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le Chasch (Planet of Adventure #1)

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 390 ratings · 27 reviews

Un signal de détresse, intercepté par le vaisseau spatial Explorateur IV, provient de la lointaine planète Tschaï. Adam Reith, chargé d'examiner de plus près la provenance des radiations, est attaqué tandis que son astronef est détruit.
Capturé par les Hommes-Emblèmes, Adam est traité comme un esclave. Il apprend que, sur Tschaï, vivent des êtres étranges, résultat du crois...more

Published (first published 1968)

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Aug 02, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

_The Chasch_ (originally published as _City of the Chasch_) is sort of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars as envisioned by Jack Vance. It is an entertaining Planetary Romance tale (or Sword & Planet if you prefer that designation) that describes the adventures of Adam Reith, Earthman and sole survivor of the Explorator IV a starship that is destroyed by unknown forces while in orbit above the planet Tschai. Reith is a Scout, meaning that he is a Jack-of-all-Trades uniquely equipped for...more _The Chasch_ (originally published as _City of the Chasch_) is sort of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars as envisioned by Jack Vance. It is an entertaining Planetary Romance tale (or Sword & Planet if you prefer that designation) that describes the adventures of Adam Reith, Earthman and sole survivor of the Explorator IV a starship that is destroyed by unknown forces while in orbit above the planet Tschai. Reith is a Scout, meaning that he is a Jack-of-all-Trades uniquely equipped for survival in a hostile and alien environment. Good thing too, since Tschai is a world in turmoil that will throw everything it has at Reith.

Once the basics of mere survival are attained Reith begins to explore this strange new world and finds a menagerie of aliens and apparent humanity locked in endless and fruitless struggle. Vance displays his typically deft hand with the painting of bizarre cultures that spell out the various ways in which human (and alien) nature can be twisted by convention and assumptions into nearly unrecognizable forms. The planet seems to have once belonged to the mysterious Pnume and their insane kin the Phung in ages past. Now these creatures are rarely seen and only then as shadowy figures in the distance watching the current denizens of the world from their underground tunnels. The Chasch, who apparently ‘conquered’ the Pnume, are lizard men of three varieties: Old, Blue and Green, who war amongst themselves as much as with everyone else. The final waves of conquest were led by the Dirdir, a race of warlike, though apparently highly cultured aliens, and the Wannek (in the original publication the unfortunately named Wankh) an as yet unseen group of aliens. Each of these alien races displays varying degrees of high technology (they are apparently still space-faring) mixed with elements of antiquated, even barbarian culture (swords, armour, monarchical governments, etc.) Mixed in with these alien races is an innumerable array of human offshoots: some are client races to the existing aliens, thus the Chaschmen, Dirdirmen, Pnumekin and Wannekmen who seemed to have been genetically and cosmetically modified to display some of the physical characteristics of their masters and who each think that they are the ‘true’ human race derived in some way from their ‘parent’ alien race. In addition to these client human races are the various ‘barbarians’ who give fealty to no aliens, but tend to live in very degraded circumstances. All of these races on Tschai are seemingly intent upon killing each other, though none of them wish to upset the current balance of power and thus restrict themselves to small battles and bandit raids…none of the races is quite powerful enough to completely overpower the others and each of the aliens is capable of dealing a death blow to the planet should anyone attempt to overrun them.

Reith is the wild card thrust into this scenario. A typically competent and dry-witted Vance hero, he is both perplexed and aghast at the existence of so degraded an example of humanity on this planet and while he initially intends only to find his stolen space boat and return to earth he soon becomes embroiled in the local conflicts and decides that he must help his estranged and enslaved kinsmen. Along the way he will of course fall in with some allies who are impressed by his competence, technological know-how and ability to lead and meets the requisite alien princess in need of his assistance. I especially enjoyed Vance’s various cultures (esp. the fascinating Emblem Men whose culture is determined by the totemic signets they wear and which give the men a unique identity and motivation, the reality of these emblems is left somewhat mysterious…is it real or only a figment in the minds of the people enslaved by this ideology?) Vance’s signature ornate language was on somewhat less display than I had expected, and had hoped for, though certain characters did exhibit it. All in all this was an enjoyable adventure story with a little bit extra, but I wasn’t left gasping for more at the end. I will likely eventually continue the “Planet of Adventure” series, of which this is the first book, but I still think that Vance’s “Lyonesse” trilogy is his best work.(less)

