Masque World (An Anthony Villiers Adventure)

Masque World, Star Well, and The Thurb Revolution were the first three Anthony Villiers novels. They began a brilliant, swashbuckling, aristocratic comedy series, which was never finished because, I have always assumed, Panshin fell in love with and married a politically correct SF woman writer who drew him in new directions and wrecked him as a writer. So the next book was Earth Magic, by Alexei and Cory Panshin. This is a fascinating but ultimately flawed book about the magic of the Earth Goddess, first of a new series that was never continued. A promising career had been derailed. Too bad, really. However their future lives turned out privately, the ending of the Anthony Villiers series was a real pity. Still, Alexei Panshin left three books behind him. Anyone who missed them should repair the deficiency, and for those who know them they are good enough to bear periodic rereading.

Some 30 years ago, Alexei Panshin authored a series of three science fiction novels that have achieved minor legendary status. These were about a somewhat venal nobleman - Anthony Villiers, Viscount Charteris - and his highly illegal traveling companion Torve the Trog. What Trogs look like are six foot tall fur bearing frogs, what they think like has made them persona non grata throughout the Nashuite empire.Trogs believe, among other strange things, that events arise out of imminent conjugation, rather than cause and effect. They have a fine sense of when these intersections of time and space are going to occur, during which they are known to express themselves with "Thurbs" of appreciation. Since they are also known to behave unpredictably at these moments, the Emperor has seen fit to invite them to remain in the vicinity of their home planet, where the most likely victim of a "Thurb" is likely to be another Trog.Villiers and Torve have come to Delbaso to pick up some forged papers for the Trog so that he will no longer have to baffle as many customs officers; in addition, the viscount wants to pick up the stipend that his family pays them to stay out of their way. While not as unpredictable as Torve, Villiers has a tendency to wander into adventures that his relatives find disconcerting. The current arrangement suits everyone.Or it would if the post from Duden would arrive, and if Lord Semichastny, Villier's uncle, had not conveniently misplaced the bank draft. For there is more afoot that the disguising of illegal aliens. The Delbaso Monist Association's Xochitl society is seeking wonders and marvels. The peels are grunting, and the bells of the last Christian historian are pealing. Lord Semichastny plots defiance of Delbaso's Winter-Summer Laws (recently enacted to force his lordship to leave the planet) by planning a party and hefting rotten melons at Lady Oliphaunt. Obviously, conjugations are threatening to break out everywhere.Panshin's style, which combines wit with a sublime sense of the ridiculous, is something I have missed dearly. But unfortunately, these works are given to momentary reappearances followed by long period out of print. At present, 'Masque World' is the only one available. Recently the three Villiers novels have appeared in electronic form, which will help them regain some well-deserved notoriety. Lacking that, keep an eye out for them on the shelves of used bookstores in the hope that you can conjugate with a copy imminently.

Alexei Panshin's 'Anthony Villiers Adventures' are among the most treasured books on my shelves. They look at the world in a wacky way that is nevertheless perfectly reasonable. This one, the second in the series (which regrettably never got beyond the third volume), is as excellent as the other two. If you can find a copy in your local public library, you should check it out. If you can find a copy for sale, you should definitely buy it -- unless fun reading isn't your cup of tea.

Before there were Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, there was Alexei Panshin. I think he was ahead of his time, I can't think of another reason why these weren't wild smash hits. One quote, as well as I remember it, went something like "Everyone ever born has extended the range of human possibility- new music, new ideas, new fashions. Jerzy McBee, being human, had extended the the range of human possibilities, but not by much".