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The Fall of the Towers #1
Out of the Dead City
La trilogia di Samuel R. Delany: "La caduta delle torri", viene presentata integralmente, per la prima volta in Italia, dalla Longanesi & C. La versione originale è divisa nei seguenti titolo: "La città morta", "Le torri di Toron" e "La città dei ttà dei Mille Soli". Dopo il primo, anche gli altri, fedelmente tradotti, verranno pubblicati entro pochi mesi in questa collana. Il ciclo, nella sua completezza, è stato paragonato da critici e scrittori alla "Fondazione" di Asimov e a "Dune" di Herbert e costituisce, dunque, un autentico classico della fantascienza
173 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1963
13 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
About the author
Samuel R. Delany
305 books2,257 followersSamuel Ray Delany, also known as "Chip," is an award-winning American science fiction author. He was born to a prominent black family on April 1, 1942, and raised in Harlem. His mother, Margaret Carey Boyd Delany, was a library clerk in the New York Public Library system. His father, Samuel Ray Delany, Senior, ran a successful Harlem undertaking establishment, Levy & Delany Funeral Home, on 7th Avenue, between 1938 and his death in 1960. The family lived in the top two floors of the three-story private house between five- and six-story Harlem apartment buildings. Delany's aunts were Sadie and Bessie Delany; Delany used some of their adventures as the basis for the adventures of his characters Elsie and Corry in the opening novella Atlantis: Model 1924 in his book of largely autobiographical stories Atlantis: Three Tales.
Delany attended the Dalton School and the Bronx High School of Science, during which he was selected to attend Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. Delany and poet Marilyn Hacker met in high school, and were married in 1961. Their marriage lasted nineteen years. They had a daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany (b. 1974), who spent a decade working in theater in New York City.
Delany was a published science fiction author by the age of 20. He published nine well-regarded science fiction novels between 1962 and 1968, as well as several prize-winning short stories (collected in Driftglass [1971] and more recently in Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories [2002]). His eleventh and most popular novel, Dhalgren, was published in 1975. His main literary project through the late 1970s and 1980s was the Return to Nevèrÿon series, the overall title of the four volumes and also the title of the fourth and final book.
Delany has published several autobiographical/semi-autobiographical accounts of his life as a black, gay, and highly dyslexic writer, including his Hugo award winning autobiography, The Motion of Light in Water.
Since 1988, Delany has been a professor at several universities. This includes eleven years as a professor of comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a year and a half as an English professor at the University at Buffalo. He then moved to the English Department of Temple University in 2001, where he has been teaching since. He has had several visiting guest professorships before and during these same years. He has also published several books of criticism, interviews, and essays. In one of his non-fiction books, Times Square Red, Times Square Blue (1999), he draws on personal experience to examine the relationship between the effort to redevelop Times Square and the public sex lives of working-class men, gay and straight, in New York City.
In 2007, Delany was the subject of a documentary film, The Polymath, or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman. The film debuted on April 25 at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Delany attended the Dalton School and the Bronx High School of Science, during which he was selected to attend Camp Rising Sun, the Louis August Jonas Foundation's international summer scholarship program. Delany and poet Marilyn Hacker met in high school, and were married in 1961. Their marriage lasted nineteen years. They had a daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany (b. 1974), who spent a decade working in theater in New York City.
Delany was a published science fiction author by the age of 20. He published nine well-regarded science fiction novels between 1962 and 1968, as well as several prize-winning short stories (collected in Driftglass [1971] and more recently in Aye, and Gomorrah, and other stories [2002]). His eleventh and most popular novel, Dhalgren, was published in 1975. His main literary project through the late 1970s and 1980s was the Return to Nevèrÿon series, the overall title of the four volumes and also the title of the fourth and final book.
Delany has published several autobiographical/semi-autobiographical accounts of his life as a black, gay, and highly dyslexic writer, including his Hugo award winning autobiography, The Motion of Light in Water.
Since 1988, Delany has been a professor at several universities. This includes eleven years as a professor of comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a year and a half as an English professor at the University at Buffalo. He then moved to the English Department of Temple University in 2001, where he has been teaching since. He has had several visiting guest professorships before and during these same years. He has also published several books of criticism, interviews, and essays. In one of his non-fiction books, Times Square Red, Times Square Blue (1999), he draws on personal experience to examine the relationship between the effort to redevelop Times Square and the public sex lives of working-class men, gay and straight, in New York City.
In 2007, Delany was the subject of a documentary film, The Polymath, or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman. The film debuted on April 25 at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
June 11, 2021
Out of the Dead City is a very early novel by Delany; it was his second published book, and was the first volume of his Fall of the Towers trilogy. (And before anyone asks, there's no connection to Tolkien.) It's a standard science fiction adventure plot-wise, but is very well written by the standards of Ace paperbacks of 1963. It's set in a post-apocalypse far future, far enough ahead that it has a fantasy world feel to it. Some of the pursuit scenes have a dream-like feel, as well. There's a pleasing cast of complex characters, and we get a good look at the economics and politics of their society without slowing the action. The ending is a bit abrupt, as if he ran out of room and had to start volume two before the first part of the story really ended, but I enjoyed the read very much. It reminded me more of the work of Jack Vance than anything else.
September 27, 2019
Very early Delany, so by his standards fairly normative. But otherwise a decent early-new-wave sci-fi about the economic and social underpinnings of what would, in most contemporaneous sci-fi, be the unanalyzed core of the action. Nicely takes that one further by setting up the plot and letting it move off-screen to focus instead on one character's moral education in a forest far from the central plotlines, and then striking its climax in an expansive parallelism of worlds that goes so far as to include conflicting equations for oscillations in the gas envelope of a star. This was published when he was 21.
December 11, 2015
Delaney's second novel. He had a ways to go. It's imaginative, well-plotted, and filled with good dialog and engaging characters. But the expository prose can be clumsy, and he had not yet received the memo on the use of the word "suddenly."
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February 25, 2021Compared to the reputation Delany would later gain, this starts out as fairly straight SF, in all senses, to the extent it almost feels like a megamix – a techno-feudalist society which has grown up in the generations after the Great Fire, menaced by a mysterious enemy from beyond the ancient radiation barrier; slightly implausible mutant atavisms; another world, lit by two suns; unimaginably powerful alien races, obliged because of some plot to act through human agents. Yes, there are already hints of subversion creeping in – like the malcontents muttering that the war is more about dealing with the surplus population left destitute by automation whose benefits accrue only to the wealthy (and thank goodness this is only science fiction, right, kids? As also the extent to which the price of fish affects the fate of nations...). And a sly understanding of the possibilities and limitations of language – as when, in fairly short succession, we get '"All right. We'll leave the rest to the men" – there was the gentlest contempt in the word "men" that italics would be too strong to convey' set against, from a representative of another faction, '"You know already that the men" – and there was a slight awe in the word "men" that block letters would not quite suggest'. But even in this revised version, you can see how the economics and quizzical asides could easily have passed unnoticed among readers who were just up for the giants in the wilderness, the daring kidnap plot (which to be fair, does have a beautiful heist construction), and the post-post-apocalyptic derring-do. And fair play to them; for a writer's early effort, in the genre's early-ish days, it's not bad. But as the story progresses, once it knows the reader is on the hook, it gradually gets odder and odder; the scene transitions start to feel more new wave, strange maths starts to play more of a part, and the characters start transitioning through genders, species, whole orders of being. By the time some of the leads have become sexy gender-fluid moss, there's the sensation that yes, this book was Delany in the process of becoming, and here he has arrived.
December 26, 2025
I recently read Babel-17 and was blown away by it. So I tried something from earlier in Delany's career. Captives of the Flame is his second published novel, originally one part of an Ace-Double in 1963. It was an interesting read - his skill with language is obvious, and there are some memorable scenes. But overall, I found the book somewhat confused and confusing. There is a large cast, but whenever one gets interested in one character, there is a change of scenery and an extension of the cast. The world-building is likewise inconsistent - the world feels like a mixture of Forgotten Realms and RoboCop. And to confuse things further, just when most of the building blocks of the story seem to be in place, it is revealed that some of the protagonists are controlled by a threesome of (benevolent?) ancient extrauniversal beings that are fighting an (malevolent?) ancient intrauniversal being similarly controlling some person one radiation dome over...
Delaney was a powerful writer even in 1963, but it seems that his skills in constructing and keeping together a proper storyline were still developing. I'm not regretting reading this, and I'll go on and read Empire Star in the near future, but I would not call this one a must-read.
Delaney was a powerful writer even in 1963, but it seems that his skills in constructing and keeping together a proper storyline were still developing. I'm not regretting reading this, and I'll go on and read Empire Star in the near future, but I would not call this one a must-read.
February 28, 2020
Captives of the Flame was the second novel by SFWA grand master Samuel R. Delany. It is a hard book to describe. I have thought about it for days, and still struggle to do it justice. At least I can say it was for me an enjoyable experience, and a cut above average 1960s sci fi.
Captives of the Flame is a sci fi adventure story. It is set in the far future, on another planet thousands of years after war knocked it out of interplanetary society. The Empire of Toromon is preparing for war against a mysterious enemy from beyond the radiation barrier. But not all is as it seems. The enemy has been and continues to be manipulated by a malevolent higher power - the Lord of the Flames - and rival powers have chosen a plucky band of heroes to avert war and drive the Lord of the Flames away.
The story has some of the common failings of sci fi of the era. The characters are thin. They adequately fill roles in the plot, but they are far from complex people. They seemed so similar to each other as well; their dialogue sounds the same, their reactions seem identical, their motivations (as far as they have motivations) are almost indistinguishable. The story has some jumps in logic to keep the plot moving too, and generous exposition dumps. All of these flaws are familiar to the genre, but they keep Captives of the Flame from standing out like the rest of Delany’s work.
Delany does some interesting things with the writing, though. The story is told in lots of short scenes with little connective tissues. It’s almost as if the reader is meant to feel an impression of plot progression between vignettes. Sometimes one scene seems to start with the end of another scene, but from a different perspective (one scene has a couple of characters practicing acrobatics, and a later scene starts with a character seeing them and continuing onto his scene). I appreciated the artistic touch. It gave me a sense of overlapping threads, of pieces on a massive chess set, of manipulation from on high before that suspicion was confirmed in the story.
There is a section about Toron immediately after the declaration of war, and it is a beautiful satire of bureaucracy. It is the sort of comedy of errors that reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams. It was unexpected, and I sorely wish more of the book had that sense of humor.
