The Escape Orbit

The Escape Orbit (British title: Open Prison) is a science fiction novel by northern Irish author James White. It was first published in serial form in 1964 under the name "Open Prison" in the magazine New Worlds.^[1] It was nominated for best novel in the 1965 Nebula Awards.^[2]

First US edition, published by Ace Books). Cover art by Jack Gaughan.

It tells the story of a human, Warren, who is abandoned on a prison planet by an alien race, the Bugs, who are warring against Earth. Here he finds a society created by the other human prisoners. To avoid a civil war between the factions which have formed by the years, he organizes a successful escape from the planet.