The Pnume

With the final book in the Tschai quartet, Vance takes his protagonist Adam Reith (and his readers) among the planet's mysterious and subterranean-dwelling, indigenous species, the Pnume whose civilization is millions of years old. While the culture depicted is, yet again, entertainingly alien, Reith's sojourn among the Pnume is relatively brief, just long enough for him to, in essence, be kidnapped for deadly purpose (in bookend symmetry with the events of Ylin-Ylan, Reith's love interest in the firdt book of the quartet) and, in turn, for Reith to kidnap a Pnume-altered human woman for a guide. The tale consists primarily of their flight from the Pnume and their agents back across the continent of Kislovan to Reith's newly-built show more spaceship in order to escape Tschai and return to Earth. Along the way, many additional different human cultures are encountered, providing Vance the opportunity to indirectly comment on the, from the outsider's perspective, the strange ways humans invent regarding sex, entertainment, business/theft (often on and the same). In this final tale, Reith's close male companions of the second and third books, are shunted offstage while romance returns to this "planetary romance" tale between Reith and ZAP 210, the female Pnumekin he forces to leave the Pnume warrens with him. From a contemporary 21st century perspective, this can elicit a cringe or three. Once away from the Pnume and the hormone-blocker the aliens fed her to keep her and the majority of the other Pnumekin conveniently prepubescent, ZAP 210 develops both the physical characteristics of womanhood and the jangle of emotions and confusing feelings that accompany puberty. This is relatively well done in its natural awkwardness. However, in 1950s caricature imho, Reith displays both the protective concern for her innocence and, simultaneously, as their journey together continues, he struggles with his Nabachovian desire for her. Add a moment of Reith's misogyny in a statement of frustration (see quote from p. 155 in the "Comments" below), and you may momentarily wince as well. The ending's escape from Tschai wraps up this alien world travel log adventure but leaves many unanswered questions -- such as who shot the torpedo that stranded Reith on Tschai in the first place, will the slowly spreading knowledge Reith instilled among the human populations in his travels that all the human thralls upon Tschai come from a human dominant homeworld, Earth, change the social structure of the planet, and, of course, "What next?" Will Earth act upon Reith's revelation that humans taken thousands of years from Earth in the past are enslaved to, even, at times, hunted by, the alien species upon Tschai -- three of whom who have had spaceflight for thousands to hundreds of thousands of years? Or, made aware of Earth humans having advanced to becoming a space-faring species as well, and, with Reith as an example, a disruptive and dangerous species as well, will the Chasch, Wankh, and Dirdir return to pacify Earth.

We will never know. There are no more Tschai-related works.

The Tschai quartet (1978-1981) is full of Vancian alien wonder, with concise evocative descriptions [Vance's depth of vocabulary is a logophile's delight reminiscent of Gene Wolfe's THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN at times), action, and adventure, suffering only, imho, from atavistic mid-20th century misogynistic gender stereotypes. Excluding this caveat, they are quick enjoyable escapes from the ordinary. show less

In this fourth and final installment of Jack Vance’s Planet of Adventure series, astronaut Adam Reith is nearly finished construction on a spaceship that will allow him to escape the dangerous world of Tschai and return to Earth. It has been at least a year since Reith crash landed on the planet when his scout ship was shot down while attempting to land.

Since then, Reith has made both allies and enemies through his various escapades across the planet. Two of his closest companions, Traz Onmale and Anacho the Dirdirman—both outcasts from their respective societies—decided long ago to assist Reith in his efforts, as long as he takes them with him when he leaves Tschai.

After Reith obtains materials and warehouse space from the show more wealthy Aila Woudiver, the cunning crime lord betrays Reith and his companions to the Dirdir, who are seeking them on the charge of murder. However, Reith manages to thwart Woudiver and shackle him in the warehouse while the technicians finish building the ship.

Woudiver is not so easily defeated. He manages to signal members of the Pnume, the oldest native race on Tschai. The Pnume abduct Reith in the middle of the night and transport him to their underground lair to become a permanent addition to their Museum of Foreverness. Reith promptly escapes with the reluctant assistance of a young woman with no name. Rather, she is designated as a member of the Zith group in the Athan area of the Pagaz zone, with a rank of 210. As such, Reith names her ZAP210.

Reith and ZAP210 narrowly escape the Pnume underground and, despite various obstacles and shocking spectacles, attempt to make their way back to the city of Sivishe, where Reith’s spaceship was nearly completed before he was captured. The question is… what will he find when he arrives?

In my humble opinion, The Pnume was the weakest of the books in the series, with a thin plot that consisted mostly of Reith and ZAP210 trekking across Tschai to get back to the warehouse where Reith hopes to find a finished spaceship awaiting him. Vance uses the bulk of the story to continue building this complex and treacherous world of Tschai by introducing the reader to an entirely new spate of races and cultures that were unexplored in the first three books. He does a fair job of presenting a coming of age story for ZAP210 as she unwillingly transforms from a sheltered, frail waif into a courageous voyager in her own right. show less

The Pnume may offer a bit less action, and a bit more of a sense of looming peril, than the previous volumes but it’s essentially more of the same. So if you’ve gotten this far, you’re unlikely to be disappointed.

