omnibus of: THE ROAD TO THE RIM (1967) + TO PRIME THE PUMP (1971) + THE HARD WAY UP (1972 - a collection) + SPARTAN PLANET (1968) + THE INHERITORS (1972.) Books are in series-order, starting with the first "John Grimes" novel.

The Road to the Rim - This was serialized in IF as "Edge of Night", and is the first "John Grimes" novel by chronology (he is an ensign in the Federation Survey Service.)

The Hard Way Up - a collection of stories featuring Lieutenant John Grimes when he captained a Courier Ship of the Federation Survey Service.

With Good Intentions
The Subtracter
The Tin Messiah
The Sleeping Beauty
The Wandering Buoy
The Mountain Movers
What You Know

The first 2 are original, and the rest appeared in Galaxy or Analog 1970-71. "The Tin Messiah" was originally titled "The Soul Machine."

The first American edition of Spartan Planet - a "Grimes/Rim" novel by A. Bertram Chandler - was a 1969 paperback. Previously serialized in Fantastic in 1968. Only the 1968 Australian first edition paperback was titled False Fatherland - all other editions/appearances have this title.

The planet Sparta was a lost colony, and developed in some strange ways after an accident in space killed all the women. Birth-machines were used to provide population, and society was modeled after ancient Sparta, with the State taking the place of father or mother - but there were no mothers in this monosexual society, and a history was invented to describe their situation. The starship Seeker III of the Federation Survey Service comes on a census mission, bearing Leiutenant Commander John Grimes and Doctor Margaret Lazenby.

The Inheritors takes place immediately following Spartan Planet. Lieutenant Commander Grimes is still in bad favor with his admiral, and is told to make himself scarce by taking the Seeker on a Lost Colony hunt in the Argo Sector. Following up on reports from the Intelligence Service, the Seeker soon finds Morrowvia, and it is indeed a Lost Colony. They also find that Captain Drongo Kane of the Southerly Buster has taken an interest in the planet - a man noted for smuggling, gunrunning, and possibly slavery. The Southerly Buster show up soon after Grimes, and it is a delicate balancing act between both ships' crews and the locals - for they are hiding something, but what? And what make Kane think he can get away with slavery under the eyes of a Federation ship?