Original interior art by Edward Cartier |
Earlier this year, I mentioned that nuclear bombs were a hot (popular) topic for Sci Fi story tellers back in 1950.
Introductory blurb for "The Potters of Firsk" by Jack Vance. |
interior art by Edward Cartier |
In the Ekcolir Reality. |
I like to imagine that in another Reality, there was a female analogue of Jack Vance (named Joan) who might have written somewhat different stories. Possibly not so dark.
In "The Potters of Firsk", Vance quickly transports readers off to the distant planet Firsk, home of humanoid natives called the Mi-Tuun. With metal in short supply on Firsk, the Mi-Tuun use ceramics for many purposes. As illustrated for the story by Ed Cartier, the lady Mi-Tuun routinely go around topless (image top right on this page).
cremation urn, 007 |
I led a sheltered life, so I think the first time I was exposed to the idea of a cremation urn was when I saw Diamonds Are Forever (1971). I was shocked to see bright shiny diamonds inside the urn when I was expecting to see ashes.
The potters of Firsk have a problem. They beautifully decorate their pottery with brightly colored glazes, but they don't have access to a nice yellow glaze. Vance had an interest in geology which readers find expressed throughout his stories. Vance cleverly decided to position the village of the potters of Firsk in a range of mountains, close to an active volcano. The potters liked to use heat from the volcano to fire their pottery.
A Feek (source) |
Are the Mi-Tuun aliens or humans? Vance often imagined a future in which human explorers had spread from Earth to many distant planets of the galaxy. Some remote colonies then became cut-off from the rest of Humanity for thousands of years. This allowed the local humans to evolve into new humanoid forms, such as the Feek.
"The Potters of Firsk" is told from the perspective of Thomm, who works for the Department of Planetary Affairs. Thomm was once stationed in the coastal city of Penolpan, situated on the lone continent of Firsk.
cover art by Nicholas Bantock |
Vance often invented parasitic relationships between different peoples of his imaginary worlds. Probably the most memorable example of this is in his story Emphyrio, but his novel Wyst provides another case in point. The potters of Firsk have an odd social relationship with the people of Penolpan that includes trading their fine pottery for the bodies of the dead Mi-Tuun.
In the Ekcolir Reality. Original cover art by Earle Bergey and Rudolph Belarski |
While stationed on Firsk, Thomm had a lazy and foolish boss named Covill. Covill threatened to destroy the sacred volcano of the potters with a nuclear bomb. The potters of Firsk didn't like being threatened and so they worked out a deal with Thomm.
There is also a bit of a love story in "The Potters of Firsk". Thomm became enamored with a young woman from the city Penolpan named Su-Then. Thomm gallantly rescued Su-Then from the potters after they had abducted her. The bumbling Covill does not escape so easily from the devious potters.
the Institute |
Next: the May 2020 celebration of Jack Vance's fiction
Related Reading: August 2020 celebration of Vance
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