The last act of Captives of the Flame is a trip. I am still not entirely clear what happened. It seemed to be a metaphysical chase scene across different lifeforms and planets. The heroes somehow inhabit complex moss and musical notes and who know what else as they pursue the Lord of the Flames. I do not know how it started. I do not know why the bad guy ran. It is a strange ride I wish was put to film in the style of the tunnel scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Sadly, Captives of the Flame is not a complete story. It stops abruptly without real resolution. Part of that is because it was the first part of one of those Ace doubles. Part of that is because it is the beginning of a trilogy. I expect that the sequels follow the characters and plot threads in this book.
Captives of the Flame is not Delany’s best work by any means. It was light weight, low impact entertainment. Unlike most sci fi pulp from the era, I think it is still worth a read if you’re in the mood. I enjoyed listening to it. If I run into the sequels, I would be happy to finish the story.
CHARACTER LIST (abridged)
Captives of the Flame is a sci fi adventure story. It is set in the far future, on another planet thousands of years after war knocked it out of interplanetary society. The Empire of Toromon is preparing for war against a mysterious enemy from beyond the radiation barrier. But not all is as it seems. The enemy has been and continues to be manipulated by a malevolent higher power - the Lord of the Flames - and rival powers have chosen a plucky band of heroes to avert war and drive the Lord of the Flames away.
The story has some of the common failings of sci fi of the era. The characters are thin. They adequately fill roles in the plot, but they are far from complex people. They seemed so similar to each other as well; their dialogue sounds the same, their reactions seem identical, their motivations (as far as they have motivations) are almost indistinguishable. The story has some jumps in logic to keep the plot moving too, and generous exposition dumps. All of these flaws are familiar to the genre, but they keep Captives of the Flame from standing out like the rest of Delany’s work.
Delany does some interesting things with the writing, though. The story is told in lots of short scenes with little connective tissues. It’s almost as if the reader is meant to feel an impression of plot progression between vignettes. Sometimes one scene seems to start with the end of another scene, but from a different perspective (one scene has a couple of characters practicing acrobatics, and a later scene starts with a character seeing them and continuing onto his scene). I appreciated the artistic touch. It gave me a sense of overlapping threads, of pieces on a massive chess set, of manipulation from on high before that suspicion was confirmed in the story.
There is a section about Toron immediately after the declaration of war, and it is a beautiful satire of bureaucracy. It is the sort of comedy of errors that reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams. It was unexpected, and I sorely wish more of the book had that sense of humor.
The last act of Captives of the Flame is a trip. I am still not entirely clear what happened. It seemed to be a metaphysical chase scene across different lifeforms and planets. The heroes somehow inhabit complex moss and musical notes and who know what else as they pursue the Lord of the Flames. I do not know how it started. I do not know why the bad guy ran. It is a strange ride I wish was put to film in the style of the tunnel scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Sadly, Captives of the Flame is not a complete story. It stops abruptly without real resolution. Part of that is because it was the first part of one of those Ace doubles. Part of that is because it is the beginning of a trilogy. I expect that the sequels follow the characters and plot threads in this book.
Captives of the Flame is not Delany’s best work by any means. It was light weight, low impact entertainment. Unlike most sci fi pulp from the era, I think it is still worth a read if you’re in the mood. I enjoyed listening to it. If I run into the sequels, I would be happy to finish the story.
CHARACTER LIST (abridged)
December 31, 2016
It has been about five hundred years since the Great Fire wiped out the old civilizations. On the island of Toron, however, enough humans and records survived to begin again. A settlement became a village became a town became a city. And when the people of Toron regained the ability to sail the sea, they found a fairly large section of the mainland was still livable, though the people living there were relatively primitive, and proximity to radiation had created two mutant races, the short neo-Neanderthals and tall forest guards.
The people of Toron were able to dominate the mainlanders, and became the Toromon Empire; but by the standards of history, it was a small empire. A belt of deadly radioactive land cut off further expansion on the land, and dangerous currents likewise circumscribed oceanic exploration. To increase their scientific knowledge and study the radioactive death belt, the Empire built a new city nearer to it, Telphar. But not too long after it was constructed, the radioactive area expanded to include Telphar, making it a dead city.
Now the Toromon Empire has air vehicles powered by tetron metal, and has tried flying them over the radioactive barrier–but something is making the engines fail. It’s becoming more obvious that there is someone on the other side of the barrier, someone that certain government officials want to go to war with. But none of them are in the small group of people who know the truth about The Lord of the Flames.
This was Mr. Delany’s second published novel (see my review of The Jewels of Aptor,) and the first of The Fall of the Towers trilogy. (I’ll be following up with the rest at a later date.) This is revised from its earlier publication, as Mr. Delany explains in an author’s note for the trilogy. He thinks it an improvement, but decided not to meddle further after that.
There are a lot of characters for what is a pretty short novel, and it takes a while to work out which ones are important (some come more into focus in later volumes.) Mr. Delany seems to have noticed this, at one point telling the reader to remember a name, and at another point letting us know that another character will play no further role in the story.
Eventually, it shakes out that our male lead is Jon Koshar, a merchant’s son who has escaped from the tetron mines, where he was sentenced for a crime he most assuredly did commit. (The person who instigated the crime refused to come forward and Jon was honor-bound not to expose him.) Jon has come too close to Telphar, and been changed. He is now in communication with a disembodied intelligence known as the Triple Being, which has made him resistant to radiation at the cost of becoming transparent in low light.
It seems that Earth has now become part of the battleground between the Triple Being and their enemy, The Lord of the Flames. The Lord meddles with less evolved beings by puppeteering one of them, evidently for its own amusement, while the Triple Being tries to drive it off while causing the minimum of disruption to the hosts’ civilizations. The being currently being possessed by The Lord of the Flames is behind the strange things happening around the radiation belt, and Jon and the other two humanoids contacted by the Triple Being must stop it.
Since the struggle is happening simultaneously at multiple points in space-time, this involves some trippy scenes where the protagonists inhabit alien bodies for short periods.
There’s also some relatively mundane action going on, such as the abduction of the empire’s heir presumptive, and a series of business competition actions that result in “accidental” mass poisoning.
For 1963, the novel comes off as surprisingly non-sexist beyond the typical occupations of men and women. Content note: there’s a short torture scene.
With so many plot threads, several of which are still dangling at the end of the story (thus the trilogy), this novel feels overstuffed and sometimes lacks focus. As a standalone, it’s a bit lacking, so check back next year for my opinion of the complete product.
The people of Toron were able to dominate the mainlanders, and became the Toromon Empire; but by the standards of history, it was a small empire. A belt of deadly radioactive land cut off further expansion on the land, and dangerous currents likewise circumscribed oceanic exploration. To increase their scientific knowledge and study the radioactive death belt, the Empire built a new city nearer to it, Telphar. But not too long after it was constructed, the radioactive area expanded to include Telphar, making it a dead city.
Now the Toromon Empire has air vehicles powered by tetron metal, and has tried flying them over the radioactive barrier–but something is making the engines fail. It’s becoming more obvious that there is someone on the other side of the barrier, someone that certain government officials want to go to war with. But none of them are in the small group of people who know the truth about The Lord of the Flames.
This was Mr. Delany’s second published novel (see my review of The Jewels of Aptor,) and the first of The Fall of the Towers trilogy. (I’ll be following up with the rest at a later date.) This is revised from its earlier publication, as Mr. Delany explains in an author’s note for the trilogy. He thinks it an improvement, but decided not to meddle further after that.
There are a lot of characters for what is a pretty short novel, and it takes a while to work out which ones are important (some come more into focus in later volumes.) Mr. Delany seems to have noticed this, at one point telling the reader to remember a name, and at another point letting us know that another character will play no further role in the story.
Eventually, it shakes out that our male lead is Jon Koshar, a merchant’s son who has escaped from the tetron mines, where he was sentenced for a crime he most assuredly did commit. (The person who instigated the crime refused to come forward and Jon was honor-bound not to expose him.) Jon has come too close to Telphar, and been changed. He is now in communication with a disembodied intelligence known as the Triple Being, which has made him resistant to radiation at the cost of becoming transparent in low light.
It seems that Earth has now become part of the battleground between the Triple Being and their enemy, The Lord of the Flames. The Lord meddles with less evolved beings by puppeteering one of them, evidently for its own amusement, while the Triple Being tries to drive it off while causing the minimum of disruption to the hosts’ civilizations. The being currently being possessed by The Lord of the Flames is behind the strange things happening around the radiation belt, and Jon and the other two humanoids contacted by the Triple Being must stop it.
Since the struggle is happening simultaneously at multiple points in space-time, this involves some trippy scenes where the protagonists inhabit alien bodies for short periods.
There’s also some relatively mundane action going on, such as the abduction of the empire’s heir presumptive, and a series of business competition actions that result in “accidental” mass poisoning.
For 1963, the novel comes off as surprisingly non-sexist beyond the typical occupations of men and women. Content note: there’s a short torture scene.
With so many plot threads, several of which are still dangling at the end of the story (thus the trilogy), this novel feels overstuffed and sometimes lacks focus. As a standalone, it’s a bit lacking, so check back next year for my opinion of the complete product.
August 17, 2014
On the future Earth of an indeterminate time, mankind has been reduced to living in a small coastal area clustered about the island nation of Toramon. On one side, they are bounded by ocean and on the other a radiation barrier. The government of Toramon is preparing to make war against a mysterious force that lives beyond the barrier, but it has become clear to some that the real purpose behind the proposed war is tied to the economic problems and population pressures of the kingdom. Who is living beyond the barrier and what kind of understanding can be reached with them?
This is a truly schizophrenic novel. The first two thirds are brilliant. Samuel R. Delany introduces a fascinating and complex culture. His large cast of characters is drawn from all levels of society, and he handles them very skillfully. By the end of the book, though, it seems clear that this was never intended to be a self-contained story. The questions that drive the narrative and motivate the characters are left unanswered, and events sort of peter out inconclusively. Since this is the first part of a trilogy, it is reasonable to assume that these questions will be answered later. At that time, I may revise my opinion of this book.
This is a truly schizophrenic novel. The first two thirds are brilliant. Samuel R. Delany introduces a fascinating and complex culture. His large cast of characters is drawn from all levels of society, and he handles them very skillfully. By the end of the book, though, it seems clear that this was never intended to be a self-contained story. The questions that drive the narrative and motivate the characters are left unanswered, and events sort of peter out inconclusively. Since this is the first part of a trilogy, it is reasonable to assume that these questions will be answered later. At that time, I may revise my opinion of this book.
