Originally published Jove, 1978
Hank Silberhutte, a big ol' Texan working for the Wilmarth Foundation, is a telepath with a hard-on for Ithaqua. Juanita Alvarez is his "receiver", to whom he telepathically communicates this story.
With a pilot, fellow Foundation-ites Paul White and Jimmy Franklin, and, unbeknownst to them, Hank's sister Tracy stowing away, Hank is off to Edmonton to set up an anti-Ithaqua project, when the big windy dude intercepts them. They find themselves on Borea, on an endless plain of snow with a pyramid in the distance where Ithaqua sits.
The downed plane is surrounded by an army of eskimos, indians, giant hounds and etc. Their leader, Boris Zchakow, high priest of Ithaqua, demands they hand over Tracy. He is burned by a star-stone for his rudeness, and battle ensues. The cavalry arrives in the form of another army of indians/eskimos, with polar bears. These are The People of the Plateau. Their leader is Northan, the warlord. They are joined by their demi-goddess, Armandra, the Woman of the Winds. She is a half-human daughter of Ithaqua, and doesn't like daddy one bit!
She's also a hot piece of cosmic ass, and Hank notices. Northan notices Hank noticing, and jumps in his shit. Hank responds by knocking Northan on his warlord tush.
Hank and crew are taken to the People's caverns (One side effect is that Paul, Jimmy, Hank and The Pilot are now less susceptible to cold, thanks to contact with Ithaqua. Tracy, who was helpfully wearing a star-stone, isn't effected.). There Hank learns that Armandra actually has to pick a mate soon. Northan, it seems, has appointed himself to the position.
Meanwhile, Ithaqua kills Zchakow, cuz.
In the caverns, Hank and Crew are introduced to Charlie Tacomah, a war vet and Native American, one of many missing persons who've ended up on Borea. Hank makes out with Armandra who's gorgeous but has ugly feet. She warns him that Ithaqua wants her for a mate, and that Northan is an asshole (duh!).
A month goes by. Hank trains as a warrior and they learn of a "forbidden" tunnel. Whitey, psychically-sensitive, is afraid to go down there. He begins to suspect he won't live much longer.
A ceremony is held in which Armandra will choose a mate. Hank challenges Northan, beats him in a hand-axe battle, but spares his life. Northan runs off and joins the neighboring Wolf Tribe. They try to take Tracy but Charlie and Jimmy stop them.
In the forbidden tunnel, Tracy finds a bazillion star-stones.
A massive attack by Ithaqua's loyalists. Narthan is killed. Whitey is killed. Armandra and Ithaqua slug it out. Then Hank attaches a star-stone to a spear and rams it into Ithaqua's eye. Off goes Ithaqua to an Elder Eye Surgeon.
Hank sends a telepathic warning to Juanita, but she is killed in a freak storm - doubtless the work of You-Know-Who.
This is something a follow-up to the Titus Crow books, giving us more of the Wilmarth Foundation (oh joy!). And it's certainly an improvement on The Transition of Titus Crow, being as it at least is a coherent story.
On the other hand, it isn't a particularly compelling one, being mostly a series of pulpy cliches. There's plenty of Howard-y action but no cosmic horror, that's for sure. If anything, it mostly strongly resembles an Edgar Rice Burroughs action-er, with manly Hank proving himself the superior in fighting, thinking, leading and, of course, screwing, than any members of the primitive alien culture he finds himself in. Armandra is nuts, and Ithaqua is little more than a cackling villain-oid. An amusing but unsatisfying read.
No comments:
Post a Comment