Servants of the Wankh
Encyclopedia
Servants of the Wankh is the second science fiction
adventure novel
in the tetralogy
Tschai, Planet of Adventure
. Written by Jack Vance
, it tells of the efforts of the sole survivor of a human starship destroyed by an unknown enemy to return to Earth from the distant planet Tschai.
): Traz Onmale, a taciturn teenage barbarian chieftain, Ankhe at afram Anacho, a flamboyant, fugitive Dirdirman, and Ylin-Ylan, a beautiful young Yao woman whom he rescued from a man-hating religious sect.
Ylin-Ylan persuades Reith, her lover, into taking her back to Cath. With her wealthy father's backing, Reith hopes to be able to build a spaceship. As the voyage progresses however, their relationship cools. Anacho explains that Yao society is extremely status conscious, and the closer they get to her homeland, the more Ylin-Ylan dreads being associated with (to her) gauche, uncouth companions. Her attempts to separate herself from them all fail disastrously. Finally, unable to bear the shame any longer, she takes refuge in awaile, a murderous rampage not uncommon among her people, which ends with her throwing herself into the sea.
Reith and his friends continue on to Cath, to notify Ylin-Ylan's father of her demise. They are coolly received, but are eventually given 50,000 sequins (the universal currency of Tschai) as a reward.
Unimpressed with Yao engineering, Reith recruits a crew from those who had worked for the Wankh, to try to steal a Wankh spaceship. The attempt almost succeeds, but the ship is damaged and sets down on a lake due to their unfamiliarity with the controls. They are captured by human Wankhmen, who handle all communication with their Wankh masters.
About to be executed out of hand, the would-be thieves are reprieved when a high Wankh leader, who had been aboard the stolen ship, decides to investigate further. Reith is able to tell it what he has surmised. The Wankhmen have been deliberately misleading the Wankh; the Dirdir have not been a threat to them for centuries, but have been made to appear so, in order to safeguard the Wankhmen's comfortable status quo
. Furthermore, they destroyed Reith's ship for the same reason. As a result of these revelations, the Wankhmen are expelled from the Wankh cities. Reith and his party creep away unnoticed.
' in British and Commonwealth slang. See also Wankh versus Wannek
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
adventure novel
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
in the tetralogy
Tetralogy
A tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
Tschai, Planet of Adventure
Planet of Adventure
Planet of Adventure is the name given to a series of four science fiction novels by Jack Vance, which relate the adventures of Adam Reith, the sole survivor of an Earth ship investigating a signal from the distant planet Tschai.-Inhabitants:...
. Written by Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, it tells of the efforts of the sole survivor of a human starship destroyed by an unknown enemy to return to Earth from the distant planet Tschai.
Plot summary
After his starship and crewmates are blown up, Adam Reith is marooned on a planet inhabited by four advanced, mutually hostile, alien species, the Chasch, Wankh, Dirdir and native Pnume, as well as various groups of humans. In his quest to return home, he acquires three human companions (as detailed in City of the ChaschCity of the Chasch
City of the Chasch is the first science fiction adventure novel of the tetralogy Tschai, Planet of Adventure. It was written by Jack Vance and follows the attempts of a man stranded on the distant planet Tschai to return to Earth.-Plot summary:...
): Traz Onmale, a taciturn teenage barbarian chieftain, Ankhe at afram Anacho, a flamboyant, fugitive Dirdirman, and Ylin-Ylan, a beautiful young Yao woman whom he rescued from a man-hating religious sect.
Ylin-Ylan persuades Reith, her lover, into taking her back to Cath. With her wealthy father's backing, Reith hopes to be able to build a spaceship. As the voyage progresses however, their relationship cools. Anacho explains that Yao society is extremely status conscious, and the closer they get to her homeland, the more Ylin-Ylan dreads being associated with (to her) gauche, uncouth companions. Her attempts to separate herself from them all fail disastrously. Finally, unable to bear the shame any longer, she takes refuge in awaile, a murderous rampage not uncommon among her people, which ends with her throwing herself into the sea.
Reith and his friends continue on to Cath, to notify Ylin-Ylan's father of her demise. They are coolly received, but are eventually given 50,000 sequins (the universal currency of Tschai) as a reward.
Unimpressed with Yao engineering, Reith recruits a crew from those who had worked for the Wankh, to try to steal a Wankh spaceship. The attempt almost succeeds, but the ship is damaged and sets down on a lake due to their unfamiliarity with the controls. They are captured by human Wankhmen, who handle all communication with their Wankh masters.
About to be executed out of hand, the would-be thieves are reprieved when a high Wankh leader, who had been aboard the stolen ship, decides to investigate further. Reith is able to tell it what he has surmised. The Wankhmen have been deliberately misleading the Wankh; the Dirdir have not been a threat to them for centuries, but have been made to appear so, in order to safeguard the Wankhmen's comfortable status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
. Furthermore, they destroyed Reith's ship for the same reason. As a result of these revelations, the Wankhmen are expelled from the Wankh cities. Reith and his party creep away unnoticed.
Title changes
The editors of the Vance Integral Edition restored the author's preferred title for the first book: The Chasch. They also altered the second to The Wannek and replaced 'Wankh' with 'Wannek' throughout the text. Vance was convinced to change the name after being informed of the meaning of the word 'wankWank
Wank may refer to:* WANK , a computer worm that attacked DEC VAX/VMS systems through DECnet in 1989* WANK , a radio station licensed to Lafayette, Florida, United States...
' in British and Commonwealth slang. See also Wankh versus Wannek