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Anthony Villiers #1-3
New Celebrations: The Adventures of Anthony Villiers
Many books have been hailed as "in the tradition of" THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.Not this one. It came first.It may, however, be something of a precursor. A space-operatic comedy of manners and meditation on life, a cheerful noir thriller, NEW CELEBRATIONS comprises the first three, and so far only, novels about the enigmatic Anthony Villiers, a young man who trails both a mysterious past and a six-foot furred toad companion whose papers are not in order. From a space-station gambling resort, to a nice camping venue in a nature reserve, to the masquerade on Delbalso where arboreal peels grunt like clockwork, Villiers tours many odd social circles of the interstellar Nashuite Empire. Hounded by want of cash, by assassins and, worse, bureaucrats, he remains polite, has fun, and makes an impression. Meet him and see."STAR WELL [the first book of NEW CELEBRATIONS] is a wise, delightful, and well-turned book; and it is something I have never seen in science fiction before. It is the first of a series of novels that examines the proposition that the world is composed of small communities of mutual interest. When the pith of that statement is bared as astutely as it is in this novel, it does not matter which 'small community' you belong to: Star Well hits." --Samuel R. Delany, from the Introduction"I strongly recommend you introduce yourself to Anthony Villiers . . . It's all glorious, ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek parody of almost anything you can think of . . . Get it!" --ANALOG
- GenresScience FictionFiction
328 pages, Unbound
First published January 1, 1968
About the author
Alexei Panshin
69 books59 followersAlexis Adams Panshin is an American author and science fiction critic.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 5, 2022
Originally posted June 5/22
2025 reread September 22/25
3.5⭐
Blended Rating as this is a compilation of the three Anthony Villiers novels:
Star Well 4⭐
The Thurb Revolution 3.5⭐
Masque World 3⭐
The adventures of Villiers, the roguish, star hopping remittance man who travels the galaxy with his friend Trove the Trog, a six foot tall, furry toad. It's just good clean fun from a more innocent time ( late 60's early 70's). He's an aristocrat from a powerful wealthy family, but he's doled out small sums ( remittances) on the condition he never comes home.
He travels about doing good, mostly by accident, with Trove who has his own inscrutable agenda. Panshin adopts a baroque narrative style to go with the manners- bound society he's created. It mostly works but his convoluted asides to the reader can be a bit over the top. They can also be funny, though. I enjoyed these novels a lot when I first read them, shortly after their publication, and I'm happy they've aged fairly well. If you're a fan of Jack Vance, Chester Anderson or Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot stories I think you'll like these books just fine.
There's a blurb in the last book that promised a fourth volume, "The Universal Pantograph, " coming soon". It's been 50 years and we're still waiting. I've read there was a dispute between Panshin and his publisher that prevented its release. But does anyone know if the book was actually written, and if there's any chance it well ever be published?
I would like to read it, especially if it concludes the saga.
2025 reread September 22/25
3.5⭐
Blended Rating as this is a compilation of the three Anthony Villiers novels:
Star Well 4⭐
The Thurb Revolution 3.5⭐
Masque World 3⭐
The adventures of Villiers, the roguish, star hopping remittance man who travels the galaxy with his friend Trove the Trog, a six foot tall, furry toad. It's just good clean fun from a more innocent time ( late 60's early 70's). He's an aristocrat from a powerful wealthy family, but he's doled out small sums ( remittances) on the condition he never comes home.
He travels about doing good, mostly by accident, with Trove who has his own inscrutable agenda. Panshin adopts a baroque narrative style to go with the manners- bound society he's created. It mostly works but his convoluted asides to the reader can be a bit over the top. They can also be funny, though. I enjoyed these novels a lot when I first read them, shortly after their publication, and I'm happy they've aged fairly well. If you're a fan of Jack Vance, Chester Anderson or Becky Chambers' Monk and Robot stories I think you'll like these books just fine.
There's a blurb in the last book that promised a fourth volume, "The Universal Pantograph, " coming soon". It's been 50 years and we're still waiting. I've read there was a dispute between Panshin and his publisher that prevented its release. But does anyone know if the book was actually written, and if there's any chance it well ever be published?
I would like to read it, especially if it concludes the saga.
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January 8, 2010Fictionwise multiformat ebook
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January 9, 2010Fictionwise multiformat ebook
October 7, 2026
If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.
Fresh Insight: "New Celebrations" by Alexei Panshin
“You can take it as an axiom: celebrities who travel meet only fools, creeps, panhandlers, and climbers. People they would truly like to meet never have the bad taste to present themselves. The quality that makes them worth meeting automatically determines they will never be met.â€
In “New Celebrations: The Adventures of Anthony Villiers “ by Alexei Panshin
I bet you’d never thought of finding a passage like the one above in a SF novel, right?
I discovered this trilogy in the 80s when browsing my local library for some serious SF (i.e., neither with huge sections of bad exposition nor with info dumps). I wrote elsewhere a while back that these 3 novels are an acquired taste SF-wise - but that once you've acquired it, you have it for life. If you're not hooked at first on Villiers adventures, persevere, and you'll be so richly rewarded.
