Nopalgarth

by Jack Vance, Gino D'Achille (Illustrator)

Three complete Vance novels in one big volume:
- Nopalgarth (formerly titled The Brains of Earth)
- Son of the Tree
- The Houses of Iszm

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 2, 1980

About the author

Aka John Holbrook Vance, Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Alan Wade.

The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 3 out of 5]

three short novels

Nopalgarth aka The Brains of Earth - 3 stars

humans unwittingly host invisible, transdimensional parasites that coil around our brains and control our emotions. the planet Ixax has decimated itself due to these parasites that have transported themselves from our planet to theirs. the Ixaxians have had enough: kidnapping a human scientist, they free him from his parasite and then return him home, giving him but a few weeks to rid the Earth of this menace, or else a scorched-earth solution will be enacted. despite the pure pulp of the premise, this is an especially cerebral outing for the already-dry Jack Vance. the humor is scarce here, and as with those other novels where Vance has kept his wit at a minimum (Languages of Pao, Dragon Masters), the result is a narrative that is more distancing than involving. still, this is a worthwhile experience, due to its exploration of free will (or the illusion of free will), group-think, and the automatic antipathy that tribes will feel towards outsiders. is this a cautionary tale critiquing communism or, preferably, an allegory in favor of nonbinary thinking? shades of Colin Wilson.

The Houses of Iszm - 3.5 stars

the houses of the planet Iszm are vegetable, carefully bioengineered to the exacting standards of Iszic craftsmen. only bland mid-level houses are exported to Earth; not the sophisticated, time-consuming exemplars of this craft reserved for the Iszic elite, nor the inexpensive, easy to reproduce houses that are home to the Iszic worker class. it is the latter, if exported, that could solve Earth's terrible housing crisis, muses the botanist Farr during his tour of Iszm. if only the paranoid, secretive Iszic would allow their export! but then again, muses Farr at a later point, Earth could solve its own housing crisis if only the extremely wealthy would use their wealth for the greater good. but we'll sooner see blood bleed from a stone!

this is a fast-paced conspiracy thriller, of sorts. across three settings - Iszm, Earth, and a starship traveling from one planet to the other - Aile Farr encounters plots and schemes, murders and raids, mercenaries and megalomaniacs, and a sophisticated way of turning a tourist into a mule. a clever and thoughtful book. the descriptions of these symbiotic vegetable-houses was a particular highlight.

Son of the Tree - 4 stars

the wildly over the top (and awesome) cover may lead those unfamiliar with the author to believe that this will be an equally wild and over the top man versus monster adventure. not the case. this superb novella is Vance at his smooth, streamlined best: wall to wall ideas to contemplate, all delivered in prose that is stylish and witty. capable everyman Joe Smith (that name!) is far from his homeworld Earth, ensnared in the political machinations occurring between various factions on various planets. religious fanaticism, decadent elite rule over dull conformist plebes, and mercantilist liberalism versus belligerent imperialism all have their turn at being reviewed and then scorned by a disinterested Joe Smith and a surprisingly revolutionary Jack Vance. we also have an excellent pair of foils for Joe: two extremely attractive, high-handed, and insular aristocrats, both basically psychopathic; Joe immediately feels an visceral and violent aversion to the fellow, while of course finding the equally callous lady of the pair to be infinitely charming and loveable. the book's cover is metaphorical: all should fear the monstrous power of religious dogma as a colonialist tool for mass oppression. in this case, religion is a gigantic tree that literally devours its foolish followers.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nopalgarth, formerly titled "The Brains of Earth," is the lead novella in this compellation of three, the others being "Son of the Tree" and "The Houses of Iszm." (I reviewed the latter two here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... found together in an Ace Double). Nopalgarth is a bit of an anomaly for Vance, situated largely on Earth circa when the novella was written (circa 1958). Our main protagonist, Paul Burke, is a scientist and one day gets a strange call from someone, claiming his has to meet him face to face. Burke writes off the caller as a nut, but then receives in the mail an obviously alien artifact (an antigrav chunk of metal) and decides to go meet the guy. Well, Burke shows up and encounters some aliens from the planet Ixax, who subdue him and take him back to their planet.

