The Virgin of Zesh and the Tower of Zanid [Paperback]

L. Sprague De Camp (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: Ace Books (February 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441864953
• ISBN-13: 978-0441864959
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,568,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book 4 in Krishna, February 16, 2001

By 

Joe (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Virgin of Zesh and the Tower of Zanid (Paperback)

Two of the "Z" series of Krishna books rolled into one, the Virgin of Zesh and Tower of Zanid cover a period of time before the planet is opened up to outright human access. And one of the big problems with writing a review is that there is so much to Krishna that can be mentioned.

The Virgin of Zesh follows the exploits of Althea Kirwin, a nun of the Ecumenical Monotheist religion. Unfortunately she suffers from romantic entanglements: from a big Russsian brute who gets her drunk and married, to fleeing to safety into the Krishnan hinterlands where she meets a brute of a different nature who is far more savage but far more civilized. In between which are encounters with a back-to-nature cult (a must for semi-barbaric planets) and a power grabbing local with plans of conquest.

The Tower of Zanid introduces Anthony Fallon, an English adventurer who sets out to become ruler of a kingdom. Unfortunately the locals don't merely roll over and let him have his will, and to boot the local Earth delegates are in there in part to prevent just such shenanigans on the part of would be swashbucklers.

If you want to read a book set in a semi-barbaric era where people matter and the people of the book are real, not cookie-cuttter slot jobs, try Krishna. Krishna lacks automobiles and guns, yet remains civilized, with the natives as bright as any people you'd meet on the street (perhaps too bright in some ways).

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hipster Spies With His Little Eye--Two wondeful adventures!, August 26, 2010

By 

The Mystic Eye Of The Hipster (Murfreesboro, TN United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Virgin of Zesh and the Tower of Zanid (Paperback)

L Sprague De Camp created the Krishna series, of which "The Virgin Of Zesh/The Tower Of Zanid" is a two-novella-in-one example, as a modern version of Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom tales. Drawing on his own vast experiences of travel in the Middle East, De Camp creates a more practical view of another world, and a vastly entertaining one. De Camp's sly sense of humor shines through every page of the entire series.

Every fan of Golden Age Science Fiction should have the complete Krishna Series on his bookshelf.

The Hipster rates this--THUMBS UP!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Space Opera that makes sense, August 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Virgin of Zesh and the Tower of Zanid (Paperback)

With all due respect to ERB, the Barsoom books always left me unsatisfied. I couldn't shut off that part of my brain that says "There is no possible way this could ever happen." L. Sprague De Camp's Krishna series, while still being nice, light Space Opera fare, reconcile the swordplay and spaceships well enough that I've never had that problem with them. These two stories are not the best in the series, but not the worst either; all in all, fairly representative of the series.