 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.(December 2012) |
The Cadwal Chronicles are a trilogy of science fiction novels by American writer Jack Vance set in his Gaean Reach fictional universe. The three novels are called Araminta Station (1987), Ecce and Old Earth (1991) and Throy (1992).
Cadwal is a planet discovered by an explorer who is a member of the "Naturalist Society of Earth". The society decides to maintain Cadwal as a nature preserve and sets up a Conservancy based on a Charter. The Charter forbids mining and other exploitation, and permits strictly limited settlement. Only six "Agents", each in charge of a bureau with a staff of 20 men and 20 women, are allowed to reside permanently on the planet to enforce the Charter, although tourists are allowed in specially designed lodges, overlooking sites of natural beauty and interest.
From the earliest days, the Agents recruited relatives and close associates for their staffs, but as their numbers eventually exceeded the Charter limits, the excess remained on Cadwal as "collaterals" under the transparent fiction of being "temporary" labor. At their 16th birthday, each person learns their "index number", indicating their genealogical rank. A person whose index number is 20 or less upon their 21st birthday is granted Agency status; all others become lesser-status collaterals. Many collaterals choose to leave Cadwal to seek their fortune elsewhere in the Gaean Reach. Thus, the society of Cadwal is a highly stratified aristocracy, where success depends on birth as much as aptitude.
An additional group of temporary laborers is tolerated on the planet: the "Yips", who are described as the "descendants of runaway servants, illegal immigrants and others." For them, the Charter is more strictly enforced compared to the collaterals. They are allowed six-month work permits at Araminta Station, the main settlement, an enclave of 100 square miles (260 km2) on Deucas, the most hospitable of Cadwal's three continents. When a permit expires, the Yip is returned to tiny, greatly overcrowded Lutwen Atoll, informally called Yipton. The Yips vastly outnumber the legitimate residents and are only prevented from settling Deucas by the superior firepower of Bureau B.
Cadwal has three major continents: Deucas, Ecce and Throy. The remainder of the planet is covered in oceans with only a few small islands. Deucas is temperate and most suited to human settlement. Ecce is dominated by jungles and swamps and is baking hot. Throy is cold, with strong arctic winds and a forbidding landscape of mountains and cliffs.
The Conservancy is a group of people allowed permanent residence on Cadwal. Their task is to enforce the provisions of the Charter (see below). Most are located at Araminta Station in Deucas but some, the governing politicians, live at Stroma on Throy. These latter persons include the Conservator, nominal leader of Cadwal, who resides at Riverview House.
Only six Agents and their staff were originally allowed to settle at Araminta Station. These agents were: Deamus Wook, Shirry Clattuc, Saul Diffin, Claude Offaw, Marvell Veder and Condit Laverty. Each Agent brought in family members, giving the initial administration "a cohesion which might otherwise have been lacking". In time, this led to an aristocracy of 120 persons – the twenty most closely related to each of the six original Agents – who are allowed permanent residence at Araminta Station.
The Charter is the founding document of Cadwal and serves as its constitution. It forbids human settlement except in small areas with limited population allowed. The Charter grants ownership of Cadwal to the Naturalist Society in perpetuity. The provisions of the Charter are enforced by the Conservancy, in particular by Bureau B (see below).
At Araminta Station, large mansion houses have been set up to accommodate each of the six original families. Over the generations, these mansions have grown to become palaces. The Station also boasts a hotel for visiting tourists, a spaceport, and a theatre, the Orpheum.
Each person at Araminta Station is expected to serve in one of the Bureaus:
Since the story revolves around police investigations, Bureau B features prominently in the books.
Stroma is a town on Throy, located at a purposely inhospitable location on cliffs in a failed attempt to discourage Society members from Earth from settling there. Houses are thin and tall, designed to withstand adverse weather. The political class at Cadwal live here, chief amongst them the Conservator, nominal planetary leader, who resides at Riverview House.
