The fifth head of Cerberus

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The fifth head of Cerberus (original title: The Fifth Head of Cerberus ) is the name of a three-part collection of short stories published by the American science fiction and fantasy author Gene Wolfe in 1972. The German edition was published in 1974 by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag in a translation by Yoma Cap.

Location and background of the plot

The three stories take place in a distant, unspecified solar system . The action takes place on the planets Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix, which revolve around a common center and are therefore referred to as " sister worlds ". This astronomical peculiarity forms a fundamental element of the three novellas and represents the “stage set” of the stories.

Both worlds share a common fate. They were settled by the French who - to all appearances - waged a costly war of independence against the earth , the “mother world”. From this they emerged as losers, with the result that the colonial status changed and an occupation regime was imposed . But this is where the similarities end. While there is evidence that in earlier times Sainte Anne was populated by a shape-shifting civilization , higher forms of life never existed on Sainte Croix. Social development also took very different paths. Both societies are shaped by the French colonial population. On Sainte Anne, however, this was robbed of its influence and is in the process of disappearing. In contrast, on Sainte Croix the French were able to assert their role as the ruling class and, through open collaboration, became loyal allies of the occupying power.

The different social development of the double planets leads to growing political tensions. The course of events shows that a war can be expected to break out between Sainte Anne and Sainte Croix in the near future.

The three short stories

The fifth head of Cerberus

Topic and reception

The cover story describes the protagonist's search for the self out of the labyrinth of a terrible childhood. The theory of evolution takes up a lot of space. The author deals with fundamental aspects of human identity and deals with the problem of cloning . Isaac Asimov selected "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" for his anthology Nebula Award Stories 8 and presented the novella as a prime example of "what the world of new biology could look like".

Table of contents

At the beginning of the novella, the first-person narrator sums up his life so far. He remembers his childhood in Port Mimizon, a central setting for the first and third novellas. The city is located on Sainte Croix, the sister world of Sainte Anne, and is characterized by a peculiar fin de siècle . From an early age he was concerned with the "Abos", the enigmatic natives of Sainte Anne. These were apparently exterminated by the French settlers. Maitre, the narrator's father, runs a well-frequented brothel, but pursues scientific studies full-time.

One evening the narrator is called by his father into his laboratory. There he learns that his new “name” will be “No. 5 "is. In the period that followed, his life began to change massively. Maitre, who looks amazingly like No. 5, subjects him to cruel experiments. The young man befriends the girl Phaedria. Together they undertake a break-in in which they are attacked by a guard. In doing so, they make a macabre discovery: The Guardian is a cloned version of No. 5 - obviously a failed experiment by his father.

Some time later the narrator meets Maitre in the company of the anthropologist Dr. March on. He learns that he comes from a "family" of clones . The reproduction of identical offspring prevents biological and social development. Therefore, the family has been in a state of stagnation for generations . The situation escalates: No. 5 confronts Dr. March with the claim that it is in reality a (half) subscription. Shortly afterwards he murders his father.

In the following years, No. 5 served his sentence in a labor camp on Sainte Croix. He is released after a long time and returns to the place of his childhood. There he turns to the experiments that Maitre had already made part of his life. The reader realizes that No. 5 is also unable to break the family vicious circle. His origins as a clone and the identical environment mean that he develops into a true likeness of his father.

Terms

"Veil - Hypothesis"

This says that the subscriptions were actually shapeshifters. They killed the first people when they landed on Sainte Anne and then colonized Sainte Croix. Conclusion: The double planets are inhabited exclusively by subscriptions that have been converted into "people".

A fairy tale by John V. March

Topic and reception

The second novella describes Marsch's attempt to reconstruct a culture in its pure, original state. Gene Wolfe describes a Stone Age tribal society and the rite of initiation cultivated by it . The question of the clash of civilizations and the resulting culture shock is of crucial importance . Peter Nicholls , co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction , describes "A Fairy Tale by John V. Marsch" as "one of the most successful literary attempts within science fiction to make extraterrestrial life understandable in its pure, original form."

Table of contents

In a mythical dream time on Sainte Anne, the subscription woman “Whispering Cedar Branches” gives birth to the two twin sons “Ostwind” and “Sandwanderer”. Shortly after the delivery, Ostwind is stolen by members of the “Marchers” tribe. Thirteen years later, Sandwanderer sets out to seek advice from a priest. In the shaman's cave, he makes an offering and experiences a vision in which he seems to merge with the consciousness of his missing twin brother. Later, while hunting, sandwalker meets a group of "shadow children" with whom he befriends and shares the prey. He gets to know the "Old Wise Man" who is obviously a manifestation of the collective consciousness of the shadow children.

