The writer seems to like putting everything in terms of girls, and boys, and children, even when the scenes do not necessarily (but often do) involve kids. So while for instance the 14 year old girl getting raped in the first few chapters is really supposed to be 14, the hero of the book in danger of being sodomized – ‘bend down kid and make it good’ (sic) is not supposed to be a kid. It is that way throughout the book. They are either labeled like they are children (the queen was a ‘child’), or actually boys or girls. So it pretty much starts with the word “naked” and goes down from there.

It is pretty shocking a headmaster of a school would write this junk. It’s not the only low grade sf story out there with this non-writing in it – but they are always bad reads. exploitation novel at best, says something about the writer regardless.
318 people found this helpful

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2.0 out of 5 stars A ponderous exploration of a sensitive topic
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2008Donald Barr’s Space Relations is a character-driven space opera from 1975. Despite the seemingly-humorous subtitle, it is a deadly earnest novel that attempts to tackle weighty issues with ostentatiously “literary” prose.

It tells the story of John Craig, the ambassador from Earth to the planet Kossar. Craig represents an intergalactic human empire, currently at war with a sinister bug people. Kossar, although human, is not part of the empire – mostly because the ruling aristocrats refuse to abolish the slave trade that is the foundation of their class system and economy.

The narrative is split in two. Initially (and ultimately) it tells the story of Craig’s official visit to Kossar. In between, it recounts Craig’s previous visit to the planet – two years spent as a slave of the fulsome Lady Morgan.

The war with the bug aliens is, although occasionally referenced, merely a MacGuffin to make Kossar (otherwise a backwater world in dire need of sterilization) important. Similarly, the complex, Machiavellian politics of the future – both in Kossar and on Earth – are often, tantalizingly, cited, but never fully explored.

Instead, the plot focuses on the torrid romance between John Craig (slave) and Lady Morgan (his owner). The author also explores (crashes through the underbrush, really) the issues of slavery and domination.

The result is a frustrating and ponderous read. Barr aggressively pursues character development instead of world-building, but since his characters neither grow nor change, it is merely a prolonged sketch of two fairly obnoxious people.

His exploration of slavery is neither sensitive nor telling. Despite repeatedly and officiously informing the reader that slavery is wrong at every turn (go figure), Barr creates two openly “superior” characters as his leads. Craig and Morgan freely kill, torture, seduce and make sweeping political decisions on behalf of thousands of people – but this is acceptable, because they’re somehow imbued with “natural heroism”. Slavery and oppression are wrong, unless you’re someone as wise and talented as Craig or Morgan, in which you’re perfectly justified in forcing decisions on other people.

An expression of this natural superiority is Craig’s unbelievably irritating habit of composing poetry. Clearly intended to add to the depth of the novel, what begins as an annoying, occasional snippet soon becomes a field of lyrical land-mines. This practice is especially painful in the middle of the book, as the reader is forced to plow through sonnets on every other page. As a result, Space Relations is one of the most picture-perfect expressions of Tolkien’s Law (“Always skip the poetry”) that I’ve ever read.

Space Relations is a laborious read. Although I always appreciate an attempt at character-building instead of world-building, the novel managed to avoid everything of possible merit.
185 people found this helpful

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5.0 out of 5 stars a swashbuckling gothic romance set in spaceReviewed in the United States on March 5, 2022I read this book back in the 70s and thought I’d track it down to re-read. I was taken aback by the one-star reviews that seemed to have nothing to do with the actual novel — then saw, from a reference in one, that the author had the bad luck to be the father of a recent political figure. It’s a good thing he’s dead and can’t read what people are saying here.

Given the current prices listed, and with the author’s death no e-book in sight, I’m not sure anyone will be buying this novel any more. But fairness compels me to say that this is simply the same sort of adventure you might find in a tale of heroics set in the 1800s — a diplomat captured by pirates and sold as a slave has an ambiguous relationship with the noblewoman who buys him, escapes, and returns later under his own identity to set things right. But instead of taking place in foreign lands during, say, the Napoleonic Wars, this is done as space opera — well-written, and with a satisfying ending.

After 40 years, I still recall bits of the two sonnets the hero writes, and remembering that tonight, I thought I’d come and see if the book was available. Sadly, the prices have given me pause.

Reviews from 1973 version.
2.0 out of 5 stars Space opera sex and cheese!Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020This is classic cheesy space opera sci-fi. There are space pirates, teenage sex slaves, an oligarch dominatrix, and a hero, sort of, who has to save the day. DON’T SPEND MONEY ON THIS BOOK! You can read it or download it, if you must, absolutely free on the Internet Archive. It’s in the public domain.
26 people found this helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars “The cleverest trick used in propaganda against Germany during the war…Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2020“…was to accuse Germany of what our enemies themselves were doing.”

There is much to be gleaned from this, not for the prose but for the author and the secrets he’s taken to the grave.

It’s a throwaway book written by a bad man, who let bad men do horrible things to women and children, and whose son continues to cover for him to this day.

It will be remembered merely as a footnote in the story of the fall of the american empire but an important footnote nonetheless.

1.0 out of 5 stars The author is Attny General Bill Bar’s fatherReviewed in the United States on July 5, 2020Well, this says it all about how Attny Bill Bar was created. These people are SICK.

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A review from Good Reads. Seems Q community was aware.

This dusty book has a connection to Jeffrey Epstein conspiracies!?!

