The Secret of Sinharat - Leigh Brackett

Novella

Number of words : 28000
Percent of complex words : 5.4
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 12.4


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 7.1
Flesch : 78.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.4



PEOPLE

Eric John Stark

N'Chaka, oh Man-without-a-tribe who is on the run. Gets to be an agent.

Simon Ashton

Stark's friend and mentor who has a deal for him he can't say no to.

Kynon

A barbarian chieftain from Shun. The Giver of Life.

Delgaun

A bandit, and one of the System's top criminals.

Knighton

Terran bandit. Owner of a fast cruiser.

Walsh

Terran bandit. A genius weaponeer.

Themis

Mercurian bandit. Also a mechanic.

Arrod

Callistan bandit and organised crime leader.

Luthar

Venusian bandit. A cashiered officer of the Venusian Guards. Has worked with and betrayed Stark before.

Berild

Raman woman, allied with Kynon.

Tika

Girl Stark knew, killed by a giant bird.

Freka

Kynon's captain and indulger in Shanga.

Fianna

Rama woman who is sick of the lifestyle and hates Kynon.

Kala

Old woman, owner of Kala's.




PLACES

Valkis

Martian Low Canal town.

Barrakesh

Martian Low Canal town.

Tarak

Where the Earth Commission offices are located. On the Dryland Border.

Kesh

Martian drylands area.

Shun

Martian drylands area.

Kala's

Bar in Valkis.

Belly of Stones

Ancient underground place with a secret water supply, where Stark and Berild shelter from a desert storm.

Twilight Belt

Habitable zone on Mercury.

Sinharat

Rallying point for the tribes and Kynon's plans for war. Has Catacombs.


TECHNOLOGY

Venusian spider silk

Used for making clothes.

Crowns of the Ramas

Used for mind transfer. Or so it is said.

Purcell electronic discharge

Useful for fake shows.

Shanga

The going-back drug. Makes people more primitive.



WEAPONS

Banning

An electrical gun.


ORGANISATIONS

Earth Police Control

Hunters of Stark.

Terro-Venusian Metals

A company Stark opposed.

The Martian Council of City-States

Martian government organisation.

Earth Commission

Earth government organisation related to Mars.

Venusian Guards

Venus military group.

Brotherhood of the Little Worlds

Organised crime on the smaller planetary bodies.

Space Patrol

Police organisation, whom the Brotherhood drove nuts.


RACES

Middle Venusians

Martian swamp dwellers.

Ramas

Ancient Martian serial immortals. The Twice Born.

Keshi

Martian barbarians.


CONCEPT

Banner of Death and Life

Kynon's rallying flag.



PLOT

Simon Ashton and his posse catch up to Eric John Stark, his former mentee and almost-son.

Stark has a long stretch in the slammer hanging over his head, so Ashton offers him a deal. Be his agent in trying to break up the plans Kynon and Delgaun have for provoking an inter-regional war, and the slate is wiped clean.

Stark does so and discovers at the heart of it, along with several crimelords are a pair of women. Both take an interest in him, and Fianna wants to aid him.

Stark has an enemy in Luhar, who sold him out when he was doing some gunrunning for some locals. Therefore, they try and set him up at Kala's when he is tasked with retrieving one of Kynon's captains, Freka, from his overindulgence in Shanga. Or, Wild Man vs Beastial Men.

The woman Berild also takes an interest in Stark, growing tired of Kynon, and has her own plans. She is trapped in a desert storm with Stark, who helps her to survive, along with her knowledge of a secret underground water supply.

At Sinharat, Stark discovers that the ancient Rama race remnants are at the heart of this conspiracy, including Berild, Delgaun and Fianna. When Kynon realises he has been manipulated, he turns on his allies, with Stark. Fianna takes the Raman personality switching Crowns to hide, telling Stark that if he is tired of growing old, to come and find her, as she can't bring herself to destroy them, in case she wants to use them again.


4 out of 5