Anything You Can Do
Anything You Can Do by Darrel T. Langart
Sometimes I just want to read some pulp Sci-Fi I know nothing about. I picked up Anything You Can Do alongside a couple of other old mass paperbacks I’d never heard and sat down to be wildly entertained by something weird, stupid, and fun, and that’s what I got.
Anything You Can Do follows the story of an Alien known as Nipe. After crash landing on Earth he goes on a kill crazy rampage while obtaining parts needed to build a communicator in order to contact his home planet. Helpless to stop the kill streak, the central government of Earth come up with a plan that can only exist in Pulp speculative sci-fi, they make a Superhuman to battle the evil alien.
It’s an outrageous concept, and the book knows it. While not presented as a comedy in any way, it also doesn’t take itself to seriously. There’s science and morality discussions, but nothing in-depth, and the whole concept and weird science of the superhuman only gets stranger as the book goes on.
The world building is great. We learn that humans have colonised Mars, and live in the asteroid belt. That we’re growing Martian trees on Earth. Science has moved massively forward, along with genetic engineering. There’s even robotic spy rats!
We get to spend plenty of time with the Nipe too. Seeing how it goes about its day, what it understands of Earth culture, and what it doesn’t. It really is quite a unique alien by the end of the book. Advanced, but with massive gaps in its learning, and little regard for Humans. For me, that was the most interesting part of the book.
And of course, all roads lead to a battle of the super powers at the end. It’s a very fun idea, delivered in a very pulpy way (which I say with love because pulp is my thing) It’s not a world changing book, but it’s not meant to be. It’s a crazy sci-fi adventure written during a time when authors had more fun with their writing. I miss these sort of books, and am glad I brought a bunch of them because it left me wanting more. (So expect the next couple of reviews to be pulp sci-fi)
