Customer Reviews

The Man of Gold: A Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne Novel

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The American edition of this book welcomes you with a gorgeous Michael Whelan cover, richly coloured and full of life. Only after reading more about the world of Tekumel do you notice that it gets every important detail wrong. Still, the text is the important thing and the text here shines from every page. Professor Barker is a better storyteller than you might expect from an academic and this tale of a young priest and the alien society he lives in is a grand tale. Because the world of Tekumel is so unfamiliar to western readers, having more in common with Aztec and Indian cultures, Professor Barker chose to make his hero something of an outsider too, in this case raised as a child by the insect-like Pe Choi. This certainly helps when it comes to explaining the intricacies of the world without sounding too much like, well, a professor. It is not a perfect novel, though, as for my taste there is rather a lot of unlikely coincidence and the plot rapidly escalates towards a James Bond "fate of the entire world" scenario, which seems unnecessary given the richness of material here. Bucking tradition, however, the sequel "Flamesong" is even better. Out of print for years now, "The Man of Gold" is so enjoyable despite its flaws that I tend to buy copies when I find them, to pass on to interested friends. A British edition also exists, with a bilious green cover, making this first novel easier to find than the sequel.

When you see much of the other trash out there (on the best sellers list no less) you cease to wonder why baywatch has been on TV so long. This book (and its mate Flamesong) offer a world that is both complex and believable. I have found that most fans are people who roleplay in this world, but anyone will enjoy this book (as I have never even seen the game). I wish that these two books would enjoy success so Prof. Barker would put out more of these.

M.A.R. Barker has created one of the most detailed and intricate worlds in fiction. It is often compared to Tolkien's Middle Earth, but Tekumel is very, very different.

Barker's style and world generation is actually the equivalent of what is termed "hard science fiction", whereas Tolkien's is true fantasy, or more the model of style for what is termed "soft SF" or "science fantasy." Barker's stories are never "magical" in the sense of the fairy tale, which was the hallmark of Tolkien. They are dynamic, gritty, and overwhelming in their minute details. His entire world, in fact, is set in a far future and based on a science fiction universe of extremely advanced technologies wherein this one world (or perhaps all the universe) has undergone a horrendous trauma (be it war or cosmic cataclysm has yet to be explained, though promised for the new volumes) that severed it from contact with the rest of the universe. The races and their langauges, their artifacts and civilizations, that are depicted by Barker, have all arisen from the ashes of this cataclysm on Tekemul. The legends and religions, in fact, are only echoes of whatever existed thousands of years before.

At any rate, this is one of the most complex worlds ever created, with the linguistics probably far more intricate than anything else. For writers, readers, or gameplayers who are interested in world generation, Barker has written the textbook examples.

M.A.R. Barker, like J.R.R. Tolkein, was a Professor of Languages. In this book, he takes the reader through a portion of the conflict between the religious and political factions of the Empire of Tsolyanu, throws in a couple of love interests, a long-forgotten civilization, and a machine that saves the world after sleeping for uncounted centuries. Recommended for older teens and adults, this story, like most modern science fiction, does contain some topics and descriptions that might be disturbing to younger children.

This book is incredible good. It is a must for lovers of both scifi and fantasy, with its complex world, and even several languages. When I first read this book back in -86, it immediately put Tolkien down 1 step. Since then i've reread it twice, and it only gets better, and Tolkien must step even further down. If you get hold of a copy of this book, take a week off and enjoy!

Man of Gold is a fantasy novel set in the fantastically detailed world of Tekumel. Professor Barker has created a world intricate in detail, down to detailed languages and cultures (a 2 volume dictionary of the Imperial language is available elsewhere) that should please, or at least intrigue, all those looking for a true escape from traditional, cookie-cutter fantasy.
In format, the story is a fairly straighforward quest, following a young acolyte's journey as he attempts to unravel the secrets of an ancient artifact, beleagured on all sides by agents of scheming factions... a staggering panoply of guilds, empires, cults and gods all questing for the secrets of ancient knowledge.

Admittedly, this plot is as old as the hills. But what makes this book stand out is the vast detail of the cultures and peoples within; Tolikenesque in their complexity and 'realism' but utterly unlike the hobbits and dwarves that have defined fantasy for the last 30 years. Some may find this level of detail overwhelming, and at times one could almost accuse Prof. Barker of padding things out, so thouroughly and graphically is every scene set. But for those who demand a internally consistent and well-developed fantasy environment, they would be hard-pressed to find a book with better than Man Of Gold.

This is a story created out of the development of constructed languages. Another fellow I know who constructed an language developed a whole world, culture, theology, etc. for his language, and Professor Barker follows suit very well. This is obviously based on southwest Asian, or Indian, culture. I really enjoyed reading and learning about this new world. It is just about a juvenile story (you know, youth coming of age, growth and development towards fully adult status and good versus evil) but it avoids it by having so much information of sexual and highly developed religious social conventions explained.

The denouement was quite out of whack with any expectation, a very good surprise. It was quite entertaining to wonder how far the author was going to take his hero towards greatness (prince status, leader of a coup d'ta, etc.). There was a problem with my reading or his writing, it seemed that there were folks who died, but later were alive, It was a small problem. I did not bother to go back and figure it out, the story was really too good for that to make it bad.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

It's ending is not quite what you expect and leaves you a little wanting but his world is pretty awesome to discover. It has odd aliens, commonsense, wonder, an unspoken past to discover and the "hidden" weapons are a joy. I have wanted to reach into the ether ever since and pull out such weaponry from the hidden places.
This and The Berserker Wars (Saberhagen) were two of the very first sci fi books I read & I have been hooked ever since on the genre. When done well, as this, Sci Fi holds out so much and dims even the best of film.
Read this and enjoy.