Rork!

by Avram Davidson

Davidson, Avram

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Avram Davidson was an American Jewish writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards in the science fiction and fantasy genre, a World Fantasy Life Achievement award, and a Queen's Award and an Edgar Award in the mystery genre. Davidson edited The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1962 to 1964. His last novel The Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil was completed by Grania Davis and was a Nebula Award finalist in 1998. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says "he is perhaps sf's most explicitly literary author".

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's strange to discover what things you still remember from books you've read a long time ago. I last looked at Rork! in my early teens, when I was reading a lot of junk SF. So, what can I can recall? The guy is stuck on this strange, backward planet, where everyone hates and fears "rorks". When you have a drink with someone, you don't say "Cheers"; you say "Dead rorks!" For most of the book, you have no idea what a rork is, but I'm almost sure he meets one near the end.

He gets involved with this chick, but it doesn't last. Why? Now, here's the bit that stuck most firmly in my memory. "She was the kind of girl who had never quite understood the difference between a star and a planet". At that point in my life, my knowledge of girlfriends and possible reasons for breaking up with them was strictly theoretical, but I seem to remember thinking that it was no less plausible than others I'd seen.

So, if there's any woman reading this who's just discovered that she has warm and fuzzy feelings for a geeky guy, here's my tip for the day: brush up on your astronomy! Of course, in these more egalitarian times, it could equally well apply with genders reversed...

[Mark Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it.
Never heard of author and just liked the sound of it.
Some of these old SF stories can be really bad though, thankfully this one was ok.
Man goes to planet at arse end of galaxy to see why the medicinal plant crop that only grows there is not being harvested.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interplanetary government official from Earth lands on a distant planet of a waning empire with a job to do and a secret desire. The job, to stimulate the harvesting of a medically beneficial plant called Redwing by the lazy and beleaguered colonists. The desire, to escape from the dreary lethargy of civility and live alone in the Wild.

The planet of Pia 2 is the most isolated of all the planets, visited only every five years to pick up another batch of the sole commodity the ecology has to offer. In between time the Specialist Guild loosely governs the colony and it's underclass of Tocks, both Tame and Wild.

The Tocks share the settlement with the native, mysterious Rorks, spider-like creatures that instill an innate fear and dread which informs all local myths.

I came across Avram Davidson by way of Damon Knight, who was a mentor to so many literary science fiction and fantasy writers. He can certainly write if this is anything to go by, as well as create a convincing alien landscape and scenes of eerie wonder, with a plain yet intense prose.

This book though, short as it was, would have been better as a short story. Or perhaps it started out as a longer work which was significantly chopped during editing, because it established such a languid tone in the early going and then was over in such a rush come the end.

Sombre and lyrical in parts, it bordered on shallow and silly in others.

This is an early novel of his though, so I will try another.

[Tyler Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of interplanetary colonization. The act transitions are rough, making it harder to follow.

[Nightjar Studios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok Avram. You got me.

I can honestly tell you all that I almost deserted this book. I almost put it down without finishing it! Say it isn't so! It all started when.....

1.)I chose the 1965 Manor House edition for that is the one that I own- and for shame Manor House! Misspelling the main character's name on the very first line of the back cover summary? Oh man..... but the cover art is out of control! Richard Clifton Dey is the artist of that beauty!

2.)I was sort of put off by the beginning , with poor Ran being cut off at every angle of what he was supposed to do there on Pia Sol2. It actually kind of wore on me, yet I suppose it was Avram's idea to show you just how these people did things just so and there was no changing their habits. As it weighs on our main man Lomar, it effects the reader the same way....

But then the tide changes. We leave the safety of the Station & out into the wild lands. We meet some other great characters, and there's kidnappings, strange creatures, and beautiful landscapes I'd love to see in my dreams one night.

Yet there is more to come. Something sets Ran in motion and ultimately it is he who becomes the main reason for the whole planet to change. To help different people's to at least band together to try to wipe out the reason for a deadly flu that sweeps the land. There is a lot to learn here from Avram Davidson. Maybe you should give this book a chance.

[Saski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no memory of when or where I found this book. There is not even a note on the inside cover, which suggests I have had this book a long time.
I wish it hadn’t moved so slowly for, well, most of the book, in my opinion, because I almost gave up. The last quarter more than redeems it though. If I had the option I would have given it a 3.5.

Quote that caught my eye

A servant was holding a uniform and the man who had just removed it stood beside him. For a moment more the man’s figure retained the molded outlines of formality. Then it seems to sag and melt, found refuge in the quickly offered, quickly donned brocaded wraparound, and sank into an easy chair. (17)

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a deceptively sophisticated little novel. Davidson has a fine reputation and this novel gives ample evidence why it is deserved. The story itself is simple enough, but the ethnography he developed is both understated and fully-fleshed out, down to customs (on all parts) language and history. A great deal is packed into this 144 page book, quite expertly.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ran Loman was sent on a mission to a planet called Pia2 to discover why Redwing ( a medicinal
plant) which only grew on this planet, was becoming harvested less and less. On the planet he
found that segregation was causing hatred and division among the inhabitants, not to mention
apathy.

[Jack Deighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The planet Pia 2 is isolated, so isolated it only has a spaceship visit every five years. Despite this it is home to the redwing, a crop which can be processed to manufacture an important medical treatment. In the time of the culture’s Great Wars Pia 2 was cut off for centuries. The humans there evolved into gruff, hardy creatures speaking in a stripped down patois – still recognisable but not standard. These “autochthonous” humans are known as Tocks and exist in tame (near the Station) varieties and wilder ones. It is the Tocks who harvest the redwing and bring it into the Station. The planet also harbours really native animals like crybabies (known as such for their calls at night) and others which can be dangerous, like the rips and especially, the titular Rorks, giant spider like creatures. Rorkland is a no-go area except perhaps in the Cold Time, when Rorks become sluggish.

Ran Lomar has been sent to the Station to see if there is any way in which redwing production can be increased. The local humans – not to mention the Tocks - are set in their ways and very resistant to change. Having entangled, then disentangled, himself with a local Station woman, Lindel, Lomar sets off to the South of Tockland to try to encourage those there to improve the yield of redwing. He, his Tock companion Old Guns, along with his daughter Norna, are captured by a wild bunch of Tocks and Old Guns is killed.

Aided by Norna, Lomar makes his escape, and the pair are forced to travel into Rorkland to evade recapture. It is obvious by now where this is going and what they are going to find out about Rorks on their travels. Davidson handles it well though and had I read this in the 1960s I would no doubt have thought it excellent. It now reads as a little well-worn, however, and its sexual politics are very much of the 1960s.

Davidson’s use of the words wee, besom and pogue indicates a Scottish connection somewhere but the internet is unforthcoming on what that might be. He can string sentences together though and spin out a plot. I’m not averse to reading more of him.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book knowing Davidson's work from his short stories, notably the excellent "Or all the seas with oysters". I did enjoy the book, but can't say that it's one I'd highly recommend. The plot is imaginative and well worked, and I did find myself interested in its twists and turns, but there are too many things that make the book a disappointment. It falls into the uncomfortable heading of novella - too long to be considered a short story, yet at a scant 140 pages, too few for a fully fleshed out novel. As such, it appears as either a short story with too much plot or a novel with too little explanation or character development.

The latter problem is a major fault - I found myself unable to truly believe the characters, who were either largely stereotypes or were not fleshed out enough. Also, though a product of the time the book was written, the "Tocks" seem depressingly close to less-than-humorous caricatures of "lazy native/Black/Chinese/whatever" people found in badly dated pulp adventures.

The initial concept upon which the story is based also had me asking "why" from the outset. The only planet in the known galaxy producing a particular vital product is visited once every five years and otherwise ignored, and when production falls they send one largely untrained officer to find out the reason. It's a pretty preposterous set-up, and as a result I fund it hard to suspend my disbelief with the events that unfold (although, as I said, the plot that does develop is not without merit).

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rork is one strange book. The characters are uniformly forgettable and poorly drawn. The two females, Linden and Norna, may very well be the worst characters ever written. They bathe and fornicate. That is all. The main character, Ran, is a generic heroic type also, although he solves problems with wit rather than brawn. A small improvement over contemporary heroes to be sure, but still not the greatest psychological portrait ever composed.
And yet, the book was strangely compelling. The opening with the Tock dialect was unfathomable and interesting. Possibly a good short story that was stretched? The variety of human behavior was also interesting - there were lazy guild-scientist types, tame servants, wild tribes, and humans that were companions to the native rorks. These groups have to cooperate with the deadly rorks to defeat a communicable disease killing them all.
This review may not have made it tempting, but this book is enjoyable, and certainly shows the promise that Davidson displayed (presumably, this is the first I've read him) later in more mature fashion. I eagerly look forward to encountering more of his work, but will probably not re-read Rork any time soon.

[Tyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I inherited an old copy of this book from my folks and decided to give it a try. Basically this is the story of a man who is posted to a backwards planet with the task of increasing production of a specific plant. The story follows his attempts to do this, from his initial eagerness, his apathy as things prove difficult, and back again to eagerness as unfolding events stir up his comfortable existence.

Stylistically this is written in that dry, matter of fact tone so common in SciFi in the 50's and 60s. I enjoyed the story but did not enjoy the attitude of the main character. His disregard for the feeling of others, his natural chauvinism, and his superior attitude towards the "natives" are alternately irritating and just plain boring. Interestingly, I do not think such a book could be written in this day and age. We are too conditioned to believe in equality of the sexes and to avoid cultural superiority.

Overall the interesting plot and the different point of view made this book an ok read but not a book I would likely pick up again.

[Doug Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice adventure sci-fi novel, nothing amazing but interesting enough to keep me reading to the end. The author has an odd way of wording things though, sometimes I had to reread a paragraph a couple times to figure out who was saying what. I liked that it all took place on some distant backwoods planet; I get sick of the world or the universe being at stake so it's nice to read a more realistic story.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because the cover appealed to me. Asides from the sexism, I really enjoyed the book.