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Nov 01, 2011 Dirk Grobbelaar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

After having read his ‘Tales of the Dying Earth’ featuring the scoundrel Cugel (The Dying Earth) this shouldn’t have come as such a great surprise, but I loved this book. They certainly don’t make them like this anymore. The City of the Chasch is the marvellously bizarre first book in a series that is called, in some cases, ‘The Planet of Adventure’, and in other cases, the ‘Tschai’ series. It owes a lot to the pulps and in particular to Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter / Mars / Barsoom series...more After having read his ‘Tales of the Dying Earth’ featuring the scoundrel Cugel (The Dying Earth) this shouldn’t have come as such a great surprise, but I loved this book. They certainly don’t make them like this anymore. The City of the Chasch is the marvellously bizarre first book in a series that is called, in some cases, ‘The Planet of Adventure’, and in other cases, the ‘Tschai’ series. It owes a lot to the pulps and in particular to Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter / Mars / Barsoom series even if it is a much edgier read than the latter. This tale sets itself apart from the typical golden age pulp by being published in the late sixties, at a time when Science Fiction was becoming more realistic and cynical by the day, and the gritty edge of both plot and presentation attests to that.

A survey team is sent to investigate a signal that is received from a planet 212 light years from earth. Things don’t end well for them. The sole survivor, a scout, crash-lands his ship on the planet. This all happens more or less on the first page, just to get the formalities out of the way before the story can get going. And what a story it is! I am not sure why some reviewers think Vance is a bad writer. I, fortunately, side with the folk who sing his praise. It’s slightly off-beat to be sure and he doesn’t beat around the bush unnecessarily, but it’s all good. Like any other pulp hero worth his coiffure our protagonist sets out to kick some buttock and obtain information, so to speak. The main concern for the protagonist is getting back his space ship, which has been ‘confiscated’, if you will, by some locals, but before long various other considerations come into play. It soon becomes clear that there is much, much more to this story than first glance suggested.

The imagery is provocative, vivid and atmospheric, with locales ranging from windy steppes and ruined cities to dark critter infested jungles. The multitudes of peoples, races, creatures and species that inhabit the planet are an absolute delight, despite their tendency towards malice.
This is the kind of thing that Vance is really good at. The violence is suitably abrupt and the world-building is wonderful. The treatment of female characters is perhaps not so politically correct, but everything else seems to come together perfectly, especially the dry, witty dialogue. This little book truly brims with energy and I look forward to reading the other three books in the series. If they’re half this good, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

It is a rare treat, this, but you really have to read it to get the idea. It really is that good. Although a sense of humour and the ability to take things a little less than serious does help. And look at that cover. Just look at it!

Like me, however, you’ll have to settle for the omnibus edition (Planet of Adventure) as the individual books are out of print.(less)

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May 23, 2012 Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first introduction to Jack Vance, whom I'd heard of but never read. It was quite an enjoyable book. I would imagine that to enjoy this story you have to know to take it lightly & be up to having a light, fun read. Nothing too serious, nothing that tugs the heartstrings, nothing overly complicated or so beautifully written you have to re-read certain passages. This was just a plain, but fantastic, adventure featuring a most unlikely hero named Reith. Vance wrote this long ago & it read...more My first introduction to Jack Vance, whom I'd heard of but never read. It was quite an enjoyable book. I would imagine that to enjoy this story you have to know to take it lightly & be up to having a light, fun read. Nothing too serious, nothing that tugs the heartstrings, nothing overly complicated or so beautifully written you have to re-read certain passages. This was just a plain, but fantastic, adventure featuring a most unlikely hero named Reith. Vance wrote this long ago & it reads as such: an old fashioned adventure set in another planet. Old cartoons or TV shows you watched as a kid come to mind when you read this & maybe it's this nostalgia that makes this book fun in a different way from novels written today. Reith was such a fun hero to read about, mostly because he's not exactly hero material. He's a bit selfish & naive, but almost in a childlike way so you can't dislike him. The situations he finds himself in are very humorous & he seems to escape them by an equal combination of luck & skill. I found myself shaking my head in amused disbelief at all of Reith's antics. I don't suppose delicate sorts would like this much as there is sudden, violent spurts, and if you're easily offended by the old fashioned way in which women are depicted (think cartoons where females with coke bottle figures, scantly clad, helplessly wait for the hero to save them & have less brains than a turkey) then you might not like this book much. If you take it for what it is however, it's quite amusing. And Jack Vance did think up a great world here. All the different species & creatures are described in detail & paint a great picture as you read along & despite the fact that I'm sure I'm pronouncing loads of the words he has invented wrongly, his imagination is inspiring. In fact, having read him now I'm sure he has inspired other sci-fi writers out there. I'm glad I have the 3 other books in this series to read as I'm sure Reith, the clumsy swashbuckler, is just getting started. (less)

