The Jewels of Aptor (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Samuel R. Delany
- First Published: 1962
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction—post-holocaust
- Time of Work: The thirty-sixth century
- Setting: Leptar and Aptor, two nations of a future Earth
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction, Apocalyptic and catastrophe fiction
- Subjects: Future, Gods or goddesses, Kidnapping, Earth, Metamorphosis or transmogrification, Precious metals or stones, Gems, Rescue, Talisman or magical object
- Locales: Earth, alternate versions of
The Plot
The Jewels of Aptor, Samuel Delany’s first novel, opens with a poet and scholar named Geo and his sailor friend Urson wandering the docks of Leptar, a nation existing fifteen hundred years after a massive atomic war. Geo and Urson are looking for work on a ships crew. Snake, a four-armed mutant, steals Geo’s purse. Snake flees, but the sharp voice of the priestess Argo stops him. She is standing on the gangplank of a nearby ship, and she makes Snake give back Geo’s purse. While questioning Snake, she discovers that he possesses a milky pearl, a match to...
[The entire page is 1004 words long]
