What do you think?
Rate this book
Messenger of Zhuvastou: A Traditional Sword and Sorcery Novel
“Great entertainment of epic scope” – Poul Anderson
An outcast, beleaguered and betrayed. Now, he will live again…
In a future where the people of Earth have managed to somewhat unite under hegemonic governments, the universe has at last been explored and discovered.
Earth-born playboy Moris Keniston arrives in customs, wanting to go surface-side of the mysterious and hostile planet Sovold. Galactic rules dictate that he may not disturb the burgeoning culture, and therefore undergoes a physical transformation to match the one of the peoples on the planet.
With shaved head and skin dyed beige, he dons the green tunic of a Messenger of Zhuvastou, known as Zhogs – a knight to the people of this world – giving him almost free reign to pursue his mission.
He is hunting the beautiful Elaine Dixon, who has fled to this primitive planet for reasons unknown.
Though Keniston is the son of a Galactic Senator, an athlete of interplanetary reknown, and survivor of a historic starship disaster, he finds himself wholly unprepared for life on Sovold.
Only his athlete’s reflexes and history of fencing save him at first. However, in his quest to pursue Elaine, he meets companions that help him grow into the man he is meant to be – and finds his true purpose along the way.
Messenger of Zhuvastou is a roaring adventure in new cultures and brotherly bonding that is sure to satisfy any sci-fi enthusiast.
Praise for Andrew J Offutt:
“Great entertainment of epic scope” – Poul Anderson
“One of the major players from the sword and sorcery boom from the 70s” – Adventures Fantastic
“Offers a new dimension in heroic fantasy.” – Jerry Pournelle
“This is only the first of many adventures to come.” – Andre Norton
Andrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author who wrote prolifically under a variety of pseudonyms and genres, including John Cleve, John Denis, Jeff Morehead, and Turk Winter. He is the father of novelist Chris Offutt and professor Jeff Offutt. A sterling author of both science fiction and fantasy, primarily in the subgenre of Sword and Sorcery, he was most active throughout the 1970s and 80s.
An outcast, beleaguered and betrayed. Now, he will live again…
In a future where the people of Earth have managed to somewhat unite under hegemonic governments, the universe has at last been explored and discovered.
Earth-born playboy Moris Keniston arrives in customs, wanting to go surface-side of the mysterious and hostile planet Sovold. Galactic rules dictate that he may not disturb the burgeoning culture, and therefore undergoes a physical transformation to match the one of the peoples on the planet.
With shaved head and skin dyed beige, he dons the green tunic of a Messenger of Zhuvastou, known as Zhogs – a knight to the people of this world – giving him almost free reign to pursue his mission.
He is hunting the beautiful Elaine Dixon, who has fled to this primitive planet for reasons unknown.
Though Keniston is the son of a Galactic Senator, an athlete of interplanetary reknown, and survivor of a historic starship disaster, he finds himself wholly unprepared for life on Sovold.
Only his athlete’s reflexes and history of fencing save him at first. However, in his quest to pursue Elaine, he meets companions that help him grow into the man he is meant to be – and finds his true purpose along the way.
Messenger of Zhuvastou is a roaring adventure in new cultures and brotherly bonding that is sure to satisfy any sci-fi enthusiast.
Praise for Andrew J Offutt:
“Great entertainment of epic scope” – Poul Anderson
“One of the major players from the sword and sorcery boom from the 70s” – Adventures Fantastic
“Offers a new dimension in heroic fantasy.” – Jerry Pournelle
“This is only the first of many adventures to come.” – Andre Norton
Andrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author who wrote prolifically under a variety of pseudonyms and genres, including John Cleve, John Denis, Jeff Morehead, and Turk Winter. He is the father of novelist Chris Offutt and professor Jeff Offutt. A sterling author of both science fiction and fantasy, primarily in the subgenre of Sword and Sorcery, he was most active throughout the 1970s and 80s.
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 1973
21 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Andrew J. Offutt
211 books72 followersAndrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A.J. Offutt, and Andy Offut. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, had his name in all lower-case letters. His son is the author Chris Offutt.
Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.
Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.
As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.
Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.
Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.
Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.
As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.
Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 29, 2026
Waaayyy too long for what it is. I generally like Offutt books, but this attempt at a quasi sword and planet story was a hodgepodge of nonsense. If you want to read about the far off planet’s indigenous women breasts and bottoms on every page, then by all means check it out. Sad, because there are some decent ideas woven in, but just way too long and dumb.
April 17, 2017
It most resembles L Sprague de Camp's Krishna series, even having the obligatory "Z" in the title: a technologically backward planet where these Earth people wander around in disguise, with some vague and frequently-sidestepped injunction against technological uplift. But Offutt doesn't manage the characterization or de Camp's mildly comic tone.
Doesn't manage a mildly comic tone at all, in fact. It starts that way, and is supplied with pun-laden chapter titles as a supposed assist but veers around as Keniston deals with the brutal reality of living on a savage planet. I can see the protagonist buckling down and developing as a result of his experiences--this is Bildungsroman--but the narration is best played straight and neutral.
But consistency is not Offutt's business, here. There are rewrites in worldbuilding--human 'love' is first described as 'being Struck' and later using the word 'life' as a verb--as well as plot and character holes about why Keniston is even on this planet and why he knows enough swordfighting to be formidable.
But, if you ignore the inconsistencies for action, you'll also be disappointed. For each action scene, there's pages of discussion and filler material to set up for the next.
But if you ignore the watered-down action for the prurient material, of which there is plenty, you'll be dealing with a Lin Carter level of excess, with a body design--"callipygean" and busty--described in fetishistic detail and with obsessive repetition. And you will also have to handle a Gorean-lite philosophy and psychology describing no woman I've ever met. The casual misogyny leaks out, with disparaging terms appearing in narration, and used and espoused by this Keniston guy who is apparently from an asinine retrofuture Earth that might as well be Mad Men.
Keniston does develop, from a weak-kneed upper-class twit of sorts, into a badass warlord and mighty leader of men, and it is something to see him confront this life of violence head-on. It was almost interesting in that he was clearly not the best or most enthusiastic fighter and had to think his way around problems. Until he was the best fighter, because fencing .
The entire thing was wobbly, and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I have no idea what Venture Press is doing, incidentally: their pricing on Amazon fluctuates wildly for no explicable reason. Props to them for bringing this into print, anyhow.
Doesn't manage a mildly comic tone at all, in fact. It starts that way, and is supplied with pun-laden chapter titles as a supposed assist but veers around as Keniston deals with the brutal reality of living on a savage planet. I can see the protagonist buckling down and developing as a result of his experiences--this is Bildungsroman--but the narration is best played straight and neutral.
But consistency is not Offutt's business, here. There are rewrites in worldbuilding--human 'love' is first described as 'being Struck' and later using the word 'life' as a verb--as well as plot and character holes about why Keniston is even on this planet and why he knows enough swordfighting to be formidable.
But, if you ignore the inconsistencies for action, you'll also be disappointed. For each action scene, there's pages of discussion and filler material to set up for the next.
But if you ignore the watered-down action for the prurient material, of which there is plenty, you'll be dealing with a Lin Carter level of excess, with a body design--"callipygean" and busty--described in fetishistic detail and with obsessive repetition. And you will also have to handle a Gorean-lite philosophy and psychology describing no woman I've ever met. The casual misogyny leaks out, with disparaging terms appearing in narration, and used and espoused by this Keniston guy who is apparently from an asinine retrofuture Earth that might as well be Mad Men.
Keniston does develop, from a weak-kneed upper-class twit of sorts, into a badass warlord and mighty leader of men, and it is something to see him confront this life of violence head-on. It was almost interesting in that he was clearly not the best or most enthusiastic fighter and had to think his way around problems. Until he was the best fighter, because fencing .
The entire thing was wobbly, and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I have no idea what Venture Press is doing, incidentally: their pricing on Amazon fluctuates wildly for no explicable reason. Props to them for bringing this into print, anyhow.
April 4, 2020
This is probably offutt's best sword & planet adventure. It's the story of Morris Kenniston (surely a nod to Doc Smith; there are several Easter egg homages to famous fantasy works in the text), son of a Galactic Senator, who travels to a primitive and barbaric planet in search of his missing lady love, where his athletic and amorous prowess stand him in good stead. The story is told with and in good humor, and though it's one of offutt's longest novels I found it to be engaging throughout. My copy has a nice Jeff Jones cover which seems to have little to do with the story since in it the protagonist shaves his head in order to better fit in whereas the sword-wielding gent in the painting has extremely long and thick locks... but hey, it's all in fun!
August 6, 2020
This is one of those books that grows on you; at least, that's what it did with me. Our hero, Moris Kenisten, arrives at the spaceport of a planet far away from Earth. Naturally, the authorities want to know why he is there. He says he is chasing after his runaway fiance, but she is really his brother's murderer. He goes through the disguise necessary to blend in with the planet's inhabitants. His skin is turned a uniform buff color; his hair on his head is permanently deleted. Fortunately, his eyes are naturally green so they don't have to be altered. Is is given an identity of a messenger so that he can travel virtually unopposed. He is taught the language and cautioned not to speak any Galactic or Earth languages. Then he is sent out into the world to sink or swim on his own. The book takes a little while to get going, but when it does, you will be grateful to be along for the ride!
May 19, 2017
I really enjoyed reading this.
It is an adventurous story going across the world,through sun and storm, swamp and desert. And just a little twists at the end.
It is an adventurous story going across the world,through sun and storm, swamp and desert. And just a little twists at the end.
November 25, 2017
Earthling travels to another planet to track down a mean woman,plenty of swordplay.
October 10, 2025
Decent read, not outright misogyny but somewhat old fashioned views of women.
July 11, 2017
This was an absolutely epic read! This was an utterly engrossing, vividly detailed, fantastic story. I loved how Moris evolved from the beginning to the end of the story, and the complexity of the wordcraft, how it twisted and swirled throughout the story. This is a masterful story that I will happily read over and over again!
July 23, 2010
There was an interesting plot at the core of this and some fun stuff, but there was also a lot of meandering around. The book was too long for the subject, I thought. Had it been tighter, with more action, I would have probably enjoyed it more.
My copy has a different cover but I sure do like this cover a lot better.
My copy has a different cover but I sure do like this cover a lot better.
February 24, 2024
I read this book as a paperback until all the pages separated. Very glad to have found an e-copy so I can keep it around. Its a good read for Conan fans like me.
April 9, 2017
Fun but extremely sexist
Good read for men. For women...well it is amusing. Kinda drivel and kinda fun. The author writes like a male virgin writing his fantasies.
Good read for men. For women...well it is amusing. Kinda drivel and kinda fun. The author writes like a male virgin writing his fantasies.
April 12, 2017
Rousing adventure with a heroic protagonist! Lots of humor and romance. What's not to like?!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews