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Coriolanus, the Chariot!
1st edition paperback, vg++
245 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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November 12, 2025Really a dreadful book, I read it many years ago but I wasn't sure I'd ever finished it. The premise that the rulers of the planet are characters out of Shakespeare was what I remembered the most.
July 20, 2019
I spent ten years as an editorial assistant on an edition of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, so it was pretty impossible that I'd see a book with a title like this and not buy it.
As the other reviews have said, the amount of rape in the book is startling, and something about it feels incomplete, like it's more of a novella than a novel. Still, as dystopian science fiction goes, I enjoyed it more than usual.
It's a typical future where humans from Earth have colonized the galaxy and lost their original homeworld. The focus is very narrow, though, specifically on an artificial planet called Thesbos where the governing Federation keeps all its actors and obligates them to make propaganda-styled entertainment. The appeal of acting retains its universal charm, and young people from all colonies arrive in droves hoping to pass trial and become plactors and plactresses.
Modern readers will be fairly alarmed at the casual abusive sex. All female questors are obligated to participate in "sexually submissive scenes" or be killed. On the flip side, male questors are merely required to engage in duels to the death with one another, or be killed. And while the brutality and detail of these rapes is worth a trigger warning, I think that the saving grace is this behavior is not presented in a positive fashion.
Perhaps because of the narrow focus--the ruling council of Thesbos and the young hopeful Petur--this book isn't like most dystopian novels. Everyone takes for granted "this is how things are" and they seem largely content; if they are slaves, they are in a gilded prison, and they are comfortable enough until death. Petur, however, after enduring the rigors of "exposure to all high emotions," is scarred and aghast at the reality of his boyhood dream. Petur responds with humanity to the inhuman conditions around him, and, after he is forced to endure being raped as a woman, he even has a natural woman's response to it. In fact, the rape occurs because his female character declines consensual sex due to the fact that her male coworkers will no longer see her as a doctor but as a sex object. When you contrast I Will Fear No Evil (published 10 years after this), which voices ostensibly female thoughts that are casual about rape and unconcerned about being seen or used as a sexual object by men, I think Coriolanus the Chariot comes out well ahead.
It is a tragedy, like the original Coriolanus, but also like the original, it ends with the hope--or at least the determination--that society is set to change, and that whatever the hero has suffered, he will usher in a new era where the previously taken-for-granted horrors will become unheard of.
Ultimately, I enjoyed it, found it more or less aligned with Shakespeare's writings, and was able to accept the rape and sexual content because the protagonist and the author do not seem to condone it. It could have been far less detailed, however!
As the other reviews have said, the amount of rape in the book is startling, and something about it feels incomplete, like it's more of a novella than a novel. Still, as dystopian science fiction goes, I enjoyed it more than usual.
It's a typical future where humans from Earth have colonized the galaxy and lost their original homeworld. The focus is very narrow, though, specifically on an artificial planet called Thesbos where the governing Federation keeps all its actors and obligates them to make propaganda-styled entertainment. The appeal of acting retains its universal charm, and young people from all colonies arrive in droves hoping to pass trial and become plactors and plactresses.
Modern readers will be fairly alarmed at the casual abusive sex. All female questors are obligated to participate in "sexually submissive scenes" or be killed. On the flip side, male questors are merely required to engage in duels to the death with one another, or be killed. And while the brutality and detail of these rapes is worth a trigger warning, I think that the saving grace is this behavior is not presented in a positive fashion.
Perhaps because of the narrow focus--the ruling council of Thesbos and the young hopeful Petur--this book isn't like most dystopian novels. Everyone takes for granted "this is how things are" and they seem largely content; if they are slaves, they are in a gilded prison, and they are comfortable enough until death. Petur, however, after enduring the rigors of "exposure to all high emotions," is scarred and aghast at the reality of his boyhood dream. Petur responds with humanity to the inhuman conditions around him, and, after he is forced to endure being raped as a woman, he even has a natural woman's response to it. In fact, the rape occurs because his female character declines consensual sex due to the fact that her male coworkers will no longer see her as a doctor but as a sex object. When you contrast I Will Fear No Evil (published 10 years after this), which voices ostensibly female thoughts that are casual about rape and unconcerned about being seen or used as a sexual object by men, I think Coriolanus the Chariot comes out well ahead.
It is a tragedy, like the original Coriolanus, but also like the original, it ends with the hope--or at least the determination--that society is set to change, and that whatever the hero has suffered, he will usher in a new era where the previously taken-for-granted horrors will become unheard of.
Ultimately, I enjoyed it, found it more or less aligned with Shakespeare's writings, and was able to accept the rape and sexual content because the protagonist and the author do not seem to condone it. It could have been far less detailed, however!
May 3, 2017
This is one of those books in the Planet of Assholes genre of SF and can't make up its mind as to whether its serious or camp, so it fails at being both and is just awful.
Jack Vance has a lot to answer for.
Jack Vance has a lot to answer for.
January 1, 2020
Megan's review is quite in-depth and I think gives a good perspective on the story. If you're going to read only one review of this book, make it hers.
I quite enjoyed the book. As the other reviews noted, the graphic and violent sexuality is shocking and a recurrent element in the story, so this is certainly not the book to read if one is put off by such things.
I picked the book up because Coriolanus is my favorite play by Shakespeare so I was curious how this was related. The book is full of theatricality and Shakespeare references. While the connection to Coriolanus itself is rather weak some limited parallels could perhaps be read in at a stretch.
Overall, I felt this book was a perfect fit for me because I enjoy theater, especially Shakespeare, and I really liked the intersection between theater and sci fi here. The only weaknesses of the book I found were a couple minor inconsistencies which weren't central to the plot and that the world was rather limited (that is, outside world was essentially static and had no interaction to the events in the book). For that I'd rate it as 4.5 out of 5 but rounding up as very little would I truly rate 5 out of 5. Character development was good and interesting; the world and setup were fascinating; and the action carried well.
I do feel rather twisted for having enjoyed the book, especially in the context of how much right-minded people disliked it, but it is, of course, only fiction.
I quite enjoyed the book. As the other reviews noted, the graphic and violent sexuality is shocking and a recurrent element in the story, so this is certainly not the book to read if one is put off by such things.
I picked the book up because Coriolanus is my favorite play by Shakespeare so I was curious how this was related. The book is full of theatricality and Shakespeare references. While the connection to Coriolanus itself is rather weak some limited parallels could perhaps be read in at a stretch.
Overall, I felt this book was a perfect fit for me because I enjoy theater, especially Shakespeare, and I really liked the intersection between theater and sci fi here. The only weaknesses of the book I found were a couple minor inconsistencies which weren't central to the plot and that the world was rather limited (that is, outside world was essentially static and had no interaction to the events in the book). For that I'd rate it as 4.5 out of 5 but rounding up as very little would I truly rate 5 out of 5. Character development was good and interesting; the world and setup were fascinating; and the action carried well.
I do feel rather twisted for having enjoyed the book, especially in the context of how much right-minded people disliked it, but it is, of course, only fiction.
March 8, 2017
I picked this up while looking for old Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I mostly grabbed it for the exclamation point in the title. That's a bold move, after all. What I didn't expect was all the rape.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews