''The Zen Gun'' is the eleventh

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by Barrington J. Bayley.

Background

Like many of Bayley's books, ''The Zen Gun'' is

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

with all the conventional trappings: a declining,

anthropocentric Anthropocentrism (; ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. ...

Galactic empire Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...

loses its grasp on power as it slips into the Long Night of civilization, star fleets with the ability to ravage worlds warp through the void at

superluminal Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero ...

velocity and a hyperweapon threatens to end life itself. However, Bayley extensively reworks these ideas for the purposes of his novel: the humans of the galactic empire are seen to have ceded most of their imperial power to evolved animals in an attempt to prolong their decadent existence, Admiral Archier's starfleet has been despatched to collect overdue taxes from colony worlds, the empire have ripped a hole in the fabric of reality and the pseudoscientific belief that

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

is repulsive rather than attractive is literally true. The events of the primary plotline are instigated by a message from Archier's Oracle, which alerts him to the existence of the Zen Gun, a weapon capable of destroying suns, which the chimeric, human-hating Pout wishes to use to annihilate the empire. Powerful as the weapon is, its existence is a paradox, as only those who have attained inner peace can use it. In his attempts, Pout is aided by ''kosho'' Ikkematsu (one of an order of futuristic

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

), Ikkematsu's nephew Sinbiane and the rebel Hesper.

Literary significance and reception

Rhys Hughes Rhys Henry Hughes (born 1966, Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh fantasy writer and essayist. Career Born in Cardiff, Hughes has written in a variety of forms, from short stories to novels. His long novel ''Engelbrecht Again!'' is a sequel to Mauric ...

regarded ''The Zen Gun'' as Bayley's most entertaining late-period novel, where " many ideas are played off against each other that there is hardly any room for the reader to breathe."

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

enthused extensively about the novel in the legendary fanzine ''

Cheap Truth ''Cheap Truth'' was a free series of one-page, double-sided newsletters (i.e., fanzine) published in the period between 1983 and 1986. Its headquarters was in Austin, Texas. It was not-copyrighted and explicitly encouraged "xerox pirates" to circu ...

'': "Yet Bayley's elemental energy, his mastery of the sense of wonder, cannot be denied. His work is the very antithesis of tired hackdom. To invent an entire self-consistent cosmology and physics for a $2.50 DAW paperback (THE ZEN GUN, 1983) is one of those noble acts of selfless altruism that keep SF alive." Earlier in the review, Sterling had labelled Bayley "the Zen master of modern space opera."

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

reviewed ''The Zen Gun'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' #49, and stated that "The deadpan humour blends with loony physics ..the fabric of space coming apart, and the zen gun itself, which is the most powerful weapon ever, designed to make centralized empires impossible – and is pocket-sized, carved from wood."

Colin Greenland Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954 in Dover, Kent, England) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both majo ...

reviewed ''The Zen Gun'' for ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' magazine, and stated that "Sounds like Douglas Adams territory, but it's not comedy. In fact Bayley has a whole new theory of physics to expound, and does so in meticulous detail. A shame, then, that you have to work to extract the good bits from some very clumsy writing generously seasoned with misprints."

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...

reviewed ''The Zen Gun'' favorably, "commending" Bayley for "as good a set of adventure characters, placed in the context of as good an adventure premise as I've seen in a very long time.""Books," ''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'', April 1984, p. 29 ''The Zen Gun'' was nominated for the

Philip K. Dick Award The Philip K. Dick Award is an American science fiction award given annually at Norwescon and sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and (since 2005) the Philip K. Dick Trust. Named after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, ...

in 1983 and won the Seiun Award for Best Foreign Language Novel of the Year in 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zen Gun 1983 novels 1983 science fiction novels Space opera novels Novels by Barrington J. Bayley DAW Books books