Background of the Study
Novelist and critic who taught literature and creative writing at the University of Massachusetts and Temple University, Samuel R. Delany had won four Nebula Awards and a Hugo Award by the time he was 27. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2002, by which time he’d also been chosen by the Lambda Literary Report as one of the 50 people who had done the most to change our view of gayness in the last half-century. In 2013, he was named the 31st Damon Knight Memorial Foundation Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Samuel R. Delany’s science fiction and fantasy tales are available in Aye and Gomorrah and Other Stories. His collection Atlantis: Three Tales and Phallos are experimental fiction. His novels include science fiction such as the Nebula-Award winning Babel-17 and The Einstein Intersection, as well as Nova and Dhalgren. His four-volume series Return to Nevèrÿon is sword-and-sorcery. Most recently, he has written the SF novel Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders. His 2007 novel Dark Reflections won the Stonewall Book Award. Other novels include Equinox, Hogg, and The Mad Man. Delany was the subject of a 2007 documentary, The Polymath, by Fred Barney Taylor, and he has written a popular creative writing textbook, About Writing. He is the author of the widely taught Times Square Red / Times Square Blue, and his book-length autobiographical essay, The Motion of Light in Water, won a Hugo Award in 1989. All are available as both e-books and paperback editions.
Delany is the author of several collections of critical essays.
His interview in the Paris Review’s “Art of Fiction” series appeared in spring 2012. In 2015 he was the recipient of the Nicolas Guillén Award for philosophical fiction. His novella The Atheist in the Attic appeared in February 2018. Professor Delany retired from teaching at the end of 2015. He lives in Philadelphia with his partner, Dennis Rickett.
Literature Reviews
Samuel DelanyÕs novel, Tales of Neveryon , is a wonderful collection of fantasy stories set in civilization that is somewhat mysterious, but full of magic and surprise. DelanyÕs work explores such ideas as the power of language, sexual and social behavior, and the influence of money. Tales of Neveryon combines adventure and intrigue with intellectual stimulus to provide a great work of writing.
The book includes “The Tale of Gorgik,” which is the story of a boy who is taken into slavery. Gorgik is freed by a rich noblewoman who fancies him and is given a second chance [subject unclear]. Gorgik must adapt to a life of freedom and soon changes his naive view of the world. In the end[,] he becomes like the very slave traders who captured him and makes his fortune in shady and illegal dealings. “The Tale of Old Venn” is about a wise old womanÕs influence on a little girl. Venn teaches Norema that the world is not always as it seems and how such things as language and money influence culture. “The Tale of Small Sarg” is about a prince who is taken as a slave and eventually bought by Gorgik. In this tale, it is shown how sex can replace love for some people. “The Tale of Potters and Dragons” is about two young peoples first adventure out of their home town, and their quest for wealth.
The first story, “The Tale of Gorgik” explores the issue of slavery literally and metaphorically. Gorgik is [a] slave in the literal sense until he is freed by the Vizerine Myrgot. Slavery changes Gorgik. It teaches him to survive at any cost, but it also takes away his compassion for other people. When he is freed he can not [one word] truly love anybody because he only understands owner and property as the relationship between people [he only understands the relationship between people as one of owner and property]. He is a slave to his beliefs. The Vizerine is also a slave. Even though she is a rich Page 2 noblewoman she cannot do whatever she wants. She is confined by the expectations of her social class. She must look and behave as they [unclear antecedent] want her to. Also she must bow down to those of higher rank. Myrgot also [too early repetition of this word] cannot love a person. If she marries someone[,] her title and lands would go to the male because of the customs of her culture. This is why she only has sexual relations with slaves such as Gorgik. [Good] Many people are confined like Gorgik and Myrgot by the customs of their culture.
“The Tale of Gorgik” — This first tale is a much easier entry into the volume, as it hews most closely to sword-and-sorcery tropes. A young boy is born into poverty, ends up enslaved, rises out of slavery through the strength of his character and a hefty dose of luck, and ends up with a respected position heading a garrison of soldiers after a brief stint at court. Of course, in this culture the civilized are dark-skinned and the barbarians (who usually become enslaved) are light-skinned; Gorgik’s main duties at court are as catamite to a noblewoman AND her eunuch steward; most of the nobles have been slaves at some point due to dramatic shifts in political fortune (though not all have developed an aversion to slavery as a result); and so on, as Delany plays with the ideas of power and race and class and gender and sexuality. Still, this tale can be read pretty much straight, as the tale of Gorgik’s development into the person that stands at the center of these tales. It also serves to introduce us to Nevèrÿon, the titular city on the brink of civilization, which has been playing with the idea of coined money for three generations and has had writing for a bit longer even than that. It is interesting to note that very early on the Child Empress (whose ascension to power resulted in Gorgik’s enslavement) changes the city’s name to Kolhari, and Kolhari it remains through the end of the volume (and likely further).
