The star kings
The Star Kings ( The Star Kings ) is a novel of science fiction -Autors Edmond Hamilton , who was repeatedly translated into German. The novel appeared in 1949 and was first published in German in 1952 under the title Ruler in World Space: 200,000 Years Later . From 1980 the distribution took place under the title Die Sternenkönige .
Basics of the plot
In the year 200,000 after our time, Zarth Arn researches the past by sending his mind - i.e. his consciousness - into the past. This happens through an exchange of souls, ie, he looks for an exchange partner in a past epoch and spends a certain time in his body in the period of time to be explored. In this way, on the other hand, the man from the past can spend a certain time in Zarth Arn's body in the year 200,000 and gain an insight into this time period. The people concerned remain in the research station so that he does not have to prove himself in the world.
When Zarth Arn researches the past of the 20th century - i.e. the present of the author and reader - in the body of John Gordon, John Gordon remains in the body of Zarth Arn and should not leave the research station. Unfortunately he, the supposed prince, is kidnapped by terrorists and initially rescued. As a result, he leaves the protective research station and has to find his way around the court in the role of the prince.
After spending some time at the court on Throon - the main planet of the realm - he is kidnapped with Princess Lianna to the realm of Shorr Khan. The enemy of the empire, who of course considers him the real prince, wants to wrest from him the secret of the disruptor , a weapon of mass destruction, known only within the royal family . Through a trick, John Gordon can flee, return to Throon and there, instead of the real prince, help shape the history of the galaxy .
people
People of the future
Zarth Arn is the later-born prince of the Middle Milky Way and a scientist , especially a historian . With the help of an apparatus for exchanging souls, which enables him to exchange minds with men of bygone eras, he explores the past and thus enables John Gordon an undreamt-of insight into an epoch 200,000 years after our time.
Lianna is Princess von Fomalhaut and is supposed to marry Zarth Arn for political reasons. In his role as the Star Prince, John Gordon falls in love with her and has the adventure of a lifetime with her. The fact that Zarth Arn was already married in a morganatic marriage makes a liaison between the star princess and John Gordon tangible.
Shorr Khan is the antagonist of the story. He wants to wrest the military secret of the Disruptor from the Prince of the Middle Milky Way, a weapon of mass destruction that prevents him from subjugating the star realms. Instead, he learns about the soul swap and that John Gordon cannot know the secret. When he considers the government of the empire paralyzed after Jahl Arn's illness, he begins a war of aggression. He is not "evil" because he is constructed as "evil" (like Darth Vader , for example ); his "malice" results from his self-interest. He is described as intelligent, astute, and - especially in the second part - haughty.
Vel Quen is the other scientist and historian from Zarth Arn's time and John Gordon's first point of contact. After he has learned the world knowledge of the 200th millennium from him, Quen is murdered and the great adventure begins.
Arn Abbas is the father of Zarth Arn, the most powerful king of the Milky Way. When he is murdered, Zarth Arn's older brother Jhal Arn follows him on the throne.
Murn is the Morganatic wife of Zarth Arns. Her black hair, her childlike appearance and her gentle nature are completely in contrast to the characterization of the ash-blonde and proud Lianna. While the prince's marriage to the latter is just a political liaison, it is Murn who the real prince loves.
Hull Burrel is the captain of a spaceship, he comes from the planetary system of Antares. He is the spaceship captain who brings John Gordon in the body of Zarth Arn to the capital of Throon / Kanopus, he is one of the first to be convinced of his innocence. Although he does not have a leading role, he becomes a friend of the main character, similar to the bird-like non-humanoid Korkhann in the sequels .
People of the present
John Gordon is the protagonist of the novel. As the average citizen of 20th century America, shortly after World War II , he comes from the present day of the reader. By exchanging souls with Zarth Arn, he experiences adventures in the realm of the star kings in a distant future.
Lianna's counter-figure in the present is the coma patient Ruth Allen , in whose body Lianna John follows into the 20th century. This role does not apply in later versions of the book (see “Continuations”).
The only other figure of the 20th century with a leading role appears at the beginning of the second part or the first short story, a psychiatrist who naturally dismisses John Gordon's star journey as a delusional idea.
Sequels
In the continuation volumes, new people are introduced, the most important of them being
- Narath Teyn, who will wrest the throne from Lianna
- Korkhann, a Lianna's minister in the Kingdom of Fomalhaut
technology
In contrast to many more recent SF novels, technology plays a decisive role. The achievements of the future include:
- Thought coils: These make the laborious learning of a language or diverse knowledge superfluous.
