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II Galaxy
The Planet Wizard
On a post-apocalyptic world far from Earth, Magus Blacklaw, a traveling mountebank, is in trouble with the law. He and his daughter soon fall in with a young man, and pretty soon all three are condemned to ride a skysled to exorcize the demons of a formerly commercial sister planet.
246 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
115 people want to read
About the author
John Jakes
411 books963 followersJohn William Jakes, the author of more than a dozen novels, is regarded as one of today’s most distinguished writers of historical fiction. His work includes the highly acclaimed Kent Family Chronicles series and the North and South Trilogy. Jakes’s commitment to historical accuracy and evocative storytelling earned him the title of “the godfather of historical novelists” from the Los Angeles Times and led to a streak of sixteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Jakes has received several awards for his work and is a member of the Authors Guild and the PEN American Center. He and his wife, Rachel, live on the west coast of Florida.
Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.
Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 25, 2008
A good fun read. My copy is old and has a different cover. It was published by Ace
October 27, 2025
I only read this because I love the pulpy cover art by Alex Ebel (the scene depicted has nothing to do with this book) and because the premise sounded interesting. But the story is bland, and I disliked the writing. The characters aren't great, either. Robin is the worst. He puts a sword to Magus' throat just for laughing at his name. (Magus had saved Robin's life only minutes before!) Magus calls his daughter a bitch for no reason (she was being unreasonable, but still). His daughter, Maya, suffers from instant boyfriend syndrome. The male characters are basically alcoholics, getting drunk at every opportunity.
The context in which Magus calls his daughter a bitch:
" 'That shows how much you know about women!' she wailed, hitting at his head with her fists. 'If you didn't spend so much time with loose women, chasing after them like some carnal thing, you'd know more about real love.'
It was as though she'd touched a deep, raw wound. 'You arrogant little bitch, I loved your mother more than—'
She didn't hear. 'Are you so simple that you couldn't see I was trying to make Robin jealous? Make him pay more attention to me? What was so wrong about that? Why can't you understand? What kind of father are you?' "
Magus being ridiculously chauvinistic (internally) towards his daughter:
" 'He'll be trampled!' Maya cried.
That takes no especial intuition to discover, Magus thought. But he forgave Maya her womanly outburst... "
...
John Jakes might actually have used the words "limn," "loom," and "lope" more often than George R. R. Martin (which is way too much). He overuses other words, too (niche, wary, dappled, gloom, raucous, murk, orange, etc.). And the colors... I've never seen an author mention colors so frequently (it wouldn't surprise me if there were at least two colors per page). On that note, he constantly reminds the reader what color hair and eyes the characters have: russet hair with violet eyes, yellow-white hair with gold eyes, red moustaches (yes, plural), etc. "A mammoth orange sun loomed" pretty much sums up his writing "style." The author uses alliteration a lot, which I find annoyingly distracting. I could hear the voice of William Dozier, the narrator of Batman (1966), in my head. I didn't like how Jakes would start a chapter by stating that a certain event had occurred, only to rewind and cover all the events leading up to it. The action scenes were a blur for me (I'm not sure why).
It was interesting how swords were never "unsheathed" or "drawn." Instead, they were "hauled out" or "pulled." Likewise, they were "put up" rather than "sheathed." More than once, "melon-shaped" or "melon-sized" are used as descriptions. Melon-shaped?
...
I did at least get some humour out of it:
"The young man shouted oaths of such color that Magus knew he was not merely a simple shepherd, but had at least some schooling in the more sophisticated, civilized ways."
-
"God save the man nuzzled by that faintly moustached upper lip!"
-
"Where his kilt rode up Magus saw proof that the mutants reproduced much as man did."
-
There are these hired thugs called "bravos," who wield daggers and wear yellow boots. And on the planet Lightmark, there are red, kilt-wearing, lizard men called "Brothers." They speak English but also go "scree-scree." I was amused by the yellow boots and by all the scree-ing of the "Brothers."
...
There were surprisingly few typos ("nealty" was one).
-
Typos, etc.:
"There are no other large cities with a hundred leagues." (within)
-
"She had thanked Catto too many times over." (Either use "too many times" or "many times over," not both.)
-
"Robin's quite understatement spoke more of his love..." (I have no words.)
-
"Plus a race of savage mutants too changed to understand that their attitude about Easkod's holiness are wrong." (is)
-
"Never should of hired on to that crazy man. Never should of done it." ("Should have" or "should've," there is no "of.")
...
Some samples of the alliteration:
"peerless prestidigitator"
-
"frivolous frolic"
-
"plenty of pretty peasant purses"
-
"In the reverent hush a rich voice rolled forth."
-
"across the curving console"
-
"blue bushes... in the breeze"
-
"bought bullies"
-
"... lunatic, Lantzman's laugh..."
-
"He gored the guts of another creature, cropping it."
