Pnume The-Jack Vance novel, book review

Pnume The-Jack Vance novel

AKA: Planet of Adventure 4 and

Tschai Book 4

The Pnume was first published as a paperback novel in 1970.  It has also been called Planet of Adventure #4 and Tschai Book 4.  This is the final of four novels in the Planet of Adventure series involving the planet Tschai.  It in print in the four novel omnibus titled Planet of Adventure and in a Spatterlight trade paperback.  My copy of The Pnume is 122 pages long.

The Pnume continues the story of Adam Reith who is marooned on the planet Tschai where four intelligent civilizations exist, each ruled by a different species and each an enemy of the others.  These include the Chasch, the Wankh, the Dirdir and the Pnume.  Each of these considers itself superior to others and has humans as servants.  These humans try to look like their masters by using costumes, headgear, props, surgery and perhaps genetic manipulation.  They are called Chaschmen, Wankhmen, Dirdirmen and Pnumekins.  Each one considers themselves to be the only real humans.  There are also various enclaves of free humans who are not servants, but they are referred to as sub-men and are considered inferior to all others. 

In this fourth and final novel Reith is involved mostly with The Pnume and the Pnumekins.  Unlike the other intelligent species on the planet, the Pnume did not come to Tschai from another planet but are indigenous.  They are a mysterious and secretive creature, with seven million years of history who now live in vast networks of underground tunnels.  The Pnume have Pnumekins as servants.  These are humans who live in the tunnels with the Pnume and are educated and controlled by them.  They were originally kidnapped from Earth tens of thousands of years ago by the Dirdirs.

Reith continues to be assisted by two recent friends, Traz Onmale (an Emblem Man) and Ankhe at afram Anacho (a Dirdirman).  Reith's main goal is to steal or build an airship to escape Tschai and return to Earth.  He wants to alert humans on Earth to the presence of the four advanced civilizations on Tschai and inform them that humans, originally from Earth, are being kept as servants and slaves.  He is also concerned about the safety of humans back on Earth because both the Dirdir and now the Chasch know about Earth and the humans who reside there. 

The Pnume is much different from the action packed novel The Dirdir.  It still has adventure and drama but it is slower paced, less violent and more mysterious with beautifully detailed world building.  In addition to having close interaction with the Pnumes and Pnumekins, Reith encounters Gzhindras who are Pnumekins who have been expelled from their underground tunnels, usually for "boisterous behavior."  These gaunt figures who wear black cloaks and wide-brimmed hats wander on the surface as agents for the Pnume who never come out of their tunnels and avoid open air and sunlight.  To trade with the Pnume, other species must deal with Gzhindras.  The Gzhindras also do the bidding of the Pnumes and accept commissions to kidnap, steal and perform other tasks for those who live on the surface.

Reith continues building an airship with purchased Dirdir parts.  One night while asleep he is drugged or gassed, placed in a large bag and kidnapped by Gzhindras.  He regains consciousness while being carried and then feels himself being lowered into a deep hole.  Reith is able to free himself using his belt buckle to dig a tear in the bag, but is unable to remove the heavy lid from the tall chimney like hole he is in.  Eventually some Pnumekins arrive from an adjoining chamber and he hides but is able to overhear their conversation which is in the universal Tschai language.  They were expecting him to be in the bag, are perplexed that he is not there and leave after discussing the situation.  Soon some Pnume arrive and Reith sees one of these strange beings.  "A black hat shaded its eye-sockets; its visage, the cast and color of a horse's skull, was expressionless: under the lower edge of a complicated set of rasping and chewing parts surrounded a near-invisible mouth."

Reith begins his long journey through the labyrinth of caves and rivers in the underground world of the Pnumes.  While there he meets a Pnumekin woman who only name is Zith, of Athan Area, in the Pagaz Zone, of rank 210.  Reith decides to call her Zap 210.  I've commented in the past on some of Vance's female characters being poorly developed, but Zap 210's life in the caverns has been so limited that she has never seen sunlight and knows only what the Pnume allowed her to be taught.  So her lack of having much personality is do to her upbringing and not Vance's writing.  Reith eventually learns about some of the mysteries of the Pnume and their Museums of Foreverness and how they have recorded a history for much of their seven million years on the planet Tschai.  The Pnume "regarded the surface of Tschai as a vast theater, on which wonderful millennium-long dramas were played out."  The Dirdir and Chasch frequently (but not very successfully) try to kill Pnumes through explosives or by gassing them in their tunnels, but the Pnume view them not so much as enemies but as one of many alien species that had settled on Tschai only to eventually die out or be killed off by other alien invaders.  The Pnume see the big picture and have a  long historical view of themselves, other creatures, their planet Tschai and the universe. 

Reith later meets other strange groups such as the Khors whose holy grounds are used for night time dancing and mating and who have lethal darts they use to try to kill anybody who trespasses.  And there is a remarkable story about Reith's encounter with the Thangs in their trade city Urmank where outsiders provide a livelihood for them through the Khor's stealing and trickery.  Here Reith finds a carnival like booth that has colored coded eels that race and where bets are placed against the house.  Reith tries to figure out how the game is rigged so he can bet on winning eels to gain badly needed sequins to continue his trip over water by ship.

I found the resolution and ending of the novel to be very satisfying although I would have preferred it to be somewhat longer and more detailed.  It was, after all, the ending to the four novel series.  There is only one page of narrative between Reith's leaving his meeting with the Pnume and the very end of the novel and series.  Each time I read The Pnume it feels rather rushed at the end.  But that is a minor reservation, and the novel is highly recommended as is the entire series.

In the Planet of Adventure series Vance creates some strange and fascinating cultures on the planet Tschai. Many different, often intriguing, social values, customs, attitudes and behaviors are depicted within the various social groups and between different cultures and species.  Vance encourages us to look at ourselves and our own religions, laws, customs, ethics, values, cultural biases, belief systems and social structures.  He does this in a well crafted, witty, fascinating and exciting way that I find totally engaging. 

It is a fascinating novel, beautifully written and rich in symbolism, world building and social satire.  The Dirdir and The Pnume, the last two novels in the series, are for me the two finest of the Planet of Adventure series, but I recommend that all four novels be read in order. I have read The Pnume twice so far and rated it a 5.