''The Sorcerer's Ship'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Hannes Bok Wayne Francis Woodard ( ; July 2, 1914 – April 11, 1964), known by the pseudonym Hannes Bok, was an American artist and illustrator, as well as an amateur astrologer and writer of fantasy fiction and poetry. He painted nearly 150 covers for v ...

. It was first published in the December 1942 issue of the magazine ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film and television Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), Australian silent film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film), American silent drama ...

'', and was first published in book form in paperback by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

as the ninth volume of the

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...

in December 1969. The Ballantine edition includes an introduction by

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lov ...

. The novel has also been published in translation in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. Like much of Bok's fiction, it is the story of a traveler "from our world who found imselfin colourful, magic lands that are far more attractive than our own".

Plot summary

A man named Gene finds himself cast into a new world by a powerful godlike being. Gene has been changed in such a way that he has every talent needed to survive this new world, including the ability to understand the language of its inhabitants. Gene is rescued from the seemingly endless oceans of this new world by a passing ship that is similar to the looks of a Viking

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

. Aboard the ship he makes himself useful as best he can while meeting new friends and enemies. Eventually they come to an island where a mysterious creature who some see as a friend, and some see as an enemy, joins them aboard their ship to help deal with the threat of war from their neighboring kingdom known as Koph. The creature, utilizing his sorcerer-like abilities is employed by the other country known as Nanich to help aid them in the war, but will the sorcerer, and his magic be enough to save the land of Nanich from being overrun by Koph?

Main characters

Gene Trevelli: The main protagonist of the story. Originally from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he was on vacation swimming when in the middle of almost drowning he got sucked into another world. Throughout the book Gene tries his hardest to fit in with the people who saved him from drifting in the ocean. Throughout the story Gene is very confused about the new world he has been dropped into, but tries his hardest to fit in. Siwara: The princess of Nanich, a naive young woman who believes that there can be peace between Koph and Nanich, much to the disdain of her mentor Kaspel. Kaspel: Siwara's Mentor. An old man who wears blue robes. A very logical, and calculating man but also a man with a kind heart, a fatherly love of Siwara, and an equal love of his country. Froar: Another of Siwara's Mentors. A cold-hearted, treacherous, self-serving man with a love for power. the book often describes that He has a very gravely voice and a wild stare. his motivation is the manipulation of Siwara to get what he desires. Yanuk: An immortal chubby

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

fish-like creature with amazing

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

abilities. Yanuk is very trusting and happy to have the company of other people after being alone for probably centuries by himself while he honed his powers. His amazing gifts were granted to him by a very powerful being named Orcher. at times he sees his gift of immortality as punishment rather than a blessing, and has been very, very lonely. Orcher: A seemingly

omnipotent Omnipotence is the property of possessing maximal power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as ...

being so powerful that he has supposedly made, and is in control of more than one whole

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

. Siwara summons him with the help of Yanuk to get his aid to help defend against the invasion of Koph.

Reception

James Cawthorn James Cawthorn (sometimes spelt Cawthorne) was born in Sheffield on 4 November 1719 and died in Tonbridge on 15 April 1761. A school master in holy orders, he was a minor English poet and imitator of Alexander Pope. Life James Cawthorn was the ...

compared the novel to

A. Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...

's ''

The Ship of Ishtar ''The Ship of Ishtar'' is a fantasy novel by American writer A. Merritt. Originally published as a magazine serial in 1924, it has appeared in book form innumerable times. The novel depicts a modern archaeologist who has to intervene in an eter ...

'', noting that because Bok's writing was more restrained, "the reader is never really gripped by the plight of the principal characters, and the overall effect is unsatisfying".

E. F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

similarly found ''Sorcerer's Ship'' less effective than Bok's collaborations with Merritt, declaring it "Not too satisfying".E. F. Bleiler, ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction'', Kent State University Press, 1983 (p.65) ''

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work covering fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant (author), John Grant. As of November 2012, the full text of ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is available online, as a compani ...

'' describes Bok's novels as "stronger in imagery and wordplay than in plot or characterization"."Bok, Hannes" entry
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorcerer's Ship, The 1942 American novels American fantasy novels Works originally published in Unknown (magazine) 1942 fantasy novels Ballantine Books books