The Emperor's Fan
Encyclopedia
"The Emperor's Fan" is a fantasy
story written by L. Sprague de Camp
, the fourth of his Novarian series
. It was first published in Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology
, edited by Harry Harrison
, in 1973. It has since been reprinted in other anthologies, notably The Year's Best Fantasy Stories
, edited by Lin Carter
(1975), as well as such collections of de Camp's work as The Best of L. Sprague de Camp
(1978) and Footprints on Sand
(1981). It has also been translated into German
.
Tsotuga receives Ajandra, who produces a large painted fan, created centuries before. Anything at which the fan is waved vanishes, and can only be recalled by tapping the fan in a particular pattern. The list of patterns is contained in a code book Ajandra also possesses. The sorcerer relates how Prince Wangerr had once even fanned away a dragon he had encountered. After seeing the fan's powers demonstrated, Tsotuga purchases the fan and its code book.
For a month all is well; then the emperor is irked by his finance minister, Yaebu, and fans him away. He instantly regrets the action, but cannot bring the minister back, as he had hidden the code book and cannot remember where. The missing book is searched for, but fruitlessly. Spring advances, and Tsotuga becomes irritated with Chingitu, the minister of war, and Dzakusan, the prime minister, each of whom also suffers Yaebu's fate. He is now running short of functionaries, and the government suffers. Therefore, on the advice of the empress, Nasako, Tsotuga appoints as his new prime minister Zamben of Jompei, Supervisor of Roads and Bridges for Jade Mountain Province. Unbeknownst to him, Zamben is also the empress's secret lover.
Zamben proves an able administrator and so ingratiates himself with the emperor that he even ousts Reiro the Beggar from his position as the emperor's crony. Canny as well as ambitious, he manages through a stratagem to switch Tsotuga's fan for a duplicate. When the testy monarch eventually loses his temper with him as he had with his previous ministers and tries to fan him away, Zamben produces the true fan and dispatches the tyrant with his own weapon. To allay suspicion, he and Nasako give out that the vanished ruler had absent-mindedly fanned himself. The two subsequently wed, making Zamben imperial consort and regent to the fourteen-year-old Prince Wakumba, in effect emperor himself in all but name.
Zamben tries to reconstruct the fan's lost code book by trial and error. A succession of past victims are restored thus, among them Yaebu. However, when Zamben brings back the dragon, it promptly eats him, fan and all, and bursts from the palace.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Yaebu and Nasako become co-regents for Prince Wakumba. The missing code book finally turns up when the prince is crowned the new emperor, but without the fan it is useless. Court wizard Koxima is commissioned to create a replacement fan but is unsuccessful, and the weapon's remaining victims are doomed to languish in limbo.
Chronologically, "The Emperor's Fan" is the earliest story in the Novarian series, being set centuries before the others.
and Japan
. Kuromon is revisited in the final book in the Novarian series, The Honorable Barbarian
, in which the magical fan is finally recreated. The world of which Novaria and Kuromon are part is a parallel world
to Earth
, a plane of existence related to ours in that ours constitutes its afterlife
. Culturally it bears resemblances to our Classical
and Medieval
eras.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
story written by L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
, the fourth of his Novarian series
Novarian series
The Novarian series is a sequence of fantasy stories by L. Sprague de Camp, published between 1968 and 1989. The series contains some of de Camp's most innovative works of fantasy, featuring explorations of various political systems, an inversion of the "rags to royalty" pattern characteristic of...
. It was first published in Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology
Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology
Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology is a 1973 festschrift honoring noted science fiction and fantasy editor John W. Campbell, in the form of an anthology of short stories by various science fiction authors, edited by Harry Harrison...
, edited by Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison
Harry Harrison is an American science fiction author best known for his character the Stainless Steel Rat and the novel Make Room! Make Room! , the basis for the film Soylent Green...
, in 1973. It has since been reprinted in other anthologies, notably The Year's Best Fantasy Stories
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories is a 1975 anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books...