Politics abound at Stroma. A new and supposedly progressive faction, called the Life, Peace and Freedom (LPF) party, is sympathetic to the Yips and advocates Yip settlement on Deucas. (This stand is later modified to the benefit of the LPFers.) This notion is strongly resisted by the conservative "Chartists" who insist the Charter must never be altered.
Yips have a human appearance, with golden skin, and are physically highly attractive; yet they cannot breed with non-Yip humans, leading to speculation that the Yips have formed a new subspecies of humanity. (In the later books, it is discovered that this infertility is due to their diet. When eating normal food, they become fertile with humans) They are inscrutable and have no discernible sense of humour nor any morality recognisable to ordinary Gaean people (whose morality is roughly that of 20th century North Americans). This particularly manifests itself in their sexual practices: the Yips make no emotional attachment to sexual intercourse and will all consent to sex provided a price is paid. The Yips will do almost anything for money. Given their attractive appearance, the Yip females naturally take part in considerable prostitution. Indeed, Yip girls are compelled to take part in this to gain money for the Yip State.
In Araminta Station, the Yips are confined to the small Lutwen Islands. They would dearly love to colonise the hospitable continent of Deucas but are prevented from doing so by members of the Conservancy who, pursuant to the Charter, consider Cadwal to be a nature preserve and prevent humans from forming large settlements. The Yips care nothing for the Charter and feel no kinship with the members of the Conservancy, regarding themselves as a separate nation. Only the superior weaponry of the Conservancy prevents the Yips from overtaking the planet. An uneasy stalemate exists.
Despite this, the Yips are superficially polite to the folk of Araminta Station and are willing to work for them provided money is paid. The Yips gain further money from Tourists who are allowed to visit Yipton and must pay dearly for all services they use there, including sexual services at the notorious Pussycat Palace.
The Yips are ruled with great brutality by Titus Pompo, a dictator whose word is law. Pompo extracts taxes from all Yip activity and has a considerable personal fortune. Any Yip displeasing him is subject to murder and torture: there is no rule of law in the Yip state. Pompo uses much of the tax proceeds in his scheme to destroy the Conservancy and overrun Cadwal.
The novels are written in the third person, though they sometimes come close to employing an omniscient narrator viewpoint, and are told mainly from Glawen's point of view (with the exception of part of the second novel, which is told from the perspective of Wayness Tamm). He is an intelligent, capable young man and a member of the Conservancy at Araminta Station. Although his initial index number is a little high, Glawen has reasonable hopes for Agency status. He joins Bureau B, the department responsible for enforcing the laws of the Charter, and quickly becomes embroiled in a plot by the Yips to take over Deucas (possibly with the assistance of traitors at Araminta Station).
Glawen's first love, Sessily Veder, disappears and is presumed murdered. Glawen attempts to bring her killer to justice. He later wins the love of Wayness Tamm, daughter of the Conservator.
Glawen is a typical Vancian Everyman character, similar to Glinnes Hulden and, to a lesser extent, Adam Reith and Kirth Gersen.[ citation needed ]
A club for devil-may-care teenage boys at Araminta Station, advocating bold stratagems, drinking parties, outrageous schemes and manly adventures. The club is largely designed to impress ladies, but fails in this regard, as it is considered boorish. Club members follow a complex code including regulation Roars and Growls and dress in lion costumes at festivals. To spy on the Yips, Glawen unwillingly joins the club at Bodwyn Wook's orders. Other members include Arles Clattuc and Kirdy Wook.
John Holbrook Vance was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection although the DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and abroad. The DEA has an intelligence unit that is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community. While the unit is part of the DEA chain-of-command, it also reports to the Director of National Intelligence.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention of federal offenses involving the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms and explosives; acts of arson and bombings; and illegal trafficking and tax evasion of alcohol and tobacco products. The ATF also regulates via licensing the sale, possession, and transportation of firearms, ammunition, and explosives in interstate commerce. Many of the ATF's activities are carried out in conjunction with task forces made up of state and local law enforcement officers, such as Project Safe Neighborhoods. The ATF operates a unique fire research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, where full-scale mock-ups of criminal arson can be reconstructed. The ATF had 5,285 employees and an annual budget of almost $1.5 billion in 2021. The ATF has received criticism over the Ruby Ridge controversy, the Waco siege controversy and others.
