful alien monsters; alien worlds; big battle tanks and the amazing PAPA ("Power Assisted Personal Armament") treatment that turns a man into an amazing superhuman. But that's not all. Later our hero's brain is transplanted into a giant alien battle tank fighting desperately against an unknown enemy. I can't count how many designs I drafted for alternative PAPA kits and battle tanks, none of them in any way practical, achievable or useful, but boy it was fun and kept me busy for weeks.

I wonder if this the trigger for Laumer's later Bolo books, but with human rather than artificial intelligence?

A shorter version of this novel appeared in Galaxy Magazine in 1964.