Tower of Zanid

A fun, quick and sometimes pretty funny little sci fi / adventure novel from 1958. The year is 2168 and on the plant Krishna, "gone native" Earth adventurer Anthony Fallon ruled a small kingdom and then lost it and is now trying to raise money to raise an army and reconquer his throne. He has a pulpy private eye vibe to him, which brings a lot of the humor to the story. The powers that be on Earth have outlawed bringing any technology to Krishna, especially any kind of guns or weaponry -- going so far as to hypnotize any visitors to the planet so they are unable to divulge any technological secrets. The people of Krishna are human-like, but with green skin and antennas and (sometimes) tails. They have kind of a middle ages / feudal show more society and many of their customs and theologies are given an Indian / Southeast Asian flavor. Sprague de Camp fits in many not-very-subtle digs at imperialism that (mostly) manage not to be overly racist or sexist. The battle scene at the climax is really well written and there are a bunch of entertaining set pieces. Definitely bought this one for the cover, and it was an entertaining read! show less

This is one of De Camp's comic space operas set in a universe in which the earth and human-colonized space are dominated by a Brazilian culture which in some ways parodies 19th century British imperialism. It is more or less well-intentioned, but spends a lot of time trying to prevent (in its view) dangerously sophisticated Terran technology from slipping out into the "less advanced" cultures, in this case the Krishnans who are greenskinned with feathery antennae and human enough to have sex with humans but not reproduce, Many of the Krishnans are clever enough to steal Terran "secrets." In this book this issue is more on the sidelines, as it involves a Terran archaeologist who wants to investigate the Tower of Zanid, an ancient show more monument surrounded by legends on the level of those about the Great Puramid. He is assigned a dubious Terran "gone native" adventurer named Anthony Fallon, who won and lost a kingdom on Krishna before, to act as his guide --Fallon is not enthusiastic, as the Tower is guarded by a reputedly dangerous cult, but 3 other Earth scientists have vanished there, and the Terran Consultate pushes Fallon into going along to learn their fate. show less

A very short novel, typical of a sort of sci-fi/fantasy blend from the 60's. There are some technology clunkers - no mention of computers at all, and apparently tourists still use film cameras. The writing isn't bad, and unlike most novels of today, this isn't epic or unnecessarily long, and the ending is actually surprising. Its worth reading, but Poul Anderson's has similiar novels that are better.

Deposed king Anthony Fallon, now a spy in the capital of Balhib, is hired to investigate the forbidden Safq tower while navigating risks from a secret weapons project.

Fallon is working as a city guardsman and spy in Zanid, the capital of Balhib. He is recruited by Terran consul Percy Mjipa to help archaeologist Julian Fredro study the Safq, a forbidden snail-shaped tower. Fallon discovers that the forbidden tower is being used to secretly produce Terran-style weapons.