Book Review: 'Warlord's World' by Christopher Anvil
'Warlord's World' (207 pp.) is DAW Book No. 168 and was published in October 1975. The cover art is by Frank Kelly Freas.
'Christopher Anvil' was the pseudonym of the U.S. writer Harry C. Crosby, Jr. (1925-2009) who began publishing sci-fi in the 1950s and continued on into the early 1990s. Anvil's best-known works are the 'Pandora's Planet' stories, about Earth under the rule of a race of lion-like aliens.
As 'Warlord's World' opens, our square-jawed hero, Vaughan Roberts of the Federation's Interstellar Patrol, is on vacation at the gambling palace of the Temple of Chance on the pleasure planet Tiamaz. Roberts encounters a swell dame named Erena who is being abducted by some heavies. In the ensuing fracas, Roberts precipitates an interplanetary brouhaha with the Tiamaz authorities, and Erena is spirited off to her home world of Festhold, there to be held captive by the odious Regent, Duke Marius.
Infatuated with Erena, Roberts schemes with his superior, Colonel Valentine Sanders, to free Erena and in so doing liberate her brother, Prince Harold WIlliams, from the control of Duke Marius. This is accomplished by an unusual technology that allows Roberts, from the headquarters at the Interstellar Patrol, to implant his consciousness into that of Prince in Festhold.
Unwittingly equipped with this beneficent version of schizophrenia, Prince Harold / Roberts rouses from his drug-induced idleness to fervidly embark on a quest to overthrow the Duke, rescue Erena, and bring peace and prosperity to Festhold.......a rather tall order. But to Vaughan Roberts, all is fair and love and war...............
Although it was published in 1975, 'Warlord's World' very much reads as a rather lame comedic sci-fi novel from the 1950s or early 1960s, similar to those (for example) written by Robert Sheckley.
'Warlord's' prose style has the stilted, awkward character that was commonplace in mainstream sci-fi of the 50s, which, when combined with clumsy efforts at humor, means that the reader has to plod through these types of passages:
From the police cruiser came the warning: "You are sighted ! Decelerate at once to zero ! Stand by and open your hatches for boarding !"
From the patrol ship came the answer: "Interstellar Patrol Ship 6-107-J, on Official Patrol Business under Mandate Override Command Authority Paragraph 1064b, Subheading 44 p through z, relevant Emergencies to Patrol Personnel on Active Duty, Enabling Authority Subsections J through Q......THIS IS A RELEVANT EMERGENCY ! Stand by to render assistance on request."
On the police cruiser, grim purpose dissolved into chaos.
"Holy - it's an I.P. ship !"
" Don't touch it !"
"Wait, now ! How do we know it's I.P. ? Just because they say - "
" - What's 'Mandate Override Command' ? I never heard of 'Mandate Override Command'. Did anybody here ever hear of Mandate Override Command ?"
'They're outdistancing us !'
"Standard regs say we've got to stop any ship showing in the inner ring. It doesn't matter if it's the Space Force !"
"Look, what's a 'relevant emergency' ? Did anybody here ever hear of a 'relevant emergency' ?"
"I'm telling you, you don't mess with the I.P. !"
"But how do we know for sure that it is the I. P. ?"
"Pass the message to HQ and let them figure it out !"
In its favor, 'Warlord's World' has brief chapters, many infused with a Ruritanian atmosphere, making it a quick read...........at least, when author Anvil stays away from trying to be humorous.
The verdict ? 'Warlord's World' was obsolete at the time of its publication and certainly hasn't aged very well in the ensuing 45 years. I would pass on this one.............
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