, edited by Lin Carter
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
(1975), as well as such collections of de Camp's work as The Best of L. Sprague de Camp
The Best of L. Sprague de Camp
The Best of L. Sprague de Camp is a 1978 collection of writings by science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday and in paperback by Ballantine Books the same year...
(1978) and Footprints on Sand
Footprints on Sand
Footprints on Sand: a Literary Sampler is a 1981 collection of writings by science fiction authors L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp, illustrated by C. H. Burnett, published by Advent...
(1981). It has also been translated into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
Plot summary
Tsotuga the Fourth, Emperor of Kuromon, is a competent but dull ruler, notable only for occasional temperamental outbursts. Having poisoned his father to attain the throne, he finds his dreams haunted by his father's spirit, who prophecies a dreadful doom for him. Seeking some impregnable magical defense, Tsotuga is heartened when his crony, Reiro the Beggar, tells him that just such a weapon is said to be in the possession of the sorcerer Ajandra.Tsotuga receives Ajandra, who produces a large painted fan, created centuries before. Anything at which the fan is waved vanishes, and can only be recalled by tapping the fan in a particular pattern. The list of patterns is contained in a code book Ajandra also possesses. The sorcerer relates how Prince Wangerr had once even fanned away a dragon he had encountered. After seeing the fan's powers demonstrated, Tsotuga purchases the fan and its code book.
For a month all is well; then the emperor is irked by his finance minister, Yaebu, and fans him away. He instantly regrets the action, but cannot bring the minister back, as he had hidden the code book and cannot remember where. The missing book is searched for, but fruitlessly. Spring advances, and Tsotuga becomes irritated with Chingitu, the minister of war, and Dzakusan, the prime minister, each of whom also suffers Yaebu's fate. He is now running short of functionaries, and the government suffers. Therefore, on the advice of the empress, Nasako, Tsotuga appoints as his new prime minister Zamben of Jompei, Supervisor of Roads and Bridges for Jade Mountain Province. Unbeknownst to him, Zamben is also the empress's secret lover.
Zamben proves an able administrator and so ingratiates himself with the emperor that he even ousts Reiro the Beggar from his position as the emperor's crony. Canny as well as ambitious, he manages through a stratagem to switch Tsotuga's fan for a duplicate. When the testy monarch eventually loses his temper with him as he had with his previous ministers and tries to fan him away, Zamben produces the true fan and dispatches the tyrant with his own weapon. To allay suspicion, he and Nasako give out that the vanished ruler had absent-mindedly fanned himself. The two subsequently wed, making Zamben imperial consort and regent to the fourteen-year-old Prince Wakumba, in effect emperor himself in all but name.
Zamben tries to reconstruct the fan's lost code book by trial and error. A succession of past victims are restored thus, among them Yaebu. However, when Zamben brings back the dragon, it promptly eats him, fan and all, and bursts from the palace.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Yaebu and Nasako become co-regents for Prince Wakumba. The missing code book finally turns up when the prince is crowned the new emperor, but without the fan it is useless. Court wizard Koxima is commissioned to create a replacement fan but is unsuccessful, and the weapon's remaining victims are doomed to languish in limbo.
Chronologically, "The Emperor's Fan" is the earliest story in the Novarian series, being set centuries before the others.
Setting
"The Emperor's Fan" does not take place in Novaria itself, but the eastern empire of Kuromon, another country in the same world. Kuromon is on a different continent, separated from that in which Novaria and Mulvan are found by the Eastern Ocean and the Gwoling Islands. De Camp patterned the empire after ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Kuromon is revisited in the final book in the Novarian series, The Honorable Barbarian
The Honorable Barbarian
The Honorable Barbarian is a fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, the fifth and final book of his Novarian series. It is a sequel both to the "Reluctant King" trilogy and to the Novarian sequence's only short story, "The Emperor's Fan"...
, in which the magical fan is finally recreated. The world of which Novaria and Kuromon are part is a parallel world
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, a plane of existence related to ours in that ours constitutes its afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
. Culturally it bears resemblances to our Classical
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
eras.