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The Song of Phaid the Gambler #1
Phaid the Gambler
Phaid plays a deadly game of survival in a future, violent, post-holocaust Earth in which the human race has mutated into three distinct life forms and the planet is threatened by telepathic dogs and cats, reactionary androids, and savage climatic changes
- GenresScience FictionFiction
296 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
2 people are currently reading
136 people want to read
About the author
Mick Farren
67 books80 followersFarren was the singer with the proto-punk English band The Deviants between 1967 and 1969, releasing three albums. In 1970 he released the solo album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus which also featured Steve Peregrin Took, John Gustafson and Paul Buckmaster, before leaving the music business to concentrate on his writing.
In the mid-1970s, he briefly returned to music releasing the EP Screwed Up, album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money and single "Broken Statue". The album featured fellow NME journalist Chrissie Hynde and Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson.
He has sporadically returned to music, collaborating with Wayne Kramer on Who Shot You Dutch? and Death Tongue, Jack Lancaster on The Deathray Tapes and Andy Colquhoun on The Deviants albums Eating Jello With a Heated Fork and Dr. Crow.
Aside from his own work, he has provided lyrics for various musician friends over the years. He has collaborated with Lemmy, co-writing "Lost Johnny" for Hawkwind, and "Keep Us on the Road" and "Damage Case" for Motörhead. With Larry Wallis, he co-wrote "When's the Fun Begin?" for the Pink Fairies and several tracks on Wallis' solo album Death in a Guitar Afternoon. He provided lyrics for the Wayne Kramer single "Get Some" in the mid-1970s, and continued to work with and for him during the 1990s.
In the early 1970s he contributed to the UK Underground press such as the International Times, also establishing Nasty Tales which he successfully defended from an obscenity charge. He went on to write for the main stream New Musical Express, where he wrote the article The Titanic Sails At Dawn, an analysis of what he saw as the malaise afflicting then-contemporary rock music which described the conditions that subsequently gave rise to punk.
To date he has written 23 novels, including the Victor Renquist novels and the DNA Cowboys sequence. His prophetic 1989 novel The Armageddon Crazy deals with a post-2000 United States which is dominated by fundamentalists who dismantle the Constitution.
Farren has written 11 works of non-fiction, a number of biographical (including four on Elvis Presley), autobiographical and culture books (such as The Black Leather Jacket) and a plethora of poetry.
Since 2003, he has been a columnist for the weekly Los Angeles CityBeat.
Farren died at the age of 69 in 2013, after collapsing onstage while performing with the Deviants at the Borderline Club in London.
In the mid-1970s, he briefly returned to music releasing the EP Screwed Up, album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money and single "Broken Statue". The album featured fellow NME journalist Chrissie Hynde and Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson.
He has sporadically returned to music, collaborating with Wayne Kramer on Who Shot You Dutch? and Death Tongue, Jack Lancaster on The Deathray Tapes and Andy Colquhoun on The Deviants albums Eating Jello With a Heated Fork and Dr. Crow.
Aside from his own work, he has provided lyrics for various musician friends over the years. He has collaborated with Lemmy, co-writing "Lost Johnny" for Hawkwind, and "Keep Us on the Road" and "Damage Case" for Motörhead. With Larry Wallis, he co-wrote "When's the Fun Begin?" for the Pink Fairies and several tracks on Wallis' solo album Death in a Guitar Afternoon. He provided lyrics for the Wayne Kramer single "Get Some" in the mid-1970s, and continued to work with and for him during the 1990s.
In the early 1970s he contributed to the UK Underground press such as the International Times, also establishing Nasty Tales which he successfully defended from an obscenity charge. He went on to write for the main stream New Musical Express, where he wrote the article The Titanic Sails At Dawn, an analysis of what he saw as the malaise afflicting then-contemporary rock music which described the conditions that subsequently gave rise to punk.
To date he has written 23 novels, including the Victor Renquist novels and the DNA Cowboys sequence. His prophetic 1989 novel The Armageddon Crazy deals with a post-2000 United States which is dominated by fundamentalists who dismantle the Constitution.
