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Ortog
These two classic French fantasy novels, written in 1960 and 1969, star Knight-Navigator Dal Ortog of Galankar who lives on a 50th century Earth where space travel cohexists with a medieval society. First, Ortog is sent by Sopharch Karella to the far reaches of space to find a cure for the slow death that is killing humanity after a devastating interplanetary war. Ortog returns with a cure, but too late to save his love, Karella's daughter, Kalla. In the sequel, Ortog and his friend, Zoltan Charles Henderson de Nancy, embark on a quest through the dimensions of Death to find Kalla's soul and bring her back to Earth. "Kurt Steiner" is the pseudonym of André Ruellan, one of France's best-known science fiction and horror writers, as well as one of its most distinguished film writers. Brian M. Stableford has been a professional writer since 1965. He has published more than 60 science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as several authoritative non-fiction books.
- GenresScience Fiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
17 people want to read
About the author
Kurt Steiner
239 books5 followersPseudonym of André Ruellan
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1972 for his novel "Ortog et les tenebres".
Winner of the ESFS Awards in 1972 for his novel "Ortog et les tenebres".
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 26, 2010
Consider this three stars with a bonus star for the curiosity factor. Or maybe I just like the idea of knights on spaceships.
Contains a pair of novels from the 1960s: "The Arms of Ortog" and "Ortog and the Darkness" (and yes, he does attack it.) The plots are contrived and the copy-editing left a lot to be desired, but occasional flashes of weird brilliance occur, especially in the second novel when Ortog uses an experimental "spacecraft" to explore the after-life and find his dead lover's soul.
Imagine R.A. Salvatore with a heavy helping of Jean-Paul Sartre doing a pastiche of Michael Moorcock's "Eternal Champion" with a side order of Milton lavishly sprinkled with the myth of Eurydice.
Contains a pair of novels from the 1960s: "The Arms of Ortog" and "Ortog and the Darkness" (and yes, he does attack it.) The plots are contrived and the copy-editing left a lot to be desired, but occasional flashes of weird brilliance occur, especially in the second novel when Ortog uses an experimental "spacecraft" to explore the after-life and find his dead lover's soul.
Imagine R.A. Salvatore with a heavy helping of Jean-Paul Sartre doing a pastiche of Michael Moorcock's "Eternal Champion" with a side order of Milton lavishly sprinkled with the myth of Eurydice.
May 5, 2023
Page 251, Black Coat Press Edition: ‘Somewhere in the succession of nested universes, Ortog’s double was sailing in quest of the person whose shadow he was.’
The above is a quote from the novel Ortog and the Darkness, the second novel in the book called Ortog - the first being titled Ortog’s Arms. So, two books in one. Or, given the nature of Ortog and the Darkness, one book plus one transcendental experience. Yes, I’m saying Ortog and the Darkness is the novel that improves my rating of Ortog’s increasingly (practically by the page!) headbending exploits. Not that Ortog’s Arms is something bad - but given that the follow-up arrived about nine years later, it’s clear that the author was ready to dare head bending trips beyond the limits of space opera, or science fantasy. He had also discovered his inner visionary, only hinted at in parts of Ortog’s Arms.
This is billed as Science Fantasy, a medieval society existing way the hell up there in the 50th century. But I would say, don’t read this looking for an emphasis on medieval society stuff; yeah, it’s there…but the far future has picked up medievalism, shaken it around and dropped it into a future blender. More and more this felt like a Science Fiction novel, not a Fantasy work. The spiritual quests for knowledge, and the split between church and science (still?!) - not to mention characters strictly divided into knights, priests, herdsmen and so forth - suggest a much earlier era somehow resurrected in the far future; but add telepaths, hideous hybrids, starships, and humanity’s state after a “Blue War” some centuries earlier. The most depressing development: human life expectancy, after expanding, has started to shorten again. In Ortog’s Arms, Ortog seeks the reason and a cure. This leads to a rather strange space-opera-ish adventure, where, after the reader has got used to the various classes and factions of humanity, it is in fact the splinter groups and sub-factions who emerge to affect events - especially the backstabbers, zealots, and side-switchers. Sudden death is everywhere. Oh, and the future weapons are definitely NOT medieval.
By the end of Ortog’s Arms (1960), you can sort of see what’s coming; rousing adventure has led to Steiner’s version of a “Star Child” - the Embryo - and doors of perception are flying off hinges.
With Ortog and the Darkness (1969), we embark with Ortog on a quest like no other. Well, initially, it’s a little like some others; I’m always intrigued by tales where flesh-and-blood humans find a way to cross into the realm of the dead. Ortog and his staunchest ally use bodacious 50th century, kinda magical, technology to enter Death’s dimension…and the result is a very sophisticated version of the multiverse as a process of ascension, with shadow selves, fourth and fifth dimensional beings insulted by our “flatness”, and some of the weirdest landscapes and space-scapes I have ever been dragged through. A pit stop by Ortog near a void bubble near a sun leads to a quick chat with the supreme being, who is trying to deal with the humbling idea of joining a larger consciousness…; it’s just that kind of book.
Even if the second novel packed into this book called Ortog had caused me to rise up and give the whole thing 5 stars, I wouldn’t do it. The fact is, this book has a crazy amount of typos, as does every book I have sampled from the publisher. And, as you are on the verge of entering the 5th dimension, or whatever’s off to the right of it, everything is so disorienting and unrecognizable already, that the last thing you want to have to try and spot is another typo. It should never get to “is that a word to describe something I can barely conceive of in the 5th dimension, or is that a misprint?”. Okay, it doesn’t quite get that bad, but in this dimension pricey books should have less typos, not more.
Nevertheless, this was a strange pair of 50th century quests I must recommend - especially what goes on in the second half. The author injects a new drug into the tropes of two genres, and pushes it all through a scary, mind-expanding hole.
The above is a quote from the novel Ortog and the Darkness, the second novel in the book called Ortog - the first being titled Ortog’s Arms. So, two books in one. Or, given the nature of Ortog and the Darkness, one book plus one transcendental experience. Yes, I’m saying Ortog and the Darkness is the novel that improves my rating of Ortog’s increasingly (practically by the page!) headbending exploits. Not that Ortog’s Arms is something bad - but given that the follow-up arrived about nine years later, it’s clear that the author was ready to dare head bending trips beyond the limits of space opera, or science fantasy. He had also discovered his inner visionary, only hinted at in parts of Ortog’s Arms.
This is billed as Science Fantasy, a medieval society existing way the hell up there in the 50th century. But I would say, don’t read this looking for an emphasis on medieval society stuff; yeah, it’s there…but the far future has picked up medievalism, shaken it around and dropped it into a future blender. More and more this felt like a Science Fiction novel, not a Fantasy work. The spiritual quests for knowledge, and the split between church and science (still?!) - not to mention characters strictly divided into knights, priests, herdsmen and so forth - suggest a much earlier era somehow resurrected in the far future; but add telepaths, hideous hybrids, starships, and humanity’s state after a “Blue War” some centuries earlier. The most depressing development: human life expectancy, after expanding, has started to shorten again. In Ortog’s Arms, Ortog seeks the reason and a cure. This leads to a rather strange space-opera-ish adventure, where, after the reader has got used to the various classes and factions of humanity, it is in fact the splinter groups and sub-factions who emerge to affect events - especially the backstabbers, zealots, and side-switchers. Sudden death is everywhere. Oh, and the future weapons are definitely NOT medieval.
By the end of Ortog’s Arms (1960), you can sort of see what’s coming; rousing adventure has led to Steiner’s version of a “Star Child” - the Embryo - and doors of perception are flying off hinges.
With Ortog and the Darkness (1969), we embark with Ortog on a quest like no other. Well, initially, it’s a little like some others; I’m always intrigued by tales where flesh-and-blood humans find a way to cross into the realm of the dead. Ortog and his staunchest ally use bodacious 50th century, kinda magical, technology to enter Death’s dimension…and the result is a very sophisticated version of the multiverse as a process of ascension, with shadow selves, fourth and fifth dimensional beings insulted by our “flatness”, and some of the weirdest landscapes and space-scapes I have ever been dragged through. A pit stop by Ortog near a void bubble near a sun leads to a quick chat with the supreme being, who is trying to deal with the humbling idea of joining a larger consciousness…; it’s just that kind of book.
Even if the second novel packed into this book called Ortog had caused me to rise up and give the whole thing 5 stars, I wouldn’t do it. The fact is, this book has a crazy amount of typos, as does every book I have sampled from the publisher. And, as you are on the verge of entering the 5th dimension, or whatever’s off to the right of it, everything is so disorienting and unrecognizable already, that the last thing you want to have to try and spot is another typo. It should never get to “is that a word to describe something I can barely conceive of in the 5th dimension, or is that a misprint?”. Okay, it doesn’t quite get that bad, but in this dimension pricey books should have less typos, not more.
Nevertheless, this was a strange pair of 50th century quests I must recommend - especially what goes on in the second half. The author injects a new drug into the tropes of two genres, and pushes it all through a scary, mind-expanding hole.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews