The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
loxleyhall's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bonfire_at_night's review
4.0
Servants of the Wankh seamlessly continues the tales about the Planet of Adventure, Tschai. Adam Reith goes on with his quest for a space boat to leave the planet. He is still accompanied by his party - consisting of the nomad boy Traz, the Dirdir man Anacho, and Ylin-Ylan, the Flower of Cath - and together they are on their way to Ylin-Ylan's homeland.
Since his lover promised him the assistance of her rich father, Reith approaches Cath with confidence. Then Ylin-Ylan's love for Reith cools down abruptly, and the closer they get to Cath, the more she tries to distance herself from the rest of her party. This cleverly foreshadows the issues that our heroes will run into when they arrive at their destination.
The second novel is significantly more spiritual and psychological than its predecessor. But don't worry, at no point is the story burdened down by it. The depiction of inner emotional turmoil of Ylin-Ylan is never pretentious and doesn't attempt to go beyond its pulpy roots. The thought that she would arrive in Cath with these lowlives - with her lover even showing clear signs of delusion - the shame becomes too much to bear. Eventually, she resorts to awaile, bloodshed that commonly functions as a valve among the Yao people. She may end her life in the roaring sea, but the events are just so over-the-top that the reader is left more with bewildered amusement than with disturbed tragedy.
One reason for this is the Yao cavalier called Dordolio, a hilarious addition to the cast. He was among the men who were send out to search for Ylin-Ylan and he joins our party on their seaside journey to Cath. He is such a ridiculous character, taking much pride in his dignity and status. With him the reader is given the chance to comprehend the customs of Cath by studying this personified nutshell. His audacities when it comes to money and polite favors, his pretense of superiority, his casual backstabbing, it takes a great writer to come up with such a perfectly exaggerated personality. The highlight is probably his affaire d'honneur against Reith. It's so silly, but I really laughed at the humiliation inflicted by aimed strikes that make him loose his pants. Times were so much simpler in the 60s.
As you will have expected by now, Cath doesn't exactly offer what Reith was hoping to find. The Lord of the Blue Jade cannot be trusted and his seemingly obliging assistant, Helsse, is pursuing an insidious agenda. There are no laws in the city, only strong custom. As Reith has to find out, among the traditions is that you cooperate when the guild of assassins is performing its conventionary duty of ending your life (no decency to these outsiders!). In the light of this, stealing the spaceship is a much more promising way to go about it.
Religion is not a core element to the story, but I liked the addition of the Cult of Longing Refugees (is this how they are called in the English original?). Their core dogma is that humankind isn't native to Tschai, which may or may not be of bigger relevance in the books to come. When they discuss religion in the early pages, Reith argues that religion is projecting the human onto the unintelligible, which I found interesting considering that there are non-human cultures in the series as well (I don't think their religion is depicted, yet).
I loved how the setting completely changes in the second half of the novel. For one thing, we meet another culture: the docile Wankh and the vain Wankh people, the strong aversions of the Black and the Purple against each other (even though they come from the same womb), and the technically versed Lokhar (who dye their skin and hair to distance themselves from the pale Wankh people). With the rough translation of their ideogram-based written language we even get an understanding of how they construct meanings out of layers among layers, comparable to how I imagine Chinese symbols to function.
Beyond that, when Reith and his party are finally able to escape from Cath, they find themselves in hostile and dangerous territory. Suddenly, the story reads like the pulp version of Heart of Darkness. They come across the Hoch Har, mountain dwellers who are the enemies of the Yao and who help the party to find their way to the Wankh city of Kabasas. Over rivers in a sailboat, high forests and caves, passing through a gorge, dangerous seaside villages, the seizing of a ship. I really loved the truly adventurous nature of this episode.
I wasn't super stoked about the final act. The failed attempt of stealing a spaceship unfolds in only a couple of pages. I was kind of puzzled that suddenly they already arrived in the space harbor of Ao Hidis and in its hangar. Then their flight finds quite a sudden ending as well. Then they are brought before the Wankh, the twist that they are actually controlled by their human "servants", the deus ex machina of using the captured and hypnotized Helsse to break the spell, the pacing just felt very off. But I still liked that they now broke the connection of two human species and their alien counterparts. Given the above-mentioned cult, this can only lead to a planet-wide rescue, right?
Servants of the Wankh improves upon the first novel in many respects. The portrayal of culture is even more intriguing, the surroundings are richer, there is a clearer sense of danger in the air. It's still a lot of fun and so far I don't feel fatigued with the story at all (I'm already halfway through the third novel). If you like science-fiction of the softer and more traditional variety, this really is as good as it gets.