Farren has written 11 works of non-fiction, a number of biographical (including four on Elvis Presley), autobiographical and culture books (such as The Black Leather Jacket) and a plethora of poetry.
Since 2003, he has been a columnist for the weekly Los Angeles CityBeat.
Farren died at the age of 69 in 2013, after collapsing onstage while performing with the Deviants at the Borderline Club in London.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 27, 2016
One of my my top ten favourites. Loved all of Micks sci fi and this one in particular. Dunno is it was the time of life I read it (teenager) or the because of the when it was written (80s) but it felt that the opulent but dystopian future full of oppurtunities but with pitfalls round every corner was such a rollercoaster ride that you just didn't want to get off. Think wild west coupled with the decline of Rome and a healthy dose of drug culture and you won't be a thousand miles away from the feel.
Recommended reading for any Sci Fan and mandatory for the dystopian futures fans among you.
Recommended reading for any Sci Fan and mandatory for the dystopian futures fans among you.
August 14, 2014
A great read, the book feels cinematic with lush renditions of life in a very different future earth. I love the central character Phaid, a well thought through person with many weaknesses and a few strengths.
December 26, 2019
When I was 17 I first read Petronius’ Satyricon and in the introductory notes for that I learned about the idea of a story being “picaresque,” ie a story that is episodic or rambling, usually populated with characters who can best be described as “unreliable”... and not just in a narrative sense. Phaid is one such character, and his journey is definitely picaresque.
What I loved about it:
1. it’s a page-turner. Phaid doesn’t seek adventure but his career and circumstances pretty much throw it into his lap. And it works.
2. the world is amazing. There’s a sense of real history and menace in this future world that has been tampered with and abandoned by the ancient - and absent - Lords.
3. Phaid comes across as a bit of a dick, but not with a heart of gold. He objects to the situations he finds himself in and is almost always only looking out for himself. He’s a refreshing kind of antihero: one that doesn’t have a code to live by or regrets from not living up to it. He’s only in it for the money and himself, and not always in that order.
What I didn’t love about it:
1. the story has the requisite twists and turns and it creeps up on you without you noticing but it feels a little generic in places and not as much fun as just watching Phaid traveling about and discovering new places
2. the efforts at showing some decadence and ennui among the inhabitants of this world are sometimes overplayed and come across more as tawdry and cheap rather than jaded and corrupt. It’s a fine line to walk and better writers than Mr Farren have failed at it too.
I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to rereading the sequel/ second half.
What I loved about it:
1. it’s a page-turner. Phaid doesn’t seek adventure but his career and circumstances pretty much throw it into his lap. And it works.
2. the world is amazing. There’s a sense of real history and menace in this future world that has been tampered with and abandoned by the ancient - and absent - Lords.
3. Phaid comes across as a bit of a dick, but not with a heart of gold. He objects to the situations he finds himself in and is almost always only looking out for himself. He’s a refreshing kind of antihero: one that doesn’t have a code to live by or regrets from not living up to it. He’s only in it for the money and himself, and not always in that order.
What I didn’t love about it:
1. the story has the requisite twists and turns and it creeps up on you without you noticing but it feels a little generic in places and not as much fun as just watching Phaid traveling about and discovering new places
2. the efforts at showing some decadence and ennui among the inhabitants of this world are sometimes overplayed and come across more as tawdry and cheap rather than jaded and corrupt. It’s a fine line to walk and better writers than Mr Farren have failed at it too.
I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to rereading the sequel/ second half.
November 26, 2010
This is a dystopian view of a future world ruined by a breakdown in weather machines. It is a road trip with diverse adventures concluding in a post apocalyptic revolutionary outbreak that has elements of the French revolution and the anarchy of post great war Berlin. There are aliens waiting for the humans to kill themselves, aristocrats who are treacherous but brave, fanatic clerics, and a variety of interesting new drugs. Its not a bad read if a little disjointed in moving from the different parts of the world. It isnt badly written though and is an adequate story.
