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This Week’s Book Review – Arkad’s World
I write a weekly book review for the Daily News of Galveston County. (It is not the biggest daily newspaper in Texas, but it is the oldest.) My review normally appears Wednesdays. When it appears, I post the review here on the following Sunday.
Book Review
“Arkad’s World” is like a curio museum
By MARK LARDAS
Jan 29, 2019
“Arkad’s World,” by James L. Cambias, Baen, 2019, 304 pages, $24
Arkad is the only human on the distant planet of Syavusa. In his mid-teens, he makes a rough existence on the streets of the town of Ayaviz.
This is “Arkad’s World,” a science fiction novel by James L. Cambias.
He has lived on the streets almost as long as he can remember; ever since his mother died when he was a child. His possessions comprise of a blanket he wears, a knife, a data unit retained from his youth, and whatever else he can carry. Then Arkad’s existence suddenly changes.
Three other humans arrive in Ayaviz. Arkad seeks them out. Maybe they will take him to other humans.
They seek Rosetta, a spaceship that left Earth just before the planet was conquered by the Elmisthorn. They’re now domesticating its remaining human inhabitants. Rosetta contains the cultural treasures of Earth, spirited away to preserve them.
Arkad had memories of Rosetta, from when he was a youth. He offers to guide the three humans there. His price is a ticket off Syavusa. The problems are that Rosetta is literally halfway around the world, and Arkad doesn’t remember exactly where it is. Or really even sort of where it is. He doesn’t tell the other humans that.
The four set out to find the spaceship. Their trip becomes an epic worthy of Marco Polo. Syavusa is an odd world, one that doesn’t fit the template of any other inhabited planet. It’s peopled by a weird assemblage of different sentient races. Moreover, those on the planet are the cranks and misfits of their own societies. The planet is like a curio museum.
It has no central government; only individual local societies. Some groups came fleeing the Elmisthorn. The trip is fraught with challenges and dangers. The three off-planet humans don’t know how the Elmithorn will react to the reappearance of Rosetta, which left Earth 50 years earlier, but they suspect it will be hostile.
“Arkad’s World” is a delightful story. It will remind readers of a mix of “Kim,” “Treasure Island,” and “Gulliver’s Travels,” in a new and original setting.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, amateur historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.
Published in Literature
It brings back shadows of a memory of another book from decades ago. There was also a character who was the lone human on his world, and there were many strange reactions to him as he grew up, escaped the world, and got out into the broader universe. Turned out he was a clone of a famous space hero.
It’s good to see Jim is still writing and publishing! We worked on some small press projects together years ago, and it always pleases me to former colleagues moving on to bigger and better things.
The author was interviewed on The Baen Free Radio Hour which is available from the website www . baen . com episode dated 01-25-19. It is a very good interview.
The author was interviewed on The Baen Free Radio Hour a ppodcast available from the baen.com website. episode was 01-25-19. An excelent interview.
Thanks, Seawriter. Arkad’s World just made the list.