The Prisoner of Zhamanak
Encyclopedia
The Prisoner of Zhamanak is a science fiction
novel written by L. Sprague de Camp
, the eighth book of his Viagens Interplanetarias
series and the sixth of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the fourth Krishna novel. It was first published in hardcover by Phantasia Press
in 1982, and in paperback by Ace Books
in April 1983 as part of the standard edition of the Krishna novels. An E-book
edition was published by Gollancz
's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.
As with all of the "Krishna" novels, the title of The Prisoner of Zhamanak has a "Z" in it, a practice de Camp claimed to have devised to keep track of them. Short stories in the series do not follow the practice, nor do Viagens Interplanetarias works not set on Krishna.
Mjipa travels by ship to Kalwm, the much-shrunken remnant of the ancient Empire of the Triple Seas, whose mad king Vuzhov is attempting to build a tower to reach the heavens. From there he attempts to reach Zhamanak by road through the intervening realm of Mutabwk. Mutabwk's scholarly king Ainkhist refuses him passage unless he does him the service of obtaining a copy of Vuzhov's jealously-guarded genealogy, which he desires as a source for a history he is writing of the Khaldoni kingdoms. Perforce returning to Kalwm, Mjipa is unexpectedly granted a copy of the chart in return for serving as a witness for the prosecution at the heresy trial of Doctor Isayin, a local philosopher charged with teaching the world is round. Expected to support the Khaldoni religion's flat world theory, Mjipa uncomfortably commits the requisite perjury, salving his conscience by telling himself the proceedings are fixed against Isayin anyway.
With passage through Mutabwk now open to him, Mjipa finally reaches Zhamanak. Unfortunately, Khorosh's only response to his demand that Dyckman be freed is to imprison him with her. He learns that Khorosh regards the alien Terrans as enemies, and that the purpose of their incarceration is to study them. More specifically, now that the king has two of them, he wants to see how they mate. Mjipa, who is married, indignantly refuses, and Alicia, while not sharing his qualms, is also disinclined to perform to satisfy their captor's curiosity. In the course of a long incarceration, they get to know each other, and at times their resolve weakens, but their incompatible personalities help keep them honest; Mjipa being stiff-necked and duty-driven, and Alicia strong-willed, hectoring and opinionated.
At length the two pretend to agree to Khorosh's demand, but only to lure him into the cell, where the powerful Mjipa quickly overpowers him and takes him hostage. Keeping the king's soldiers at bay by threatening his safety, they effect their escape and flee back to Mutabwk, only to be taken prisoner again! It seems that King Ainkhist, also curious in regard to Terran biology, had made certain advances to Alicia during her earlier passage through his realm on her way to Zhamanak, which she repulsed. This time he is determined to have his way with her. Alicia, being a practical sort, sees no alternative this time and so complies, much to her rescuer's chagrin. Allowed to proceed, the pair continues on to Kalwm.
While awaiting a ship to take them to safety, Mjipa and Alicia take in the sights of Kalwm, try to avoid the assassins dispatched on their trail by the vengeful Khorosh, and plot to free the doomed Doctor Isayin, as Mjipa is conscience-stricken by his role in the doctor's condemnation. They succeed in spiriting Isayin out of jail, concealing him in Vuzhov's fabulous tower, but are overtaken by the assassins. Forced to fight their way free of the tower, they flee to their ship, the Tarvazid, and make sail; the assassins pursue in another ship, but are defeated.
Mjipa maroons the remaining assassins on the island of Fossanderan, where the Tarvazid has put in for repairs. Undeterred, the assassins await their chance and ambush the Terrans, only to be taken in turn by the tailed natives of Fossanderan, who assume them to be slavers. Recognizing Mjipa from a previous diplomatic mission, the natives free the Terrans.
Continuing on their way, the two finally return to Novorecife, dropping off Isayin on the way in the free city of Majbur. Back in the Terran enclave the travelers are enthusiastically welcomed. During the ensuing festivities, Alicia encounters tour guide Fergus Reith (protagonist of the earlier novel The Hostage of Zir
) and he and she fall head-over-heels in love with each other. Mjipa and his wife, happy to be reunited, look on and foresee trouble ahead.
genre, representing both a tribute to the Barsoom
novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs
and an attempt to "get it right", reconstructing the concept logically, without what he regarded as Burroughs' biological and technological absurdities.
As dated in James Cambias
's GURPS Planet Krishna (a 1997 gaming guide to the Viagens series authorized by de Camp), the action of The Prisoner of Zhamanak takes place in the year 2146 AD., falling between The Hostage of Zir
and The Virgin of Zesh
(more conclusively dated to 2150), and making it the eighth story set on Krishna in terms of chronology. Internal evidence in The Bones of Zora
, which closely follows Virgin, indicates that Prisoner may precede these stories more immediately, which could put its events as late as 2149.
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...
novel 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 eighth book of his Viagens Interplanetarias
Viagens Interplanetarias
The Viagens Interplanetarias series is a sequence of science fiction stories by L. Sprague de Camp, begun in the late 1940s and written under the influence of contemporary space opera and sword and planet stories, particularly Edgar Rice Burroughs's Martian novels...
series and the sixth of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the fourth Krishna novel. It was first published in hardcover by Phantasia Press
Phantasia Press
Phantasia Press Inc. was a small publisher formed by Alex Berman publishing short-run, hardcover limited editions of science fiction and fantasy books. It was active from 1978-1989. The company was based in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The publisher specialized in limited quality first hardcover...
in 1982, and in paperback by Ace Books
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
in April 1983 as part of the standard edition of the Krishna novels. An E-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
edition was published by Gollancz
Victor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership...
