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Narabedla Ltd.
Years ago, Nolly Stennis had been a promising baritone. On the threshold of a great career with Narabedla Ltd., illness had ruined his voice. Then a cellist friend received an offer from Narabedla, only to disappear shortly thereafter. When Nolly set out to investigate, he found intergalatic intrigue beyond imagination. Now Narabedla is determined to keep him quiet -- by making his greatest dreams come true . . .
313 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1988
4 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Frederik Pohl
1,151 books1,058 followersFrederik George Pohl, Jr. was an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine IF winning the Hugo for IF three years in a row. His writing also won him three Hugos and multiple Nebula Awards. He became a Nebula Grand Master in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 20, 2015
I liked this story of an opera singer turned accountant (you'll have to read the book to find out why Nolly changed his career, I'm not telling!) turned extremely amateur private investigator who ends up in a very different world than the one he is used to.
I liked Nolly himself, and some of the off-world characters were cool, if a little hard to visualize: like the Purry, a living blob of a robot that can translate conversations in four or five languages simultaneously and recreate any kind of music you might want to hear, thanks to the dozens of 'mouths' scattered over his body.
What was a little jarring to me reading this book was when Pohl mentioned various places or people that were around in 1988 but are gone now. The World Trade Center, the Concorde, Johhny Carson, The Un-Cola Man. There are billions and billions of future readers who won't have a clue about why listening to Carl Sagan explaining the cosmos was so much fun.
I am old enough to understand all of those references, but I can imagine plenty of people thinking WHO? And plenty more trying to understand that last sentence in the previous paragraph as well. But no matter, Narabedla Ltd. is a fun read with an ending that I was not prepared for...it makes sense, but I still was not prepared for it.
I liked Nolly himself, and some of the off-world characters were cool, if a little hard to visualize: like the Purry, a living blob of a robot that can translate conversations in four or five languages simultaneously and recreate any kind of music you might want to hear, thanks to the dozens of 'mouths' scattered over his body.
What was a little jarring to me reading this book was when Pohl mentioned various places or people that were around in 1988 but are gone now. The World Trade Center, the Concorde, Johhny Carson, The Un-Cola Man. There are billions and billions of future readers who won't have a clue about why listening to Carl Sagan explaining the cosmos was so much fun.
I am old enough to understand all of those references, but I can imagine plenty of people thinking WHO? And plenty more trying to understand that last sentence in the previous paragraph as well. But no matter, Narabedla Ltd. is a fun read with an ending that I was not prepared for...it makes sense, but I still was not prepared for it.
February 26, 2021
This one is the story of an opera singer who becomes an accountant, gets a new job from the mysterious Narabedla (read it backwards) Corporation, becomes involved in a murder investigation, has interstellar adventures.... and then it all wraps up with flair and flourish and a surprise. It hasn't dated as well as much of his work from the same time due to some of what we would now call pop-culture references, but I think you can always get what he's driving at from context. It's actually more of an individual character study than most of Pohl's work... and it helps if you like (or at least understand) opera. Pohl was of the few writers who excelled in all areas of the field for a very, very long career.
September 10, 2016
Two stars = it was ok.
Awfully wordy. And being inside the head of our 'hero' as he wore grooves in his brain with useless fretting... well, that got old. How many times did we need to be reminded what mumps can do to a man? And how many times do we need to scream at him to 'ask questions dammit' and to scream at others 'give the man some guidance dammit!'
Four stars to the graphic novel somebody should make of this.
Awfully wordy. And being inside the head of our 'hero' as he wore grooves in his brain with useless fretting... well, that got old. How many times did we need to be reminded what mumps can do to a man? And how many times do we need to scream at him to 'ask questions dammit' and to scream at others 'give the man some guidance dammit!'
Four stars to the graphic novel somebody should make of this.
January 5, 2018
This is a pretty classic old school scifi story. The story takes a little to get going, but the characters are well drawn.
It starts out as more of a typical murder mystery story. The hero Nolly Stennis, is a former opera star turned accountant to artists. When one of his clients gets an offer he can't refuse (which is mysteriously similar to an offer that Nolly had once got), Nolly starts to investigate. He finds out about another disappearance. It seems that the President of the mysterious Narabedla corporation may be behind this all, And when Nolly gets too close to the truth, he gets more than he expected....
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
Nolly gets disappeared and kidnapped to the second planet of the Aldebaran star, light years away from Earth. It turns out that the Earth is a primitive culture whose primary export is culture and entertainment for the 15 Peoples, an amalgamation of aliens. Earth is currently under their protection, and over a few centuries, hundreds of artists and performers have been disappeared to work their cultural arts in outer space. Opera is particularly prized. It's a fun concept, the different aliens are well drawn (reminds me a little of the Jack Chalker Nathan Brazil series in their differences) and I enjoyed reading to the end. The ending was a little predictable, and there were lots of unplucked threads that made me think that Pohl was leaving this story open to come back to it. (There's war among the fifteen peoples.
One sci-fi concept that is particularly good is a slow time field, in which the sick and troublemakers can be effectively put in cold storage without being killed by slowing down their time. In fact, a troublemaker who killed people is given a death sentence is killed in slow time, and it seems to be a statue to the people living in normal time. (and a reminder that people shouldn't be mean.)
Overall, a satisfying read.
It starts out as more of a typical murder mystery story. The hero Nolly Stennis, is a former opera star turned accountant to artists. When one of his clients gets an offer he can't refuse (which is mysteriously similar to an offer that Nolly had once got), Nolly starts to investigate. He finds out about another disappearance. It seems that the President of the mysterious Narabedla corporation may be behind this all, And when Nolly gets too close to the truth, he gets more than he expected....
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
Nolly gets disappeared and kidnapped to the second planet of the Aldebaran star, light years away from Earth. It turns out that the Earth is a primitive culture whose primary export is culture and entertainment for the 15 Peoples, an amalgamation of aliens. Earth is currently under their protection, and over a few centuries, hundreds of artists and performers have been disappeared to work their cultural arts in outer space. Opera is particularly prized. It's a fun concept, the different aliens are well drawn (reminds me a little of the Jack Chalker Nathan Brazil series in their differences) and I enjoyed reading to the end. The ending was a little predictable, and there were lots of unplucked threads that made me think that Pohl was leaving this story open to come back to it. (There's war among the fifteen peoples.
One sci-fi concept that is particularly good is a slow time field, in which the sick and troublemakers can be effectively put in cold storage without being killed by slowing down their time. In fact, a troublemaker who killed people is given a death sentence is killed in slow time, and it seems to be a statue to the people living in normal time. (and a reminder that people shouldn't be mean.)
Overall, a satisfying read.
April 24, 2019
Frederik Pohl was one of a handful of masters who invented and shaped SciFi. Here, an ordinary guy, a former singer, has poked his nose a little too far into the mega-corporation, Narabedla Ltd., and finds himself stuck on another planet, where the 15 civilized peoples have an uneasy truce and a passing interest in Earth music. The penalty for trying to escape is severe, but after a few months and rediscovering his singing talent and his sex life, he starts to forget about Earth.
Pohl does a brilliant job of hiding the bigger story in Nolly's daily struggle. It's there for the reader, and the payoff in this book is every bit as good as I would expect from a master.
Pohl does a brilliant job of hiding the bigger story in Nolly's daily struggle. It's there for the reader, and the payoff in this book is every bit as good as I would expect from a master.
January 2, 2017
I liked the style of writing in this book. One of the themes (opera) might leave some a little cold. The hero is in the style of a crime novel PI but flawed, which makes him that much more likeable. I thought the ending was good too.
February 12, 2023
If you like whimsical sci fi with only a modicum of sex and violence, then this is for you. Fun read but I like the Hechee novels a lot more.
September 4, 2023
I enjoyed the plot although the pacing was weird and I felt like it could have been 100 pages longer. Wrapped up quickly and kind of ambiguously.
November 6, 2023
Not his best work.
April 29, 2015
My only prior exposure to Pohl has been the Space merchants 2 books. The same flair is definitely here, albeit not a satire.
This is a pleasant scifi book about an intergalactic opera company struggling with inter-speciies relations. I enjoyed this read- i found the plot and characters interesting and engaging.
No big fire fights or space combat here, most of the issues are more personal - dealing with identity and relationships. Its a bit of a welcome relief actually. Theres a pleasant sense of humor embedded in the book. I also like the radically different aliens - all very much different from the others.
I liked it so much that i was close to five stars, but conclusion felt really rushed - especially after all the investment in the characters who star in the vast majority of the story.
This is a pleasant scifi book about an intergalactic opera company struggling with inter-speciies relations. I enjoyed this read- i found the plot and characters interesting and engaging.
No big fire fights or space combat here, most of the issues are more personal - dealing with identity and relationships. Its a bit of a welcome relief actually. Theres a pleasant sense of humor embedded in the book. I also like the radically different aliens - all very much different from the others.
I liked it so much that i was close to five stars, but conclusion felt really rushed - especially after all the investment in the characters who star in the vast majority of the story.
August 25, 2023
Nachdem der Mumps Nolly kastriert und seine Stimme ruiniert hat, wurde aus dem aufstrebenden Opern-Bariton ein Buchprüfer. Dann verschwindet ein Kunde, ein Cellist, nachdem ihm ein seltsames Tourneeangebot gemacht wurde. Dann erfährt er von einem weiteren ähnlichen Fall. Er recherchiert und stösst auf den mysteriösen Firmenchef Davidson-Johnes. Nach zu viel Schnüffelei wird Nolly selber entführt und findet sich auf einer Raumstation um Aldebaran wieder.
Der lockig-flapsige Stil gefällt anfangs, dann nicht mehr. Er nimmt die Spannung. Es gibt zu viele Wiederholungen. Eine Kürzung hätte der Qualität gut getan. Es wird viel über Opern gelabert, was mich leider gar nicht interessiert. Dann gegen Schluss, als alles sich ins Unerfreuliche zu kehren beginnt, wird es wieder spannend. Die Pointe zum Schluss gefiel mir wieder nicht so.
Schon mal gelesen, damals gefiel es mir besser.
Der lockig-flapsige Stil gefällt anfangs, dann nicht mehr. Er nimmt die Spannung. Es gibt zu viele Wiederholungen. Eine Kürzung hätte der Qualität gut getan. Es wird viel über Opern gelabert, was mich leider gar nicht interessiert. Dann gegen Schluss, als alles sich ins Unerfreuliche zu kehren beginnt, wird es wieder spannend. Die Pointe zum Schluss gefiel mir wieder nicht so.
Schon mal gelesen, damals gefiel es mir besser.
September 13, 2011
Nolly Stennis, an opera singer, was offered a contract by a mysterious company, Narabedla. But illness ruined his voice, so he changed areeers, to accounting and tax preparation for other artists. Then one of his clients is offered a similar contract and dies mysteriously almost immediately after. So, Solly investigates and is kidnapped to the second moon of the seventh planet of Aldebaran - which is Narabedla spelled backwards. A classic piece of Freerick Pohl, very different form his collaborations with C. M. Kornbluth in "The Space Merchants". Three stars instead of four because I found it tedious in places. It is imaginative, appealing and humorous. Whenever I see a large yacht with a foreign crew I will wonder .....
September 5, 2013
By coincidence was reading this when I got the news of Pohl's passing.
It's an an odd but entertaining book. The main character is a opera star who lost his singing voice and his virility to an adult case of mumps and so became an accountant. When a client of his disappears and is presumed dead under mysterious circumstances he starts to investigate. Then he gets kidnapped by aliens. THEN it gets weird...
It's a fast and entertaining read. This is Pohl in a lighter mode, although if you're involved in the production of operas you may take it personally.
It's an an odd but entertaining book. The main character is a opera star who lost his singing voice and his virility to an adult case of mumps and so became an accountant. When a client of his disappears and is presumed dead under mysterious circumstances he starts to investigate. Then he gets kidnapped by aliens. THEN it gets weird...
It's a fast and entertaining read. This is Pohl in a lighter mode, although if you're involved in the production of operas you may take it personally.
September 25, 2013
Adorei. Um misto de fc e humor com um ex-cantor de ópera que virou contabilista após apanhar papeira e perder a voz. No meio da sua vida tranquila vai de repente parar a um mundo de aliens estranhos que adoram ópera e de lá não pode sair, mas não desiste de tentar provar que ele e muitos outros foram raptados do planeta Terra para Narabedla. Muito divertido.
January 14, 2025
Re-read of an old fav, that didn't seem to have faded much, but it has started to show it's dating: not just in the tech like telephones, but currency amounts, and reference you 1980s icons that are now history (WTC).
still an entertaining read, but you might be feeling your age afterwards! 😁
still an entertaining read, but you might be feeling your age afterwards! 😁
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August 9, 2011Far fetched space adventure....But an enjoyable read
April 7, 2021
I really liked this book and also enjoyed Dan Simmons "Muse of Fire" which came later and definitely seems influenced by it.
August 14, 2015
I think it helps to be a musician to appreciate Narabedla. It is clear that Pohl really knew opera and used that knowledge to weave an unlikely and engaging sci-fi story.
April 15, 2016
Hilarious, a little boring at times, and the plot is a little convoluted at times.
April 28, 2017
Some aspects are not well aged, but otherwise it is quite humorous intergalactic story.
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May 3, 2019I have the german edition: Die Narabedla Verschwoerung
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews