The Dragon Masters

Infobox Book |
name = The Dragon Masters
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = first edition of the "The Dragon Masters"
author = Jack Vance
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction
publisher = Ace Books
release_date = 1963
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

The Dragon Masters is a science fiction novella by Jack Vance. It was first published in "Galaxy" magazine, August 1962, and in book form as half of an Ace Double in 1963. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1963.

Plot introduction

Like much of Vance's writing, "The Dragon Masters" takes place in a far distant future with humans living on a distant planet having little memory of human origins on Earth. Moreover, these humans have little technology and no ability to travel between the stars. At first glance the plot, concerning human clans and their specially bred "dragons", battling first each other and then a force of technologically superior invading aliens, seems to be run-of-the-mill pulp adventure. However the story contains several elements which set it apart.

Vance presents a culture at once familiar and bizarre. His humans live on a world different from our own, where the day and night are four times longer than on Earth, and dawn and dusk are accompanied by storms which travel around the planet. They have lost contact with the rest of humanity, and live by farming, mining, crafts, and trading. Like all humans they form communities which practice trade and war with each other. Their weapons are comparable to those of 16th century Europe. Guile and force of personality are as important as guns and swords.

Plot Summary

Aerlith is a planet of rocks and wilderness orbiting a distant bright sun known as Skene which appears as "an actinic point" in the daytime. Humans live in valleys where the soil is good. Occasionally they make war on each other across the hills, passes and fells between their valley homes.

From time to time, often after many years, a spaceship appears and abducts as many humans as can be caught. The settlements are also bombarded, ensuring that humanity will not rise above its present technological level. During one such raid, a charismatic leader named Kergan Banbeck captures a group of the alien raiders, who are accompanied by their human servants. Without their masters, the humans go mad and destroy the ship. The aliens, many-limbed lizard-like creatures known as "grephs", become prisoners of the humans they came to kidnap.

Many years later, Kergan's descendant Joaz Banbeck is troubled by two things. He believes the "grephs" will return soon, and his neighbor, Ervis Carcolo of the ironically named "Happy Valley", is forever plotting against him. The captive "grephs" have been bred into fighting creatures known as "dragons", ranging from the man-sized "Termagant" to the gigantic "Jugger". As each new variety has been bred over the years, the fortunes of war have shifted between the Banbecks and the Carcolos. Now there is an uneasy peace.

There is a third group of humans, the "Sacerdotes", mysterious ascetics who walk naked in all weathers. Their most obvious characteristics are extremely long hair, pale complexions, and the golden torc each wears around the neck. Only males are seen. They trade for what they need and seem to possess advanced technologies. They believe that they are beyond human, calling the rest of humankind "Utter Men", who will eventually disappear and leave the Universe to them.

Joaz Banbeck tries without success to convince both Ervis Carcolo and the "Sacerdotes" of the need to prepare for the next visit by the "grephs". Carcolo is arrogant, scornful and belligerent. Far from cooperating, he attacks Banbeck Vale, only to have his army routed by Joaz Banbeck's ingenious tactics.

Joaz is able to confine a "sacerdote" and ask him questions, only to have the man apparently die. Stealing his "torc" and making a wig by shaving the "Sacerdote's" hair, Joaz attempts to discover the secrets of the "Sacerdotes"' cave home. They are definitely working on something big. Returning to his home, he is confronted by the "sacerdote" he thought to be dead, who demands the return of his "torc" and walks silently into the tunnels from which Joaz has just emerged.

Subsequently, Joaz has a dream in which he talks to the "Sacerdote" leader and tries to convince him to help. The leader, known as the "Demie", refuses, claiming that to involve himself in the affairs of "Utter Men" is to destroy the detachment necessary to their lifestyle. Joaz suspects they are building a spaceship.

Ervis Carcolo attacks again. Once more Joaz defeats him, but at that moment, the "grephs" reappear. Happy Valley is destroyed and Banbeck Vale is obviously next.

Joaz sets his plans in motion. Besides the power of the ship itself, the "grephs" have humans whom they have bred just as the men of Aerlith have bred their dragons. The "Heavy Trooper" is physically equal to the "Termangant", and "Giants" match the monstrous "Juggers". Some of the humans have been bred to track people by smell, and still others are used like horses, like their dragon counterparts, the "Spiders".

The "grephs" attack, tentatively at first. Their troops are astonished by the dragons who so resemble their masters. The fighting is bloody and Joaz moves his people into caves and tunnels for safety. The "grephs" decide simply to bombard the Vale since they cannot take the people. Joaz has expected this, and lures them to a spot where he believes the "Sacerdotes" have their workshops.

Ervis Carcolo, almost with his last remaining energy and backed by his now demoralized troops, assaults the ship from an unguarded quarter. Joaz coincidentally decides on a similar tactic, and is amazed to find Carcolo already inside. Together they free many people, but cannot gain control of the ship. The destruction of the Vale seems inevitable, until Joaz's tactics finally pay off. The sacerdote cavern is blown open, and the sacerdotes are forced to use the engine of their spaceship to project a beam of energy at the alien ship, disabling it. Joaz and his troops complete the rout and capture the ship. In a bloody scene, "Termagants" confront their more advanced cousins and tear them to pieces. The "Sacerdote" ship is destroyed by the final shots of the battle.

Joaz still has to deal with Carcolo and the Demie, who is driven out of his detachment by what Joaz has forced him to do. He upbraids Joaz for causing the destruction of the work of centuries just to save himself. Joaz refuses to apologize, and when Carcolo, now a prisoner, absurdly continues to assert his claim to the ship, Joaz has him executed.

At the end, Joaz surveys the ruins of his home. He picks up a small round object, a semi-precious stone carved to be a globe of Eden or Tempe or even Earth, the mythical home of humans. He plans to find the other worlds where humans live, if he can repair the alien ship. For now he must rebuild the homes of his people. He tosses the globe back on the rockpile and walks away.

Release details

*New York: Ace Books, 1963, Paperback (Ace Double F-185 bound with "The Five Gold Bands")
*London: Dennis Dobson, 1965, Hardback (first separate edition)

Awards

References

*cite book | last=Underwood | first=Tim | coauthors=Chuck Miller | title=Jack Vance | location=New York | publisher=Taplinger Publishing Company | pages=228 | date=1980 | isbn=0-8008-4295-2

External links

* [http://www.jackvance.com/ Jack Vance home page and archive]
*