Leigh Brackett's The Ginger Star

The Ginger Star is a 1974 science fiction novel by Leigh Brackett. It is the first volume in a loose trilogy featuring her hero Eric John Stark.

Eric John Stark had actually made his first appearance back in 1949 in Brackett’s novellas Queen of the Martian Catacombs, Enchantress of Venus and Black Amazon of Mars. They were sword-and-planet tales set on various planets within the solar system. By the 1970s using Mars and Venus as settings was no longer plausible so Brackett relocated her hero’s adventures to a distant planet orbiting a distant star.

The overall background was also changed slightly. These 1970s stories take place within a vast Galactic Union. Eric John Stark’s background remains more or less the same. He was born on Mercury and raised as a barbarian. He is both a civilised man and a barbarian.

The Ginger Star begins with the disappearance of Simon Ashton. Simon was a kind of mentor, substitute father and best friend to Stark. Simon was on a diplomatic mission to the planet Skaith. Skaith is a newly discovered world, not yet part of the Galactic Union, and very backward. In fact it was once an advanced technological society but the technology has been lost and it is becoming more and more backward.

There is now a spaceport in the south, in the city of Skeg. Relations between the representative of the Galactic Union and the authorities on Skaith are uneasy, a problem exacerbated by the fact that it’s not entirely clear who is really in charge on Skaith. The Galactic Union is really not all that interested in Skaith. It’s not a priority. If Stark wants to find Simon Ashton he’s going to be on his own.

Stark just wants to find Simon Ashton (assuming he is still alive), rescue him and get out. It turns out not to be so simple. Simon may be in the Citadel. No-one is sure where the Citadel is. It is probably in or near Worldheart, but no-one is sure where that is. It is probably in the north. The Citadel is where the Lords Protector are to be found, although very little is known about the nature of the Lords Protector. The inhabitants of Skaith regard them as somewhat akin to gods.

Another complication for Stark is the prophecy made by the wise woman Gerrith. It is assumed that Stark is the Dark Man mentioned in the prophecy. That prophecy brought about Gerrith’s death. To some the Dark Man is a symbol of hope. To others he represents a threat. Or an opportunity. Everybody seems to want to get hold of Eric John Stark, for their own purposes.

It’s a quest story of a sort, with the true nature of the quest only gradually revealed. It’s a quest that involves many dangers, a great deal of bloodshed and many betrayals. The only person Stark is confident of being able to trust is Gerrith, the beautiful daughter of the deceased prophetess. The younger Gerrith has gifts as well, but her powers of prophecy are strictly limited.

There’s a fine adventure plot here but it’s fair to say that Brackett is more interested in the motivations of those who either wish to assist Stark or to oppose him.

The arrival of starships on Skaith provoked mixed reactions. To some the stars represent a possibility of escape from a decaying stultifying world. To others the starships represent a hope for the rebirth of Skaith. And to others again the starships are a threat. They are something to be feared. Fear is a major driving force in this novel. Those who have wealth fear losing that wealth as a result of the starships’ arrival. Those who have fear fear losing their power. Many people simply fear the unknown. Since the starships arrived the future has become unpredictable.

That’s not to say that Brackett neglects the action side of the story. She spent years writing for pulp magazines. She understood the importance of loading a story with entertainment value and she certainly did not despise the action and adventure aspects of pulp fiction tales. She loved those action and adventure elements and handled them with great skill.

Leigh Brackett had many strengths as a writer but her greatest strength of all was her ability to create the melancholy atmosphere of ruined or decaying civilisations, or once-great civilisations that are now obscure backwaters. Skaith is just the sort of setting at which she excelled.

This can be seen as a sword-and-planet tale with some sword-and-sorcery elements as well. There is magic. Or at least it appears to be magic. On a planet that was once home to an advanced technological society there’s always the possibility that the magic is simply remnants of lost technologies. There are monsters, but they were in all probability created by misguided technological experiments.

Eric John Stark is a fine square-jawed action hero. His barbarian heritage is very useful at times. The barbarian mind can cope with things that would paralyse a civilised mind.

This novel is obviously a species of first contact story but it’s made more interesting by the fact that Skaith comprises lots of very different societies and lots of warring factions.

The Ginger Star is typical Leigh Brackett - well-written, fast-moving, action-packed, atmospheric. Highly recommended.

I’ve also reviewed quite a few other Leigh Brackett books - the short story collection Sea-Kings of Mars and Otherworldly Stories, Enchantress of Venus, Black Amazon of Mars, Last Call from Sector 9G, The Sword of Rhiannon, The Last Days of Shandakor and The Secret of Sinharat.