Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
St Martins Pr (1986), 224 pages
Description
When someone sent distress signals to outer space from the planet Tschai, it was Adam Reith's misfortune to be sent from Earth to investigate. Because when his ship came close to Tschai, it was torpedoed-and Adam escaped to the surface with his life and nothing else. On Tschai, a vast, previously unexplored planet, Adam is taken as a slave by humans and learns that there are four other intelligent but nonhuman races dominant on this strange world. To solve the mystery of the distress call and the vicious attack on his ship, he must first gain his freedom, then find safe passage by the city and the alien Chasch and their treacherous cousins, the Blue Chasch. Jack Vance's Tschai novels are considered his masterwork, a constantly changing epic canvas of weird peoples, exotic lands, and surprising extraterrestrial adventures.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member JackMassa
I first read this about 30 years ago, but after recently coming across The Pnume (Tschai, 4), I decided to read the whole series through.
I love Vance's compressed, ironic, decorative prose, his "lapidary style" as one friend put it.
Aside from that, this is pure escapist fun: Meet quirkly alien,
Can't wait to read the next installment.
I love Vance's compressed, ironic, decorative prose, his "lapidary style" as one friend put it.
Aside from that, this is pure escapist fun: Meet quirkly alien,
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have funny dialogue. Meet dangerous alien, bash and run.Can't wait to read the next installment.
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LibraryThing member clong
A quick glance at the synopsis for this book would leave you to guess that it falls squarely within the "dated, mindless, sexist, escapist golden age scifi adventure yarn" mold. And on some level you would be right. But there's more to the story than that.
Vance gives us a protagonist with
I would put this in the "not a great book, but better than you might expect and well worth your time" category. The second book of the series, which I read first (not that it really mattered), is even better.
Vance gives us a protagonist with
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surprising depth, a cynical romantic who takes risks, worries about about making mistakes, and does make mistakes on occasion. There are no simple solutions to the problems faced by Adam Reith, and you have the sense that it is going to take every ounce of his training, ingenuity, toughness, and shrewdness to survive, much less accomplish his eventual goal of returning to Earth (he reminds me of Fleming's Bond). Vance also gives us a world with surprising depth and a wide variety of aliens, none of which are truly alien, but all of which provide opportunities for commenting on the foibles of humanity. I would put this in the "not a great book, but better than you might expect and well worth your time" category. The second book of the series, which I read first (not that it really mattered), is even better.
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LibraryThing member faganjc
The best of this series, but the series isn't representative of Jack Vance's true greatness.
LibraryThing member ikeman100
This is a tough one. Not having read Jack Vance I did not know what to expect. It's pure space opera and a bit adolescent. At first I couldn't get excited and almost put it down. Then the story picked up and became interesting.
I liked it once I realized was reading a more modern Edgar Rice
As I read the book went from 3 stars to 4.
I liked it once I realized was reading a more modern Edgar Rice
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Burroughs, John Carter of Mars. If you like the John Carter stories you may like Jack Vance stories. Similar style and similar hero.As I read the book went from 3 stars to 4.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
This was cool, very retro in a Burroughs-esque sci-fi/fantasy mashup kind of way. Pretty light on characterization, heavy on world building and about medium on action. I guess there are more books in the series, but I probably won't get to them, just too many other books out there that I might love.
LibraryThing member pgiunta
In response to a signal from a planet over 200 light years from Earth, a ship is sent to investigate. Upon reaching the planet, two astronauts named Adam Reith and Paul Waunder are dispatched in a small scout ship. Soon after, missiles fired from the planet destroy the mothership and damage the
Injured, Reith and Waunder are soon captured by a band of primitive warriors. Waunder is immediately beheaded by one of the soldiers. Their teenage leader, later introduced as Traz Onmale, rages against the man and strips him of his rank and status by removing the man’s Emblem.
The scout ship’s crash also attracts the attention of rival clans known as the Blue Chasch and the Dirdir. Each newly arriving group drives away the next until Onmale’s soldiers finally chase the Dirdir away before transporting the injured Reith back to their village. Unfortunately, during the chaos, the Blue Chasch manage to depart with the wreckage of Reith’s scout ship.
Once healed, Reith manages to do exactly what you would expect in any “fish out of water” story—he violates the customs, and questions the beliefs, of Onmale’s people, resulting in a series of misunderstandings, some of which spark violent confrontations.
Eventually, Reith convinces Traz to join him on a quest to recover his scout ship from the Blue Chasch and together, they embark on a daring expedition across the planet. Along the way, they befriend a Dirdirman named Anacho, engage in battle against an insane beast known as the Phung, join a traveling clan of traders and rescue a young woman from a misandrist clan of sadistic priestesses, encounter a clan of sadistic pranksters known as the Green Chasch, overthrow the corrupt chief of a ruined town, and much more…
City of the Chasch is evocative of the Mars novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs with Adam Reith and Chasch taking the place of John Carter and Barsoom (as Mars is known to its inhabitants). Jack Vance does an exemplary job of revealing the complex cultures, conflicts, and characteristics of his world as the story unfolds. There are no significant infodumps here, allowing for a reasonably fast-paced tale. While there is nothing spectacular about the story, City of the Chasch holds up as a sturdy SF yarn and is the first in a tetralogy in Vance’s Planet of Adventure series.
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scout ship, forcing it to crash land.Injured, Reith and Waunder are soon captured by a band of primitive warriors. Waunder is immediately beheaded by one of the soldiers. Their teenage leader, later introduced as Traz Onmale, rages against the man and strips him of his rank and status by removing the man’s Emblem.
The scout ship’s crash also attracts the attention of rival clans known as the Blue Chasch and the Dirdir. Each newly arriving group drives away the next until Onmale’s soldiers finally chase the Dirdir away before transporting the injured Reith back to their village. Unfortunately, during the chaos, the Blue Chasch manage to depart with the wreckage of Reith’s scout ship.
Once healed, Reith manages to do exactly what you would expect in any “fish out of water” story—he violates the customs, and questions the beliefs, of Onmale’s people, resulting in a series of misunderstandings, some of which spark violent confrontations.
Eventually, Reith convinces Traz to join him on a quest to recover his scout ship from the Blue Chasch and together, they embark on a daring expedition across the planet. Along the way, they befriend a Dirdirman named Anacho, engage in battle against an insane beast known as the Phung, join a traveling clan of traders and rescue a young woman from a misandrist clan of sadistic priestesses, encounter a clan of sadistic pranksters known as the Green Chasch, overthrow the corrupt chief of a ruined town, and much more…
City of the Chasch is evocative of the Mars novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs with Adam Reith and Chasch taking the place of John Carter and Barsoom (as Mars is known to its inhabitants). Jack Vance does an exemplary job of revealing the complex cultures, conflicts, and characteristics of his world as the story unfolds. There are no significant infodumps here, allowing for a reasonably fast-paced tale. While there is nothing spectacular about the story, City of the Chasch holds up as a sturdy SF yarn and is the first in a tetralogy in Vance’s Planet of Adventure series.
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Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
1968
Physical description
200 p.; 8.6 inches
ISBN
0312940432 / 9780312940430