A group of two novellas and a short story. Anderson used quite clever political situations to show how different political structures evolve to manage humans in varying ecological situations. We get a possible steppe herding group, a very Indonesian society, and a very aquatic society. there are a goodly number of epigraphs and jokes. ( )

The three stories in this book represent Flandry at a later stage in his career but still actively, adventurous and athletic, and ready to pursue a new woman in each adventure. The first one has Flandry investigating possible Merseian support for a revolt in an oceanic world --no continents --in which black African descended people control the smallest islands and German technicians subservient to the Terran Empire control the largest island. The situation is somewhat like South Africa in the Cold War and also like other Flandry stories (Ensign Flandry for example) with contrasting land and sea cultures --though there they are aliens. The second story is set on a planet with vaguely Central Asian culture, outside Terran control, though most of the people are human, where the local ruler is again flirting with Merseia. Flandry's problem is how to get a message back to the empire about what is going on, which he solves aided by the one human group allied with the local aliens and independent of the local ruler. The third story is set in a vaguely Indonesian culture; unlike the other two stories, it does not end up with Flandry cheerfully handing off the obligatory girlfriend to a local suitor --here the local suitor sacrifices himself to save the girl, and Flandry abandons her to loneliness --a sad ending, though as usual Flandry takes care of the political problem., in this case by conning a local neighborhood boss. ( )

Pretty entertaining, even if in every story Flandry's first move upon landing on a new world and meeting with the local authorities, is to shoot out a window and run for it. You'd think his visits were being sponsored by the local glaziers. ( )

This is the second book featuring Dominic Flandry, featuring three stories detailing the exploits of the Terran intelligence agent. Flandry has been described as an "interstellar James Bond", but since Flandry as a character predates Bond, I prefer to describe Bond as an earth-bound Flandry. The three stories here are all well-executed space opera tales, but seem to be somewhat dissatisfying when combined together.

Each of the stories features Flandry investigating some remote part of the Terran Empire, uncovering a secret threat, having to go on the run to avoid capture, and his eventual solution to the problem posed. Two are set on worlds where an abundance of water plays an element, which was a plot point in Ensign Flandry. Each of the stories is different enough to hold your attention, and are quite good, but strung together one sort of gets the impression that Flandry gets all the wet assignments, and could probably use some lessons on not running afoul of local law enforcement before you can contact Earth.

Still, Flandry is one of the great space opera characters, and these stories are great space opera despite the minor flaws. ( )