Wasp on cover. Book I read in '80s. Man on alien planet where his skin looked gold & he was superstrong & quick.

[Dragonshaz]

Hi, i'v been trying to identify this book for years. It cant be Hothouse - not enough charecters.

As I remember it (I hope). Man with a rocket on an alien planet, and I think hes alone. He's been enhanced so now hes stronger & quicker & his skin is golden. Theres loads of alien lifeforms out to get him, but hes happier here than back on earth or in a suit. One life form is a giant stinging wasp. Another deadly one is a kind of predatory vegetation Rug or giant Purse that wants to fold around & ingest its victim. This lifeform waits in ambush to drop onto & consume you. Twist in the story when this finally happens to our hero, its a symbiant makes things better.
Story is little like John Carter of Mars.

I think I remember a big black & yellow wasp on the cover. And I have an idea the terrain was jungle green, so book cover may have been? This was early 80's and it was secondhand then.

Hope you can help

 

[hitmouse]

Doesn't fit exactly, but Deathworld by Harry Harrison has a number of similarities to your description.

 

[Dragonshaz]

Doesn't fit exactly, but Deathworld by Harry Harrison has a number of similarities to your description.

THANKS, I'v got a copy somewhere od Deathworld - gonna check it out

 

[hitmouse]

I have seen a cover pic that fits your description. In one of my old sf encyclopedias. Frustratingly, 800 miles away at the moment.

 

[Dragonshaz]

THANKS, I'v got a copy somewhere od Deathworld - gonna check it out

Iv checked my Deathworld's 1 2 & 3 - not it Im afraid

 

[tinkerdan]

You might look at Brian Aldis' Hothouse
Though I'm not sure the synopsis quite meets all the requirements and I haven't read it.

Amazon.com

This link has the cover you mentioned.

 

[hitmouse]

Not Hothouse from the description.

 

[Dragonshaz]

Just read synopsis of Hothouse & gonna try it. Was 35ish years ago, so I may have mis remembered story

 

[hitmouse]

Hothouse is set on a far-future earth, with a group of individuals so far evolved as to be not quite human.

 

[Vince W]

The Furies by Keith Roberts perhaps.

It's the only one with giant wasps I can think of.

 

[tinkerdan]

The bronze man with exceptional powers sounds like Doc Savage-the rest of the OP description sounds like stuff out the mind of Brian Aldiss.
And then: there's that cover.

 

[Danny McG]

The Furies by Keith Roberts perhaps.

It's the only one with giant wasps I can think of.

Forgotten Planet has one book cover that shows some guy being attacked by a giant wasp, however the plot doesn't fit

 

[Elckerlyc]

Wasp reminds me of this one....

... but the story is a completely different one.

 

[Danny McG]

There's bound to be a few more that show big wasps

 

[hitmouse]

There's bound to be a few more that show big wasps

View attachment 55736

That is the cover I was thinking of.

 

[PaulMmn]

Wasp reminds me of this one....

View attachment 55735

... but the story is a completely different one.

Is this the one where the 'wasp' was a secret agent sent to the enemy's planet to wreak underground havok. Like a sticker on a window that etched a saying about the wrong side in the war.

 

[Dragonshaz]

The Furies by Keith Roberts perhaps.

It's the only one with giant wasps I can think of.

Not furies

 

[Elckerlyc]

Is this the one where the 'wasp' was a secret agent sent to the enemy's planet to wreak underground havok. Like a sticker on a window that etched a saying about the wrong side in the war.

That's the one!

 

[mellotronman]

Dragonshaz, I think you're conflating two stories (this happens a lot). The second half of your description fits 'Hothouse' to a T, particularly the symbiont, while the first half sounds more like Russell's 'Wasp'.

 

[Danny McG]

Not the same story, but I've just stumbled across this book online and it's got a giant wasp on the cover (Bug Park by James P Hogan) - I'm putting the picture in here just in case it gives someone a mental jog to the missing tale