The Languages of Pao

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and there's more than meets the eye
Review: "The Languages of Pao" was first published in 1957. It is written in the classic style of my favorite SF author. The story is set on one of those typical, out-on-the-edge-of-the-galaxy worlds that Vance loves to create, complete with the typical flowery anthropological descriptions of eccentric human societies he is famous for. Beran Panasper is the "Medallion," heir to the throne of his father, the "Panarch" or emporer of the planet Pao. The Panarch is assasinated by Bustamonte, the "Ayudor," Beran's uncle, who becomes regent. Bustamonte tries to kill Beran so that he can become emporer. Beran is saved by Lord Palafox, a dominie of the Breakness Institute, where he takes Beran for safety. Palafox has a plan to change the character of the docile people of Pao by creating new languages which will morph them into technicants, warriors, merchantilists and diplomatic managers, depending on which language is learned. This is Jack Vance in his relative youth and a very enjoyable story.

Rating:
Summary: Classic early Jack Vance
Review: "The Languages of Pao" was first published in 1957. It is written in the classic style of my favorite SF author. The story is set on one of those typical, out-on-the-edge-of-the-galaxy worlds that Vance loves to create, complete with the typical flowery anthropological descriptions of eccentric human societies he is famous for. Beran Panasper is the "Medallion," heir to the throne of his father, the "Panarch" or emporer of the planet Pao. The Panarch is assasinated by Bustamonte, the "Ayudor," Beran's uncle, who becomes regent. Bustamonte tries to kill Beran so that he can become emporer. Beran is saved by Lord Palafox, a dominie of the Breakness Institute, where he takes Beran for safety. Palafox has a plan to change the character of the docile people of Pao by creating new languages which will morph them into technicants, warriors, merchantilists and diplomatic managers, depending on which language is learned. This is Jack Vance in his relative youth and a very enjoyable story.

Rating:
Summary: an SF Classic based on the science of linguistics.
Review: A Vance Classic, "The Languages of Pao" chronicles a vast social engineering project to turn the 20 billion inhabitants of the planet Pao into a more agressive, self-sufficient people. Of course, a more agressive, self-sufficient people might resent the effort

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and there's more than meets the eye
Review: I don't remember when I read it, about 15 years ago, I know that I've reread it a couple of times since, and it's still an important member of my "must have" SF library.
"The Languages of Pao" is much more than a typical story about a man out to conquer and dominate a world.
It is a very subtle story that demonstrates a theory of the intricate links between a society and the language it uses. How the society changes the languages, but also how language defines a society.
This is Jack Vance at his best, subtle, insidious and unforseeable.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and there's more than meets the eye
Review: I don't remember when I read it, about 15 years ago, I know that I've reread it a couple of times since, and it's still an important member of my "must have" SF library.
"The Languages of Pao" is much more than a typical story about a man out to conquer and dominate a world.
It is a very subtle story that demonstrates a theory of the intricate links between a society and the language it uses. How the society changes the languages, but also how language defines a society.
This is Jack Vance at his best, subtle, insidious and unforseeable.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: I read an old "ACE" copy of this that I found in a thrift shop. This is not only based on linguistic science, the writing showcases the wide range and fluency of Vance's own lexicon and diction. In addition, the plot is strong, the characters well thought out, and the pace is rapid--typical of the older science fiction adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: I read an old "ACE" copy of this that I found in a thrift shop. This is not only based on linguistic science, the writing showcases the wide range and fluency of Vance's own lexicon and diction. In addition, the plot is strong, the characters well thought out, and the pace is rapid--typical of the older science fiction adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: I read an old "ACE" copy of this that I found in a thrift shop. This is not only based on linguistic science, the writing showcases the wide range and fluency of Vance's own lexicon and diction. In addition, the plot is strong, the characters well thought out, and the pace is rapid--typical of the older science fiction adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Vance Explores Language and Culture
Review: In "The Languages of Pao", Jack Vance explores the
connection between language and culture on Pao,
which is (at the beginning of the story) a planet-sized
extrapolation of pre-Industrial Revolution medieval
Asian culture with a thin layer of technology on top.

At the beginning of the story, the Paonese reflect their
language... neutral and relatively passive... and Pao buys
mercenaries and modern weaponry. After being
plundered one too many times by an invading clan,
Pao's ruler turns to Palafox, a powerful academic
("Dominie") from the neighboring world of Breakness.

Palafox's project has two goals... one overt and one
covert. The overt goal is to create Paonese intellectual,
mercantile and martial castes through the creation of
three new languages, three colonies of young Paonese
raised from the cradle in the respective languages and
of an Interpreter Corps that understands them all.
Palafox demands a harsh price for his services...
the indenture of thousands of young, beautiful
Paonese girls for concubinage and siring of
half-Paonese offspring.

As seen through the progress of Beran, a fugitive
Paonese crown prince who becomes a linguist on
Breakness, joins the Interpreter Corps and returns
to Pao, the reader eventually discerns the depths
of Palafox's madness and his ultimate goal: for he
and his descendants to collectively outbreed Paonese
men and take over the whole planet.

Late in the story, after Beran assimilates two of three
castes and outmaneuvers Palafox, his forces are
defeated by the warrior caste. When they attempt
to depose Beran, he resists, claiming that they cannot
wield ultimate power on Pao because they cannot
communicate with the Paonese (i.e., anyone but
themselves). When they challenge Beran to do
something about it, he slips one by them. By
ordering that all Paonese children... including those
of the current warrior caste... should henceforth be
educated in Pastiche, a heterogeneous melange of
the new languages created years before, he laid the
groundwork for their eventual assimilation.

There are interesting parallels between the role of
Pastiche on the Pao that will emerge after the end of
"The Languages of Pao" and the role of English, a
similarly heterogeneous melange, in our own 21st
Century world.

Rating:
Summary: Domination through alterations of lanuage.
Review: The "languages of poa"is a brilliant book. Jack Vance looks at the subtle methods of control achieved by conquerors who lacking manpower decide to pacify a world after the initial invasion by pacifying the language. It sounds so simple, but only becaue of the deft skill with which Jack Vance handles the complex threads. The story is simple but you are left with the impression that perhaps there should be a bit more concern shown by the general populace by the often blatant manipulations of the advertisers and the spin doctors of various corporations and politicians. Aside from that rather dark warning the "Lanuages of Pao" has all the trade-mark Jack Vance humour...Drollness at it's best.