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The Jewels Of Aptor (Gollancz SF collector's edition)
 
 
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The Jewels Of Aptor (Gollancz SF collector's edition) (Paperback)

by Samuel R. Delany (Author) "Waves flung themselves at the blue evening ..." (more)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (18 May 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575071001
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575071001
  • Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 977,809 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #24 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > D > Delany, Samuel R.

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The very talented Samuel R. Delany was only 20 when his first SF novel The Jewels of Aptor appeared in 1962--or rather, two-thirds of it appeared from a US publisher which cut the text savagely. Here's the full version of a story crammed with poetry, colour and action.

Delany's stylish narrative serves up a mass of familiar science-fantasy props with a flair that makes them seem fresh. Long after nuclear holocaust, the rebuilding has got as far as wooden sailing ships. Mysterious fragments of old technology remain. Deadly radioactive zones spawn mutants and monsters with odd talents. "Good" and "evil" religions clash, even though the litanies of bright goddess Argo and dark god Hamaare are very nearly the same. Serving Argo, our heroes sail from civilized Leptar to the loathed, feared island of Aptor to seek the last of Hama's three mind-amplifying Jewels, weapons ultimately too dreadful to use.

Despite some youthful clumsiness, the flash and dazzle of the storytelling established Delany as a writer to watch. He goes beyond the usual homilies about misuse of power to examine distortion of religious feeling, and how a genuinely transcendent insight (as experienced by the worst villain here) can twist into evil. The living incarnation of Hama is not as expected, while devout Argo-worshippers may also be monstrous shapeshifters: "The nature of the Goddess is change ..."

The Jewels of Aptor is thoughtful, exciting, occasionally comic, and promises remarkable things to follow. Delany has amply fulfilled that promise. --David Langford



Product Description

When Argo, the White Goddess, orders it, Geo, the itinerant poet, and his three disparate companions journey to the island of Aptor to seize a jewel from the dark god, Hama, and return it to Argo so that she may defeat the malign forces ranged against her and the land of Leptar. But, as the four press deep into the enigmatic heart of Aptor and the easy distinctions between good and evil blur, their mission no longer seems so straightforward. For Argo already controls two of the precious stones, and possession of the third would make her power absolute. And the four friends have learned that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely...
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3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Cloudy Jewels, 3 Sep 2009
By Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is one of Delany's very early works. While the copyright reads 1967, his signature at the end of this work indicates it was actually written in 1962, when he was just 19 years old. And like most works written by such youthful writers, it has some flaws, and is certainly not as good as most of his later material.

But it does have some points that are quite striking. Delany would later become known for having not only finely delineated characters, but characters that are very different from the average run-of-mill people. His characters for this work follow that mold of different, from the mute four-armed Snake to the bear of a man Orson, though perhaps their characterization is not as full-bodied as a later Delany would show them. Delany's other prime characteristic, prose so sharp it can cut, poetry in prose, is quite muted here, though there are flashes of it, and here and there the sense of being in a very different time and place becomes quite forceful.

The plot is somewhat standard, a post-holocaust world with bits and pieces of the former high-technology hanging around, and a quest to steal one of the few pieces of new technology (the "Jewels") before they can be used to destroy the viewpoint civilization. But here is where the most obvious flaws are, as the plot becomes quite confusing, as various beings are dragged across the reader's view as being the enemy or spies for the enemy, but are later revealed to be perhaps not what they first seem. Trying to keep track of who are really the good guys and who are the bad is difficult, though he does tie in this confusion quite nicely with his theme of there being dual natures to every action.

Some of the creatures of this world seem like they were designed for a Hollywood `B' movie, from giant amoebas to blind harpies. And in fact, this book probably could be made into such a movie, and might actually be half-way decent, given a director who wouldn't try to add extraneous material to it. As it is, this book is a reasonable adventure, with some food for thought buried in it, and is an interesting look at the early Delany's capabilities.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hypepat)
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