Enchantress of Venus - Leigh Brackett

Novella

Number of words : 25000
Percent of complex words : 5.0
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.5

READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 7.0
Flesch : 79.9
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.2




CHARACTERS

Eric John Stark

N'Chaka, Man Without a Tribe. Looking for his lost friend.

Malthor

Captain of the ship Stark takes to Shuruun.

Helvi

A friend of Stark's who disappears in Shuruun.

Larrabee

An Earthman, and now Shuruunian who assists Stark. Survives as a medical practitioner.

Zareth

The young daughter of Malthor, who tries to warn Stark.

Varra

Lhari woman.

Bor

Lhari youth and fond of dragons.

Egil

Lhari man who wants to marry Varra. Slavemaster.

Arel

Older Lhari woman.

Grandmother

Large, monstrous Lhari ruler.

Treon

A cripped and apparently worthless Lhari man, according to the others.

Tika

A dead girl.

Tobal

Helvi's brother, died in Shuruun.

Cond

Lhari and Egil's brother.


PLACES

Red Sea

Venusian Ocean

Mountains of the White Cloud

Beyond which lie the Red Sea.

Shuruun

Venusian pirate city.

Twilight Belt

Mercurian zone inbetween the two sides.

Yarell

A town near where Helvi hails from.

High Plateaus

Area of Venus where the Cloud People come from.

Sinharat

Martian ruined city.

Jekkara

A Low Canal town.

Valkis

A Low Canal town.

Callisto

Has buried tombs.

Arianrhod

Site of the cliff-caves.


RACES

Lhari

The Lords of Shuruun. Rulers and slavers, with access to remnants of ancient possibly alien technology.

Cloud People

Live on the Venusian High Plateaus.


CONCEPTS

The Lost Ones

Those taken by the Lhari as slaves.


ANIMALS

Dragon

A small flying pet of the Lhari.

Lord of the Rocks

A large lizard.


WEAPONS

Black Rod

An energy weapon Egil uses.

Shock-weapons

Used by the guards to control the Lost One slaves.


TECHNOLOGY

Collars

Used to control the Lost One slaves. Hurt or kill if a barrier is crossed.

Cosmic ray machines

Technology used by the Lhari to change living cells. There a variety of types, including tomblike.


PLOT

Eric John Stark is looking for his friend, a barbarian princeling. He has disappeared in Shuruun, a city of outlaws and pirates on Venus. Stark hires one such to take him there over the Red Sea.

He finds a city in the grip of the Lhari, the remnants of an advanced race, using those they can catch as slaves on a technology project to restore their former glory.

The arrival of an uncowed and fearless Stark throws the Wild Man among the pigeons, and draws the attention of one of the women - provoking jealousy in the man who would wed her. He places Stark among the slaves. A bad move, as Stark is not one to be caged. His friend Helvi is there also, to show him the ropes until their can organise a fight for freedom.

There are divisions among the Lhari, too. Treon has been doing his own technology work, unknown to the others, even though the monstrous Grandmother still rules.

The Lhari also have well armed guards and minions like Malthor the pirate who brought Stark to them, and the slaves have to fight their way past these before they can take on the Lhari. Their internal jealousies help the slave revolt, but the slaves and Stark and Helvi are still in trouble, until the arrival of Larrabee with some of the locals.

4 out of 5

http://www.archive.org/details/EnchantressOfVenus