“The Tale of Gorgik” is the first and pivotal story, since Gorgik goes on to play important roles in most of the subsequent stories (and, I am given to understand, later books in the series). Gorgik is a light-skinned man in a land ruled by darker-skinned people. He becomes a slave and works in the mines until a high-ranking government bureaucrat pulls him up out of that position to use as her sex buddy. He lives on her sufferance at the imperial residence for a while, then she gives him an army commission and sends him packing. Eventually, Gorgik strikes off on his own, becoming a kind of adventurer. Yet his experiences have left him with a taste for freedom and a distaste for slavery, and we’ll see that later. All in all, “The Tale of Gorgik” is mostly a reflection on how one’s fortunes are often out of one’s control and depend upon the will and power of other players.
“The Tale of Old Venn” shows the power of language and the influence money can have on a culture. In the story, Venn tells Norema about the Ruvlyn culture and how language affects their society. In the Ruvlyn language, unlike most other languages, the same word is used for both the male and female genitalia. This causes the gap between genders to be smaller than those in other cultures. The men and women are more equal. They are more at ease with their sexuality. On some special occasions[,] they even switch roles as the men dress up as women and the women dress as men. Venn also talks about the influence that money has on the Ruvlyn. As the Ruvlyn change from a bartering system to a currency system, their social structure changes. The men become the handlers of money. The women compete with each other to marry a man with money instead of living in harmony with a man that can hunt. This change causes the Ruvlyn to lose very important cultural values and customs that used to form the binds of the tribe. [Why is this significant?]
“The Tale of Old Venn” — This second tale is the one where Delany makes his theme of narrative explicit; though it serves as a tale of Norema’s childhood the same way “The Tale of Gorgik” is the tale of Gorgik’s childhood, it is mainly there for the conversations between Norema and the wise woman Old Venn. This was my favorite tale, as I was fascinated by the way Old Venn explained the central concept and the various examples she used. Those examples also give us a picture of some of the “barbarian” cultures, the ones that are still skeptical of the idea of writing though they seem to have embraced coined money quite well, despite the way it has completely upended the way their societies function.
“The Tale of Old Venn” takes us across the land to an archipelago off the coast of Nevèrÿon proper. The peoples of these islands trade with Nevèrÿon but otherwise exist outside its influence. That is changing, however, because money is making its way through the land. Although comprising several stories told by the eponymous Venn, the protagonist of the frame story is actually Norema, who will later emigrate to Nevèrÿon and one day meet Gorgik. Through Venn’s stories, Norema is exposed to the potential problems with the introduction of money, as well as different ideas about gender roles. This story might be one of the most confusing to follow, simply owing to its structure.
“The Tale of Small Sar”g shows how some people try to use sex to fill the hole where love is missing and talks about homosexuality [subject unclear]. Gorgik purchases Sarg as a slave so he can have sexual relations with him. Gorgik was a former slave himself and was purchased by Myrgot so she could have sexual relations with him. Gorgik does not Page 3 understand love because no one has shown him love. He still wears the slave collar when he engages in sexual activity even though he is a free man. This symbolizes how he is not free to love. He can only possess, and this is what he does with Sarg. The relationship between Sarg and Gorgik also brings up the issue of homosexuality. Gorgik does not necessarily seem to be a homosexual. He has relations with women as well. Gorgik simply does not care who the person is. He only wants the body so he can fulfill his needs. This story is very relevant to todayÕs society where sex is seen everywhere and homosexuality is a major controversy. DelanyÕs comments on these subjects provoke interesting thoughts. [rather vague; elaborate]
“The Tale of Small Sarg” concerns a young man, little more than a boy, who is kidnapped from his people and sold into slavery (are you sensing a theme yet?). Sarg was revered as a prince among his people, which seems to mean he wasn’t responsible for doing all that much, because in his society women had most of the responsibility. As a slave, Sarg gets sold to Gorgik. The relationship between these two forms the core of this story, as they navigate complicated matters of sexuality, kink, and the power dynamics of master/slave—which might not be what you would expect, not that I want to spoil it. Basically, if you are familiar with Delany you shouldn’t be surprised that so many of his characters are super queer, and this is book no exception. This story advances Gorgik’s character development, setting him on the path on which we encounter him in subsequent books.