I found out quite by accident. While browsing eBay for old paperbacks I stumbled upon a few listings for Space Relations at unbelievable prices. Like $300+. The cover seemed familiar–like something I might have picked up at a library sale–so I hunted through my boxes until, sure enough, there it was.

At first I thought Space Relations might be an exceptionally good out-of-print title since people were selling it for such extreme prices, but then I learned the juicy gossip behind it.

The facts are this: From 1964 to 1974, Donald Barr was headmaster for Dalton School in Manhattan. Near the end of his tenure at the prestigious institution, he published Space Relations. It was his first book and, though it hardly rocked the literary world, it did have a fair run that capitalized on the fad for slim, pulpy sci-fi novels.

It seemed novel-writing became Barr’s new passion, because within a year of being published he resigned from his post at Dalton. Curiously enough, Jeffrey Epstein also began teaching math and science at Dalton around this same time. Technically Epstein didn’t officially begin his position until the semester after Barr’s resignation, but the possibility that the two overlapped at some point isn’t too far fetched. Also, it’s worth noting that Epstein was completely unqualified for the job. He was still in his early 20s and a college drop out.

Another interesting fact: Donald Barr is the father of William Barr, Trump’s appointed Attorney General.

Now here’s where the conspiracy comes in: We all know that Epstein was involved in a horrific sex slave operation, right? Well, guess what Space Relations is about. Bingo, sex slavery!

Based on this information, the Internet is abuzz with many bizarre theories. Some read Space Relations like it’s the Da Vinci Code, with hidden clues that might even reveal who killed Epstein. Others marvel over loose connections between Barr’s plot and Epstein’s crimes.

Knowing all this in advance, I decided to read the book like that. Hoping to solve something sinister by analyzing the sentences of this old paperback. Unfortunately, try as I might, the only discovery I made was that Barr was a very poor writer and there’s a good reason why Space Relations fell out-of-print.

There is slavery in the novel, that’s true. And the slaves are taken advantage of for sexual purposes, so I get the conspiracy. But the problem with that logic is the story is about a slave’s quest for freedom. It’s abundantly clear, I think, that rape isn’t a good thing in this world. For example, soon after Craig is sold to slavery a man tries to rape him and our protagonist manages to cut off his dick.

That said, many will point to an uncomfortable scene where the evil overlords demand the enslaved Craig copulate with a teenaged slave girl so she will bear a child and produce more slaves.

The problem that people have with the scene is that neither character is traumatized by the act. The teenage girl doesn’t seem to mind hooking up with the muscular hunk, and he follows orders perhaps a little too agreeably. However, the scene isn’t particularly descriptive and it doesn’t relish the circumstances. Considering what other horrific things the slaves went through, I don’t know that the characters’ non-reaction to this particular task is so unbelievable.

While I don’t think there’s much to unpack in that infamous scene, I suppose the sexual nature of the book at large could be evaluated for Epstein connections. But, again, it seems to contradict. A powerful woman is the main sexual predator. She forces Craig to be her concubine, but again, it doesn’t come across as the worst job he’s ever had. Perhaps that’s the problem. Even though they’re two beautiful adults, the sex should be horrific and terrible given the circumstances.

I somewhat agree with that argument, but I’m sure there are plenty who don’t. Personally I think Anne Rice’s erotica series about sex slavery is disgusting. In Rice’s books, the protagonist is an under-18 aged girl who is shackled and subject to non-stop sexual situations. Sounds horrific to me. But the character thinks that’s hot and apparently so do many readers.

I’ll be honest I really struggled to understand all the space politics in this book, so I could have misunderstood key facts, but there is something generally pervy about the whole thing. For example, it seems every guy wants to bang Craig. There’s several random homo-erotic sentences and a really obscure trans-erotic moment. Actually, now that I think about it, the female characters are almost never described in sensual terms. I wonder – was William Barr’s dad gay?

Maybe I uncovered something after all!

Oh, there is one other thing. The book references a strange mineral called “Weinsteinite” a couple of times to no purpose. It seems like a thinly veiled excuse to refer to someone named “Weinstein.” Perhaps a friend of Barr? Could the real conspiracy behind this book be a connection to Harvey Weinstein?? Wouldn’t that be a twist!

Unlike the Barr-Epstein connection, where there actually is a reasonable trace to their crossing paths, I can’t find anything on Barr-Weinstein. But will that stop me from pushing this conspiracy theory? Certainly not!

All in all, generally a waste of time. Still, an interesting experience trying to treasure hunt for conspiracy clues within a poorly written space tale.

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Cecily
5 years ago
Sophie wrote: “Terrific review, Justin. I have heard of Epstein-Barr (a virus), but not Barr-Weinstein. Maybe a virus, too?”

Barr is an increasingly tainted surname: at least a couple in the last year or so.
And yes, terrific review.
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Justin Tate

5 years ago
Thanks for the comments! That does sound like a virus, Sophie! Haha

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Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*
5 years ago
Has Q gotten wind of this?

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Mary
5 years ago
Will we ever know how this organization operated? Who was involved? How corrupt it was? When is Maxwell’s plea deal?

Igor Glinsky
4 years ago
The fact that it’s enjoyable for Craig makes it moreso a conspiracy toward Epstein. That it’s written like “oh this isn’t so bad. That teenage girl WANTS this” is the projection..