NAVIGATOR'S SINDROME

by Jayge Carr ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 20, 1983

Slavery and sadism--in an often-repugnant melodrama from the author of Leviathan's Deep (1979). On the backward planet Rabelais, slavery is institutionalized through a brutally enforced contract system, social cohesion depending on the intricate provisions of the contracts. So the rich and powerful contract-holders (in effect, slaveowners) may freely indulge their most corrupt whims and passions. And Carr's convoluted, sprawling plot (which doesn't always add up) concerns the evil scheme of loathsomely sadistic slaveowner Singh and his unctuously malignant procurer Zaqanna: they're out to trap beautiful, aloof, marooned starship-navigator Jael into breaking a contract, the only crime on Rabelais, thus precipitating her into Sing's painfully lecherous clutches. Meanwhile, however, Jael secretly works her own counter-ploy to destroy them both. A serviceable enough outline, fleshed out with generous if ugly detail--but the modest talent and ideas on display here are often swamped by the relentlessly rapid scene-shifts (sometimes confusing), a largely repellent cast, and the casually horrid, omnipresent torturings.

Pub Date: May 20, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION