![]() Delany subverts the formulaic elements of sword-and-sorcery and around their empty husks constructs self-conscious meta-fictions about social and sexual behavior, the play of language and power, and - above all - the possibilities and limitations of narrative. "The tales of Nevèrÿon are postmodern sword-and-sorcery. Does this contaminate his mission - or intensify it? Presumably elaborated from an ancient text of unknown geographical origin, the stories are sunk in translators' and commentators' introductions and appendices, forming a richly comic frame. Ironically, however, he is sexually aroused by the iron slave collars of servitude. Taken slave in childhood, Gorgik gains his freedom, leads a slave revolt, and becomes a minister of state, finally abolishing slavery. The eleven stories, novellas, and novels in Return to Nevèrÿon's four volumes chronicle a long-ago land on civilization's brink, perhaps in Asia or Africa, or even on the Mediterranean. Wesleyan University Press has reissued the long-unavailable Nevèrÿonvolumes in trade paperback. Delany appropriated the conceits of sword-and-sorcery fantasy to explore his characteristic themes of language, power, gender, and the nature of civilization. ![]() ![]() In his four-volume series Return to Nevèrÿon, Hugo and Nebula award-winner Samuel R. A novel of myth and literacy about a long-ago land on the brink of civilization. ![]()
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