Despoilers of the Golden Empire is a science fiction novelette by Randall Garrett, originally published in Astounding Science Fiction in March 1959 under the pseudonym David Gordon. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... A novelette (or novelet) is a piece of short prose fiction. ... Randall Garrett (December 16, 1927 - December 31, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. ... Astounding Stories was a seminal science fiction magazine founded in 1930. ...

The story appears to be about an expedition through space to a planet inhabited by a civilized but technologically backward people, whom the expedition conquer. However in the last line it is revealed to be anything but that.

In terms of genre, the story reads like a pulp magazine yarn mixing space travel and classic swashbuckling themes, to the point where the characters even fight with swords, bringing to mind the adventures of Flash Gordon, or the Barsoom stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Look up genre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1934. ... A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, McClurg, 1917 Barsoom is a fictional version of the planet Mars owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc and invented by author Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. ... Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan, although he also produced works in many genres. ...

Plot

An expedition from an imperialistic culture, led by a man hungry for power and riches, and accompanied by an "adept of the Universal Assembly" (a body of men apparently in communion with a higher power) arrives in a series of ships, with some difficulty — the ships land far from their intended destination, being "unsuited to atmospheric navigation" — and encounter the natives. Though the natives are civilized and capable of mustering armies in great number, their technology is inferior to that of the invaders. Despite being few in number, by guile and treachery the expedition is led to victory over the natives, culminating in the capture of their priest-god-king.

Time goes by and the leaders consolidate their gains, only to be undone by political maneuvering from those who arrive later in the conquered lands. The leader is eventually assassinated by the sons of a defeated rival.

The final line of the story reads "Thus died Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru." Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro (c. ...

Epilogue

Far from being a pulp yarn, the story is revealed to be an account of actual history, albeit one carefully mis-told. Having pulled off his deception, the author explains at length how not one word of the story was actually untrue. Nothing was described as being anything but what it was, although it was done in such a way as to invite the reader to imagine something else. "Universal Assembly" is simply a literal translation of Ekklesia Katholikos, or the "Catholic Church". The "power metal" which drove the Golden Empire was gold-197, because that is the only naturally-occurring isotope of gold, and the "power" it brought was economic and political. The ships were never described as flying, and indeed the author did write that they "were not suited to atmospheric navigation". He protests that he had to abandon his intended last words for the leader ("I'm going to Heaven, and you, you bastards, can go to Hell!") in favor of Pizarro's actual last utterance, which was recorded as being "Jesus!", after he drew the sign of the cross in his own blood. Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... Isotopes are any of the several different forms of an element each having different atomic mass (mass number). ...

Being published in March, the story was, in effect, an early April Fool prank. It was re-published in collections of Randall Garrett's works, and an anthology entitled "The Lighter Side of Analog" edited by Stanley Schmidt. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Stanley Schmidt (March 7, 1944- ) is an American science fiction author, and since 1978 has been the editor of the SF magazine Analog Science Fiction and Fact. ...

External link

Despoilers of the Golden Empire publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database The Internet Speculative Fiction Database is a database of bibliographic information on science fiction and related genres such as fantasy fiction and horror fiction. ...