Rogue Queen

 

By L. Sprague de Camp

The people of Ormazd live in a stratified society. The actual rulers are the members of the councils, the nominal rulers are the Queens, which are figureheads and also the only ones able to give birth. Then there are the workers, sterile females (or sterile males in some societies) who are the laborers and the soldiers. And finally, a few fertile males, the drones, whose only role is to service the Queen.

Come to this strange society are a group of offworlders, intent on tracking down the survivors of a previous expedition. Although the people of Ormazd are superficially similar to humans, they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live babies. All the eggs are laid by the queens only. 

Iroedh is a worker/soldier and a bit different. For one, she likes studying history and antiquities. For another, she has become close friends with one of the Queen's drones, Antis. She and another soldier are sent to liaison with the alien humans. The council is hoping the humans will use their offworld technology to help them overcome an aggressive neighboring community. But while she is a the human camp, Iroedh finds out that her dear friend, Antis, is due to executed and replaced by younger, more able drones. So she hatches a plot to rescue him by blackmailing one of the humans into using their helicopter to effect a jailbreak.

Her plan actually works and Antis is rescued and he and Ireodh later join the humans on an expedition to consult a local oracle. But the expedition finds themselves on the run when they are attacked by a gang of rebel drones, barely escaping with their lives. As Ireodh and Antis travel with the humans and learn more about their ways, they start to wonder about the very foundations of their own society. And the knowledge they gain reveals how they have all been abused and fooled by their selfish and cruel leaders.

Even though this story was written in the 1950s, it still makes for quite a good read. Some of the technology is a bit dated, but so what? It still was quite an adventure with lots going on in such a short novel. 

Lest Darkness Fall

By L. Sprague de Camp

Martin Padway, archaeologist, suddenly finds himself translated from modern day Rome to the Rome of the 500s AD.
An intelligent and well-informed man, Martin, now Martinus, manages to parlay his modern knowledge into a living. His first enterprise was distilling wine into brandy, which is a big hit. He makes a printing press and starts a newspaper. He also sets about creating a kind of telegraph system. His ultimate goal is to prevent the Dark Ages from engulfing Europe. So he becomes involved in politics and eventually ends up leading troops into battle.

The first part of this story was quite interesting and fun, with Martin adapting to local conditions and developing his "inventions"  and becoming involved with the people. But then he gets wrapped up in politics and warfare, which was really not interesting to me, especially the descriptions of the battles. I just skipped those parts. So, mostly, I found the book boring.

Great Cities of the Ancient World

By L. Sprague de Camp

A look at the history of various cities: Thebes, Jerusalem, Nineveh, Tyre, Babylon, Memphis, Athens, Syracuse, Carthage, Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople, Anurâdhapura and Pâtaluputra. Very readable and informative, the only thing I didn't care for were the fiction inserts from the author's novel which I didn't think they belonged in a book like this. All the chapters were interesting and full of fun nuggets of info. The only chapters I had trouble with were the chapter on Thebes, which had detailed and dull descriptions of the buildings of Thebes. The other chapter was the one on Constantinople which seemed very long. Other than that, I enjoyed reading this book.

Review from Kirkus Reviews.