Some time later the group is overwhelmed by marshals and thrown into a pit. There, Sandwanderer meets other abducted relatives - and - his twin brother Ostwind, who shows up at the edge of the pit. After being kidnapped at childbirth, he went through the training of the marshals and has now become the right hand of the tribal priest. He tells sandwalkers that all prisoners should be sacrificed.

As the marchers begin their rituals, strange missiles fall from the sky. The conquest of the double planets by the French has begun. Sandwanderer takes advantage of the confusion that now arises and kills his brother Ostwind. He is greeted by the French with outstretched hands and realizes that the "days of long dreams" are over.

Terms

"Atlantis, Mu, Gondwanaland"

The story suggests that the origin of the "shadow children" is another world, namely the earth. When their human ancestors landed on Sainte Anne, they met indigenous people there who could change their shape. The shapeshifters took on the appearance of humans, while over time these degenerated into today's shadow children.

VRT

Topic and reception

In the third short story, the search for personal and cultural identity reaches its climax when it is confronted with the cruelty of those who thoughtlessly and brutally eradicate a culture when it gets in the way of their interests. “VRT” combines the three partial stories in retrospect to form a novella and explains the mechanisms and ideology of a totalitarian system. The focus is on the topic of post-colonialism , represented by the inexorable decline of a society. Wolfgang Jeschke praised the stylistic brilliance of the story and stated that it was "about power, about power over people, and about how the exercise of power corrupts people".

Table of contents

On Sainte Croix, an officer of the military administration is busy with a file operation from Port Mimizon. This concerns Dr. John Marsch, who has been in solitary confinement there for some time. The officer's interest is primarily directed to a diary that was apparently written by Marsch during an expedition on Sainte Anne.

The aim of the research was to find an explanation for the sudden disappearance of the "Abos", the mysterious natives of Sainte Anne. Since he only had conflicting information, Marsch decided to take a trip to the unexplored hinterland of the planet. According to older reports, some “indigenous” tribes should still be found there. The scientist was accompanied by a local boy who was possibly half a subscription. The expedition did not lead to the desired results, because despite some puzzling occurrences, no contact with the indigenous people was successful. When the boy dies in an accident, a strange change takes place with Marsch: the diary entries change in writing and content and his consciousness seems to merge more and more with the consciousness of his deceased companion. Did the anthropologist become the perpetrator or the victim of a crime? What is the riddle of the diary? Has the increased passion for the foreign race - be it through studies, madness or change in shape - led to the scientist's own metamorphosis ?

The story ends with an ironic punch line: whatever identity is behind Dr. John Marsch may be hidden, it was taken away from him with his incarceration. The officer orders the anthropologist's permanent detention in the Port Mimizon military prison.

Terms

"The Power of Truth"

Ideological catchphrase with which the regime on Sainte Croix legitimizes its rule. The parallel to George Orwell's “double thinking” is just as obvious as the destruction of the individual, reminiscent of Franz Kafka , by a cynical, soulless bureaucracy.

Awards

Reviews

  • (...) And that "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" (...) is one of the greatest SF works of the seventies, perhaps one of the ten best SF novels in English. ( Michael K. Iwoleit )
  • Gardner Dozois : The original story was the best novella of the 1970s .
  • The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a brilliantly told Gothic mystery in which the central puzzle is gradually revealed . ( Brian W. Aldiss )
  • Neil Barron praised the complexity of the statement and the sheer grace of this excellently written story
  • The real strength of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, however, does not lie in the strength of each individual novel, but in the way in which the three complement each other and form a larger unit as a cycle
  • A unique book, sensitively and excitingly written. In all of science fiction without any comparison (...)

Web links

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  1. ^ German edition: Arthur C. Clarke: The meeting with Medusa and other Nebula Prize Stories . Arthur Moewig Taschenbuch GmbH, Rastatt 1982.
  2. ↑ Peter Nicholls: The Fifth Head Of Cerberus . In: Survey of Science Fiction Literature Vol. 2 . Salem Press, Magill 1979.
  3. ^ Heyne Science Fiction Annual Volume 1983 . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich 1983.
  4. ↑ http://dpsinfo.com/awardweb/nebulas/70s.html
  5. ↑ http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=46
  6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.locusmag.com
  7. ↑ http://forum.sf-fan.de/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1156&hilit=der+f%C3%BCnfte+kopf+des+zerberus&start=15.html
  8. ^ Dozois, Gardner: Modern Classics of Science Fiction . St. Martin's Press, 1992. Introduction to: The Fifth Head of Cerberus .
  9. ↑ The Billion Years Dream - The History of Science Fiction . Bastei Publishing House, 1990.
  10. ^ Neil Barron, Gene Wolfe: The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Anatomy of Wonder . Bowker 1976.
  11. ↑ Joan Gordon : Library of Science Fiction Literature - The Fifth Head of Cerberus, afterword . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1990.
  12. ↑ Guy Abadia, La Cinquième Tête de Cerbère . Editions Robert Laffont, 1976.