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Keepers of the Secrets
They were known simply as the Nine - grim and ancient rulers who thirty thousand years ago had discovered the key to eternal life and ever since has secretly held the world in thrall.
Once, Doc Caliban had been their servant and had shared their secrets. Now, appalled by their tyranny, he had turned against them, daring to challenge their centuries-old supremacy.
Together with two henchmen whose superhuman skills match his own, Caliban sets out on the trail of the deadliest of The Nine: the mad goblin Iwaldi, the very incarnation of evil...
Once, Doc Caliban had been their servant and had shared their secrets. Now, appalled by their tyranny, he had turned against them, daring to challenge their centuries-old supremacy.
Together with two henchmen whose superhuman skills match his own, Caliban sets out on the trail of the deadliest of The Nine: the mad goblin Iwaldi, the very incarnation of evil...
- GenresFantasy
152 pages, Paperback
Published December 16, 1983
38 people want to read
About the author
Philip José Farmer
592 books884 followersPhilip 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 23, 2020
About the Nine. Adequate Farmer.
June 2, 2020
Geeze this is awful, as someone once described work of this type: "it's no so much as Farmer 'wrote' it, it's more like he 'typed' it".
Think Z-grade Edgar Rice Burroughs out of H Rider Haggard out of L Ron Hubbard in "Battlefield Earth" mode. This is the kind of thing tailor-made for the pulps of a bygone era, even though it was originally published in 1970. The ubermensch protagonist "Doc Caliban" is the precursor to his "Doc Savage" character. Basically an extreme parody of the Superman/Captain America superhero. No sex but lots of testosterone, stereotypes aplenty (e.g. the femme fatale secretly working for the enemy, Caliban's sidekick "Pauncho" Van Veeran is strong but very portly).
I had to read it since as everyone knows, Farmer developed into one of the giants of science fiction and fantasy, with three Hugos and a couple of lifetime achievement awards, and of course the brilliant "Venus on the Half Shell". This was not one of the award winners.
One idle thought I had was to someday re-read it and keep a list of all the items that "Doc" Caliban carries on his person and in his various pockets: special gas grenades, special stuff to smear over your skin if you're wounded, a selection of energy and restorative pills, a special wire you can use to cut through steel bars, plugs to put in your nose so you can breathe underwater, a special cap that sends out an ultraviolet light so you can see in the dark with the goggles you are also carryings, etc etc etc.
It's a hoot. Who needs to always read serious stuff? And one wonders...how serious was Farmer when he wrote it? Could be the joke is on me.
Think Z-grade Edgar Rice Burroughs out of H Rider Haggard out of L Ron Hubbard in "Battlefield Earth" mode. This is the kind of thing tailor-made for the pulps of a bygone era, even though it was originally published in 1970. The ubermensch protagonist "Doc Caliban" is the precursor to his "Doc Savage" character. Basically an extreme parody of the Superman/Captain America superhero. No sex but lots of testosterone, stereotypes aplenty (e.g. the femme fatale secretly working for the enemy, Caliban's sidekick "Pauncho" Van Veeran is strong but very portly).
I had to read it since as everyone knows, Farmer developed into one of the giants of science fiction and fantasy, with three Hugos and a couple of lifetime achievement awards, and of course the brilliant "Venus on the Half Shell". This was not one of the award winners.
One idle thought I had was to someday re-read it and keep a list of all the items that "Doc" Caliban carries on his person and in his various pockets: special gas grenades, special stuff to smear over your skin if you're wounded, a selection of energy and restorative pills, a special wire you can use to cut through steel bars, plugs to put in your nose so you can breathe underwater, a special cap that sends out an ultraviolet light so you can see in the dark with the goggles you are also carryings, etc etc etc.
It's a hoot. Who needs to always read serious stuff? And one wonders...how serious was Farmer when he wrote it? Could be the joke is on me.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews