Star Prince Charlie: Final Assessment

Poul Anderson's and Gordon R. Dickson's Hoka series is humorous sf. Its "Hoka," not meant to be taken seriously as a hypothetical extraterrestrial species, inhabit the planet, Toka.

However, the same authors' novel, Star Prince Charlie:

is set on a different planet, New Lemuria;

features only a single Hoka;

addresses serious issues of kingdoms, tyrannies and freedom.

Thus, this novel might count as a crossover between humorous and serious sf.

Everything is wound up implausibly neatly in the concluding chapter:

the deposed tyrants are not killed but sent where they might do some good;

the kingdom now has an Eternal King but, in his perennial absence, must learn to govern itself through newly installed democratic institutions.

I once argued that:

if there is only one God and He is not a human being, then, in the Kingdom of God, there is only one throne and no human being sits on it;

therefore, the Kingdom of God is complete anarchy.

("Anarchy" means not "disorder" but "no rule.")

Kingship

Star Prince Charlie, 16, The Deep Range.

Charlie risks his life but manages to survive in the flooded Grotto:

"This was what it meant to be a king, a real king - not wealth and glory, not leadership into needless wars, but serving the people, and if necessary, dying for them." (p. 178)

I like the remark about the wars but how many kings have seen it that way? Aslan sets out the requirements of kingship in The Magician's Nephew, CHAPTER XI, here.

Charlie goes further:

"The highest service a king could give was to lead them toward their own freedom." (p. 179)

Thus, he leads them away from the kingdom.

A Ruler And A Roost

Star Prince Charlie, 15, The Prince.

Dzenko, whom Charlie has helped to power, turns out to be a worse tyrant than the deposed Olaghi. No big surprise.

The fifth Feat seems impossible: to emerge alive from a tidally inundated Grotto. The fjord is a "roost," (p. 169) in the sense of a tidal race.

Outraged by Dzenko's tyranny, Charlie ends Chapter 15 by announcing that he will fulfill the Prophecy to claim his throne. Is this foolhardiness or a moment of realization - the realization being a way to survive the flooding of the Grotto?

Needless to say, I have no intention of finding out at this time of night. This late, I should switch off the computer and turn to other reading.

How Charlie Recovers

Star Prince Charlie, 15, The Prince.

Charlie must:

recover from horror;
settle matters in the kingdom;
prevent further civil wars;
avoid giving the impression that he is an agent of human imperialism;
accomplish the remaining Feat;
withdraw.

He has undergone personal changes that will empower him to carry this off.

First, recovery and healing on the isle of Stalgesh after which the Battle is named:

sunshine;
fresh air;
plain food;
ample rest;
swimming;
boating;
fishing;
hiking;
good company.

"...he had grown more thoughtful, more aware of the troubles which haunt the universe but less ready to find simple causes or instant cures for them." (p. 160)

I asked in The Great Ghost whether the universe was haunted but there I meant it literally.

The Buddha sought and found the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the way to the end of suffering: a simple cause but not an instant cure. See Four Noble Truths.

The New Lemurian Sea Battle

Star Prince Charlie, 14.

Arrows strike rebel ships. Troopers and sailors keep their places. Most artillery misses and Charlie reflects that war is ridiculously wasteful. Stones sink ships, burning bolts set them afire and Charlie reflects that war is gruesomely wasteful. Dzenko directs his flagship and two supporting vessels to pass between the royalist craft in order to engage and board Olaghi's propeller-driven aircraft carrier. Charlie and Hector had unwittingly served as spies when they were taken prisoner.

Mishka's squad holds shields above Charlie. Axes cut loose a grapnel. Dzenko's three craft bombard the aircraft carrier with catapults, mangonels, crossbows and longbows. The carrier is too reliant on its air cannon, firing at a much lower rate. Many crew man the treadmill that drives the propeller. Making less use of its sails, the carrier wallows. Golden sunlight shines on wreckage and blood.

Olaghi's fire-fighters douse flames with hand pumps. Cannon withdraw, spiked gangplanks extend from their suddenly widened ports and troops board Dzenko's ship, driving back the rebels. Mishka, at Charlie's insistence, lifts the latter onto his shoulders. When Charlie removes his helmet, his red hair lit by the setting sun makes him instantly recognizable as the Prince of the Prophecy. Thus, his body becomes a banner that rallies the rebels who then attack and capture the aircraft carrier. Charlie spares the captured Olaghi's life, quoting the Prophecy that the false king will flee, unfollowed.

Assessment: yet another rousing battle narrative accompanied by reflections on the reality of war.

Air Attack At Sea

Star Prince Charlie, 14, pp. 148-149.

As the fleets converge for combat, the rebel barons have negligibly few blimps whereas the despot Olaghi deploys his entire air force which begins to drop things on the rebel ships. Like Poul Anderson's The High Crusade, this novel presents a persuasive explanation as to why an overwhelmingly superior force fails:

breezes move the blimps so that few missiles hit their targets;

rebels shield their eyes and receive only minor cuts from shattered glass globes;

only one fire bomb ignites a ship but its crew escapes;

most fuses either go out or burn slowly enough to be pulled away;

when the blimps descend, they are vulnerable to large quarrels fired from catapults;

their downed crews are captured;

the attack and its defeat entertain the rebels and boost their morale.

Air Power

Star Prince Charlie, 14.

A very quick breakfast post before an excursion of a few hours. Our next project will be analysis of a sea battle. The fleets approach and Olaghi's entire air force attacks the rebels but unsuccessfully. We will discuss why.

Mishka has heard:

"...that Olaghi has a slogan: 'Victory through air power.'" (p. 149)

See:

Fighting On Foot
Alliteration And Air Power

Fahrenheit 451

Star Prince Charlie, 13.

When one of the priests accepts Charlie's challenge of the Three Riddles, he says:

"'As you will then... Who volunteers to stoke the sacred furnace?'" (p. 135)

I thought that that question was the first Riddle! But no, Charlie has to go into the furnace if he fails to answer a Riddle. Hence, the chapter title: Fahrenheit 451. A priest awaits Charlie's "'...calefaction.'" (p. 140)

Riddles that seem commonplace to us are top secret rituals on New Lemuria. Thus, Charlie has no problem in proving himself and then getting live sacrifices banned.

The Prophecy of the Prince was inspired by the god Bullak and therefore is regarded as heretical by the priests of Klashk - until Charlie proves himself. This sounds like the Satanic verses. (Since Islam is a pure monotheism, any early Koranic verses that implied polytheism must have been Satanic in origin.)

On New Lemuria, Charlie introduces the idea of Satan as a being who incites discord between Klashk, Bullak and other gods. Meanwhile, the despot Olaghi's fleet approaches so a physical conflict is imminent.

Tomorrow morning, I must drive to Blackpool, with its hotels and conference centers, on political business. However, stay tuned to this blog for more reports of the conflict on New Lemuria.

Character Interactions

Apparently, a large cast of characters interact with each other in Balzac's works. See Literary Unity. Readers appreciate unexpected encounters with familiar characters. In Poul Anderson's works:

Valeria Matuchek from the two Operation... novels and Holger Danske from Three Hearts And Three Lions meet in the Old Phoenix in A Midsummer Tempest and both are again mentioned in the Old Phoenix story, "Losers' Night";

Nicholas van Rijn from the Technic History visits the Old Phoenix in "House Rule";

Anderson acknowledges Heinlein's Future History by mentioning in "Losers' Night" that blind Rhysling also visited the Old Phoenix - we hope that he met van Rijn;

the hero of a one-off juvenile short story meets Adzel when the latter is a student on Earth;

van Rijn cameos in the first trader team story, interacts fully with the team in three later works and is mentioned elsewhere either as a celebrity or as a historical figure.

However, I think that Dornford Yates surpasses most other authors for character interactions. See here. 

The Ruined Temple Of A Once Great God

Star Prince Charlie, 13.

Charlie, confident of his ability to out-riddle impoverished priests, decides to tackle the fourth Feat without any help from Dzenko. He is accompanied not by Hector but by his new New Lemurian friend, Mishka. This novel ceases to be fully a part of the Hoka series.

"That Klashk the Omniscient had been a great god early in the history of this island was evident from the site of his temple, near the top of Holy Hill." (p. 132)

This opening sentence of Chapter 12 can mean either that the cult of Klashk is no longer big or that Klashk literally exists but is no longer great. The pagan world-view not only accepts the second meaning but identifies the two meanings. That Klashk is no longer great is shown by the facts that:

his temple is ruinous;
its roof leaks;
its walls are unpainted and sag;
its wooden walls have been vandalized;
there is thick dust and choking junk.

There is still "...a superb view..." (ibid.) across the town and bay toward the sunset: a good place to meditate, ruins or no ruins.