The Owl and the Ape: Difference between revisions
→Plot summary: wikified Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit |
→Critical reception: rm stuff about the series, not the short story. See dedicated article for the same quote. Tags: section blanking Mobile edit Mobile app edit |
||
| Line 25: | Line 25: | ||
==Setting== |
==Setting== |
||
In common with the other Pusadian tales, "The Owl and the Ape" takes place in a prehistoric era during which a magic-based [[Atlantis|Atlantian]] civilization supposedly throve in what was then a single continent consisting of [[Eurasia]] joined with [[Africa]], and in the islands to the west. It is similar in conception to [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Hyborian Age]], by which it was inspired, but more astutely constructed, utilizing actual [[Ice Age]] geography in preference to a wholly invented one. In de Camp's scheme, the legend of this culture that came down to classic [[Greece]] as "Atlantis" was a garbled memory that conflated the mighty Tartessian Empire with the island continent of Pusad and the actual Atlantis, a barbaric mountainous region that is today the [[Atlas Mountains|Atlas mountain range]]. |
In common with the other Pusadian tales, "The Owl and the Ape" takes place in a prehistoric era during which a magic-based [[Atlantis|Atlantian]] civilization supposedly throve in what was then a single continent consisting of [[Eurasia]] joined with [[Africa]], and in the islands to the west. It is similar in conception to [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Hyborian Age]], by which it was inspired, but more astutely constructed, utilizing actual [[Ice Age]] geography in preference to a wholly invented one. In de Camp's scheme, the legend of this culture that came down to classic [[Greece]] as "Atlantis" was a garbled memory that conflated the mighty Tartessian Empire with the island continent of Pusad and the actual Atlantis, a barbaric mountainous region that is today the [[Atlas Mountains|Atlas mountain range]]. |
||
==Critical reception== |
|||
[[Groff Conklin]] described the Pusadian series as being "in the [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]] tradition in every sense of the word, though better written."<ref>"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]'', June 1954, p.122</ref> |
|||
==Notes== |
==Notes== |
||
Revision as of 04:02, 3 May 2017
| "The Owl and the Ape" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by L. Sprague de Camp | |||
 | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Fantasy | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy | ||
| Media type | Print (Magazine) | ||
| Publication date | November, 1951 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Series | Pusadian series | ||
| |||
"The Owl and the Ape" is a fantasy story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Pusadian series. It was first published in the magazine Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy for November, 1951, and first appeared in book form in the de Camp's collection The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales (Twayne, 1953). The story has also appeared in the anthology Kingdoms of Sorcery (1976).[1][2] and the de Camp omnibus collection Lest Darkness Fall/Rogue Queen/The Tritonian Ring and Other Pusadian Tales (2014).[2] It has also been translated into German.[1]
Plot summary
Young Gezun of Lorsk, bound to the service of the sorcerer Sancheth Sar, is sent by his master to bid on the Hordhum Manuscript, one of the magical effects of the retiring magician Dauskezh Van. The errand is complicated and the competition fierce, as the bidding is anonymous and his master's rival Nikurteu Bayla is also after the manuscript. But Gezun parries almost all of Bayla's stratagems.
Chronologically, "The Owl and the Ape" is the third of de Camp's Pusadian tales, and the first to feature his protagonist Gezun of Lorsk. Gezun is a teen-ager at the time of this story.[1]
Setting
In common with the other Pusadian tales, "The Owl and the Ape" takes place in a prehistoric era during which a magic-based Atlantian civilization supposedly throve in what was then a single continent consisting of Eurasia joined with Africa, and in the islands to the west. It is similar in conception to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age, by which it was inspired, but more astutely constructed, utilizing actual Ice Age geography in preference to a wholly invented one. In de Camp's scheme, the legend of this culture that came down to classic Greece as "Atlantis" was a garbled memory that conflated the mighty Tartessian Empire with the island continent of Pusad and the actual Atlantis, a barbaric mountainous region that is today the Atlas mountain range.
Notes
- ^ a b c Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. p. 222.
- ^ a b The Owl and the Ape title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database