October 28, 2018
Typical early 1960s science fiction.
"The Empire of Toromon had finally declared war. The attacks on its planes had been nothing compared to the final insult—the kidnapping of the Crown Prince. The enemy must be dealt with, and when they were, Toromon would be able to get back on its economic feet."
Add to this a radiation barrier that leaves a people isolated and an enemy called the Lord of the Flames and you're set up for epic battles and other fun geeky stuff.
This is considered the first of a trilogy, but quite honestly it didn't impress me enough to continue. None of the characters stood out for me and apart from an interesting contrast between the rich and the poor, the plot was fairly generic. There's also a mock-Arthurian Fantasy element in the young prince being kidnapped to be trained among the forest guardians to be a good king so the elements of a good story are there, but I found my mind wandering as I read. Somehow it just didn't grip me.
Very much a thing of its time.
"The Empire of Toromon had finally declared war. The attacks on its planes had been nothing compared to the final insult—the kidnapping of the Crown Prince. The enemy must be dealt with, and when they were, Toromon would be able to get back on its economic feet."
Add to this a radiation barrier that leaves a people isolated and an enemy called the Lord of the Flames and you're set up for epic battles and other fun geeky stuff.
This is considered the first of a trilogy, but quite honestly it didn't impress me enough to continue. None of the characters stood out for me and apart from an interesting contrast between the rich and the poor, the plot was fairly generic. There's also a mock-Arthurian Fantasy element in the young prince being kidnapped to be trained among the forest guardians to be a good king so the elements of a good story are there, but I found my mind wandering as I read. Somehow it just didn't grip me.
Very much a thing of its time.
December 17, 2018
It hadn't occurred to me when I re-read this back in 2007 how similarly to Dhalgren this novel begins. Both with disoriented characters who seem suddenly to appear where they are: one who remains disoriented for the duration of the book and fucks a tree; the other who, well, doesn't.
There seem to be a number of parallels with other of Delany's works, some of which parallels I previously noticed and some that I hadn't until now: names spelled forward and backward (wait a sec: is there a connection between Quorl and Lorq?), acrobatics (is Alter the 'the Spike' of this novel? Though Alter isn't faced with nearly as much bullshit [i.e., Bron] - or really any at all), a female character of unique intelligence and ability (Clea reminds me of Rydra and maybe even the young Argo), etc.
As for the story, I enjoyed it just as much as I did when I first read it in February, 2004. I'm glad that the book stands up to both time and scrutiny. And this Centipede Press edition is fabulous.
There seem to be a number of parallels with other of Delany's works, some of which parallels I previously noticed and some that I hadn't until now: names spelled forward and backward (wait a sec: is there a connection between Quorl and Lorq?), acrobatics (is Alter the 'the Spike' of this novel? Though Alter isn't faced with nearly as much bullshit [i.e., Bron] - or really any at all), a female character of unique intelligence and ability (Clea reminds me of Rydra and maybe even the young Argo), etc.
As for the story, I enjoyed it just as much as I did when I first read it in February, 2004. I'm glad that the book stands up to both time and scrutiny. And this Centipede Press edition is fabulous.
January 28, 2014
Reconozco que en varias partes de este libro he practicado la lectura diagonal. No es que esté mal, la historia es interesante, pero la manera en que está narrado me estaba poniendo bastante nerviosa. Hasta unas 26 páginas después no tenía ni idea de qué me estaba contando (mi edición tenía poco más de 100 asi que llegar hasta la 100 sin tener ni una ubicación realmente consistente es un gran fallo para mí).
Los personajes eran interesantes aunque no me han generado empatía ni sentimientos así de tener ganas de saber más de ellos.
Si sigo leyendo la trilogía además, por dificil que sea, lo haré en inglés sin duda alguna porque parte de lo que me ponía nerviosa del estilo creo que era la traducción.
Los personajes eran interesantes aunque no me han generado empatía ni sentimientos así de tener ganas de saber más de ellos.
Si sigo leyendo la trilogía además, por dificil que sea, lo haré en inglés sin duda alguna porque parte de lo que me ponía nerviosa del estilo creo que era la traducción.
February 12, 2019
4/10. Media de los 11 libros leídos del autor: 3/10
Hasta 11 libros llegué a leerme de Delany...Eran los tiempos en que de chaval no tienes un duro y lees todo lo que cae en tus manos de CF...y de restos de ediciones. Y ya veis que el resultado fue bastante deplorable, pero si juntas mi ilusión desmedida -en esa época- por el género + no tener un duro + comprar todo lo que pillaba de CF a precio de saldo, pues dio para tragarme muchos tostones que hoy no leería ni de coña.
Jajaja, con este 4/10 igual es uno de los suyos que mas me hayan gustado.
Hasta 11 libros llegué a leerme de Delany...Eran los tiempos en que de chaval no tienes un duro y lees todo lo que cae en tus manos de CF...y de restos de ediciones. Y ya veis que el resultado fue bastante deplorable, pero si juntas mi ilusión desmedida -en esa época- por el género + no tener un duro + comprar todo lo que pillaba de CF a precio de saldo, pues dio para tragarme muchos tostones que hoy no leería ni de coña.
Jajaja, con este 4/10 igual es uno de los suyos que mas me hayan gustado.
September 2, 2021
This is definitely on the pulpier side of Delany’s bibliography. I feel like the last ~20% of it was written high.
And despite what the reviews say, the forest only is in one of the 12 chapters of the book, so this one unfortunately needs to get axed from the book bingo plan.
Book bingo 2021: first contact (I guess) and a very very brief mention of a trans person (brief that I wouldn't consider it for the square at all)
This, along with some of Delany's earlier work, is freely available through Project Gutenburg.
And despite what the reviews say, the forest only is in one of the 12 chapters of the book, so this one unfortunately needs to get axed from the book bingo plan.
Book bingo 2021: first contact (I guess) and a very very brief mention of a trans person (brief that I wouldn't consider it for the square at all)
This, along with some of Delany's earlier work, is freely available through Project Gutenburg.
February 26, 2020
This is one of Samuel Delany's earliest books, as he wrote it when he was no younger than 21. While nowhere on the level as "The Einstein Intersection" or "Nova", "Out of the Dead City" is at least interesting. I wager I'd be more impressed if I read if after "Einstein..." yet I can still see many of Delany's creative thumbprints as an author here.
There are many ways where "Out of the Dead City" feels ahead of its time: Setting is a post-apocalyptic Earth with feudal societies and several species of post-human mutants that fulfil the roles of elves and dwarves, as well as H. P. Lovecraft-style eldritch abominations being analogous to deities with a benevolent one giving a human character supernatural powers. The result is a weird mix of science-fiction and heroic fantasy tropes but combined in a more mature way than say "Flash Gordon" - this book came out two years before "Dune" remember. The plot is also rather complex with several parallel storylines involving characters from different social classes and different cultures that eventually converge, this allows Delany to elegantly take a "show not tell" approach to worldbuilding I quite appreciate especially in a book with as complicated a fictional universe as this. There are some rather memorable mental images that Delany creates here that still stay with me, that I can easily imagine as a panel in a comic book by Moebius or Mezieres.
On one level it's impressive that Delany has created such a complex and fast-moving story that still moves at a fast pace despite the convoluted plot, and blends different genres so seamlessly. On one hand, I felt like it tries too much in too short time and not all of the different plot threads that eventually converge are interesting enough to be exciting so this one did not "wow" me the same way as Delany's later books did.
There are many ways where "Out of the Dead City" feels ahead of its time: Setting is a post-apocalyptic Earth with feudal societies and several species of post-human mutants that fulfil the roles of elves and dwarves, as well as H. P. Lovecraft-style eldritch abominations being analogous to deities with a benevolent one giving a human character supernatural powers. The result is a weird mix of science-fiction and heroic fantasy tropes but combined in a more mature way than say "Flash Gordon" - this book came out two years before "Dune" remember. The plot is also rather complex with several parallel storylines involving characters from different social classes and different cultures that eventually converge, this allows Delany to elegantly take a "show not tell" approach to worldbuilding I quite appreciate especially in a book with as complicated a fictional universe as this. There are some rather memorable mental images that Delany creates here that still stay with me, that I can easily imagine as a panel in a comic book by Moebius or Mezieres.
On one level it's impressive that Delany has created such a complex and fast-moving story that still moves at a fast pace despite the convoluted plot, and blends different genres so seamlessly. On one hand, I felt like it tries too much in too short time and not all of the different plot threads that eventually converge are interesting enough to be exciting so this one did not "wow" me the same way as Delany's later books did.
June 12, 2013
On the future Earth of an indeterminate time, mankind has been reduced to living in a small coastal area clustered about the island nation of Toramon. On one side, they are bounded by ocean and on the other a radiation barrier. The government of Toramon is preparing to make war against a mysterious force that lives beyond the barrier, but it has become clear to some that the real purpose behind the proposed war is tied to the economic problems and population pressures of the kingdom. Who is living beyond the barrier and what kind of understanding can be reached with them?
This is a truly schizophrenic novel. The first two thirds are brilliant. Samuel R. Delany introduces a fascinating and complex culture. His large cast of characters is drawn from all levels of society, and he handles them very skillfully. By the end of the book, though, it seems clear that this was never intended to be a self-contained story. The questions that drive the narrative and motivate the characters are left unanswered, and events sort of peter out inconclusively. Since this is the first part of a trilogy, it is reasonable to assume that these questions will be answered later. At that time, I may revise my opinion of this book.
This is a truly schizophrenic novel. The first two thirds are brilliant. Samuel R. Delany introduces a fascinating and complex culture. His large cast of characters is drawn from all levels of society, and he handles them very skillfully. By the end of the book, though, it seems clear that this was never intended to be a self-contained story. The questions that drive the narrative and motivate the characters are left unanswered, and events sort of peter out inconclusively. Since this is the first part of a trilogy, it is reasonable to assume that these questions will be answered later. At that time, I may revise my opinion of this book.
September 30, 2020
I met Delaney long ago. I'd read some and not all of his work and been impressed and awed. Then life got in the way and I stopped reading...just about everything not related to my work.
I picked up Captives of the Flame remembering the joy I had reading his work from long ago. Yes, that same verbal flair that flared his writing is obvious and makes for an enjoyable read.
But the world-building is scattered, not smoothly offered and not integrated into the storytelling. The characters seem shallow to me because I'm not given a reason to care about them.
The story has a lot going for it, not enough for me to recommend it to others.
I picked up Captives of the Flame remembering the joy I had reading his work from long ago. Yes, that same verbal flair that flared his writing is obvious and makes for an enjoyable read.
But the world-building is scattered, not smoothly offered and not integrated into the storytelling. The characters seem shallow to me because I'm not given a reason to care about them.
The story has a lot going for it, not enough for me to recommend it to others.
May 30, 2014
Above-average early work from Delaney. Ultimately suffers from trying to cram too many ideas into a short work, resulting in a certain degree of confusion in the concluding section.
March 1, 2021
I'm rating these individually because even though I have the omnibus volume, I read the first two more or less back to back and don't think I will be returning to the finale for a long while yet. Delany is such a superb writer, and the fact he was writing with as much style here in his early 20s is proof of his artistic power in itself. But this book, to me, is representative of that gently manic quality of all SF writing that puts me off the genre so often. There seems to be too much energy devoted to dreaming up some new species or technological invention or superpower possessed by a character, and all this on every page, until the reader's head is basically spinning. Not because it's necessarily difficult to keep track of such things, but, frankly, who cares? I generally shy away from fantasy because it seems like it does this to an even greater degree, and almost always at the expense of some human or literary quality to the work.
In this series, Delany takes on the 60s and particularly the fucking fiasco that was Vietnam. He does these things pretty well. The city of Toron is a passable futuristic imitation of New York City, and the completely insane paranoia and political overreach of Toron's leadership is nicely boiled down from ditto in American politics. But the shortness of this book was only a minor mercy, because I just couldn't get into it at all. I just finished reading The Motion of Light in Water earlier this month, and thought it was stupendous and brilliant, and I guess in the aftermath of such a work, Delany's juvenilia doesn't have as much appeal.
In this series, Delany takes on the 60s and particularly the fucking fiasco that was Vietnam. He does these things pretty well. The city of Toron is a passable futuristic imitation of New York City, and the completely insane paranoia and political overreach of Toron's leadership is nicely boiled down from ditto in American politics. But the shortness of this book was only a minor mercy, because I just couldn't get into it at all. I just finished reading The Motion of Light in Water earlier this month, and thought it was stupendous and brilliant, and I guess in the aftermath of such a work, Delany's juvenilia doesn't have as much appeal.
May 10, 2018
This short novel/long novella is a solid piece of Delany juvenilia. It fits into the pulp scifi of the fantastical sort like John Carter of Mars and similar, but it's a little bit more high-concept in places. Those are actually the weak parts, because I guess Delany hadn't really gotten the hang of how to communicate his weird ideas yet. The action adventure parts are lots of fun. I would have loved to read a whole book about the prince among the forest people, but unfortunately that's not what the story focuses on.
You can get this book for free at Project Gutenberg because it's gone out of copyright. It's definitely worth reading if you like classic pulp scifi.
You can get this book for free at Project Gutenberg because it's gone out of copyright. It's definitely worth reading if you like classic pulp scifi.
May 9, 2022
Entertaining listening
listened to this novella as part of the First Scenice Fiction Megapack. I would highly recommend this novella to readers of fantasy novels. Enjoy the adventure of all kinds of books. 2022
listened to this novella as part of the First Scenice Fiction Megapack. I would highly recommend this novella to readers of fantasy novels. Enjoy the adventure of all kinds of books. 2022
June 13, 2023
Imaginative, intelligent and surprisingly funny, Delaney pens a new wave sci-fi tale with a golden age touch and a strong examination (although perhaps unsubtle) of the socio-economic setting of 60s. Some very strange narrative choices stop it from being a true classic of its time.
January 7, 2025
So many cool things to say about Delany, except this book is too concise. All I did was read the character's confusion over and over again. I never could fill in the blanks for any of the portions that were m--dashed away--.
I just felt lost the whole way through.
I just felt lost the whole way through.
March 20, 2019
Delany blew my mind when I read him as a teenager back in the late 60's. I devoured his work.
June 24, 2019
I didn’t like the characters, the plot, or the writing.
February 28, 2021
It’s really more of a 3.5. Imaginative world building, but like a lot of early Delany there are big jumps between concrete and abstract that are a little unsatisfying.
May 29, 2022
Very aesthecally pleasing but lacks solid writing.
Enjoyable quick read.
Enjoyable quick read.
December 18, 2024
Delany's second. Not there yet, but the climax was fun
April 23, 2025
3.5 stars really, a little inconsistent but when it's brilliant it's breathtaking
November 8, 2014
“They fought with worlds as their weapons
THREE AGAINST INFINITY. The Empire of Toromon had finally declared war. The attacks on its planes had been nothing compared to the final insult – the kidnapping of the Crown Prince. The enemy must be dealt with, and when they were, Toromon would be able to get back on its economic feet. But how would the members of this civilization – one of the very few who had survived the great fire – get beyond the deadly radiation barrier, behind which the enemy lay? And assuming they got beyond the barrier, how would they deal with that enemy – the Lord of the Flames – whose very presence was unknown to the people among whom he lived.
SAMUEL R. DELANY considers Captives of the Flame to be the first of a trilogy dealing with the same epoch and characters. It is, however, his second published novel, his first being The Jewels of Aptor, Ace Book F-173, which has received considerable acclaim.
A young man, resident in New York City, Delany is a prolific and talented writer, whose work in poetry and prose have won him many awards. Asked for comment on his literary ambitions, he preferred to quote one of the characters from one of his works:
"I wanted to wield together a prose luminous as twenty sets of headlights flung down a night road; I wanted my words tinged with the green of mercury vapor street lamps seen through a shaling of oak leaves in the park past midnight. I needed phrases that would break open like thunder, or leave a brush as gentle as willow boughs passed in a dark room.... The finest writing is always the finest delineation of surfaces."
Blurbs and bio from the 1963 F-199 paperback edition
The original trilogy - as published by Ace - was set in the same universe as 'The Jewels of Aptor' but was later revised for republication. This is a review of the original publication.
On a post apocalyptic Earth, in a feudal realm, several characters' fates are entwined.
The realm is bounded by the sea and borders of deadly radiation.
There is Jon who, imprisoned for a minor infraction against the palace, has escaped. Tel is a young refugee from an abusive family who is employed in a complex plot to kidnap the young Prince, Let. Alter is another of the kidnappers who teaches Tel and Let some of her acrobatic tricks. We also have the soldier Tomar, Jon's sister Clea, the Duchess Petra and Arkor (one of the mutant humans who have become the Forest Guardians).
The ultimate aim of the kidnapping is to have the young prince taken away from the restrictive life of The Palace and trained by the Forest Guardians in the hope that such training will make him a decent king.
Meanwhile the government is preparing to wage war on the land beyond the radiation barrier, an enemy unseen and unknown.
Three of the protagonists, however, are possessed by the minds of extra-terrestrial beings and only together can they resist the true enemy beyond the barrier, the Lord of The Flames.
There is a Dickensian quality to this in which the lives of the pampered rich are contrasted with the lives of the poor. It's a very romanticised tale, however, avoiding some of the horrors of stark poverty and homelessness.
Although it is not complete Science Fantasy, there are Fantasy conventions creeping in, such as the Feudalistic society, the evil Queen Mother and the concept of Royalty itself with all its trappings.
Where it succeeds is in the characterisations which, sometimes slightly stylised and caricatured, manage to raise the tale to a higher level.
The sequel is 'The Towers of Toron'
THREE AGAINST INFINITY. The Empire of Toromon had finally declared war. The attacks on its planes had been nothing compared to the final insult – the kidnapping of the Crown Prince. The enemy must be dealt with, and when they were, Toromon would be able to get back on its economic feet. But how would the members of this civilization – one of the very few who had survived the great fire – get beyond the deadly radiation barrier, behind which the enemy lay? And assuming they got beyond the barrier, how would they deal with that enemy – the Lord of the Flames – whose very presence was unknown to the people among whom he lived.
SAMUEL R. DELANY considers Captives of the Flame to be the first of a trilogy dealing with the same epoch and characters. It is, however, his second published novel, his first being The Jewels of Aptor, Ace Book F-173, which has received considerable acclaim.
A young man, resident in New York City, Delany is a prolific and talented writer, whose work in poetry and prose have won him many awards. Asked for comment on his literary ambitions, he preferred to quote one of the characters from one of his works:
"I wanted to wield together a prose luminous as twenty sets of headlights flung down a night road; I wanted my words tinged with the green of mercury vapor street lamps seen through a shaling of oak leaves in the park past midnight. I needed phrases that would break open like thunder, or leave a brush as gentle as willow boughs passed in a dark room.... The finest writing is always the finest delineation of surfaces."
Blurbs and bio from the 1963 F-199 paperback edition
The original trilogy - as published by Ace - was set in the same universe as 'The Jewels of Aptor' but was later revised for republication. This is a review of the original publication.
On a post apocalyptic Earth, in a feudal realm, several characters' fates are entwined.
The realm is bounded by the sea and borders of deadly radiation.
There is Jon who, imprisoned for a minor infraction against the palace, has escaped. Tel is a young refugee from an abusive family who is employed in a complex plot to kidnap the young Prince, Let. Alter is another of the kidnappers who teaches Tel and Let some of her acrobatic tricks. We also have the soldier Tomar, Jon's sister Clea, the Duchess Petra and Arkor (one of the mutant humans who have become the Forest Guardians).
The ultimate aim of the kidnapping is to have the young prince taken away from the restrictive life of The Palace and trained by the Forest Guardians in the hope that such training will make him a decent king.
Meanwhile the government is preparing to wage war on the land beyond the radiation barrier, an enemy unseen and unknown.
Three of the protagonists, however, are possessed by the minds of extra-terrestrial beings and only together can they resist the true enemy beyond the barrier, the Lord of The Flames.
There is a Dickensian quality to this in which the lives of the pampered rich are contrasted with the lives of the poor. It's a very romanticised tale, however, avoiding some of the horrors of stark poverty and homelessness.
Although it is not complete Science Fantasy, there are Fantasy conventions creeping in, such as the Feudalistic society, the evil Queen Mother and the concept of Royalty itself with all its trappings.
Where it succeeds is in the characterisations which, sometimes slightly stylised and caricatured, manage to raise the tale to a higher level.
The sequel is 'The Towers of Toron'
September 26, 2016
Didn't finish
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