Unspiek, Baron Bodissey, is a fictional character referred to in many of the novels of speculative-fiction author Jack Vance. Within those novels he has the status of an authority, but he is sometimes referred to with amusement or scepticism. Like the 'mad poet' Navarth, he first appeared in the Demon Princes sequence but also is alluded to in a number of other unrelated stories. Unlike Navarth, the Baron never appears in person in these novels, but his monumental, many-volume work Life is frequently quoted. The lengthiest citations from it appear, with varying degrees of apparent relevance, as epigraphs to various chapters in the Demon Princes novels. Otherwise, the Baron and his work are occasionally referred to in passing or quoted by characters in the tales. Fictional reviews of Life also appear in The Killing Machine and The Face, usually dismissing it as snobbish, elitist and pretentious; one reviewer expresses a desire to thrash the Baron within an inch of his life before buying him a drink.
A repurchase agreement, also known as a repo, RP, or sale and repurchase agreement, is a form of short-term borrowing, mainly in government securities. The dealer sells the underlying security to investors and, by agreement between the two parties, buys them back shortly afterwards, usually the following day, at a slightly higher price.
A department of motor vehicles (DMV) is a government agency that administers motor vehicle registration and driver licensing. In countries with federal states such as in North America, these agencies are generally administered by subnational governments, while in unitary states such as many of those in Europe, DMVs are organized nationally by the central government.
Indian law is enforced by a number of agencies. Unlike many federal nations, the constitution of India delegates the maintenance of law and order primarily to the states and territories.
A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, called a ward. For example, a legal guardian might be granted the authority to make decisions regarding a ward’s housing or medical care or manage the ward’s finances. Guardianship is most appropriate when an alleged ward is functionally incapacitated, meaning they have a lagging skill critical to performing certain tasks, such as making important life decisions. Guardianship intends to serve as a safeguard to protect the ward.
The Meru or Amîîrú are a Bantu ethnic group that inhabit the Meru region of Kenya on the fertile lands of north and eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, in the former Eastern Province of Kenya.
In finance, securities lending or stock lending refers to the lending of securities by one party to another.
Namibia is one of few countries in the world to specifically address habitat conservation and protection of natural resources in their constitution. Article 95 states, "The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following: maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia, and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future.".
Operation Priboi was the code name for the Soviet mass deportation from the Baltic states on 25–28 March 1949. The action is also known as the March deportation by Baltic historians. More than 90,000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, labeled as "enemies of the people", were deported to forced settlements in inhospitable areas of the Soviet Union. Over 70% of the deportees were either women or children under the age of 16.
A security guard is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets from a variety of hazards by enforcing preventative measures. Security guards do this by maintaining a high-visibility presence to deter illegal and inappropriate actions, looking for signs of crime or other hazards, taking action to minimize damage, and reporting any incidents to their clients and emergency services, as appropriate.
Araminta Station is a 1987 science fiction novel by the American writer Jack Vance. It is the first part of the Cadwal Chronicles, a trilogy set in the Gaean Reach, the other two novels being Ecce and Old Earth (1991) and Throy (1992).
Ecce and Old Earth is a 1991 science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the second novel in the Cadwal Chronicles trilogy, set in Vance's Gaean Reach. It follows Araminta Station (1987) and precedes Throy (1992).
·
The human-rights situation in Benin is considered to be generally above average for sub-Saharan Africa.
The Madras Forest Department, now officially, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, is a government department of Tamil Nadu. The department is responsible for managing all the protected areas and forests plus environmental and wildlife related issues of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The objective of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department is to conserve biodiversity and eco-systems of forests and wilderness areas to ensure water security and food security of the state.
The Bureau of Fire Protection is the government body in the Philippines responsible for the provision of fire services. It is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.