A demon with small flaws
A demon with small mistakes (original title: The Fiend Fallible ) is a 1973 published fantasy - novel by L. Sprague de Camp . A first version appeared in December 1972 in the American magazine Fantastic . The expanded version of the novel was published in paperback by Signet Books the following year . The novel is part of the Novaria cycle, which also includes the Reluctant King trilogy.
The novel is an example of classic satire in fantasy form, in which the strange customs and habits of the inhabitants of an exotic world are portrayed from the perspective of a traveler who has temporarily found himself in this world. The world is the parallel world of Novaria and the traveler is Zdim, a demon of the twelfth level who remarks about people at the beginning:
“While they may seem bizarre in appearance and demeanor, they are, on the other hand, extremely shrewd and inventive. They are infinitely fruitful in devising plausible reasons for doing what they want to do. I was amazed to find out they used expressions like 'devilishly clever' and 'tremendously cunning'. Now 'devil' and 'monster' are swear words with which they cover us demons - as if we had more of this perverse ingenuity than they did! "
In addition to the German translation, there is an Italian edition. In 1973 the first print won the British Fantasy Award in the “Best Short Story” category.
action
Since the inhabitants of the twelfth level lack iron, demons qualified for such a task are selected by lot, in exchange for a hundred-pound bar of iron, to be summoned by the inhabitants of the first level and to be obliged to serve for one year. This happens to Zdim, an advanced student of philosophy who finds himself the servant of the magician and fortune teller Doctor Maldivius. However, he is not familiar with people's imprecise expressions and when his master goes away and instructs him to eat alive anyone who enters the sanctuary before his return, Zdim literally follows the instruction and eats the sorcerer's apprentice who is returning from an excursion.
This is just the first in a series of unfortunate misadventures by Zdim, who always tries to follow instructions literally. So his contract of service is sold by the disappointed Maldivius to the ringmaster Bagardo, who wants to show him off as a wild, snarling monster. When Zdim does not behave wildly enough and is therefore warned, he takes it to heart at the next demonstration. He rages and rages and eventually breaks out of his cage, causing panic among visitors. Bagardo is ruined and has to flee, his property is auctioned and with this Zdims contract. Its new owner is Madame Roska, a member of the rich upper class of the trading town of Ir.
When Ir is threatened by an invasion of the cannibalist Paalunaer, Zdim is sent to the nomads of Shvens to recruit them as mercenaries. After a few adventures, Zdim succeeds in fulfilling his mission, he returns with a relief army and becomes the city's savior. As a reward he is allowed to return to the twelfth level early with an extra helping of iron. Although he resolves to stay there forever and lead a quiet, orderly life with his wife and the children who have now hatched, in the end it is too tidy and boring for him and he decides to return into the world of illogical people, a world that “despite its dangers and difficulties, despite the rampant irrationality of its inhabitants, has many attractions. You never get bored, which I fear is often the case in our well-functioning world. "
expenditure
- First printing: Fantastic , December 1972 edition
- American first edition: Signet, 1973.
- British first edition: Remploy, 1974, ISBN 0-7066-0544-6 .
- Ebook: Gateway / Orion, 2011, ISBN 978-0-575-10343-6 .
- German first edition: A demon with small flaws. Heyne SF&F # 3747, 1980, ISBN 3-453-30650-3 .
literature
- Charlotte Laughlin, Daniel JH Levack: De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. Underwood-Miller, San Francisco, California, and Columbia, Pennsylvania 1983, p. 158.
- Meetings
- Al Nofi: Review in: Amra V2n60 , September 1973.
- Philip Stephensen-Payne: Review in: Paperback Parlor , December 1978.
Web links
- A demon with small errors in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)