Fresh Insight: "New Celebrations" by Alexei Panshin
“You can take it as an axiom: celebrities who travel meet only fools, creeps, panhandlers, and climbers. People they would truly like to meet never have the bad taste to present themselves. The quality that makes them worth meeting automatically determines they will never be met.â€
In “New Celebrations: The Adventures of Anthony Villiers “ by Alexei Panshin
I bet you’d never thought of finding a passage like the one above in a SF novel, right?
I discovered this trilogy in the 80s when browsing my local library for some serious SF (i.e., neither with huge sections of bad exposition nor with info dumps). I wrote elsewhere a while back that these 3 novels are an acquired taste SF-wise - but that once you've acquired it, you have it for life. If you're not hooked at first on Villiers adventures, persevere, and you'll be so richly rewarded.
February 7, 2022
The 3 Villiers books are rare gems. 50 years later they are as funny and as thought-provoking as when they were written. Adventure, absurdity, romance and philosophic commentary in a future universe.
Imagine a cross of Terry Pratchett, Oscar Wilde, Jack Vance, and Barry Hughart. How many books make you laugh out loud when there is no one to hear you
Imagine a cross of Terry Pratchett, Oscar Wilde, Jack Vance, and Barry Hughart. How many books make you laugh out loud when there is no one to hear you
February 3, 2020
Stopping to smell the roses of life can cause complications in the Universal strings. Life is indeed short so eating dessert first is an appropriate religion for many.
June 20, 2011
I heard of this book from Maureen at her blog, Aliens in This World and when I suddenly had to go out of town, I indulged in my favorite stress-relieving activity ... book buying. Albeit on the Kindle, where this book waited handily in my private wish list.
It is a trilogy following the adventures of Anthony Villiers, not quite a lord and not quite a rogue, but definitely a gentleman. He has been not quite outcast by his family and travels around the known universe which is quite large. Unfortunately, the money his family send to travel with is often not awaiting him when he arrives at his destinations which puts him continually in financial straits.
As he travels, with alien friend Torve the Trog (who I fell in love with almost immediately), Villiers encounters various adventures. All of this is told amusingly by an omniscient narrator who occasionally will drop into the story to make direct comments to the reader.
Star Well, the first of the trilogy, which dealt with smuggling, young ladies en route to boarding school, and duels, among other things. The Thurb Revolution, the second book, made me laugh especially because of the camping motif and the unlikeliness of the people who are leaders in the local equivalent of Boy Scouts. The third book, Masque World, was my favorite with Villiers and Torve landing on a planet with a strict set of rules for who can be there in the summer versus the winter. They arrive at the height of the winter celebration which lends itself to all sorts of misunderstandings and subsequent illuminations for various characters.
These stories aren't really deep and don't have a "big idea" but they are very entertaining. As well, they have enough complexity that I can see them being perfect for rereading with great pleasure at the extra details that one now understands after having been through the story before. My only regret is that the promised fourth book was never written.
An excellent overview of this trilogy, the characters, the author, and each book, awaits you at Strange Horizons where the reviewer doesn't drop any spoilers and manages to partially quote some of my favorite passages thus far.
It is a trilogy following the adventures of Anthony Villiers, not quite a lord and not quite a rogue, but definitely a gentleman. He has been not quite outcast by his family and travels around the known universe which is quite large. Unfortunately, the money his family send to travel with is often not awaiting him when he arrives at his destinations which puts him continually in financial straits.
As he travels, with alien friend Torve the Trog (who I fell in love with almost immediately), Villiers encounters various adventures. All of this is told amusingly by an omniscient narrator who occasionally will drop into the story to make direct comments to the reader.
Star Well, the first of the trilogy, which dealt with smuggling, young ladies en route to boarding school, and duels, among other things. The Thurb Revolution, the second book, made me laugh especially because of the camping motif and the unlikeliness of the people who are leaders in the local equivalent of Boy Scouts. The third book, Masque World, was my favorite with Villiers and Torve landing on a planet with a strict set of rules for who can be there in the summer versus the winter. They arrive at the height of the winter celebration which lends itself to all sorts of misunderstandings and subsequent illuminations for various characters.
These stories aren't really deep and don't have a "big idea" but they are very entertaining. As well, they have enough complexity that I can see them being perfect for rereading with great pleasure at the extra details that one now understands after having been through the story before. My only regret is that the promised fourth book was never written.
An excellent overview of this trilogy, the characters, the author, and each book, awaits you at Strange Horizons where the reviewer doesn't drop any spoilers and manages to partially quote some of my favorite passages thus far.
May 31, 2012
This convenient volume contains three novels that I've reviewed separately: Star Well, The Thurb Revolution, and Masque World. The series as a whole has a firm place among my favourites; I mainly wish that Panshin had been able to add at least one more novel to it.
October 28, 2014
Comedy of manners across the galactic empire.
Sublime.
Sublime.
February 16, 2020
Three in one version of the trilogy. I do like Villiers as a character and love his pal.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews