Priam's Lens [Mass Market Paperback]

Jack L. Chalker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

WORLDS OF NO RETURN

Humans had finally gone to the stars, as the dreamers had always hoped; celestial stretches of the galaxy became the playgrounds of a new spacefaring race. But now these worlds were being taken over by Titans, creatures with unimaginable, godlike powers, supremely indifferent to humanity's survival.

There was one chance to stop them. Helena, one of the Titan-dominated planets, concealed an untapped, hundred-year-old weapon--Priam's Lens. Getting to Helena would not be difficult, but activating the lens was another matter. No one had ever returned from a Titan encounter. They simply disappeared--status unknown.

Now a small ragtag crew made up of scientists, warriors, a priest, and a stowaway--naval officer Gene Harker--were ready to pit themselves against the greatest power in the universe. With the help of a mad space pirate, they descended upon the deadly planet. They will succeed--or die trying . . .

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

WORLDS OF NO RETURN

Humans had finally gone to the stars, as the dreamers had always hoped; celestial stretches of the galaxy became the playgrounds of a new spacefaring race. But now these worlds were being taken over by Titans, creatures with unimaginable, godlike powers, supremely indifferent to humanity's survival.

There was one chance to stop them. Helena, one of the Titan-dominated planets, concealed an untapped, hundred-year-old weapon--Priam's Lens. Getting to Helena would not be difficult, but activating the lens was another matter. No one had ever returned from a Titan encounter. They simply disappeared--status unknown.

Now a small ragtag crew made up of scientists, warriors, a priest, and a stowaway--naval officer Gene Harker--were ready to pit themselves against the greatest power in the universe. With the help of a mad space pirate, they descended upon the deadly planet. They will succeed--or die trying . . .

About the Author

Jack L. Chalker was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 17, 1944. While still in high school, he began writing for the amateur science-fiction press, and in 1960 he launched the Hugo-nominated amateur magazine Mirage. A year later he founded Mirage Press, which grew into a major specialty publisher of nonfiction and reference books on science fiction and fantasy.

His first novel, A Jungle of Stars, was published in 1976, and he became a full-time novelist two years later with the major popular success of Midnight at the Well of Souls. Chalker is an active conservationist and enjoys traveling, consumer electronics, and computers. He is also a noted speaker on science fiction and fantasy at numerous colleges and universities. He is a passionate lover of steamboats, in particular ferryboats, and has ridden more than three hundred ferries in the United States and elsewhere.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345402944
• ISBN-13: 978-0345402943
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,807,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Chalker's best books, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Priam's Lens (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read most of Chalkers works, and this is one of my favorites. Del Rey should have allowed this to be the trilogy it was intended to be. I would have loved to read all that Chalker wanted to say regarding The Titans. The world and the characters of this world enthralled me. I could not put this book down.

It is a shame that Del Rey has no interest in promoting Chalker's books. They are deliberately doing nothing at all to promote the book with the idea of being able to blame him for its poor sales so to be considered as no longer commercial. This is punishment for Chalker's unwillingness to let them get out of their contract.

The publishing industry, is now controlled entirely by Wall Street MBAs with short term profit the only criteria for success. They do not take chances nor do they believe in long term results such as series and developing new writers and projects. Since distirbutors won't keep books on the shelves longer than 90 days, nor bring back on the shelves earlier parts of a series when a new one comes out, series aren't selling as well and they have decided, looking only at their spreadsheets that series aren't profitable (unless, of course, it's a movie series like STAR WARS). It's sad. Many of authors are going broke and some are totally ruined, or worse.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chalker is better than ever!, November 1, 1999

By 

Michael B. Nelson "mbnels" (Tuba City AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Priam's Lens (Mass Market Paperback)

I found this book--sans transformation-- to be an intriguing and thought provoking look at the nature of humanity and the true randomness of our society. We have never faced an enemy so extreme that it would be unfathomable to think our society could crumble, yet it could and I'm sure--will-- happen someday. These themes pervade Chalker's books, and anyone reading them will gain a strong sende of identity and where they live within our society.

My only objections were a few craft points--he tended to become too introspective in many places, and the description and history sections became long and involved at times. I would bet big money this was supposed to ba a much larger novel, or maybe even a series of novels where CHalker could fully explore this Universe, and I would also bet that due to publisher demands he was unable to extend this into the larger project that it deserved. Any publisher reading this--plase give Chalker a chance to run with what he invents, we love to read it!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very disappointing effort from Mr. Chalker, January 26, 2004

By 

Mr. Smarty (Bennington, VT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Priam's Lens (Mass Market Paperback)

I am an avid SciFi/Fantasy fan and enjoyed Chalker's Well of Souls series immensely. I was immediately drawn into this book because of the fascinating mystery that was set up from the beginning. You will be disappointed to know that in the end, you recieve no answers to the questions that the entire story is premised upon. It is well and good to have bizarre things happening without reason and leave the reader to wonder how they tie together, but to then abandon them all in the end without any real explanation and meaning makes them entirely pointless, as is the case in this book. The story in itself, while an interesting concept, proceeds in a completely linear fashion without any twists, real character conflict, or unpredictable occurrences. It can be summarized in one sentence without missing too much of the plot: Bad aliens beat up mankind, mankind magically finds a weapon to beat them with, a team isassembeled to find the weapon, they find it, they beat up aliens. End of story. BOOO! This type of SciFi-lite might be fit for a SciFi Channel made-for-TV movie, but not a novel by one of fantasy's most thoughtful authors.
This might be a good one for the kids but not for anyone looking for a story with depth and intrigue. I would recommend passing on this one.