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crash-landing on Tschai in their damaged scout-boat. After his companion is killed by human nomads early on, Adam Reith is left stranded alone on an unknown world. The four books describe the attempts of a man of singularly strong will and resource to return to Earth: in the first book to recover his damaged spacecraft, in the second to steal one, in the third to build one, and in the fourth to escape the Pnume, by whom he is kidnapped before he can depart Tschai. In the process, he overcomes the obstacles of dealing with four different alien races and various human groups, often profoundly disrupting the societies, human and alien, with which he is forced to deal. The vast teeming planet, with its clashing civilizations and wildly varying cultures, affects Reith to the point that he realizes that if he succeeds in returning to Earth, his life will seem dull and colourless in comparison.
181:
as a juvenile series, which was why he included Traz; but the action is no less 'adult' than in his other works.) Anacho and Traz play lesser roles in the fourth book, which chronicles Reith's adventures in the underground world of the Pnume, and subsequently on the surface with the rescued
Pnumekin woman Zap 210. Romantic interest is provided both by Zap 210 and by the aristocratic Flower of Cath, who features in the first two novels. The third novel also introduces a human villain in the fat and avaricious contractor Aila Woudiver.
168:
obedient. The
Dirdirmen view themselves as degenerate Dirdir and strive to minimize their differences. The Wankhmen, on the other hand, act as the sole interpreters of the Wankh and as a result, are able to manipulate the alien race to their own advantage. The Pnumekin are kept docile by drugs; the Gzhindra, ostracised and exiled Pnumekin, act as agents for the Pnume. Vance's depiction of the human race after tens of thousands of years on Tschai aims to show how foreign humanity can become in alien surroundings.
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Reith acquires two faithful human companions in the course of his travels: Traz Onmale, the dour, proud boy-chieftain of a nomad tribe obsessed with emblems, and Ankhe at Afram Anacho, a renegade
Dirdirman who is loquacious, fastidious and flamboyant. (Vance has said that the novels were commissioned
129:
The birdlike, or feline, predatory Dirdir had warred with the Chasch and the Wankh in the past, but on Tschai maintain an uneasy peace due to their relative military parity. In the first book they are described as "sheep-like", but Vance appears to have changed their characterization by the third,
68:
is a planet orbiting the star Carina 4269, 212 light-years from Earth. It is populated by various sentient alien species. The native Pnume have been subjected to invasions by three species. In addition, there are humans, captured and brought to the planet long ago by one of the spacefaring species;
167:
The human client races, the
Pnumekin, Chaschmen, Dirdirmen and Wankhmen resemble their alien patrons to some degree, due to selective breeding, surgery and the desire of the humans to emulate their respective masters. The religious fiction that their dead are reborn as Chasch keeps the Chaschmen
176:
A human ship is sent to investigate a distress signal sent 212 years ago from the previously unknown planet. The mother ship is destroyed and nearly all of the crew killed in a surprise missile attack (in some editions the mother ship and its crew do not appear). Only two scouts survive,
184:
Tschai, like Earth, is a world of several discrete continents. The action covers most of the planet, and the second and fourth books describe lengthy sea voyages taken by Reith and his companions. Vance described blue-water sailing as one of his favorite recreations.
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The insect-like Pnume are the original inhabitants of Tschai, with a history that goes back ten million years. They view the invaders as welcome additions to the pageantry on their world stage. They were forced underground by the coming of the more powerful species.
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some of them live as slaves or servants of each of the alien races, while others have managed to create their own societies. Each of the four novels relates Reith's adventures with one of the species, and is named after that species. In order, the books are:
120:
The somewhat reptilian Chasch arrived a hundred thousand years prior to the tale's start, and are divided into three warring factions, the decadent Old Chasch, the creatively sadistic Blue Chasch, and the barbarian Green Chasch.
280:#74, and stated that "The narrative is a near-triumph of ironic, exotic style over routinely grotty space-operatic plot The good stuff lies in Tschai's rich scents and colours, and in elaboration of style."
134:, with many different genders that leads to many different combinations of gender-compatibility when it comes to sex and breeding, though each breeding still seems to involve only two individuals.