The Xaxans have been at war for over 100 years and their planet is just about leveled. It takes some time to tease out, but the war was between two factions on the planet, the Tauptu and Chitumih. Basically, via an accident, the Tauptu discovered that they are infected by an alien parasite which they call Nopal, which seems to feed on their psychic energy or something. In fact, all the Xaxans are infected! The Tauptu figured out a way to kill the Nopal and fought until their planet was free of the alien parasites. Why did they kidnap Burke? It turns out the Nopal are also infecting all of humanity! To rid the universe of the Nopal, they must eradicate the Nopal from humans, and Burke is given the task...

While Nopalgarth was a fun story, it lacks the magic of other of Vance's stories, maybe because it is set in the now instead of the far future. Yes, the aliens are fun, with their saturnine expressions and dour attitudes, and Vance does take this tale into some unexpected places, but still not a stand out. Well worth reading if you are a Vance fan, but probably not the best place to start with him. 3 stars!!

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something very satisfying to me about Jack Vance novels. They aren't high art, but his weird imaginative approach to creation of alien worlds hits the right spot, and his balance of adventure and intrigue was the right antidote to the book I had to abandon a few days ago. Of the three stories in this volume, Nopalgarth was my favorite with its cosmic horror backdrop to a science fiction pulp action tale. As he frequently does, he provided the right amount of twist in the story without cheating. Also as is typical of Vance, the main character is pulled into the story by circumstance beyond his control, and does his best to survive while struggling against the forces arrayed against him. I also appreciate how each of these stories is economical in scope, with no padding. I do like big epics, but sometimes it is nice to just read a short novel that gets to the point and delivers the story. Vance is good at that.

[Phil J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Vance fans like this one less than I do. I love it because of the creative ideas, the fast-paced plot, and the satisfying conclusion. I also enjoy imagining that it's real in a "Shadow over Innsmouth" kind of way.

The plot concerns invisible, slug-like creatures that live on our scalps and manipulate our thoughts. Many SF writers would pad this book out with an extra hundred pages of meditation on free will and cold war propaganda, but Vance leaves the meditating up to the reader and keeps this a tight, novella-length tale.

I think the reason some fans hate this book is the basic ickiness of the premise. Also, this is set in "present" day America, rather than one of Vance's wacky planets. Nonetheless, I enjoy this book and recommend it.

If you are a Kindle user, there's a great deal on this and four other very strong novellas in the Chateau d'If collection.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a DAW collection of three Jack Vance novellas with "Nopalgarth" as the title of the collection. Nopalgarth is not a series. There is a novella titled Nopalgarth but I have verified with Jack Vance's son that there never was a series by the name Nopalgarth. Below is a review of each of the novellas in this DAW collection which is out of print but can be found used:

"Nopalgarth" is a 99/103/108 page novella that was first released in book form in 1966 in an Ace Double under the title "Brains of the Earth." The title was changed to "Nopalgarth" in 1980 when it was issued by DAW publishers. The Vance Integral Edition and the Spatterlight release also use the title Nopalgarth. Our story begins on Ixax, a dreary planet where an amphibian like creature "evolved into an intelligent andromorph." For over a century a terrible war has been going on between the Tauptu and the Chitumih. When all of the Chitumihs are finally defeated and eliminated, the Tauptu decide that they have only won a local victory and that they must continue their war on the planet they call Nopalgarth, which turns out to be their name for planet Earth. A research scientist, Paul Burke, on Earth receives a parcel that contains a strange dollar sized metal disc that is able to defy gravity and float in the air. Then he receives a phone call from a person, Sam Gibbons, asking him if he received the package and suggesting that the two meet. Intrigued by the disc, Burke drives to the Gibbon's home. Gibbons brings Burke into his house where they meet a tall creature, "with a skin rough and gray as elephant hide. His head was narrow and long, his eyes blank and blind-looking, like cabochons of beer-colored quartz. A bony crest rose from his scalp, studded with three bony knobs. Striking down from his brow the crest because a nose, thin as a scimitar. The chest was deep and narrow, the arms and legs corded and ropy with sinew." Vance always provides such fascinating descriptions of his aliens and other characters. His description of Nopals and their behavior is especially vivid. Burke is abducted by this alien creature who is a Xaxan named Pttdu Apiptix. After being taken to the planet Ixax, Burke is offered the responsibility of saving humans on Earth by helping eliminate a parasite called "nopals." These are parasites that attach themselves to Xaxans or to humans and can influence the feelings, thoughts, perceptions and behavior of their host. Nopals are usually invisible because they are not composed of matter and are from the "para-cosmos." The Xaxans call Earth "Nopalgarth" because all people on Earth are infected with nopals. The nopals on Earth use it as a breeding grounds and then travel to other planets to infect the Xaxans and other. The Xaxans are planning a mass assault on Earth to kill all nopals if Burke does not accept the proposal and succeed. Unfortunately the process of killing the nopals will also kill all humans. The Xaxans transport Burke back to earth and provide him with 100 kilograms of gold and instructions for a making a machine that detaches nopals one at a time from persons infected. Unfortunately they also give him a time deadline that seems impossible to meet. Will Burke be able to meet the deadline to save residents of Earth? Who or what are the mysterious Nopals? Note that "Chitumih" and "Taukptu" are not two different species. A Chitumih is any human, Xaxan or other creature who is infected with a nopal. Taukptu is an individual who is not infected with a nopal. I found this initially rather confusing the first time I read this novel. Some of the prose and the discussions between the scientists was rather flat for Vance, a master writer, but this odd story about nopals, ghers, Xaxans and mind control readily held my interest and is recommended to Vance fans. It is not one of Vance's better works, but it is still interesting and worth reading. I've read it twice now and continue to rate it a 3 "Liked it"

