PG16- The Hand of Zei (v,some x,adult humor)

L. Sprague de Camp is a household name- in SF&F households, that is. A prolific writer who wrote approximately 20 books in the now-famous "Conan" series, he is also the author of one of the most famous Alternate History novels, Lest Darkness Fall, not to mention his tendency toward humor, as in The Complete Compleat Enchanter series. While most of his novels have fantasy or historical settings, some of them can be described as Science Fantasy, some as Historical Fiction, and yet others cannot be described at all.

Of course, this variety can mask some underlying trends in his work. For example, he writes mostly male viewpoints, and some of them are rather chauvenistic. Also, he really loves the "reluctant hero" formula, and he relies heavily on the introduction of messy reality to boost the humor levels and character sympathies of his books. His novels are, however, well researched and with strong plots and characters, so he can't be blamed for the fact that many of the ideas in them have become cliched, though his own popularity encouraged imitators. As with many prolific authors, however, not all of his books are equally good.

Krishna is a planet that still uses old-fashioned methods- like killing people with crossbows. Basically, it's a great place to dump various characters from spacefaring societies to see how they deal with the results. These are mostly humerous novels, with cliched cultures and classic plots. The sentient denizens of Krishna look mostly like human beings, except that they lay eggs and have antennas. Since many of the characters could more accurately be called charicatures, these novels may be the inspiration for Terry Pratchett's Discworld style.

If you're going to pick up your first de Camp novel, don't make it The Hand of Zei. Once again, we have a reluctant and not always very bright hero trying to save the girl, outwit the badguys, and stay as far away from his future mother-in-law as possible (especially since she's a Queen who would like nothing better than to see him dead). While parts of the story had me laughing out loud, others fell decidedly flat. The problem seems to be the main character himself (Dirk, ghost writer for an explorer who disappeared on Krishna), who is self-deprecating for a good reason. Yes, he's a bit lacking in common sense. Yes, he has trouble with women. And yes, people can pretty much con him into anything they want to. At least he's humble about it. Also, the entire novel is rife with mysogenistic commentary and even the plot is based on how women are using a drug to control men through sex. Ho hum. Mother-in-law jokes have been done to death. If you want de Camp's best, pass on this one.

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Last Updated: November 6, 1999

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