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Apr 14, 2013 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Written in 1968, City of the Chasch is the first book of four that comprises Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure series. This definitely has the feel of pulp-action orientated Sf, often cited resembling that of the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom. Myself, I often kept imagining the origial Star Trek series, but with a much more humble Capt. Kirk. The story situates around the tale of Adam Reith, a planetary scout and survivor of a doomed spaceship, The Explorator IV. For unexplainable reas...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Wilsontherocker rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction

This is the Sci-Fi version of Swords and Sorcery. Call it "Blasters and Technology". It's adventure, with a plot that stitches together narrow escape to narrow escape. Adam Reith is stranded on the planet Tschai, where humans are enslaved by several alien races, and dammit, he just wants to go back home to Earth. But he's gotta enlist the help of primitively tribal and pathetically enslaved humans to help him do it. Not that they'll help him much. Reith is constantly annoyed that he has to convi...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Agustín Fest rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aventura, fantasía, ciencia-ficción, comida-ligera, favorites, space-opera, novela

Uno de los pulp más elaborados que he leído. Claro... Tenía que ser Jack Vance cuya capacidad para crear héroes y montarlos en mundos total entes ajenos es incuestionable.

El libro tiene propuestas muy interesantes, como el grupo de humanos barbáricos cuya personalidad es dictada a través de unos emblemas que usan en el sombrero. El emblema es quien dicta su destino, así como personalidad y los enemigos que tendrán en el mismo clan. Es como el apellido pero un poco más severo. Los juegos crueles...more

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Sep 27, 2010 Matt Sears rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pulp, sci-fi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. “Someone sent distress signals to outer space from the planet Tschai. It was Adam Reith's misfortune to be sent from Earth to investigate. Because when his ship came close to Tschai, it was torpedoed... and Adam escaped to the surface with his life and nothing else.

“Tschai was a vast planet and previously unexplored. Adam, taken as slave by humans, learned that there were four other intelligent but non-human races dominant on that strange world. And to find the mystery of the distress call and t...more “Someone sent distress signals to outer space from the planet Tschai. It was Adam Reith's misfortune to be sent from Earth to investigate. Because when his ship came close to Tschai, it was torpedoed... and Adam escaped to the surface with his life and nothing else.

“Tschai was a vast planet and previously unexplored. Adam, taken as slave by humans, learned that there were four other intelligent but non-human races dominant on that strange world. And to find the mystery of the distress call and the vicious attack, he would have first to gain his freedom and then find a safe way to pass the city and the alien Chasch and their treacherous cousins, the Blue Chasch.

Jack Vance's Tschai novels are considered his masterwork, a constantly changing epic canvas of weird peoples, exotic lands, and surprising extra-terrestrial adventures.” –The Back Cover

Copyright 1968, my copy is a 1979 press. $1.75 cover price. 156 pages.

I got exactly what I was looking for when I picked up the first Tschai, Land of Adventure book—space travel, sword battles, colorful malevolent alien races, and plenty of beautiful women in need of rescue. The City of the Chasch is a very sixties sci-fi actioneer that fit perfectly with this blog, and was a nice reprieve from the massive amount of work being thrust at me from 9-5. I look forward to finding the other three books of the series, each of which follow a different alien race found on Tschai.

Adam Reith and Paul Waunder, scouts on an interplanetary expedition, are looking into a centuries old distress signal originating from a sector of unexplored space. Each is highly trained in survival on harsh planets, linguistics and the theory of language, and a number of combat methods. Unfortunately for Reith and Waunder, their mothership is destroyed as soon as they disembark for Tschai. All they see is a violet 'torpedo' of light before the ship explodes, which sends them on a crash course for Tschai's atmosphere.

Adam Reith then witnesses the gruesome death of his partner while suspended from a tree in his parachute, where he remains for days until some rather antagonistic, tribal humans cut him down and take him as a slave, but not until after he watches some blue chitinous aliens make off with his scout vessel.

It doesn't take long for the interplanetary scout to make out the common language of Tschai, which enables Reith to gain the trust of a few tribesman—notably their "Onmale" Traz, a sort of temporary chieftain, who helps him to escape to one of the trading caravans that travels from city to city.

The rest of the story is chock full of dangerous encounters with numerous hostile races of Tschai, who all seem to be at a stalemate in their perpetual warring, consequently taking out their frustrations on the scattered humans of the steppes. Reith meets most alien life by either lopping off a limb with a sword he picked up, shooting them full of holes with his 'needler,' or vaporizing them with the seemingly limitless power cell from his emergency pack.

One odd part of City of the Chasch involved a cult of females who burned off their breasts and were about to castrate Reith and have his space-babe raped by an ogre sized man, but that was the only hiccup in an otherwise very enjoyable story.

City of the Chasch is the first entry of the series, and reminds me strongly of The Suns of Scorpio by Alan Burt Akers, which was also a blast. I would recommend it to people who, like myself, are fans of completely implausible action-oriented science fiction.

From http://pulpaweek.blogspot.com/(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Plucino rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urania

"Colori, tessuti, profumi, lingue"

Quanti bei ricordi. Comprato (dalla mamma) e letto di nascosto nel 1971, "solo" 41 anni fa.

Il primo libro letto in assoluto, con un mese di sforzi (ma non riuscivo a terminare i libri per bambini).

Venendo alle informazioni utili per gli altri anobiani, questo libro, primo di una serie di 4 (che penso ora potete trovare comodamente rilegati in un tomo unico), contiene:
-la solita stupenda copertina di Karel Thole
-l'inizio dell'odissea di Adam Reith sul pianeta Ts...more

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Aug 27, 2009 Martinxo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, fiction, sci-fi

City of the Chasch is pure pulp, the characterisation paper-thin, as is the general story line. Having said that, it is a great read, I was not disappointed at all, quite the opposite. The novel grips from the opening and I’m now waiting impatiently for my next fill of the series.

I’m now looking forward to reading the next instalment in the adventure, the excellently titled ‘Servants of the Wankh’ (apparently, Vance was advised to change the title to ‘Servants of the Wannek‘ after the publishers...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Aeo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Había leído en general buenas críticas para los 4 libros que componen esta saga y debí haberlas leído por encima porque la verdad es que cuando arranqué con la historia no sabía muy bien qué me iba a encontrar. Esta se puede resumir en pocas palabras: aventuras imaginativas.

Aviso a navegantes: antes de empezar con estos libros debemos saber qué nos depara entre sus lineas. No podemos comenzar a leer esperando mucha profundidad en la historia, ni un gran desarrollo de los personajes, ya que nos...more

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May 29, 2012 Kevin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: space-opera

Here there be spoilers, or whatever.

I am not far into the Planet of Adventure saga, but I think it will be richly entertaining to read. Not since the Lensman books have I found a series so gleefully sincere in it's campiness. I hope other books by Vance are better, like, you know, legitimately well-written, but for the moment I am all but screaming with delight at the cartoonish antics of naive swashbuckler Adam Reith. Reith is without political correctness or, for that matter, regard for any o...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Derek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pulp-fantasy-library, sword-and-planet

The fun of the book is that Reith is adaptable, moral, and willing to become entangled in local problems, all of which is a recipe for adventure in the Vance mode. And as a bonus, he's pleasant to travel with, and not some grim antihero.

And of course there are all sorts of nice Vance tidbits, from the culture of the Emblem Men (where the person is merely the spiritual vehicle for the medallions they wear), to the sandblast guns (firing particulates at relativistic speeds), to the ways that the a...more

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Jan 13, 2009 Stéphanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

A partir d'une trame classique de science-fiction : un astronaute perdu sur une planète inconnue qui doit se sortir de cette situation en rencontrant une (ici plusieurs une par livre du cycle) civilisation extra-terrestre, Jack Vance nous conte un récit de voyage dont il a le secret. Lire ce livre, comme lire beaucoup d'autres oeuvres de Vance, revient à écouter une histoire fantastique de vieux loup de mer un soir au coin du feu. Un régal sans fin pour qui veut bien se laisser emporter.

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Mar 20, 2013 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A combination of Vance's unique writing style and the 'golden age of science fiction'! This is the sort of book that I cut my teeth on, having spent a lot of my teenage years reading sci fi such as this. It was quite nostalgic indeed. A lot of the other reviewers have given an indepth analsysis of the plot so I won't repeat it all over again but will be hunting down the further books in the 'Planet of Adventure' Series.

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Jul 10, 2009 Jmassa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction

I first read this about 30 years ago, but after recently coming across The Pnume (Tschai, 4), I decided to read the whole series through.

I love Vance's compressed, ironic, decorative prose, his "lapidary style" as one friend put it.

Aside from that, this is pure escapist fun: Meet quirkly alien, have funny dialogue. Meet dangerous alien, bash and run.

Can't wait to read the next installment.

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Sep 24, 2009 Tom Meade rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Strong, engaging Burroughs pastiche with a healthy dose of Cold War politics. Reading though Vance's stuff, it seems as though his books were all a part of a process of gradual refinement, as he slowly pinned-down his interests - picaresque plots; roguish, cynical heroes; lots of striding about on worlds crawling with genetically-modified sapients - and distilled them into a book which I have yet to read, and which may perhaps never have existed. I am starting to think I should go all Brian de P...more

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Feb 21, 2010 Mohammed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jack-vance, science-fantasy, sword-and-planet

Started as a fun,imaginative Sword and Planet adventure with the difference of the quality prose,world building,characters of Vance.

In the second half of the story it became a smart,different story.

Looking forward to read more of the challenges of Adam Reith in this world.

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Aug 09, 2009 Charles rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

The first in a four book series of Sword and planet type books. Pretty good. Definitely more strange than the average one. Very imaginative, although I wasn't overly enamored of the story line.

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Jan 30, 2013 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quite good universe, superb prose, excellent characters, surreal landscapes and real intense action plus subtle plot and satiric, and highly critical content,

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Aug 19, 2012 Karla Caloca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Me gusta como escribe Jack Vance, al inicio parrecia aburrido pero luego la historia no te deja despegarte.

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Apr 07, 2012 Il Futuro è tornato added it · review of another edition

Ne abbiamo parlato sul blog nell'articolo sul planetary romance:

http://wp.me/p29Hyy-2w

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Jul 21, 2011 Michael T rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

but is a poor writer. Vance is a great worldbuilder but his characters are flat, and is writing is sub par to say the least.

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Mar 29, 2013 Andrew J rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jack-vance

Jack Vance continues to entertain me with each read.

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May 11, 2012 Peter rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I read this whole series - in the end I am not sure why

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Jun 02, 2008 jen8998 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the first book of a series in which I'd already read the next three. Unfortunately, this book wasn't as enjoyable since I knew one of the main characters wasn't going to make it out of the first chapter of the second book.

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Jan 12, 2009 Nicolas rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: extra-terrestres, world-opera, rayon-fantasy-et-sf

Je garde de ce cycle de roman le souvenir d'extra-terrestres aussi stupides que ceux de Brin, et d'un héros assez supérieur.

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Oct 12, 2008 Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: you know who you are

Just take a look at that cover!!
You all want to read it.

Ah, it lives up to the cover. I've started the search for the rest of the series.

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May 21, 2013 Tib Sou rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

May 21, 2013 Andreas Gehmeyr rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

May 20, 2013 Kevin Trainor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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About Jack Vance

Aka John Holbrooke Vance, Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Alan Wade.

The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, 'The Dying Earth', was published in 1950 to gr...more

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Books by Jack Vance

Tales of the Dying Earth: The Dying Earth/The Eyes of the Overworld/Cugel's Saga/Rhialto the Marvellous

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le Chasch (Planet of Adventure #1)

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