April 21, 2024
I have sinned! I did not judge the book by it's cover, but i did judge it by its author!
I expected it to be a not very good power fantasy full of sex and violence by a punk / rock author expressing his deepest desires! While the book is indeed full of sex and violence, it has good prose, and the author is no slouch as i was prejudiced against him! I really enjoyed the book, the story, the world and the prose. The Author strikes a good balance between detail and action that brings the far future on a decaying planet Earth to life, and despite the decay, depravity and general shitty-ness, in which most people are forced into great trauma and danger just to survive, for half the book that sad realization was partially held at bay by the general sense of adventure and discovery as we made our way with Phaid from the outer ragged edges of civilization towards the gleaming capital of the Republic. For me, the sense of discovery and adventure faded when Phaid reached the Capital City while the sad, dreary reality of this decaying world continues to present itself. Phaid goes from one dangerous situation to another, often times requiring his resources, his wits and quite a bit of luck to survive and gaining little respite between catastrophes. Despite his agency and goals, Phaid seems to be pulled into these dangerous situations by a force far greater than himself. While relentless, the book never felt overwhelming to me, and despite the decay of the world and its people, the story also felt vibrant at times.
I expected it to be a not very good power fantasy full of sex and violence by a punk / rock author expressing his deepest desires! While the book is indeed full of sex and violence, it has good prose, and the author is no slouch as i was prejudiced against him! I really enjoyed the book, the story, the world and the prose. The Author strikes a good balance between detail and action that brings the far future on a decaying planet Earth to life, and despite the decay, depravity and general shitty-ness, in which most people are forced into great trauma and danger just to survive, for half the book that sad realization was partially held at bay by the general sense of adventure and discovery as we made our way with Phaid from the outer ragged edges of civilization towards the gleaming capital of the Republic. For me, the sense of discovery and adventure faded when Phaid reached the Capital City while the sad, dreary reality of this decaying world continues to present itself. Phaid goes from one dangerous situation to another, often times requiring his resources, his wits and quite a bit of luck to survive and gaining little respite between catastrophes. Despite his agency and goals, Phaid seems to be pulled into these dangerous situations by a force far greater than himself. While relentless, the book never felt overwhelming to me, and despite the decay of the world and its people, the story also felt vibrant at times.
November 27, 2012
Dear Mr. Farren:
While this book was well written with great characters and a compelling story, I'm more than dissapointed that you didn't write a complete story. I'm not a fan of series and find them indicative of either laziness, playing it safe or as it seems in this case, greed. Yet I'll try the first of a series, especially if I've enjoyed an authors previous work, fully expecting that at the very least the "Book" will be a complete stand-alone story and not a serial cartoon. However entertaining this book was, that you left so much unresolved isn't going to inspire me to run out and buy the next book in the series. Matter of fact, that you respect your readers so little means I won't be buying ANY more of your "books".
While this book was well written with great characters and a compelling story, I'm more than dissapointed that you didn't write a complete story. I'm not a fan of series and find them indicative of either laziness, playing it safe or as it seems in this case, greed. Yet I'll try the first of a series, especially if I've enjoyed an authors previous work, fully expecting that at the very least the "Book" will be a complete stand-alone story and not a serial cartoon. However entertaining this book was, that you left so much unresolved isn't going to inspire me to run out and buy the next book in the series. Matter of fact, that you respect your readers so little means I won't be buying ANY more of your "books".
September 29, 2012
This was one of the most memorable and best science fictions books I have ever read. Fast paced and with a great story, if you've never read it, find a copy and do so. I must read this one again soon too!
December 19, 2007
read 07.17.87
May 30, 2008
Liked this book. Cool characters, settings.
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
May 2, 2010
Great book! hopefully get around to a review soon - have a bunch of them to do but have 4 finals this week so don't know when i'll get around to them
January 24, 2013
Wonderful scifi book.
November 16, 2014
Loved Protectorate so wanted to like this. Thought it started very well but after the halfway point totally ran out of steam.
An earlier book I believe so that may account for it.
An earlier book I believe so that may account for it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews