Title:

Outlaw Planet

Author:

M. R. Carey

Category:

Fantasy / Science Fiction

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

June 20, 2026
was quite impressed with Outlaw Planet. It has a compelling narrative that kept me reading - I finished the book in two days. Carey has a gifted imagination. Carey has created a planet populated with many sentient species - moose, beavers, wolves, everything from bison to muskrats is intelligent and can speak. All of these creatures inhabit a large continent which is divided into two factions - the industrial, northern Parity and the southern, agrarian Echelon. The technology is analogous to early Industrial Revolution - they have guns and railroads and telegraphs. The only outliers from the animal population are the Pugfaces. These are strange creatures, almost furless except for a tuft on top of their head. The Pugfaces have strange beliefs and are shunned by the rest of civilized society.

But things are not exactly the same as Earth's Civil War era. On this planet, strange white towers, constructed of some indestructible metal, tower over the landscape. These towers never do anything except emit a soft hum. All attempts to break inside are thwarted. Another unexpected wrinkle are the Precursor weapons. These rare artifacts date from a time unimaginable, back before civilization even existed. Few of these deadly weapons remain, but they are powerful and nearly indestructible. One of these Precursor weapons is a 507m handgun, which goes by the name of Wakeful Slim. The handgun is sentient, it can talk, it has incredible sensors, and it gives its user incredible deadly power.

Elizabeth Sandpiper is a genteel dog-woman from an impoverished family in the northern Parity. Determined to make something of her life, Elizabeth answers an advertisement for a schoolteacher in the frontier town of Ottomankie. But as Elizabeth journeys to her new career, the stagecoach is held up by a murderous outlaw named Alden Calendar. Calendar possesses a couple of Precursor weapons which allow him to rob everyone on the stage and burn to a crisp the one passenger who dares to protest. Elizabeth escapes with her life, but the violent, criminal act has riled her sense of justice. Once established in Ottomankie, she learns to shoot a pistol, practicing until she is a decent shot.

Tensions escalate between the Echelon and the Parity. War ensues. Raiding parties from either side strike at towns across the border. Ottomankie is attacked by Paulus Rondeau and his Raiders. Tragedy and atrocity happen. In her rage and desire for vengeance, Elizabeth is transformed into the infamous Dog-Bitch Bess. She happens to be armed with a Precursor pistol, the 507m Wakeful Slim.

Although the majority of the tale focuses on the adventures of Elizabeth / Dog-Bitch Bess, Carey has a much bigger story to tell. The strange world with all of its animal inhabitants, the Precursor weaponry, the mysterious silent white towers - everything eventually is explained. It is a creative plot and I enjoyed his ideas quite a bit. I liked the characters. I liked the world building. I lived all the clever ideas. Outlaw Planet is a stand-alone novel, but it takes place in a universe that Carey has called the Pandominium. I see that Carey has another Pandominium story called Infinity Gate which explores the idea of a multiverse. It sounds intriguing and I shall look for it next.