Pages
260
Year
2014
Language
English

About

On the edge of history, civilization emerges from chaos A boy of the bustling, colorful docks of port Kolhari, during a political coup, fifteen-year-old Gorgik, once his parents are killed, is taken a slave and transported to the government obsidian mines at the foot of the Faltha mountains. When, in the savagely primitive land of Nevèrÿon, finally he wins his freedom, Gorgik is ready to lead a rebellion against the rulers of this barely civilized land. His is the through-story that, now in the background, now in the foreground, connects these first five stories, in Tales of Nevèrÿon-and, indeed, all the eleven stories, novellas, and novels that comprise Delany's epic fantasy series, Return to Nevèrÿon, where we can watch civilization first develop money, writing, labor, and that grounding of all civilizations since: capital itself.  In these sagas of barbarism, new knowledge, and sex, you'll find far more than in most sword-and-sorcery. They are an epic feat of language, an ironic analysis of the foundations of civilization, and a reminder that no weapon is more powerful than a well-honed legend.   This ebook features an illustrated biography of Samuel R. Delany including rare images from his early career.

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Reviews

"Postmodern sword-and-sorcery. . . . Self-conscious metafictions about social and sexual behavior, the play of language and power, and-above all-the possibilities and limitations of narrative."
The Washington Post Book World
"Cultural criticism at its most imaginative and entertaining best."
Fredric R. Jameson
"A major and unclassifiable achievement in contemporary American literature."
Fredric R. Jameson

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