Tower at the Edge of Time

One thousand years ago the interstellar Empire crumbled and eventually mankind, across the galaxy, fell into barbarism. Long lasting items of technology, such as spacecraft, still exist, but once they break down that is the end of them as nobody knows how to fix them. So in this strange world where swords and laser guns coexist strides Thane the warrior. Thane is a servant to none, but also master of none. In the city of Zotheera on the planet of Diakoon in a small tavern Thane has a hostile and fated meeting with Prince Chan of Shimar. Chan wants to use Thane in some scheme but is unable to gain power over the warrior through strength or wealth. Leaving Chan to lick his wounds Thane heads towards his spacecraft when suddenly a beautiful young woman literally runs into him. She is fleeing from a gang of five soldiers who believe she has stolen seven golden dragons. She pleads for help and Thane quickly and ruthlessly jumps to her defense. This book is technically science fiction but has the feel of fantasy. It is a story of captures and escapes, gruesome fights and rollicking high adventure. For much of the story there seems to be absolutely no themes. Not even the old standby of 'good verses evil' seems to apply as a hero who would instantly chop four men into pieces, rather than be captured, is hardly good. Still Thane of Two Swords is a hero of a kind. He is not quite bad enough to be an antihero and the enemy is evil enough to be considered worse than him. In an interesting reversal of the Western genre convention of 'the bad guy dressed in black' Carter's villain, Prince Chan, is an albino. By making him thus Carter manages to imply that Chan is in some way warped, a mutant, twisted inside. At one point Thane suggests that Chan is also a homosexual, once again implying something 'unnatural' in him. (This certainly may upset real albinos and homosexuals, but none-the-less works as an effective, but crude, plot mechanism.) In the end the book does prove to have the theme of greed and wealth, and Thane evolves into something better than he first was. Carter easily manages to keep the reader turning pages by including interesting plot twists and cliffhanger chapter endings. As you will have worked out by now this book is pure pulp-fiction, but pulp-fiction at its best. If you want to something light that will entertain you for a few hours this is the book for you, but if you want prize winning fiction which makes you think deeply you should look elsewhere. If the novel has one failing it is the long lists of unpronounceable and meaningless names of planets, cities, gods, etc., which add nothing to the story (though I am sure they are meant to provide 'cultural depth'). This book would suit high school readers and up.

One thousand years ago the interstellar Empire crumbled and eventually mankind, across the galaxy, fell into barbarism. Long lasting items of technology, such as spacecraft, still exist, but once they break down that is the end of them as nobody knows how to fix them. So in this strange world where swords and laser guns coexist strides Thane the warrior. Thane is a servant to none, but also master of none. In the city of Zotheera on the planet of Diakoon in a small tavern Thane has a hostile and fated meeting with Prince Chan of Shimar. Chan wants to use Thane in some scheme but is unable to gain power over the warrior through strength or wealth. Leaving Chan to lick his wounds Thane heads towards his spacecraft when suddenly a beautiful young woman literally runs into him. She is fleeing from a gang of five soldiers who believe she has stolen seven golden dragons. She pleads for help and Thane quickly and ruthlessly jumps to her defense. This book is technically science fiction but has the feel of fantasy. It is a story of captures and escapes, gruesome fights and rollicking high adventure. For much of the story there seems to be absolutely no themes. Not even the old standby of 'good verses evil' seems to apply as a hero who would instantly chop four men into pieces, rather than be captured, is hardly good. Still Thane of Two Swords is a hero of a kind. He is not quite bad enough to be an antihero and the enemy is evil enough to be considered worse than him. In an interesting reversal of the Western genre convention of 'the bad guy dressed in black' Carter's villain, Prince Chan, is an albino. By making him thus Carter manages to imply that Chan is in some way warped, a mutant, twisted inside. At one point Thane suggests that Chan is also a homosexual, once again implying something 'unnatural' in him. (This certainly may upset real albinos and homosexuals, but none-the-less works as an effective, but crude, plot mechanism.) In the end the book does prove to have the theme of greed and wealth, and Thane evolves into something better than he first was. Carter easily manages to keep the reader turning pages by including interesting plot twists and cliffhanger chapter endings. As you will have worked out by now this book is pure pulp-fiction, but pulp-fiction at its best. If you want to something light that will entertain you for a few hours this is the book for you, but if you want prize winning fiction which makes you think deeply you should look elsewhere. If the novel has one failing it is the long lists of unpronounceable and meaningless names of planets, cities, gods, etc., which add nothing to the story (though I am sure they are meant to provide 'cultural depth'). This book would suit high school readers and up.