This PR post pertains to the first half of the Masters of the Island
Zyklus. Although Perrypedia combines both halves into one big fat
Zyklus: <https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Die_Meister_der_Insel_(Zyklus)>
it seems best to put my thoughts down about PR200-PR249 while they're
still relatively fresh in mind.
Readers can peruse all the myriad novella minutia at perrypedia. The Zyklus' first half covers everything up to Andromeda proper. My stream
of consciousness commentary, crammed with inimitable impressions,
excerpts, and associations, follows.


Chickenhawks exposed:

"He who always has others fight for him," Rhodan explained,
"gives the impression that he himself is unable to do so."

PR218 "Focus Twin"


There's tons of tobacco consumption in this Zyklus. Readers who expect
bright shiny space ships should experience subverted expectations.
Because big brown splotches of chawin' tobaccee stain spoils some shine.

"It's no wonder he staggered away," said Izza Koto with caustic
sharpness. "You blew your stinking smoke right in his face."

PR223 "The Fifth Column"


PR's photosensitive predator brings to mind the _Pitch Black_ movie.

The beam of light illuminated a gray, gelatinous mass with
convulsively twitching, apparently soft pseudopods stretching
from it. Atlan ran the beam of light over the entire mass and
was surprised that this thing didn’t make any further attacks.
Just the opposite. The pseudopods twitched back and forth a
few more times, and then sank limply and lifelessly to the
floor. Atlan started to think he had killed the creature.
Evidently it couldn’t tolerate any bright light and therefore
attacked him when he first switched on his light. It must have
been damaged by it, otherwise it would have made a second attack.

PR224 "Agents Against the Imperium"

Another Pucky malapropism:

"We stabbed ourselves in the foot when we did that."

PR224 "Agents Against the Imperium"

It's fairly conceited for fictional characters to recursively publish
Larry Stu stories about themselves. In PR199 Pucky pens TV treatments
for the _Space Pirate_ program. Its main characters bear more than a
passing resemblance to PR's principals.
In PR224 "Agents Against the Imperium" an author who uses Rega
Bellna (eg Reg Bell) as a pen name writes pulpy stories about Perry's
people. "Art imitates life" when Pucky ponders proceedings of the legal
variety to obtain compensation after he recognizes himself in the
stories and feels entitled to royalties for the use of his persona.

In an unrelated development, the mousebeaver unexpectedly takes a
temporal trip to become the legendary Everywhere-At-The-Same-Time-Killer.
Pucky's earlier-in-time heroic actions only happen later in the
story. His mythological celebrity comes first - fearless feats follow
later in the story.

"An unpleasant planet, Lieutenant, wouldn't you agree?"
asked Pucky affably.
"Very unpleasant," Hope Schwag confirmed and then added, "Sir."
Pucky immediately became a few centimeters taller, but although
the lieutenant sat, he still had to look up a little to him. He
read his thoughts. No, the 'Sir' was no mockery. Hope meant it
honestly. He was a secret admirer of the mousebeaver.
"You are a competent officer," Pucky said, which made him
happy. "You will do. Now get the coordinates of the CREST. Then
reduce speed as soon as we approach our goal. It could be that
something will happen there."
"What could happen, sir?"
Pucky grew a centimeter once again, but more was not possible.
"We assume an energy field exists, at least, that makes one
invisible. After all, the Maahks never emerged from it. We,
however, want to find it. We must be careful. But since you sit
at the controls, not much can happen to us."
"I will do my duty, and all goes well. Captain Redhorse is
a capable man. I have learned much from him. You can rely on me,
sir."
As Pucky was highly affected by it, Tronar remarked casually,
"You walk as if you have swallowed a stick. Do you perhaps have
a backache?"
Pucky was now a meter tall again, no more extra centimeters.
"Nonsense! I was stretching. All this sitting is bad on my
back. I'm a go-getter, not a stay-at-home type."
"Ah," Tronar grinned and said nothing more.

PR232 "The Time Trap"


Stepwise Regression (SR) can determine inconsequentiality:

"We have n-equations and n-plus one variables. The equations
deal with the obvious problems ... . If you take the unknown
n-plus one factor out of consideration, the system can be
solved. In other words, we look at the n-plus one variable
as inconsequential. And that's where we make a critical
mistake in my opinion."

PR237 "The Three Star Brothers"

Stepwise regression is a semi-automated process of building
a model by successively adding or removing variables based
solely on the t-statistics of their estimated coefficients.
Properly used, the stepwise regression option in Statgraphics
(or other stat packages) puts more power and information at
your fingertips than does the ordinary multiple regression
option, and it is especially useful for sifting through
large numbers of potential independent variables and/or
fine-tuning a model by poking variables in or out.

<https://people.duke.edu/~rnau/regstep.htm>


Shades of _Star Wars_ star trails a decade before the movie release:

The stars were already forming lines, radiating in all colors
of the spectrum. The compact constellations of the Beta core
turned into iridescent, comet-like manifestations with long
tails. The Space Jet raced through time and space close below
the light barrier.

PR238 "Convoy into Uncertainty"


Ouspensky's sixth dimension: quantum phenomena, debuts as a PR story
element in PR240 "On the Outskirts of Hell." Cigar chomping Lieutenant
Aino Uwanok ponders his predicament on planet Arctis. Perhaps orbital
shell theory's also applicable to alternating planetary energy levels?


Alongside dancing robots, PR241 "Five From the Crest" offers "only trust
ugly" as an aphorism.


Singers lure like _Odyssey__ Sirens in PR242 "The Riddle of the Swamp
Planet."


Gleam's moon Siren has a hollowed out core full of equipment in PR243
"Space Scout 008." It brings to mind _Mutineers' Moon_ milieu, as
understood by me in light of Lynn's description.


Captain Don Redhorse muses about regions nearby to me in real life:

"It's like in Yellowstone National Park," the Cheyenne said
enthusiastically. "My forefathers lived there. Our hunting
grounds extended down to the Bighorn, the Laramie basin and
far into Idaho."

PR245 "Distress Call from the Void"


Unstable ozone as a story element:

Steve's sense of smell had not betrayed him. The atmosphere
surrounding the regulator showed an unnaturally high concentration
of ozone. The explanation was simple. Oxygen in the air reacted at
the surface of the energy structure Steve had observed. Oxygen
molecules split into atoms. Atomic oxygen is an extremely unstable
gas. The largest part of the atoms recombined together and formed
molecular oxygen again. A smaller fraction of the atomic gas
joined with already existing molecular oxygen and generated ozone,
however. The ozone molecule, made from three existing oxygen atoms,
is an unstable structure. The fact that Sid Lippman could still
detect considerable quantities of ozone, even after the
disappearance of the stranger, pointed out that the atmosphere of
the regulator room had to have been saturated with ozone in the
presence of the monster.

PR249 "The Ghost in the Machine"

The main thing is that ozone is unstable and doesn't live very
long so it is impractical to make a large quantity and store it.

<https://van.physics.illinois.edu/ask/listing/2192>

Danke,

--
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