“The Tale of Small Sarg” — This third tale was a bit of a letdown for me. Small Sarg comes from an even more barbaric culture than Norema, one without writing or coined money at all. He is a prince in his land, but a slave in Nevèrÿon. A middle-aged Gorgik purchases him and beds him; he has a conversation with a young girl, and the story ends. It felt like a necessary placeholder, and while it too addresses the issues of slavery, gender roles, and sexuality, it just didn’t quite satisfy after “The Tale of Old Venn.”
In “The Tale of Potters and Dragons,” the woman warrior, Raven, tells the creation myth of her culture. In the myth, God, who is feminine, creates two women. The second woman offends God and is turned into a man as punishment. This story is very contrary to most peoplesÕ beliefs. In the Christian religion, God is masculine. Also, man was created first. It is evident from the story that Raven tells that her culture is a matriarchy. Also the fact that she carries a sword shows the gender roles of her society. [How so? Needs further explanation.] In this tale, Delany shows how different cultures have different myths and stories and how these myths affect their culture.
“The Tale of Potters and Dragons” — This fourth tale returns to Norema, now a secretary in Neveryon. She embarks on a business trip for her employer and encounters Raven, a traveler from an Amazonian culture who is by turns amused and apalled at the odd gender roles she has encountered in Nevèrÿon. Norema has a run-in with politics and sees some of the concepts she discussed with Old Venn in action. There’s a hefty dose of irony about this tale, and I would not have minded if it had been twice as long.
” The Tale of Dragons and Dreamers” — This fifth and final tale is where Gorgik and Norema’s paths finally cross. Gorgik and Small Sarg have been getting into trouble; Raven and Norema have been mostly staying out of trouble, and the men stumble onto the women’s campsite and share a meal. Much is revealed to the reader, rather less is revealed to the characters, and again, the tone is ironic. There is actually some action in this tale, and again, Delany packs a whallop thematically into not very many pages.
“The Tale of Dragons and Dreamers” brings together Norema and Raven with Gorgik and Sarg. The best way I can describe this is that Sarg basically yells, “RAMPAGE!” and runs into a castle and kills as many guards as possible, kind of like Sir Lancelot in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The scenes are literally kind of cinematic in that way. But anyway, this is the story that sees the culmination of the narratives on slavery, power, and economic revolutions. It’s a short but powerful tale amplified by the reader’s awareness of the previous narratives.
DelanyÕs novel is overall a good book, but information about the setting and backgrounds of the different peoples of Neveryon is somewhat lacking. There are many places in the story where it is unclear as to where the different cities are located and to what country they belong. Norema is apparently from an island far away from Neveryon, but Delany does not say exactly where. Raven is from a matriarchy, but Delany does not Page 4 say where exactly she is from or tell much about this matriarchy. The fact that the book is told in several interlocking stories also adds to the confusion about where and when the events take place. Delany could have provided more background information for his settings or at least provided a map of the different places.
Tales of Neveryon deals with a wide range of social and ethical issues. The novel is extremely well written and is worth reading. The stories it contains are so fascinating because they contain the adventure and magic seen in most fantasy works plus deeper ideas for the reader to ponder. I would recommend it to all fans of fantasy.
[Final comments: Graham, this is a strong review for the most part (good, concise renditions of plot and the beginnings of a strong analysis); however, I do feel that you could have gone further in your analyses of the individual tales. Although quite good, these analyses feel somewhat abrupt. Still, I enjoyed reading this review and I’m sure the class will too.]
Lastly, we have “Appendix: Some Informal Remarks Toward the Modular Calculus, Part Three”. This is where I’ll state the controversial opinion that you could, indeed, just skip this entire part if you wanted. I think it’s possible to enjoy Tales of Nevèrÿon on the strength of the stories alone without worrying too much about what Delany is doing here. However, if you’re into considering the deeper implications of Delany’s work, then it is worthwhile reading and trying to parse this last entry. This is “part three” of these informal remarks; the first two are in Triton: An Ambiguous Heterotopia (the main story is “part one” and an appendix to that story is “part two”).
So Delany is trying to link his works, trying to create a common thread throughout them. I don’t have the energy or memory to really compare Triton with these stories. But I can see some similarities between Dhalgren and these stories. In both cases, Delany makes much of the deconstruction and semiotic analysis as pioneered by Derrida. Language and symbols have huge significance in Tales of Nevèrÿon: in “The Tale of Gorgik”, Curly lectures Gorgik over the depth and significance of the few words the Child Empress utters to him; in “The Tale of Old Venn”, the rult that Venn describes from her time among the Rulvyn is a potent symbol, and this story also examines the utility of writing; in “The Tale of Small Sarg”, the slave collar that Sarg wears plays an important role in the relationship between Sarg and Gorgik beyond denotation of who is the slave … and so on.