's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.
As with all of the "Krishna" novels, the title of The Prisoner of Zhamanak has a "Z" in it, a practice de Camp claimed to have devised to keep track of them. Short stories in the series do not follow the practice, nor do Viagens Interplanetarias works not set on Krishna.
Plot and storyline
Word comes to the Terran spaceport of Novorecife that anthropologist Alicia Dyckman, off studying the culture of the tropical Khaldoni nations, has been imprisoned in Zhamanak, one of these realms, by its Heshvavu (king) Khorosh. Diplomat Percy Mjipa, currently between consular assignments, promptly volunteers to rescue her.Mjipa travels by ship to Kalwm, the much-shrunken remnant of the ancient Empire of the Triple Seas, whose mad king Vuzhov is attempting to build a tower to reach the heavens. From there he attempts to reach Zhamanak by road through the intervening realm of Mutabwk. Mutabwk's scholarly king Ainkhist refuses him passage unless he does him the service of obtaining a copy of Vuzhov's jealously-guarded genealogy, which he desires as a source for a history he is writing of the Khaldoni kingdoms. Perforce returning to Kalwm, Mjipa is unexpectedly granted a copy of the chart in return for serving as a witness for the prosecution at the heresy trial of Doctor Isayin, a local philosopher charged with teaching the world is round. Expected to support the Khaldoni religion's flat world theory, Mjipa uncomfortably commits the requisite perjury, salving his conscience by telling himself the proceedings are fixed against Isayin anyway.
At length the two pretend to agree to Khorosh's demand, but only to lure him into the cell, where the powerful Mjipa quickly overpowers him and takes him hostage. Keeping the king's soldiers at bay by threatening his safety, they effect their escape and flee back to Mutabwk, only to be taken prisoner again! It seems that King Ainkhist, also curious in regard to Terran biology, had made certain advances to Alicia during her earlier passage through his realm on her way to Zhamanak, which she repulsed. This time he is determined to have his way with her. Alicia, being a practical sort, sees no alternative this time and so complies, much to her rescuer's chagrin. Allowed to proceed, the pair continues on to Kalwm.
While awaiting a ship to take them to safety, Mjipa and Alicia take in the sights of Kalwm, try to avoid the assassins dispatched on their trail by the vengeful Khorosh, and plot to free the doomed Doctor Isayin, as Mjipa is conscience-stricken by his role in the doctor's condemnation. They succeed in spiriting Isayin out of jail, concealing him in Vuzhov's fabulous tower, but are overtaken by the assassins. Forced to fight their way free of the tower, they flee to their ship, the Tarvazid, and make sail; the assassins pursue in another ship, but are defeated.
Mjipa maroons the remaining assassins on the island of Fossanderan, where the Tarvazid has put in for repairs. Undeterred, the assassins await their chance and ambush the Terrans, only to be taken in turn by the tailed natives of Fossanderan, who assume them to be slavers. Recognizing Mjipa from a previous diplomatic mission, the natives free the Terrans.
Continuing on their way, the two finally return to Novorecife, dropping off Isayin on the way in the free city of Majbur. Back in the Terran enclave the travelers are enthusiastically welcomed. During the ensuing festivities, Alicia encounters tour guide Fergus Reith (protagonist of the earlier novel The Hostage of Zir
The Hostage of Zir
The Hostage of Zir is a science fiction novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, the seventh book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series and the fifth of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the third Krishna novel. It was first published in hardcover by...
) and he and she fall head-over-heels in love with each other. Mjipa and his wife, happy to be reunited, look on and foresee trouble ahead.
Setting
The planet Krishna is de Camp's premier creation in the Sword and PlanetSword and planet
Sword and Planet is a subgenre of science fantasy that features rousing adventure stories set on other planets, and usually featuring Earthmen as protagonists. The name derives from the heroes of the genre engaging their adversaries in hand to hand combat primarily with simple melee weapons such as...
genre, representing both a tribute to the Barsoom
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
and an attempt to "get it right", reconstructing the concept logically, without what he regarded as Burroughs' biological and technological absurdities.
As dated in James Cambias
James Cambias
James Cambias is an American science fiction and fantasy writer and tabletop game designer, whose stories have been nominated for the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. Cambias was a nominee for the John W...
's GURPS Planet Krishna (a 1997 gaming guide to the Viagens series authorized by de Camp), the action of The Prisoner of Zhamanak takes place in the year 2146 AD., falling between The Hostage of Zir
The Hostage of Zir
The Hostage of Zir is a science fiction novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, the seventh book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series and the fifth of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the third Krishna novel. It was first published in hardcover by...
and The Virgin of Zesh
The Virgin of Zesh
The Virgin of Zesh is a science fiction novella written by L. Sprague de Camp, the fourth book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series and the third of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the fifth Krishna novel.It was first published in the magazine...
(more conclusively dated to 2150), and making it the eighth story set on Krishna in terms of chronology. Internal evidence in The Bones of Zora
The Bones of Zora
The Bones of Zora is a science fiction novel written by L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp, the ninth book of the former's Viagens Interplanetarias series and the seventh of its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. Chronologically it is the sixth Krishna novel...
, which closely follows Virgin, indicates that Prisoner may precede these stories more immediately, which could put its events as late as 2149.