Rastignac the Devil

by Philip José Farmer

Here is high fidelity fiction at Philip José Farmer's storytelling best. It's a vibrant, distractingly different tale of three centuries into the future. And as you read you'll have a vague, uneasy feeling that it's all taking place somewhere in the unexplored parts of the universe, even today.

Enslaved by a triangular powered despotism -- one lone man sets his sights to the Six Bright Stars and eventual freedom of his world.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook

70 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting ideas, but god what prose! What lack of characterization! What misogyny! My two favourite quotes, the first on the nature of women:

She felt no more guilt than a tigress. She was naive and terrible, innocent and disgusting.

the second a vision of man:

There are a few men among the Landfolk who are capable of leading in wartime. It will take strong men, and the are very few like me, I admit...

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hundreds of years after settling a planet with sentient beings, the human Rastignac sets out to teach violence to all. Odd. Some of the interesting aspects weren't well developed while over parts overly so.

[Phil Giunta · Rating 3 out of 5]

On a distant planet ruled by three despotic governments—human (specifically French), reptilian, and amphibian—the populace is forced to wear a second organic skin which keeps them docile and connected to one another psychically. The human leader of the rebel underground, Jean-Jacques Rastignac, fears that the human population will soon be vanquished by the other two. He wishes nothing more than to leave the planet and travel among the stars. He might get his chance when his best friend, a giant Ssassaror named Mapfarity, breaks him out of jail and informs him that a spaceman from Earth has crash landed and is being held captive by the amphibian king. Of course, there’s the small matter of getting to him.

If you have enough patience and stamina to endure three chapters of info dumping and talking heads that Farmer uses to impart the society's historical, cultural, and political background, you might enjoy one of the most bizarre and, at times, repulsive science fantasy tales in Farmer’s oeuvre.

[PSXtreme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farmer had to been taking mind altering drugs when he wrote this piece. Take a big helping of the Three Musketeers, add in a healthy dash of some fairy tales, toss in a chunk of Nosferatu for good measure then sprinkle in a touch of Arthur C. Clarke and Issac Asimov and you have the make-up for Rastignac. Definitely something different and it can be acquired free of charge over at https://archive.org since it's public domain. Go give it a look at your next opportunity.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi futuristic world 🌎 short story by Philip Jose Farmer about Rastignac who's mission is to leave where he is no matter what it takes. He is on the unexpected adventure that will allow the dream to come true but? I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy adventure novels. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do. 🏡🔰👒😡 2022

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.....

For free, it may be a good buy. But I really think this is penny a word commercial writing done when the rent was over-due. (His promising career stalled around this time.) The French flavor may be unique in American Sci-Fi. The 3-races setting, the Six Bright Stars, the shocking skins, the implied but concealed nudity, the Kings.... all arbitrary contrived set-dressing to fill pages, never woven together in any interesting way. Farmer has done much better.

[Sussette García · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toda la idea del libro era magnífica, de verdad. Pintaba para ser algo increíblemente bueno hasta que me di cuenta que era más un relato corto y cuando llegué a esa parte del final sin esperarlo, quiero decir, ¡quéeeeeeee!
Puedo haber sido maravilloso de tener un mejor desarrollo, pero aún así siempre mantuvo la intriga y me agradó bastante.

[Shane Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the Philosophy of Violence and alcohol, mankind is quite dangerous.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a freaked out, acid drenched fairytale!

[Beverley Bacinski-Jenkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a Bore

Did this book make any sense? No. Did it entertain? Not in the least. Did it examine something new, enticing, educative? Not on your life. In other words, this book was a total waste of the reader’s time and attention. And this from a supposed Grand Master of science fiction. The only result of this excruciatingly dull and cumbersome book is to them avoid any more works by Jose Farmer. Period.

[Leonardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise that never quite delivers its full potential, "Rastignac the Devil" presents a very distinctive alien world, populated by three very different species that have devised a social control system of "Skins" that enforces understanding and empathy and deters violence. However, dark undercurrents have started to crack the surface of this artificial system and an underground movement that looks upon its "philosophy of violence" to save their world from stagnation (the Skins have made the three races passive and easy to control). However, this world picture and its characters (both revolutionaries and representatives of the status quo) never quite develop enough to make us feel threatened or concerned by either stagnation or violence. Character development is too abrupt. The plot's re-enactment/re-interpretation of the French Revolution (the only reason why it would matter that the human race are descedants of Earth's French emigrées) remains shallow. It's not a boring story, but it would have benefited from twice the number of pages to achieve greater accuracy.

[H Gultiano]

Listened to an audiobook of this while mixing sand for brass molds in a small foundry in northern Washington. Other than being an enjoyable story, it spurred a yearning to quit my job, break out of that prison and join the bandits

[Gr1972 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rastignac sets out to preach his Philosophy of Violence to colonists forced to wear living skins and live devout lives on a planet ruled by reptiles and amphibians...

[Byron 'Giggsy' Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars interesting ideas here that are commonly found in sci-fi horror 50 years later

not fully developed but fun at this short novella length