The Venom Trees of Sunga
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''The Venom Trees of Sunga'' is a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel by American writer
L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...
, the twelfth book in his ''
Viagens Interplanetarias The ''Viagens Interplanetarias'' series is a sequence of science fiction stories by L. Sprague de Camp, L. Sprague de Camp, begun in the late 1940s and written under the influence of contemporary space opera and sword and planet stories, par ...
'' series and the second in its subseries of stories set on the fictional planet Kukulkan. It was first published in paperback by
Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is an imprint (trade name), imprint of the Random House Group, a division of Penguin Random House. The imprint was established in 1977 under the editorship of Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, author Lester del Rey. Today, th ...
in November 1992. An
E-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
edition was published by Gollancz's
SF Gateway Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...
imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.


Plot summary

The lead character Kirk Salazar, a second-generation Terran colonist on the planet Kukulkan, is near the end of his education to become a biologist, lacking only field research to complete his studies. Interested in the evolutionary background of the dominant native species, the intelligent reptilian Kukulkanians, he focuses on a related animal species whose habitat is the poisonous "venom trees" on the remote island of Sunga. To reach his destination he joins a tour group headed for the island, among whom are some family friends worried about their daughter, who has joined a band of Terran cult members there. They discover she has become the cult's leader, and Salazar finds himself caught in the crossfire of a power struggle between the cultists and a Terran logging magnate intent on clear-cutting the venom trees. He is able to save his neck and preserve the habitat of his research subjects by an unorthodox use of his findings, a spectacularly unlikely disguise, and a healthy dose of dumb luck.


Setting

Kukulkan, a planet of the star
Epsilon Eridani Epsilon Eridani ( Latinized from ε Eridani), proper name Ran, is a star in the southern constellation of Eridanus. At a declination of −9.46°, it is visible from most of Earth's surface. Located at a distance from the Sun, it has ...
, is inhabited by intelligent
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
-like creatures possessed of a civilization far older than Earth's. Due to the natives' inherent conservatism and an environment deficient in fossil fuels, its technology has not advanced beyond edged weapons and steam-driven vehicles. The Kukulkanians, or "Kooks" as they are known among Terrans, are honest, honor-bound, and dull in personality. Terrans have obtained land for a colony by treaty, and the colonists, consisting primarily of descendants of North American, Russian, and Chinese settlers, co-inhabit the planet in a somewhat uneasy relationship with the natives. The cultural level of the aboriginal race places the Kukulkan stories firmly within the
Sword and Planet Planetary romanceAllen Steele, ''Captain Future - the Horror at Jupiter''p .195/ref> (other synonyms are sword and planet, and planetary adventure) is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy in which the bulk of the action consists of a ...
genre, though the non-humanoid inhabitants are an unusual feature. The Kooks' rational and dispassionate observations allow the authors to present a rather arch perspective on the comparatively less stable Earthlings.


Unpublished sequel

In a letter published in ''REHupa'' 113, 11/22/91, at which time ''The Venom Trees of Sunga'' was still in press, de Camp wrote that he was then "struggling with a third Kukulcan icnovel."De Camp, L. Sprague. Letter to ''REHupa'', in ''REHupa'' 113, 11/22/91. The novel in question was not published, and may never have been finished.


Placement in the ''Viagens'' series

The ''Viagens Interplanetarias'' is never actually mentioned in the novel. Further, these novels portray America, Russia and China as supplying most of the Terran settlers of Kukulkan, in seeming contradiction to the series' premise that these countries have been eclipsed by Brazil in the ''Viagens'' future; no Brazilians appear in the novels. Finally, the name of the planet Kukulkan violates the nomenclature previously established for the planetary system of Epsilon Eridani in the introduction and title story of '' The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens'', according to which the planets take their names from Norse gods like
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
, not
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
n gods like
Kukulkan K’uk’ulkan, also spelled Kukulkan (; "Plumed Serpent", "Amazing Serpent"), is the Snake worship#Mesoamerica, serpent deity of Maya mythology. It is closely related to the deity Qʼuqʼumatz of the Kʼicheʼ people and to Quetzalcoatl of A ...
. The first two issues are explicable. Since the novels' activities take place entirely on-planet and Kukulkan's well-established settlements are not dependent on extra-system support, there is no need for the ''Viagens'' to play a role. The ethnic make-up of the settlements presumably results from the well-known tendency of depressed economies rather than prosperous ones to supply emigrants. The problem of nomenclature can best be laid to error. Regardless of all such issues, an explicit reference to the key ''Viagens'' planet Krishna in ''The Venom Trees of Sunga'' definitively places Kukulkan in the ''Viagens'' universe.


Reception

Roland J. Green, writing for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'', called the book "light without being fluffy ... tty and briskly paced, with a number of digs at the
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
world-view."Green, Roland J. "Science Fiction" (reviews). In the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', February 7, 1993, SHOW section, p. 13. The novel was also reviewed by Scott Winnett in '' Locus'' no. 383, December 1992, and
Don D'Ammassa Donald Eugene D'Ammassa (born April 24, 1946) is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror critic and author.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venom Trees of Sunga, The 1992 novels 1992 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Fiction set around Epsilon Eridani Novels by L. Sprague de Camp Novels about dinosaurs Del Rey books Novels set on fictional planets