Jewels of Aptor

by Samuel R Delany

Paperback, 1971

Status

Available

Call number

813

Genres

Science Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Publication

Sphere (1971), Paperback

Description

When Argo, the White Goddess, orders it, Geo, the itinerant poet, and his three disparate companions journey to the island of Aptor to seize a jewel from the dark god, Hama, and return it to Argo so that she may defeat the malign forces ranged against her and the land of Leptar. But, as the four press deep into the enigmatic heart of Aptor and the easy distinctions between good and evil blur, their mission no longer seems so straightforward. For Argo already controls two of the precious stones, and possession of the third would make her power absolute. And the four friends have learned that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely...

User reviews

LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha

For me, it was a quick read while riding trains in Europe. The fun adventure story mainly showed me how far the author's art developed in his later work.

5 more

LibraryThing member clong

This is a straightforward post-apocalyptic tale, a much easier read than The Einstein Intersection (the other Delany book I have read to date). It addresses familiar cold war era themes of the dangers and corrupting influence of the powers given man through scientific breakthroughs. Centuries after

nuclear holocaust, mankind lives a primitive life, with high rates of small mutations. On another continent Aptor (presumably what's left of the USA), what is left of man is highly mutated, and a small group maintains scientific knowledge. At some point a set of three quasi-magical jewels were created, which serve as focus points for much of this knowledge, but the jewels always corrupt those who come to control them. Organized religion is a dominant force on this world; the leaders of the dominant religion have fallen prey to the corrupting lure of the jewels.

The story follows a group of four men who have been sent to Aptor to unite the jewels and bring them back to the leaders of their religion. Characterization is limited; we never really learn much about the motivations of the protagonist Geo and his companions, nor of the religious leaders who try to manipulate their actions. We do ultimately get a not entirely convincing explanation for the cruelty and manipulations of Jorrde, the closest thing we have in the book to a villain. In the end, the jewels are thrown into the sea (where we know they will be hidden away for millennia while mankind has the chance to mature), when one of Geo's companions steals the jewels to gain their power for himself, but then commits an act of selfless sacrifice to save his compatriots.

Ultimately, The Jewels of Aptor is an optimistic book, with the naive and idealistic young granddaughter Argo bringing scientific knowledge back to the primitive world, and the temptation of the jewels removed. Delany is big on symbolism, and there are many parts of the book that feel deliberately unrealistic. Overall, I'd say this is worth your time, but far from groundbreaking. I gave it a 7/10.

Show Less

LibraryThing member ScoLgo

Delany's first published novel is short, fun, and highly imaginative. The Jewels of Aptor is a much less challenging read than some of his later novels, (Dhalgren, The Einstein Intersection, etc), but it does contain portents of stylistic things to come. The plot is a bit on the naive side as our

heroes blindly blunder along being guided by larger forces - most of which are gratingly benign - but it's still a rollicking good adventure yarn featuring some truly unique ideas and characters.

Show Less

LibraryThing member DinadansFriend

Samuel R. Delany started with this book. Originally half an Ace double, the 1968+ editions have all of his text restored. This edition was mine. The plot is "Let's go rescue the princess! She's on the other side of the Nuclear rubble!" Everyone has to start somewhere.

LibraryThing member anthonywillard

Note that the original 1961 edition (copyright 1962 Ace Books) was severely cut. The 1967 edition (copyright 1968 Samuel R. Delany) restored the cuts and made some other changes. The 1967 edition is a huge improvement, IMO. Much easier to follow plot and character motivations. and not tremendously

longer.

Show Less

LibraryThing member iansales

I know I’ve read this before – I’ve certainly had the Sphere paperback edition pictured for several decades – so it was probably back in the late 1970s or early 1980s. And having now reread The Jewels of Aptor, nothing pinged any memories. Oh well. A poet and a sailor sign aboard an

expedition to rescue the Goddess Argo’s sister from Aptor, a distant continent of horrors and monsters. They are joined by a four-armed boy who is telepathic. Once Geo and Orson and Snake have explored some of Aptor, it’s clear the continent was once technological and suffered an unspecified “atomic” disaster. Quite how this exists alongside a mediaeval style civilisation on Leptor, which is where Geo, Orson and the Goddess Argo are from, is never explained. Perversely, if the book has a flaw, it’s that it has too many explanations. Whenever something happens, Geo and Orson speculate on what it might mean, or what is being planned. Most of the time they’re wrong; most of the time, it reads more like the author is trying to figure out the plot. But for a work by a nineteen-year-old, this is a better novel than by some current authors twice Delany’s age when he wrote it. Yes, it’s an early work, and the plotting is a bit hit and miss, but the beginnings of the language are there, as is the singular approach to the genre. When I think about what Delany has written over the years… He was a genre stalwart and award winner but has since moved out to the edges of genre, and yet has continued to be one of the real innovators in science fiction, both as a writer and a critic, and more people in genre should pay attention to him.

Show Less

Fewer