Rating: 4/5
Since his lover promised him the assistance of her rich father, Reith approaches Cath with confidence. Then Ylin-Ylan's love for Reith cools down abruptly, and the closer they get to Cath, the more she tries to distance herself from the rest of her party. This cleverly foreshadows the issues that our heroes will run into when they arrive at their destination.
The second novel is significantly more spiritual and psychological than its predecessor. But don't worry, at no point is the story burdened down by it. The depiction of inner emotional turmoil of Ylin-Ylan is never pretentious and doesn't attempt to go beyond its pulpy roots. The thought that she would arrive in Cath with these lowlives - with her lover even showing clear signs of delusion - the shame becomes too much to bear. Eventually, she resorts to awaile, bloodshed that commonly functions as a valve among the Yao people. She may end her life in the roaring sea, but the events are just so over-the-top that the reader is left more with bewildered amusement than with disturbed tragedy.
One reason for this is the Yao cavalier called Dordolio, a hilarious addition to the cast. He was among the men who were send out to search for Ylin-Ylan and he joins our party on their seaside journey to Cath. He is such a ridiculous character, taking much pride in his dignity and status. With him the reader is given the chance to comprehend the customs of Cath by studying this personified nutshell. His audacities when it comes to money and polite favors, his pretense of superiority, his casual backstabbing, it takes a great writer to come up with such a perfectly exaggerated personality. The highlight is probably his affaire d'honneur against Reith. It's so silly, but I really laughed at the humiliation inflicted by aimed strikes that make him loose his pants. Times were so much simpler in the 60s.
As you will have expected by now, Cath doesn't exactly offer what Reith was hoping to find. The Lord of the Blue Jade cannot be trusted and his seemingly obliging assistant, Helsse, is pursuing an insidious agenda. There are no laws in the city, only strong custom. As Reith has to find out, among the traditions is that you cooperate when the guild of assassins is performing its conventionary duty of ending your life (no decency to these outsiders!). In the light of this, stealing the spaceship is a much more promising way to go about it.
Religion is not a core element to the story, but I liked the addition of the Cult of Longing Refugees (is this how they are called in the English original?). Their core dogma is that humankind isn't native to Tschai, which may or may not be of bigger relevance in the books to come. When they discuss religion in the early pages, Reith argues that religion is projecting the human onto the unintelligible, which I found interesting considering that there are non-human cultures in the series as well (I don't think their religion is depicted, yet).
I loved how the setting completely changes in the second half of the novel. For one thing, we meet another culture: the docile Wankh and the vain Wankh people, the strong aversions of the Black and the Purple against each other (even though they come from the same womb), and the technically versed Lokhar (who dye their skin and hair to distance themselves from the pale Wankh people). With the rough translation of their ideogram-based written language we even get an understanding of how they construct meanings out of layers among layers, comparable to how I imagine Chinese symbols to function.
Beyond that, when Reith and his party are finally able to escape from Cath, they find themselves in hostile and dangerous territory. Suddenly, the story reads like the pulp version of Heart of Darkness. They come across the Hoch Har, mountain dwellers who are the enemies of the Yao and who help the party to find their way to the Wankh city of Kabasas. Over rivers in a sailboat, high forests and caves, passing through a gorge, dangerous seaside villages, the seizing of a ship. I really loved the truly adventurous nature of this episode.
I wasn't super stoked about the final act. The failed attempt of stealing a spaceship unfolds in only a couple of pages. I was kind of puzzled that suddenly they already arrived in the space harbor of Ao Hidis and in its hangar. Then their flight finds quite a sudden ending as well. Then they are brought before the Wankh, the twist that they are actually controlled by their human "servants", the deus ex machina of using the captured and hypnotized Helsse to break the spell, the pacing just felt very off. But I still liked that they now broke the connection of two human species and their alien counterparts. Given the above-mentioned cult, this can only lead to a planet-wide rescue, right?
Servants of the Wankh improves upon the first novel in many respects. The portrayal of culture is even more intriguing, the surroundings are richer, there is a clearer sense of danger in the air. It's still a lot of fun and so far I don't feel fatigued with the story at all (I'm already halfway through the third novel). If you like science-fiction of the softer and more traditional variety, this really is as good as it gets.
Rating: 4/5
katamariguy's review
4.0
Would have liked to learn more about these Wankh, but a fun ride nevertheless.
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