NOVARIAN SERIES

'The Novarian series' is a sequence of fantasy stories by L. Sprague de Camp, written between 1968 and 1989. The series contains some of de Camp's most innovative works of fantasy, featuring explorations of various political systems, an inversion of the "rags to royalty" pattern characteristic of much heroic fantasy, a satiric look at the foibles of humanity through the eyes of a demon, and a consistently wry and ironic take on conventions of the genre that plays out by taking them to their logical (or illogical) conclusions. Another singular feature of the series is their frequent use of folk tales integrated into the plot to painlessly convey something of the background and history of the invented world. This device obviates the need for lengthy appendices, as in ''The Lord of the Rings''.

Contents

The setting

The stories

Bibliography

The stories

Collected editions

References

The setting

The world of which 'Novaria' is part is a parallel world to Earth, a plane of existence related to ours in that ours constitutes its afterlife. Culturally it bears resemblances to the eras of both Classical Greece and late Medieval Europe, especially in conveying the vivid life of a cluster of city states sharing a common language and culture, though widely different in political regime and often at war with each other. Mankind shares this world with other intelligent beings, like the 'serpent people' of Beraoti, the 'beast-men' of Komilakh, and the 'silvans' of the mountain forests. The fauna is largely that of Earth's Ice Age, while the vegetation is similar to that of present-day Earth. Novaria's world is one in which the supernatural element is dominant. Magic works, though in a strictly logical fashion that often leaves its practitioners dissatisfied. 'Gods' are real and strongly influence mortal affairs, communicating with their worshipers through dreams. 'Demons' can, and often are, summoned from other planes of existence, which Novarians number in relation to their own (which to them is the 'Prime Plane').
Novaria itself is a broad isthmus joining two continental masses to the north and the south. (De Camp oddly yet consistently refers to it as a peninsula, though it is plainly an isthmus in both his maps and descriptions.) The northern continent consists primarily of the steppe country of 'Shven', with the pirate isles of 'Algarth' off its western coast and the land of 'Hroth' to the north. The southern continent contains the empire of 'Penembei' and the desert of 'Fedirun' to the south of Novaria and the jungles of 'Mulvan' and 'Komilakh' to the southeast; other lands, notably 'Beraoti', lie further south. Novaria is separated from the northern continent by the high 'Ellorna Mountains' and from the southern by the great 'Logram Mountains'. On its other sides it drains into the 'Western Ocean' and the 'Inner Sea', which communicates with the 'Eastern Ocean' via the smaller 'Sea of Sikhon'. Across the Eastern Ocean are the archipelagos known as the 'Peppercorns', 'Salimor', and 'Gwoling', and an eastern continent on which is found the great empire of 'Kuromon' and another nomad-inhabited steppe belt. Across the Western Ocean is the country of the cannibal 'Paaluan' sea raiders; as these are also stated (in ''The Honorable Barbarian'') to be a threat in the Eastern Ocean, there is evidently a navigable sea passage around either the main Novarian continent or the eastern continent, or both.
The twelve city-states into which Novaria is split are 'Solymbria', 'Boaktis', 'Tarxia', 'Zolon', 'Ir', 'Metouro', 'Govannion', 'Alissar', 'Xylar', 'Othomae', 'Kortoli' and 'Vindium'. The Twelve Cities are ruled under a wide variety of competing governmental systems, some of them unique. For instance, Solymbria is an archonate whose leader is selected by random drawing, Boaktis is a dictatorship, Tarxia is a theocracy, Zolon is an island ruled by its navy, Ir is under the control of a syndicate of plutocrats, Metouro is ruled by a secret society, Xylar chooses its kings by lot and beheads each after a five year term, Othomae divides civil and military power between a Grand Duke and a Grand Bastard, respectively the eldest legitimate and illegitimate sons of the previous Grand Duke, Kortoli is a traditional hereditary monarchy, and Vindium a republic of the classical variety. The series explores various pros and cons of different modes of governance as the action moves through Novaria and various other countries.
As for the other countries, Shven and Fedirun are home to nomads patterned after the Mongols and Beduin, respectively, Mulvan is a caste-bound empire combining features of India, China and Persia, and Penembei, divided from Mulvan by Fedirun, is modeled on Sumerian Mesopotamia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Byzantine Empire. The jungles of 'Komilakh' east of Mulvan are inhabited by beast men, and the far-off islands of 'Salimor' in the Eastern Ocean comprise a monarchy mingling elements of Japan and the Philippines. The distant empire of 'Kuromon' is based on China and Japan.

The stories

The core of the Novarian series is the "Reluctant King" trilogy, consisting of ''The Goblin Tower'' (1968), ''The Clocks of Iraz'' (1971) and ''The Unbeheaded King'' (1983), all collected as ''The Reluctant King'' (1985). The trilogy is the story of 'King Jorian' of 'Xylar' and his quest to shed the fatal crown of Xylar, recover his true love, and settle down into his ideal life as a simple craftsman. On the route to his goal he must travel through much of the known world, rescue a consignment of maidens destined for the executioner's block, romance a serpent princess and steal a chest of ancient spells, match wits with gods, escape being sacrificed by beast men and being sold by nomads, abet a revolution in a priest-ruled city, become enmeshed in the sorcerous politics of a magicians' guild, repair the clocks in a famous lighthouse tower, save a besieged city from four enemy hosts at once, brave a perilous flight in a demon-powered bathtub, negotiate with an unreliable magician, spirit a woman from a city that has sworn to kill him, and exorcise the ghost of a cursed baron. Two other tales are set earlier in Novaria's history; "The Emperor's Fan", which illustrates the perils of a magical artifact, and ''The Fallible Fiend'', a satire told the point of view of the demon 'Zdim', who is condemned to service in the perplexing world of humans. A final story, ''The Honorable Barbarian'', is a sequel to the Jorian sequence, relating the adventures of his younger brother 'Kerin' in the far east.
According to de Camp's friend and fellow writer Darrell Schweitzer, De Camp wrote one additional Novarian novel, which has "a quasi-Polynesian setting."^[1] It was reportedly de Camp's last novel, represented a noticable falling-off in quality from his better work, and was considered unpublishable. Its working title was ''The Sedulous Sprite''.^[2]

Bibliography

The stories

#"The Emperor's Fan" (1973)
#''The Fallible Fiend'' (1973)
#''The Goblin Tower'' (1968), ISBN 0-345-32812-4
#''The Clocks of Iraz'' (1971)
#''The Unbeheaded King'' (1983), ISBN 0-345-30773-9
#''The Honorable Barbarian'' (1989), ISBN 0-345-36091-5
#''The Sedulous Sprite'' (unpublished)

Collected editions

★ ''The Reluctant King'' (1985) (includes ''The Goblin Tower'', ''The Clocks of Iraz'' and ''The Unbeheaded King'')

References

1. Darrell Schweitzer, message on Yahoo Discussion Group d_for_de_Camp, April 28, 2007. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/d_for_de_Camp/message/43 Accessed 6/22/07.
2. Darrell Schweitzer, message on Yahoo Discussion Group d_for_de_Camp, June 18, 2007. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/d_for_de_Camp/message/231 Accessed 6/22/07.