Killing Machine, The-Jack Vance novel, book review

Killing Machine, The-Jack Vance novel

AKA: The Demon Princes Book 2

The Killing Machine is the second novel in the five book series by Jack Vance called The Demon Princes.  It was first published as a novel in 1964 and is still in print.  My copy is 136 pages long, making it the shortest work in the series.

This time Kirth Gersen is looking for the star king named Kokor Hekkus, one of the five star kings who killed his parents and destroyed his childhood home.  Kokor Hekkus means "killing machine" in the language on Hekkus's home planet of Thamber.  This is a reference to the horrific giant combat machines Hekkus commissions to be made, the latest one resembling a highly aggressive, giant alien creature.  While this war machine is being created Hekkus kidnaps some children of wealthy parents in order to raise more revenue.  He takes them to the Interchange, a planet in the Beyond, where the hostages are confined until a ransom is collected.  It is something of a prison and banking intermediary that collects a commission for the hostages held there who are ransomed, leaving the kidnappers free to deal with other activities and concerns.  In order to get closer to Hekkus, Gersen takes on a commission from the parents of the children who were kidnapped in order to track down and try to rescue them.  He visits the Interchange under the guise of a slave purchaser.

This is a very colorful, fast paced, entertaining novel with an intriguing, convoluted plot that includes many fascinating characters, tribes, and planets.  After Gersen visits the Interchange and bids on hostages, he becomes a partner in an engineering company and assists to make a more effective mobile combat machine that people ride in and operate.  This one has been commissioned by Kokor Hekkus and resembles a highly aggressive, giant, alien animal called a dnazd.  At one point there is a colorful fight between the robot dnazd and a real dnazd.  Gersen himself is kidnapped and while being confined he learns to make counterfeit money.  Later he joins up with a tribe of primitive creatures who are at war with Hekkus and ends up challenging the leader of the tribe in order to rescue a woman in distress.   Every page seems to bring some new encounter, often laced with irony or humor and always done with flair and imagination.  Almost every wild adventure and activity is an attempt by Gersen to get closer to Kokor Hekkus so he can kill him for revenge.  But this is very challenging because Hekkus is not only difficult to locate; he is difficult to even identify. 

Most of the background material about Kirth Gersen is in the first book, The Star King, so this needs to be read prior to The Killing Machine.  I've read all of The Demon Prince series three times so far.  Very highly recommended.  Rated 5.