My only other acquaintance with Charles G Finney was back in October 2018 with The Unholy City. I suspect I bought this soon after and then lost it in my to-read mountain.
The Magician out of Manchuria is even shorter than The Unholy City. It is billed as adult fantasy, because the female lead spends a lot of time nude, and not once but twice depilates. It is in fact a fantastical tale with a sexual side to it. None of the three main characters has a name, they are simply the Magician, his chela or apprentice, and the Lascivious Queen of La. The magician's black ass does have a name, Ng Gk.
The main inspiration seems to be Communist China. There has been a Great Leap Forward; the old lordships have been overturned and the bureaucrats have taken over; magic is being driven from the world. Some fishermen land an unusual catch, a naked woman whom the magician is able to resuscitate - by the kiss of life rather than magic. She is dumpy and unattractive but the magician has magic balm that can fix that. She tells her tale - one of three sister queens who have been betrayed by the ultimate scheming bureaucrat Khan Ali Bok. The mage and his chela undertake to help her recover her throne and in so doing manage to secure a haven for magic.
Finney is at his best when he lets his imagination run riot. The riverboat 'Flower of the Lotus' transforms into a craft than can walk on land and then sprouts wings; it therefore becomes triphibian. Excellent.
(I still haven't tracked down a copy of The Circus of Dr Lao. That's an asap essential.)
No comments:
Post a Comment