Castaway Earthman Adam Reith is back, and somehow it's not terribly surprising when sudden events disrupt his plans to return home on his newly built, almost completed spaceship. After all, while he’s penetrated the mysteries of and (barely) escaped from the clutches of three of the four nonhuman races on Tschai, Reith has yet to confront the enigmatic Pnume.

These books have the feel of a long running serial. They move from episode to episode in a way that feels largely random, with each episide offering a bit of a show more mystery to solve or a danger to overcome, and little sense of any overarching storyline. When the books work, it’s because Vance’s episodes are cleverly constructed and the narrative effectively told. More often than not, they are. By this point, nobody should be surprised that Reith’s romance with the barely sketched love-interest Zap 210 is far from convincing (but Vance does get extra points for her crazy name).

I have enjoyed many of Vance’s novels, but I often have a sense that he was writing to a word count target. A reasonable amount of ingenuity is expended on episode after episode, dragging the story forward until that magic word count is attained, and at that point he tacks on a very sudden conclusion, drops it in the envelop, and off it goes to the publisher. This book (and by extension the series) definitely had that feel. show less

This is the fourth, and final, volume of Vance's Tschai (Planet of Adventure) series. In 'Dirdir', the action was fast and furious; 'Pnume' turns down the speed and turns up the suspense...

NOTE: if you have not read the previous books in this series and don't want me to spoil them for you, stop reading now (grin)! Read my review of 'City of the Chasch' or... read the book!

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ONCE more, Reith and his companions have been thwarted in their goals: the evil Dirdirman and crime-boss, Aila Woudiver, has seriously damaged Reith's efforts to finish the spaceship Reith desperately needs to escape Tshai.

And things quickly get worse: the imprisoned Woudiver manages to betray Reith to a group of outcast Pnumekin (called 'Gzhindra'). The Gzhindra show more in turn wish to deliver to huge underground museum/historical record called 'Foreverness', where Reith will be encased in crystal as a specimen for the Pnume race's collection.

Reith escapes from his captors, but is hopelessly lost in the vast underground realm that the Pnume have created over the tens of thousands of years of their exile from the surface. With some luck, he manages to steal a master-set of maps, but without a guide these are of small help. After further wandering and some near-misses with patrolling Pnume and Pnumekin, he manages to repair the situation.

He kidnaps a young Pnumekin woman, a teacher of young children, and coerces her into helping him find a route of escape; after several more close calls, in which she cannot disguise her complicity with Reith, she reluctantly joins him in his quest to find a way to the 'ghaun' (the surface).

The Pnume use draconian measures to keep the Pnumekin from over-populating their underground realm; the social structure is regimented to an extreme, and a substance contained in a confection called 'diko' inhibits the fertility of young women. Only 'mother-women', which Pnumekin are told belong to a seperate race, are allowed to have children. The girl's name is nothing more than a description of her work group, followed by a number indicating her rank; Reith rather whimsically abbreviates it to 'Zap 210'.

At last they emerge; Zap 210 is terrified by the cold, bright, windy environment of the ghaun. She is also increasingly ill through the lack of 'diko', but decides to continue on with Reith.

They have emerged hundreds of miles from Sivishe, where Reith's half-finished spacecraft lies; after many more adventures and more close calls with Gzhindra, they at last return there. After some trouble Reith finds Anacho.

Anacho tells him that Aila Woudiver is no longer a threat; the Dirdir have taken him for their own purposes. The ship was finished in Reith's absence, and in order to avoid more trouble Traz has taken it to a place that Anacho cannot betray, leaving only the mysterious clue 'Onmale'.

Reith believes he knows where Traz is, but before he and Anacho can make further plans, he discovers that Zap 210 has been re-captured by the Gzhindra and (presumably) returned to the realms of the Pnume. He decides he cannot abandon her, and his possession on the master-set of maps gives him some leverage.

He has several copies made, and then manages to blackmail the Pnume by threatening to give a copy of the map to the Dirdir. The Pnume know that the latter race will immediately start a war of extermination against them, and reluctantly release Zap 210 and give up their attempts to collect Reith as an exhibit for "Foreverness".

Reith, Anacho, and Zap 210 travel across the ocean in a captured Dirdir sky-car; they reach Traz's homeland, where they discover Traz and the secreted ship. Reunited at long last, Reith and his companions depart on the long journey to Earth. show less

I liked ' the silent critic ' pnume

Het verhaal begon goed genoeg, maar het was duidelijk dat er naar een einde toegewerkt moest worden.

Verder valt er niet veel over te zeggen.

I liked ' the silent critic ' pnume