-
"six city squares"
-
"... spheres that stood on silver stilt-legs a story above..."
-
"blooming brilliance"
-
"... the Philosopher felt the fury..."
-
"chitinous claw"
-
"stormy sunset"
-
"transparent tentacle"
-
"bumped beast"
-
"... spent some seconds studying..."
-
"... several silks he'd salvaged from the skysled."
-
"... ball burst blindingly above..."
-
"... silver structure which the screens showed."
-
"grids gleamed"
-
"... lunged like a lunatic..."
-
"He'd never seen such supersaturated colors in sea or sky..."
-
"Surely somewhere... he'd find something which smacked of sanity or signified..."
-
"Suddenly he saw small spherical creatures covered with sticky scintillant hairs..."
-
"... tightly to their throats by thongs..."
-
"... thrust her into cover of the clust [sic] of rocks where Catto already crouched. Shadow after spindly black shadow rose on the ridge... Magus' lips were white as he whispered..."
-
"... probed a small pocket, drew out two of the precious packets of greenish powder."
...
5/10
The context in which Magus calls his daughter a bitch:
" 'That shows how much you know about women!' she wailed, hitting at his head with her fists. 'If you didn't spend so much time with loose women, chasing after them like some carnal thing, you'd know more about real love.'
It was as though she'd touched a deep, raw wound. 'You arrogant little bitch, I loved your mother more than—'
She didn't hear. 'Are you so simple that you couldn't see I was trying to make Robin jealous? Make him pay more attention to me? What was so wrong about that? Why can't you understand? What kind of father are you?' "
Magus being ridiculously chauvinistic (internally) towards his daughter:
" 'He'll be trampled!' Maya cried.
That takes no especial intuition to discover, Magus thought. But he forgave Maya her womanly outburst... "
...
John Jakes might actually have used the words "limn," "loom," and "lope" more often than George R. R. Martin (which is way too much). He overuses other words, too (niche, wary, dappled, gloom, raucous, murk, orange, etc.). And the colors... I've never seen an author mention colors so frequently (it wouldn't surprise me if there were at least two colors per page). On that note, he constantly reminds the reader what color hair and eyes the characters have: russet hair with violet eyes, yellow-white hair with gold eyes, red moustaches (yes, plural), etc. "A mammoth orange sun loomed" pretty much sums up his writing "style." The author uses alliteration a lot, which I find annoyingly distracting. I could hear the voice of William Dozier, the narrator of Batman (1966), in my head. I didn't like how Jakes would start a chapter by stating that a certain event had occurred, only to rewind and cover all the events leading up to it. The action scenes were a blur for me (I'm not sure why).
It was interesting how swords were never "unsheathed" or "drawn." Instead, they were "hauled out" or "pulled." Likewise, they were "put up" rather than "sheathed." More than once, "melon-shaped" or "melon-sized" are used as descriptions. Melon-shaped?
...
I did at least get some humour out of it:
"The young man shouted oaths of such color that Magus knew he was not merely a simple shepherd, but had at least some schooling in the more sophisticated, civilized ways."
-
"God save the man nuzzled by that faintly moustached upper lip!"
-
"Where his kilt rode up Magus saw proof that the mutants reproduced much as man did."
-
There are these hired thugs called "bravos," who wield daggers and wear yellow boots. And on the planet Lightmark, there are red, kilt-wearing, lizard men called "Brothers." They speak English but also go "scree-scree." I was amused by the yellow boots and by all the scree-ing of the "Brothers."
...
There were surprisingly few typos ("nealty" was one).
-
Typos, etc.:
"There are no other large cities with a hundred leagues." (within)
-
"She had thanked Catto too many times over." (Either use "too many times" or "many times over," not both.)
-
"Robin's quite understatement spoke more of his love..." (I have no words.)
-
"Plus a race of savage mutants too changed to understand that their attitude about Easkod's holiness are wrong." (is)
-
"Never should of hired on to that crazy man. Never should of done it." ("Should have" or "should've," there is no "of.")
...
Some samples of the alliteration:
"peerless prestidigitator"
-
"frivolous frolic"
-
"plenty of pretty peasant purses"
-
"In the reverent hush a rich voice rolled forth."
-
"across the curving console"
-
"blue bushes... in the breeze"
-
"bought bullies"
-
"... lunatic, Lantzman's laugh..."
-
"He gored the guts of another creature, cropping it."
-
"six city squares"
-
"... spheres that stood on silver stilt-legs a story above..."
-
"blooming brilliance"
-
"... the Philosopher felt the fury..."
-
"chitinous claw"
-
"stormy sunset"
-
"transparent tentacle"
-
"bumped beast"
-
"... spent some seconds studying..."
-
"... several silks he'd salvaged from the skysled."
-
"... ball burst blindingly above..."
-
"... silver structure which the screens showed."
-
"grids gleamed"
-
"... lunged like a lunatic..."
-
"He'd never seen such supersaturated colors in sea or sky..."
-
"Surely somewhere... he'd find something which smacked of sanity or signified..."
-
"Suddenly he saw small spherical creatures covered with sticky scintillant hairs..."
-
"... tightly to their throats by thongs..."
-
"... thrust her into cover of the clust [sic] of rocks where Catto already crouched. Shadow after spindly black shadow rose on the ridge... Magus' lips were white as he whispered..."
-
"... probed a small pocket, drew out two of the precious packets of greenish powder."
...
5/10
December 30, 2011
It has a number of conceptual problems which I wanted to ignore for enjoyment's sake--it being an obvious sword-and-sorcery-in-space-you-should-really-just-relax--but nagging questions kept popping into my head at inopportune times. Why was the Easkod headquarters on Lightmark completely abandoned, its corporate officers exiled to Pastoria in obscurity for generations? Why will there be a massive loss of life once the remaining technology on Pastoria fails? Why is this called "II Galaxy", I mean...really?
They all could have answers, and hence might make sense, but if so they're never shared, and therefore it doesn't. The Rhada series was a better treatment of most of these ideas.
The shame of it is that the basic predicament feels interesting. A planet is settled with a deliberately "quaint" economy, and is in the position where its population requires technology for survival, but doesn't have the technological base to provide the maintenance for such. Unfortunately, Pastoria isn't fleshed out in any interesting way, and the story proceeds into well-traveled adventure/exploration/combat lines once the protagonists land on Lightmark.
Having the ancient commercial houses' names be the corrupted forms of Twentieth Century corporations ("Easkod" -> "Eastman Kodak") manages to be simultaneously awesome and ridiculous.
They all could have answers, and hence might make sense, but if so they're never shared, and therefore it doesn't. The Rhada series was a better treatment of most of these ideas.
The shame of it is that the basic predicament feels interesting. A planet is settled with a deliberately "quaint" economy, and is in the position where its population requires technology for survival, but doesn't have the technological base to provide the maintenance for such. Unfortunately, Pastoria isn't fleshed out in any interesting way, and the story proceeds into well-traveled adventure/exploration/combat lines once the protagonists land on Lightmark.
Having the ancient commercial houses' names be the corrupted forms of Twentieth Century corporations ("Easkod" -> "Eastman Kodak") manages to be simultaneously awesome and ridiculous.
January 28, 2011
Loads of fast moving,pulpy fun. A bit like Star Wars written by Jack Vance. Post science,medieval type world with rocket ships. Treasure hunters on a forbidden planet. Great stuff. Mine has a great Jeffery jones cover.
June 11, 2018
A SF tale of a mysterious neighboring planet and a magician posing as a wizard to save his life. It is about a post-apocalyptic world that sees the nearby planet containing magical artifacts. It has a fantasy, sword and sorcery, feel to it It is a well written book with an interesting idea for a plot but not-so interesting characters. Part of a trilogy, which I have not ready any of the others. I feel this book is fine for a stand alone.
October 15, 2017
Takes you to a decimated planet where you'll battle lizard men.
October 13, 2025
This book was ass, there’s no reason to buy it other than the cover which has nothing to do with the story.
July 27, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2.5 stars
On a post-apocalyptic world far from Earth, Magus Blacklaw, a traveling mountebank, is in trouble with the law. He and his daughter soon fall in with a young man, and pretty soon all three are condemned to ride a skysled to exorcize the demons of a formerly commercial sister planet.
Before John Jakes became known for historical fiction, he also write science fiction, including the excellent Secrets of Stardeep. This book, sadly, does not match that standard. Instead, it gives every indication of having been written quickly and without much thought. While not a *bad* book, there's little of interest here, and little that could not be predicted even from the above one-sentence summary. To his credit, Jakes does give a little twist to the happily-ever-after ending, but it's not enough to save the book.
Unless you're a true die-hard Jakes completist, there's no good reason to read this. If you already have it, it won't hurt you, but you won't remember it.
December 20, 2022
It gets 2 stars because it was at least readable, definitely not a good book by any stretch of the means. The main character and probably even the second male lead are massive self inserts, and all into the one female character, cant shake the feeling that the writer is jerking it to every other page. That one female character is just a vessel for the horniness of all the other male characters, and the main character (her dad) can't help but describing her as hot and full bodied on multiple occasions which is like, wow, way to write a father daughter relationship Jakes. The reason i bought this book was because of the awesome front cover, I'd reccomend buying it for $1 from an Op Shop simply for the art.
Scratch that. One star. Piranisi got 2 stars so this can’t have two stars anymore.
Scratch that. One star. Piranisi got 2 stars so this can’t have two stars anymore.
February 20, 2020
Good pulp science fiction, though dated.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews