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COVER TEXT:
Philip
José Farmer is one of the greatest writers of adventure
fiction ever; and in The
City Beyond Play, he has produced a tale of
wryly humorous derring-do reminiscent of his famous masterpieces, the Riverworld
saga and the World of
Tiers sequence. Completed by Danny Adams, City is rather like
an updated version of
Mark Twain's A
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court—with
the
Middle Ages moved to the future, and the interloper upon the medieval
scene a brilliant roboticist on the run for murder.
When Wilson Gore arrives in the Barony of Scadia, all he really knows
is that the place is an enclave devoted to the recreation of the Middle
Ages as they should
have been—a refuge for hardcore
individualists and historical costume enthusiasts, whom the crowded
utopia of the twenty-second century is glad to see the back of.
Soon dubbed "Will Son of Gore", Gore finds himself at odds with
arrogant knights, a Wicked Duke, mad forest outlaws, pernickety
Byzantine bureaucrats, a witch, cybernetic dragons, enigmatic women of
the court and the wilds, and a social system in which anyone can rise
to the top—or, just as likely, leave his bones mouldering by
the roadside. All is not well in the land of Scadia, as Gore discovers
after fixing
his lustful gaze on the beautiful Lady Melisounde—competing
for her hand, he ends up fighting the best and most treacherous
warriors in the land, one of whom, the Knight of the Red Gauntlet, is
far more, and far less, than he seems...
SF with a delightful anachronistic twist, The City Beyond Play
is superb rollicking entertainment, echoing simultaneously The Tempest and The Compleat
Enchanter. If you've ever wondered what you'd do if
dropped alone into the High Middle Ages, City is
the perfect survival manual.
(Both limited editions.)
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 "Dominic Harman")
 "Dominic Harman")