- Disruptor : This is a weapon of mass destruction that destroys the space-time continuum and thus all spaceships in it. The secret of the disruptor - the assembly of the individual parts, the functionality and the effect - is initially a secret that is only passed on within the ruling family.
- Brain scanner : Not only can thoughts be read with it, the read thoughts are "destroyed", which ultimately leads to the victim's mental dementia
- Saqua: Not decisive for the plot, but a brown, foamy drink called Saqua is mentioned more often. This seems to be a kind of energy drink that counteracts mental and physical exhaustion.
Of course, the spaceships should also be mentioned here, as well as the apparatus for exchanging souls. As with all of Edmond Hamilton's novels, the possibility of faster than light speed, which allows a fast flight connection between the planets, is assumed. From today's point of view, the role played by nuclear energy is remarkable: The energy demand is completely covered by nuclear energy, the weapons of that time are known as atomic pistols.
Parallels to the prisoner of Zenda
According to the English-language Wikipedia, the story is largely an adaptation of the story of the prisoner of Zenda , in which the "normal citizen" Rudolf Rassendyll slips into the role of a nobleman, the king of the country of Ruritania : the main character promises not to reveal anything about the exchange not the ruler's handsome fiancée. In the course of time a "prevented romance" develops between her and the supposed king or prince. A rivalry between the main character and his doppelganger for the leading lady , which disturbs the romance , is avoided by the fact that the liaison is a purely political matter and the real ruler and the princess have no feelings for each other. In contrast to this template, Edmond Hamilton lets this end happily in both novel versions.
Parallels to the presence of the reader
John Gordon is a World War II veteran and thus comes from the immediate presence of the reader at the time. But the latter should also be familiar with the course of the war: here and there, a conflict is portrayed that is waged between the dominant superpower, the Middle Milky Way, and a military state headed by an ascetic dictator. The war is finally ended by the use of a terrible weapon of mass destruction (in the novel Disruptor) of undreamt-of destructiveness and the overthrow of the enemy government. Shorr Khan himself suspects at his death whether he might not be a born again human of the 20th century. Whether the author is thinking of a dictator from John Gordon's time, against whom he would have fought in World War II, remains speculation.
Sequels
To enable continuation, Edmond Hamilton rewrote the end of the novel: Instead of following him into his time in the body of the coma patient Ruth Allen, Princess Lianna calls him with a promise: Zarth Arn will continue his research so that not only the mind, but also the matter - i.e. the body of John Gordon - can be transferred into the future. The first short story, which continues the novel, begins with a renewed call from Zarth Arns that he had done just that and that the transfer into the future could be carried out.
- Kingdom of the Stars
- The Shores of Infinity (On the Shores of Infinity)
- The Broken Stars
- The Horror from the Magellanic
The four short stories were published in 1969 as a novel under the title "Return to the Stars".
After John Gordon has traveled into the future again, Lianna seems disappointed with his rather average appearance, he looks very different from what she remembers in the prince's body. Not only does John Gordon have to recapture his love, but at the same time a coup threatens the princess' kingdom and an attack by an old enemy threatens the security of the galaxy. There is a reunion with the most important characters from Volume 1, including even Shorr Khan, who this time almost reluctantly has to take the "good" side. After all dangers have been mastered together, the fourth part looks forward to a happy ending.
The novel "Stark and the Star Kings" was published posthumously, a crossover between the Star King universe created by Edmond Hamilton and a novel written by Leigh Brackett , his wife.
Trivia
- The name Zarth Arn was used for the villain in the movie Star Crash - Stars in a Duel .
- John Gordon is an average person who suddenly becomes ruler of the worlds of stars. The author developed a similar path, but with a different plot , in the novel "The sun smasher" (The Power of the Valkan) from 1954, in which an average citizen of the world learns that he alone has the key to the most powerful weapon in the universe .
- The idea of the soul exchange - more precisely the consciousness exchange - is u. a. themed in Scooby-Doo and the last Star Trek TOS episode, in connection with time travel in the television series Quantum Leap .
- There are numerous parallels to the Captain Future novel series. Inhabitants of other worlds have a different skin color (blue, green, red, ...), nuclear energy is still seen as an inexhaustible source of energy and New York is the most important city on the future earth. According to panspermia , the human race has spread from one planet over the entire galaxy in both tales, with Captain Future life coming to earth from space, while with the Star Kings it set out from earth to the stars .