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The Totems of Abydos
On a primitive planet, the missing link may be the aliens living there in this novel of discovery and danger from the author of the Gorean Saga.
In a far-off future, two anthropologists—gross, powerful, dissolute Emilio Rodriguez, and aspiring, young, naïve Allan Brenner, who, unbeknownst to himself, carries ancient genes of a sort no longer welcome on Home World—have been assigned to conduct a study on Abydos, a deeply forested wilderness planet of little note whose only evidence of civilization is a single small, rough, dingy Company Station, a fueling station occasionally utilized by star freighters.
Within the forest, some days from Company Station, are the Pons, a group of small, simian‑type organisms that seem near the crossroads between animal and rational creature, between nature and culture. They would appear to constitute an ideal object of study with respect to the origins and foundations of civilization. How it came about, so to speak, that something once emerged from the lair, or cave, that was so radically different? What lies at the beginning?
The results of the study have already been politically prescribed on Home World, that the Pons are to shed light on humanity, that it is, in its original and unspoiled nature, polite, sweet, kind, deferent, diffident, social, noncompetitive, and innocent. Both Rodriguez and Brenner have a trait in common, however, which may explain why they have been sent—exiled, in a sense—to such an out‑of‑the‑way locale. Both seek the truth. They enter the forest.
In a far-off future, two anthropologists—gross, powerful, dissolute Emilio Rodriguez, and aspiring, young, naïve Allan Brenner, who, unbeknownst to himself, carries ancient genes of a sort no longer welcome on Home World—have been assigned to conduct a study on Abydos, a deeply forested wilderness planet of little note whose only evidence of civilization is a single small, rough, dingy Company Station, a fueling station occasionally utilized by star freighters.
Within the forest, some days from Company Station, are the Pons, a group of small, simian‑type organisms that seem near the crossroads between animal and rational creature, between nature and culture. They would appear to constitute an ideal object of study with respect to the origins and foundations of civilization. How it came about, so to speak, that something once emerged from the lair, or cave, that was so radically different? What lies at the beginning?
The results of the study have already been politically prescribed on Home World, that the Pons are to shed light on humanity, that it is, in its original and unspoiled nature, polite, sweet, kind, deferent, diffident, social, noncompetitive, and innocent. Both Rodriguez and Brenner have a trait in common, however, which may explain why they have been sent—exiled, in a sense—to such an out‑of‑the‑way locale. Both seek the truth. They enter the forest.
564 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 2012
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About the author
John Norman
99 books338 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
John Norman, real name John Lange, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1931. His best known works, the Gor series, currently span 36 books written 1966 (Tarnsman of Gor) to 2021 (Avengers of Gor). Three installments of the Telnarian Histories, plus three other fiction works and a non-fiction paperback. Mr. Norman is married and has three children.
John Norman, real name John Lange, was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1931. His best known works, the Gor series, currently span 36 books written 1966 (Tarnsman of Gor) to 2021 (Avengers of Gor). Three installments of the Telnarian Histories, plus three other fiction works and a non-fiction paperback. Mr. Norman is married and has three children.
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