Customer Reviews

The Pharaoh Contract (The Emancipator Book 1)

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Like a lot of Vance books the atmospheric Emancipator series is part fantasy, part, SF, like Vance's Demon Princes series. Aldridge has created baroque landscapes a universe populated by pre-industrial cultures side by side with advanced technologies with personal rocketships, FTL drives and communication. These books describe, in beautiful detail, incredible worlds complete with complex cultures and myths. The protagonist, an enforcer named Ruiz Aw is sent to the planet Pharaoh, to look into the disappearance of entire performing troupes, prior to "harvesting" by the Art League, who consider the inhabitants of Pharaoh their valuable property. Ruiz Aw is commissioned to find the poachers, but if he is caught, the Gencha death net anchored deep within his brain, is programmed to kill him. The names of places, characters and things, like those created by Vance are masterful: The Art League, Dilvermoon, the Sook Slave Pens, Bidderum, Halakum, Bhasmaret, Mocrassar (Moc) bondwarriors. Aldridge paints intricate visions of exotic places and customs that remind me of parts of Vance's Planet of Adventure (Tschai, The Dirdir, The Pnume, etc.), Emphyrio, as well as parts of the Demon Princes. Still, Aldridge, does not attempt to imitate the style, or language of Vance. The resemblance is purely on the basis of creativity, sensibility, imagination, and freshness of ideas & superb quality, as well as morality (contrast of good vs. undescribable evil). Just when you think, Aldridge cannot top this or that idea, he will further surprise and amaze you with even more twists and turns of plots, and ideas. I have read and re-read this book and each reading brings fresh enjoyment and insight. Be sure to read Books 2 and 3 in the Emancipator series, which is sadly out of print.

The three emanipator books are compelling, engrossing, dreamlike and intense. And the intensity and wild imagination grow with each volume.

....
This is really a thousand-page(!) first novel. His book is *strange*,
densely-imagined, full of cruelty and violence. It left me feeling
soiled -- but, on the whole, satisfied. Emancipator is a masterpiece of
sorts, and unjustly neglected. Time for a reread, I think.

You should have all three books onhand to read Emancipator, as v.1 & v.2 just
*stop*, with no real resolution until the end. Be sure to start with #1!
It might be pretty intense to read them all at once -- I spread them out
over 2 1/2 months. For what that's worth.

Ray Aldridge, Emancipator trilogy, mmpbs, all OOP
The Pharaoh Contract (1991)
The Emperor of Everything (1992)
The Orpheus Machine (1992)

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman
(review written 2003; books read c. 1993)

an excellent, imaginative, very well written book, that explores slavery from many angles. The emotions and images are super-powerful, reminding of Bujold'f Vorkosigan series. All 3 books in this series are very worth reading