Sea-Kings Of Mars - Leigh Brackett

Novel

Number of words : 45000
Percent of complex words : 6.4
Average syllables per word : 1.4


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 9.2
Flesch : 73.4
Flesch-Kincaid : 7.2

: The Sword Of Rhiannon - Leigh Brackett


SETTING


Jekkara

Martian City.

Madam Kan's

Dodgy bar in Jekkara.

Old Town

Suburb of Jekkara. Old Jekkara, with its docks of stone and marble still standing in the dry and dust-choked harbor, was old beyond any Earth conception of the world.

New Town

Suburb of Jekkara. The New Town of Jekkara, the living town down by the canal, had been old when Ur of the Chaldees was a raw young village.

Tomb Of Rhianon

Where Penkawr finds the sword, and Carse ends up travelling back in time.

Sark

Ancient Martian city.

Khondor

Ancient Martian city.

White Sea

Where Carse is taken prisoner and made to row.

Black Banks

Off the White Sea.

Caer Dhu

Dhuvian city.



CHARACTERS

Matt Carse

"Archaeologist, renegade, looter of tombs."

Pankawr of Barrakesh

Finds The Sword of Rhiannon, and wants to give it to Carse.

Rhiannon

A Quiru. "...the Cursed One, whose sinful pride had caused some mysterious catastrophe." and "...sinned by teaching too much wisdom to the Dhuvians."

Boghaz Hoi

A Valkisian. "...big, fleshy and soft-looking, a Martian who wore a kilt that looked ridiculously scanty on his fat figure. His face was moonlike, creased and crinkled in a reassuring grin"

Scyld

A Sark slaveship captain.

Lady Ywain

Sark princess and slaver. "She stood like a dark flame in a nimbus of sunset light. Her habit was that of a young warrior, a hauberk of black mail over a short purple tunic, with a jeweled dragon coiling on the curve of her mailed breast and a short sword at her side. Her head was bare. She wore her black hair short, cut square above the eyes and falling to her shoulders. Under dark brows her eyes had smoldering fires in them. She stood with straight long legs braced slightly apart,"

King Garach

Sark ruler and Yvain's father.

Callus

Scyld's slaveship whip man.

Jaxart

Khond slave.

Shallah

A Swimmer.

Naran

Her mate.

Lorn

Slave, of the Sky Folk, wings crippled.

Rold

Ruler of the Sea-Kings in Khondor.

Emer

Rold's sister. A seer.

Ironbeard

Rold's admiral.

S'San

Dhuvian travelling on the Sark slave ship.

Thorn of Tarak

One of the Sea-Kings.

Hishah

A Dhuvian.


FOOD

Thil

Martian alcoholic drink.


WEAPONS

Proton-gun

Deadly hand weapon.

The Sword of Rhiannon

Ancient Quiru blade, made by its namesake.


PLACES

Valkis

Martian Low-Canal City.

Barrakesh

Martian Low-Canal City.

Kahora

Martian city.

Phobos

Moon of Mars.


ORGANISATIONS

Earth Police Control

After Carse.

The Wise Ones

Three Swimmer elders and judges.

The Sea-Kings

An alliance to the West that opposes Sark.


RACES

Quiru

Hero-gods who were human yet superhuman, who had had all wisdom and power.

Sark

Slavers. Rule east, north and south of the White Sea.

Khond

People of Khondor.

Swimmers

Ancient Martian Aquatic people, Halflings.

Skyfolk

Ancient Martian winged people, Halflings.

Dhuvians

The Serpents, Halflings. Masters of Ancient technology.


TECHNOLOGY

Krypton-lamp

Runs using krypton, the element.


PLOT

Matt Carse is a tomb raider, and stumbles across a dodgy acquaintance who has beaten him to this one and found the Tomb of Rhiannon, and the Sword within. He wants to sell it to Carse because he will be able to flog it more easily and for a better price. Carse takes the sword and finds the Tomb - but is sent back in time to that of Sark and the Sea-Kings.

He is taken for a Khond spy and falls in with Bolgaz the rogue, who wants the Sword, and will try and use Carse to try and save himself from Sark slavers, but no luck. They end up manning the oars on Lady Ywain's ship, which also harbours a Dhuvian. Carse is a wild-card in the situation, and no-one is quite sure of him as he does not fit in politically. He engineers an uprising, and also has an 'I hate you, kiss me now' chemistry with Ywain. the warrior princess of Sark.

They head for Khondor, where the leader Rold's sister, a seer, foretells bad things because of Sark - and the influence of Rhiannon upon him does not help anyone into trusting him. It is Rhiannon's fault that the Dhuvians have Quiru technology and it is this which makes Sark impregnable. However, because of his time in the Tomb, Carse has actual contact with the mind of Rhiannon - which can speak through his body, so this is both good and bad. It gives the Sea-Kings an opportunity to take down Sark's forcefield through Rhiannon's help, and initiation a more just society.

This accomplished, Carse realises he should go home, even though he rather likes the ancient past. Ywain, an outcast and alive and free on sufferance asks to go with him, as she has no place left and didn't like her home anyway. Carse agrees, and they take the time trip through the Tomb back to his Jekkara.


4.5 out of 5