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The Jewels of Aptor (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)

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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...

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