"Son of the Tree" is a 125 page novella that was written in 1950 and first published in 1951 in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories. It was issued in book form in 1964 as an Ace double or twofer with "The Houses of Iszm." In 1974 "Son of the Tree" was published as a stand alone novella. It is currently in print in a high quality paperback edition from Spatterlight Press along with Vance's "The Houses of Iszm." "Son of the Tree" is considered part of Vance's "Nopalgarth Series," although its connection to "The Houses of Iszm" (written in 1953) is more obvious than its connection to "The Brains of the Earth" (written in 1963). The last written of the three books, "The Brains of the Earth," book also goes by the title "Nopalgarth" which can add to the confusion. Joe Smith, from Earth, has been traveling as a passenger on spaceships for two years, going from planet to planet until his money would run low. Then he would stop and work long enough to buy passage to continue his journey. His travels are in pursuit of a man named Harry Creath. We learn that Smith is in love with a woman on Earth and she might be part of the reason for Smith trying to locate Creath. Smith's motivation is not made clear, however, until toward the end of the story when there is an ironic twist. Having run out of funds again, Smith ends up on the planet Kyril. He plans to stay on Kyril only long enough to earn money to continue his pursuit. On Kyril there is a gigantic Tree that is five miles wide and twelve miles tall and is cared for by the planetary rulers and religious leaders called Druids. This Tree of Life is worshipped by the Druids and the local population called the Laity. There are 200 billion Laity who are peasant farmers and laborers and only two million Druids who live in comparative luxury and are in charge of the rites and ceremonies involved in worshiping the Tree. The Laity believe that if they work very hard and are model citizens that when they die they will be absorbed by the Tree and will become one of Tree's giant leaves. Smith is befriended by a Mang agent named Hableyat. He is a representative or spy from the nearby planet Mangtse and offers to help Smith obtain employment. It is assumed that anyone from Mangtse who visits Kyril is a spy and visa versa. Both planets are competing economically and ideologically in a manner that somewhat resembles the old Soviet/U.S cold war. One of the most recent major issues between the governments of Kyril and Mangtse is that each of them want to form economic ties with the new government on the nearby planet Ballenkarch. The entire population of Ballenkarch has recently been united under a new prince. The prince is importing machinery to industrialize the planet. On Kyril they have no industry so they are dependent on their adversary the Mangs for products. Ballenkarch also has many valuable mineral and agricultural resources. The Druids hope to form an alliance with the Ballenkarchs by converting the new prince and his citizens to worshiping the Tree of Life. The Mang, in the meantime, want to prevent this from happening and hope to form their own economic and political alliance with the new prince of Ballenkarch. But the Mang are not united and have an extreme political division between the two most powerful political parties. Smith is very skilled mechanically so is able to obtain a job maintaining and operating air cars for a Druid priestess named Elfane. One of Elfane's first assignments for Smith is to help dispose of the body of a Mang representative who appears to have been assassinated. Despite his efforts to avoid politics, Smith ends up in the middle of the intense rivalry between the governments of Kyril and Mangtse. Smith suddenly gains some funds after he is bribed to keep silent about the assassination. He then learns that he is about to be murdered so Smith quickly leaves Kyril on a ship to Ballenkarch. But Smith's troubles are not left behind. Much to his dismay he finds that many of the passengers are government agents or even persons he met on Kyril. These include Priestess Elfane, Hableyat and a Druid who back on Kyril had wanted to kill Smith. Smith's life once again is in danger, and he barely avoids being electrocuted. Having his life threatened, however, does not prevent Smith from being attracted to his former employer, Priestess Elfane. But the gap between him and the priestess is immense because she is a Druid priestess totally devoted to her religion and her planet. She might even be involved with others who are plotting Smith's demise. The plot involves espionage, murder, political intrigue, economics, religion, cultural issues and sociological factors. Eventually it leads to the uncovering of the mystery of the true nature of the Tree of Life and the reason for Smith's long pursuit of Creath. This early effort by Vance is entertaining, enjoyable and easy to read, but it is not as well written, deeply thought out, or fully developed as many of his other writings. Vance fans will probably want to read "Son of the Tree." I would not really recommend it to readers who are new to Vance's writings, though, because there are many better Vance works to begin with. I've read this twice now and continue to rate it a 3 "Liked it."

"The Houses of Iszm" is a novella of 126 pages that was written by Jack Vance in 1953 and first published in 1954 in Startling Stories magazine. It is currently in print in a high quality paperback edition from Spatterlight Press along with Vance's novella Son of the Tree. The Houses of Iszm is sometimes listed as part two of the Nopalgarth series but this is incorrect. Although there is a novella by this title, there is no such series. This novella is not part of any series. Initially the setting is on the planet called Iszm where trees are carefully grown from seeds (with proper care and secret incantations) and end up developing into houses with integrated rooms, walls, ceilings, plumbing, decor, etc. Some develop into simple one room dwellings, but others are luxurious homes with multi levels, bathing pools, and atmospheres charged with oxygen. The people on the planet sell these "houseplants" to distributors on other planets and have a monopoly on them because they never sell a female tree or seeds, and the plants cannot be propagated by cuttings. On Earth all plants are sold exclusively to K. Penche who is allowed to purchase a limited quantity of trees of only one type. On Iszm they have been developing and perfecting these trees that turn into houses for two hundred thousand years. They even have some that grow into being wooden boats, although the rigging must be added artificially. The trees are also sentient beings and have personalities. Some trees are called sentry trees and will strike out and even kill trespassers if they don't know the password. Even if a female seed should ever be stolen there is a very complex, secret process for growing the plants and only the Iszics know how to do this. Each tree also requires many hours of training called house breaking. "It must be entered, mastered, trained. The webbings must be cut; the nerves of ejaculation must be located and paralyzed. The sphincters must open and close at a touch. The art of house-breaking is almost as important as house-breeding. Without correct breaking a house is an unmanageable nuisance--a menace." Our main character, Aile Farr, is a botanist from Earth who decides to visit Iszm and study these plants. He also hopes to persuade the Iszics to allow exports of smaller, more affordable houses to help with housing problems on Earth. Farr learns, however, that it costs the same to grow and ship a simple tree house as it does a multilevel one so the Iszics have no incentive to export cheaper houses. All visitors to Iszm are also suspected of wanting to steal some seeds of female trees and Farr is especially suspect because he is a botanist. The government on Iszm is constantly trying to monitor and thwart theft by using elaborate security systems, screenings and procedures. Those who try to steal are usually killed or captured. If captured they are sent to a tree prison called the Mad House. This is a suspenseful, humorous, easy to read novella involving police, undercover agents, smugglers, murderers and a central character who tries to stay alive while figuring out what is going on. Vance fans will want to read The Houses of Iszm even though it is not one of his finest works. Those looking for an odd, easy to read novella might also find this enjoyable. This is the second time I have read this recently and continue to rate it 3 "Liked it."

[Hector · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some things Jack Vance does to perfection; his books often open with a protagonist walking down the gangplank of a spaceship into the port city of a fantastic and exotic culture. Two of the three short novels in this collection open with that scenario, and other familiar Vance elements and motifs crop up throughout; life aboard spacefaring vessels, mysterious assassins in disguise, amphibious alien races, and more.
The most recent story is Nopalgarth, originally published in 1966 as The Brains of Earth, and it's also the weakest, though it does have an excellent horror premise that seems almost derived from Lovecraft; an Earthman is recruited by aliens who have fought a long war against unseen psychic parasites called nopal, who seem to originate from earth. It turns out that the nopal are some of the less significant creatures existing in an "analogue universe" or "para-cosmos" that interacts with our own. The conflict is resolved when the human protagonists conveniently develop psionic abilities. Over all, it felt like Vance started with a vague concept, then wrote until his story clearly demanded an ending and threw one together.
The other stories are better (both of them written in the 50s) and almost read like variations on a theme. The Houses of Iszm is the story of a traveler to a planet whose chief export is houses, which are grown organically from seeds. Having just read Vance's memoir, it strikes me that houses were a kind of obsession for him--he at one point joined with other science fiction writers in the construction of a houseboat, and he spent years building a house in the Bay Area which he filled with objects and materials from his travels (in his memoir he talks more about building this house than about writing). The Houses of Izsm 's second act takes place aboard a ship heading back to earth, where our protagonist finds himself the target of more than one attempt on his life, though he can't understand why or who is after him. It's pretty obvious, at this point, that he's unwittingly smuggling rare house-seeds, highly in demand on earth, and there's an almost crime-novel ending to the book.
The last story, Son of the Tree, is the earliest and the best, and it's amazing how Vance packs a very complex web of interplanetary societies and negotiations into a compact space. Any other author would have turned this Dune-like setup into something over 400 pages, or, nowadays, a trilogy, but Vance pulls it off in less than 100. Again, we have a merchant seaman-like protagonist arriving on a fantastic world (one in which a caste of 'Druids' lords over a caste of workers who worship a grand tree), we have intrigue aboard a starship voyaging between planets, we have seeds as macguffins, we have one alien race struggling to manipulate another. The characters--Earthling Joe Smith (surely, Vance could have come up with a more original name), the Druid Elfane, the inscrutable Hableyat (an alien who comes close to being an Asian stereotype) and others are enjoyable and distinct, and their interactions are complicated. The whole thing works very well, and again I can't stress how skillfully Vance neatly packs a rich and expansive story into an economical package.
So while the tales are understandably dated, the stories display so much imagination, character, and craft that I'd recommend it, and Son of the Tree might be an excellent starting point for readers looking for a place to start with Vance.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last of three novellas published by DAW Books as Nopalgarth. This story is a bit atypical for Vance in that a good deal of the story takes place on Earth. The hero is whisked to another planet where he learns that all the people of Earth possess and alien parasite that is imperceptible. This is revealed to him by aliens that have just won a 100-year war against these parasites. It seems that Earth is the source of the parasites, and the aliens demand that the hero destroy these nopal. He recruits a couple of friends on Earth, but they discover that if you do not possess a nopal, you become a host for an even worse parasite named the gher. This plot may sound quite typical of Vance, but much of the action takes place on earth as a handful of humans discern the problem. The story is book-ended episodes on another planet. Still, quite fun and a quick read.

[Steve Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of three long stories by Jack Vance, all worth reading, none among his very best work.

But it is simply incorrect to describe these stories as a series: they are stand-alone stories that happen to be published together. The Houses of Iszm and Son of the Tree are also published in a single volume by Spatterlight Press, and indeed they do have trees in common, but they are otherwise unrelated.

[Jeroen Verkroost · Rating 2 out of 5]

As always, originality is in abundance but this story spends a lot of time in metaphysical speculation which deducts from the pace, and the ending is somewhat ant-climactic. Dated, too with references to the cold war and the ‘commies’.

[Robert Sacrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nopalgarth is truly a mind bending story. Mind control involving alien beings across the universe and and other dimensions. I read it the first time over 40 years ago and rediscovered it recently. Wow! Still a great read!

[David Ambrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read most of Jack Vance's science fiction books, I think. This collection of three novellas is not his best work. The title story, Nopalgarth, is really out of the mainstream of Vance's work, with its beasts of a parallel universe, and I really can't say I enjoyed it. The second story, The Houses of Iszm, was, I suppose, my favorite of the three. The third, Son of the Tree, was ok, I guess. All three of these feature Earth in significant ways, which isn't always the case in Vance's work. Overall, I don't especially recommend reading this unless you have a desire to complete your Vance collection.

[Erik Wennermark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't much care of the Son of the Tree but really loved Nopalgarth and thought Houses of Iszm was a wonderful setting and idea.

[Peveril · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nopalgarth - or Brains of Earth - is early and not reallt representative. Not a Vance novel to return to often.