The novel “The Ragged Astronauts” by Bob Shaw was published for the first time in 1986. It’s the first book of the trilogy of the Land and Overland trilogy. It won the BSFA Award for best science fiction novel of the year.

On Land the situation has been stable for a long time but suddenly the ptertha, creatures potentially lethal because of a poison, become an even greater threat. Their poison seems to have become even deadlier and start to actively attack people.

Among the castes of one of Land’s kingdoms’ feudal society, it’s the philosophers who study the ptertha to seek a solution to the problem. Their old leader has a revolutionary idea: migrate to Overland, Land’s twin planet divided from it by a few thousand kilometers. Airships can make the trip but only when the situation begins to be desperate the King decides to implement it.

Throughout his career, Bob Shaw generally written stories about human beings and the presence of aliens was the exception. In the trilogy opened by “The Ragged Astronauts” not only the characters are aliens but it’s set in another universe, with physical laws a little different from our universe. For this reason, it’s a unique creation among this author’s works.

“The Ragged Astronauts” is set on Land, a planet that has a twin called Overland. The two planets are separated by a few thousand kilometers so their atmospheres are mixed. Despite the alien environment, the people of Land are very similar to humans and this helps to understand their desires and their motives. The story begins in one of Land’s kingdoms, where the technological level is similar to that of the beginning of the Earth’s industrial revolution.

The novel tells the crisis that broke out when the ptertha become more lethal than ever. The Lord Philosopher predicted a catastrophe but is old and senile so he wasn’t taken seriously until it was too late. It’s up to his successors to save the kingdom with a migration to Overland.

In the end, Toller Maraquine is one who directs the construction of the wooden airships that will be used for the journey between Land and Overland. He’s the protagonist of the novel, although occasionally the story follows some other characters. Toller belongs to the philosophers caste but is different from the others, so much that he wonders if he’s actually a warrior’s son.

Toller’s skills are crucial in the construction and testing of the airships. On the other hand, his temper made him dangerous enemies, especially the cruel prince Leddravohr. The story goes on for several years, with various leaps forward in time, and is also an inner journey for Toller.

Toller’s story is in various ways both the strength and weakness of “The Ragged Astronauts”. It’s mainly through him that Bob Shaw tells the compelling story of a really unique journey between two worlds. On the other hand, some of his family problems seemed a bit trivial and take away space from other events.

For example, in my opinion it would have been more interesting if the author had told something more about the war fought to have the resources needed for the migration. It’s clear that Bob Shaw was interested in telling the story of the construction of the airships and the migration, everything else was marginal.

Toller is a complex character and is the best developed one in the novel. Of the others, some are rather developed, others are somewhat one-dimensional, starting with Leddravohr prince, who seems to be only meant to be the story’s villain.

“The Ragged Astronauts” has some flaws but in my opinion they are outweighed by its merits. The novel has an interesting setting developed by Bob Shaw with his great imagination, like the story, which offers many moments of tension in the tale of the trips between Land and Overland. It’s for these reasons that I think it’s overall a good start for this trilogy and I recommend reading it.