159:
The amphibious Wankh (or Wannek) are comparatively recent arrivals and had warred with the Dirdir in the past, but subsided into an uneasy peace due to their relative military parity.
49:, published between 1968 and 1970. The novels relate the adventures of the scout Adam Reith, the sole survivor of an Earth ship investigating a signal from the distant planet Tschai.
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316:
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Related to the Pnume are the Phung, solitary sentient predators with bizarre habits. The antics of a Phung feature early on in each of the first three books.
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and replaced 'Wankh' with 'Wannek' throughout the text. Vance was convinced to change the name after learning of the meaning of the word '
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setting and characters have also been translated into the form of a paper-and-pencil
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was first published in
September 2003 and was written by James L. Cambias.
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in which they are compared to leopards. The Dirdir are described as having
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A French comic adaptation in eight volumes of the books by
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restored the author's preferred title for the first book:
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16:Series of science fiction novels by Jack Vance
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317:"Le Cycle de Tschaï 1. Le Chasch - volume 1"
61:Map of planet Tschai, adapted by Paul Rhoads
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236:GURPS: Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure
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213:' in British and Commonwealth slang.
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1113:Novels about extraterrestrial life
345:(February 1986). "Critical Mass".
203:. They also altered the second to
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1118:Novels set on fictional planets
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1:
879:Strange People, Queer Notions
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1123:Science fiction book series
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255:(story) was published by
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872:The House on Lily Street
461:Songs of the Dying Earth
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132:a very complex sexuality
21:Not to be confused with
1053:This Is Me, Jack Vance!
973:Men of the Twelve Books
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945:Gateway to Strangeness
616:Trullion: Alastor 2262
438:Rhialto the Marvellous
195:Vance Integral Edition
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544:Servants of the Wankh
323:on September 30, 2011
298:"Planet of Adventure"
85:Servants of the Wankh
60:
31:
851:Galactic Effectuator
795:The Languages of Pao
41:is a series of four
23:Planets of Adventure
980:The Miracle Workers
924:Cholwell's Chickens
917:The Brains of Earth
910:Abercrombie Station
781:Vandals of the Void
774:The Five Gold Bands
623:Marune: Alastor 933
527:Planet of Adventure
494:The Killing Machine
455:Dying Earth (genre)
315:Editions Delcourt.
302:Steve Jackson Games
272:Planet of Adventure
259:from 1998 to 2008.
223:Planet of Adventure
193:The editors of the
38:Planet of Adventure
959:The Houses of Iszm
938:The Dragon Masters
802:Slaves of the Klau
693:Ecce and Old Earth
630:Wyst: Alastor 1716
587:The Brave Free Men
537:City of the Chasch
515:The Book of Dreams
501:The Palace of Love
111:Tschai inhabitants
76:City of the Chasch
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1099:
1036:Ullward's Retreat
987:Monsters in Orbit
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767:
744:Big Planet novels
677:Cadwal Chronicles
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253:Jean-David Morvan
243:Comics adaptation
155:Wankh (or Wannek)
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886:The Deadly Isles
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686:Araminta Station
652:Suldrun's Garden
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319:. Archived from
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788:To Live Forever
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325:. Retrieved
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1075:Gaean Reach
809:Space Opera
407:Dying Earth
348:White Dwarf
277:White Dwarf
1107:Categories
1091:Bad Ronald
858:Night Lamp
830:Bad Ronald
752:Big Planet
594:The Asutra
551:The Dirdir
398:Jack Vance
284:References
206:The Wannek
200:The Chasch
94:The Dirdir
47:Jack Vance
45:novels by
1015:Rumfuddle
580:The Anome
558:The Pnume
487:Star King
270:reviewed
263:Reception
233:system.
103:The Pnume
1063:See also
823:Emphyrio
642:Lyonesse
508:The Face
327:April 5,
257:Delcourt
606:Alastor
570:Durdane
448:related
229:in the
53:Setting
727:Lurulu
666:Madouc
163:Humans
125:Dirdir
116:Chasch
66:Tschai
1029:Telek
1008:Noise
700:Throy
394:Works
249:Li-An
231:GURPS
147:Phung
138:Pnume
1070:Grue
329:2011
274:for
221:The
211:wank
172:Plot
396:by
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386:e
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
