The Ethical Engineer

"The Ethical Engineer" by Harry Harrison is a science fiction novel written in the early 1960s. The story follows Jason dinAlt, a human on the hostile planet Pyrrus, where he faces a complex mix of conflict and survival amidst its deadly and violent inhabitants. The plot explores themes of morality and personal agency in a world where ethics seem dictated by local customs and survival often relies on brutal choices. At the start of the novel, Jason observes the aftermath of a violent altercation between two Pyrran fighters, revealing the fierce and dangerous nature of the planet's inhabitants. Despite the tensions, he is drawn to Meta, a strong Pyrran girl, but their relationship is strained by cultural differences and misunderstandings. The arrival of a spaceship triggers a series of events leading to his encounter with a stranger who threatens his life, only for Jason to find himself kidnapped and drawn into a new conflict. The opening portion sets the stage for a tale that promises to navigate the intricate choices between survival, ethics, and the nature of good and evil amid a backdrop of interstellar intrigue. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Harry Max Harrison was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Long resident in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, Harrison was involved in the foundation of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and was, with Brian Aldiss, co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.