Planet of Adventure

"Planet of Adventure" is the name given to a series of four science fiction novels by Jack Vance, which relate the adventures of Adam Reith, the sole survivor of an Earth ship investigating a signal from the distant planet "Tschai".

Inhabitants

"Tschai" is a planet orbiting the star Carina 4269, 212 light-years from Earth. It is populated by three alien, mutually hostile species; the displaced, native Pnume; and various human races, some of whom live as slaves or clients of the aliens. 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:

: "City of the Chasch": "Servants of the Wankh": "The Dirdir": "The Pnume"

The insect-like Pnume are the original inhabitants of "Tschai". Their history goes back ten million years and 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. Related to them are the Phung, solitary sentient predators with bizarre habits. 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 "Blue Chasch", and the barbarian "Green Chasch". The birdlike predatory "Dirdir" and the amphibious "Wankh" (or "Wannek") are comparatively recent arrivals and had warred with each other in the past, but subsided into an uneasy peace due to their relative military parity.

The human client races, the "Pnumekin", "Chaschmen", "Dirdirmen" and "Wankhmen" resemble their alien patrons to some degree. This is due to selective breeding, surgery and the desire of the humans to emulate their respective masters. The "Pnumekin" are kept docile by drugs; the Gzhindra are ostracised and exiled Pnumekin who act as agents for the Pnume. The religious fiction that their dead are reborn as "Chasch" keeps the "Chaschmen" 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.

Vance's depiction of the human race after thousands of years on Tschai aims to show how foreign humanity can become in alien surroundings, but his delineation of the four non-human races has them motivated by drives that are truly bizarre and original.

Plot

Adam Reith is sent in a small scout ship to investigate a distress signal sent centuries before from the previously unknown planet. The mother ship is destroyed and the rest of the crew killed in a surprise missile attack and Reith is forced to set down on Tschai. The four books describe the attempts of a man of singularly strong will and resource to return to Earth. He overcomes the obstacles of four different alien races and various human groups in his efforts. In the process, he profoundly disrupts several of the societies, human and alien, with which he is forced to deal.

Two of Vance’s most memorable characters are the faithful human companions Reith acquires in the course of his travels: Traz Onmale, the dour, proud boy-chieftain of a nomad race obsessed with emblems, and the renegade Dirdirman, Ankhe at Afram Anacho, loquacious, fastidious and flamboyant. (Vance has said that the novels were commissioned as a juvenile series, which was why he included Traz; but the action is no less ‘adult’ than in his other works.) The third novel also introduces one of Vance’s most repulsive villains, the enormously fat, petulant, pedophiliac, shamelessly avaricious contractor, Aila Woudiver.

The vast teeming planet with its clashing civilizations and multifarious cultures is one of Vance’s most seductive settings, and Reith realizes that if he succeeds in returning to Earth, his life will seem dull and colourless in comparison.

The novels contain some of Vance’s most delightful inventions, such as the Carabas, a region where the universal currency of Tschai, the sequin, literally grows out of the ground. Men flock to the region to try to make their fortunes; hunting parties of Dirdir hunt the men to satisfy their predatory nature.

Title changes

The editors of the Vance Integral Edition restored the author's preferred title for the first book: "The Chasch". They also altered the second to "The Wannek" and replaced 'Wankh' with 'Wannek' throughout the text. Vance was convinced to change the name after being informed of the meaning of the word 'wank' in British and Commonwealth slang. See also [http://starling.us/wankh_vs_wannek.html Wankh versus Wannek]

Roleplaying game

The Planet of Adventure setting and characters have also been translated into the form of a paper-and-pencil Roleplaying Game in the GURPS system. "" was first published in September, 2003, and was written by James L. Cambias

Comics adaptation

There is a French comic adaptation in 8 volumes of the books by Li-An (drawings) and Jean-David Morvan (story). Delcourt editor 1998/2008. [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/afar.2007.40.2.16?cookieSet=1] [http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/catalogue/bd/le_cycle_de_tschai_1_le_chasch_volume_1 ref]

References