"Planet Shakespeare" by Clifford Simak, summary

This is a philosophical fantasy about the mind’s loss in the abyss of space and the search for a common language among completely alien life forms. Earth’s civilization once collapsed in a series of crises, and its scattered descendants scattered across distant star systems without a common home or a unified purpose. Clifford Simak’s novel was published in 1976.

Awakening through the Ages

An exploratory starship reaches a habitable world after a journey of nearly a thousand years. The vessel is controlled by a hive mind composed of the biological brains of three long-dead earthlings: a scientist, a monk, and a noblewoman. Geologist Carter Horton emerges from suspended animation. His three companions perished due to a long-ago malfunction of a pump in the freezer section.

The clumsy robot Nicodemus remains by the man’s side. This service mechanism is equipped with replaceable knowledge blocks — transmogs. This simple electronic assistant buried the dead cosmonauts on a distant icy cliff. Returning to Earth is deemed pointless.

Alien Predator and a Locked Passage

A local appears at the ship’s gangway. A bipedal, muscular humanoid sporting saber-toothed fangs and tufts of tentacles on his hands. The beast calls itself the Flesh-Eater. The alien speaks fluent human speech. He was taught speech by his only friend, a man named Shakespeare — an Earth wanderer who arrived here through an interstellar tunnel.

An old friend recently died of an incurable illness. Before his death, the sick man exacted a sacred oath from the predator to consume his mortal body as a sign of devotion. The carnivore faithfully performed the ritual, stripping the flesh down to the bones. Now the alien hunter is eager to escape, as the return route is blocked. The stationary passage is strictly one-way.

At sunset, a strange radiation blankets the planet. The locals call this phenomenon "God’s hour." An unknown force turns the mind inside out, revealing hidden thoughts and opening up perception to the abyss of space. Nicodemus barely notices the impulse, and Carter experiences a profound shock.

An abandoned outpost and a manuscript in the margins

In the morning, the trio sets out for the deceased hermit’s abode. The path leads through hills of pure pegmatite. The robot picks up a scattering of large green crystals. The hill is literally crammed with precious emeralds. The predator merely shrugs in bewilderment, genuinely unable to comprehend the practical value of the glittering stones.

A neat little house of white stone stands in a low spot. A grinning human skull, missing its two front teeth, is nailed above the doorway. Leather pouches containing cleaned bones hang inside. Nearby, among the trees, the dilapidated barracks of an ancient abandoned settlement and a bowl of dark liquid can be seen. The unpleasant sludge emits a pungent, corpse-like odor.

Horton finds a thick volume of Shakespeare’s plays. The blank margins are covered with the trembling hand of a deceased wanderer. The notes reveal the tragedy of a lonely thinker. Suffering from brain decay, the traveler deliberately deceived a naive alien warrior. The old man robbed the hunter of the glory of his rightful victory, turning his death into ritual euthanasia.

The Cartographer and the Crystal Beast

At dawn, the camp receives a new guest. A slender girl named Elaine emerges from the path. A tattoo of a red rose adorns her bare chest. The traveler belongs to a group of volunteer explorers who are blindly charting routes through the galactic network of tunnels.

The girl brings grim news. The Earth has endured a series of devastating wars and has plunged into complete chaos. Horton realizes the scale of the catastrophe. The human race has become a vagabond race without a flag or historical memory.

Elaine senses the hidden presence of another entity. Using a handheld beam cutter, the travelers carve a passage into an overgrown stone building. A golden cube hovers in the center of the dark hall. A magnificent dragon with iridescent, gem-like scales lies frozen within. The giant’s body is safely encased in a field of suspended time.

The Call of the Living Ocean

Another "God’s hour" brings Horton a vision of his distant childhood. Memory brings back memories of working in an endless bean field under a scorching sun. A kilometer-high residential tower rises in the distance. The boy’s thoughts are intertwined with reflections on the dead ends of human expansion. In a ghostly haze, Shakespeare’s skull advises him to turn to a fetid pond.

That night, a ball of resin, about half a meter in diameter, rolls toward the fire. This unusual visitor silently watches the people and then disappears into the darkness. Carter decides to go to the lake alone.

On a rocky shore, a geologist establishes telepathic contact with a dark surface. The liquid turns out to be a particle of a gigantic, intelligent ocean from a distant planet. A living world seeds the galaxy with its droplets through gravitational clumps. Regular flashes of insight serve as a cosmic nervous system, linking disparate colonies into a single organism. The sentient element asks that a jug of its liquid be taken aboard the Earth ship to integrate the wanderers into a common information field.

Awakening Evil and the Last Battle

The morning silence is shattered by a mental cry of alarm. Three smooth white slugs on leaping appendages burst out of the tunnel. The conical mound on the opposite bank shudders and splits. A shapeless, lumpy monster emerges, exuding a suffocating hatred.

The walls of the city barracks crumble under the onslaught of the freed dragon. The beautiful lizard spreads its iridescent wings. Centuries of imprisonment have drained the keeper’s life force, and the protector falls helplessly into the grass.

The flesh-eater lunges forward on all fours. The brave warrior leaps onto the darkspawn’s scruff and rips out its enemy’s throat with deadly incisors. Dark liquid gushes in all directions. The dying monster crushes the defender’s ribs with its heavy paw and dissolves into a foul, stinking scum.

Horton kneels before the dying beast. The hunter asks that the body be left to the forest’s scavengers and microbes, in the service of the cycle of life. On a nearby hill, a beautiful dragon quietly fades. The luxurious, gem-like sheen of its scales gives way to a dull gray.

Parting at the White Arch

The white slugs reset the control panel, and the tunnel’s opening is illuminated with a milky glow. The portal is once again open for travel. The Guardians disappear into the glowing darkness.

Elaine decides to continue her research mission. She intends to find the tunnel builders and uncover the secret of the transport arteries. A brief farewell kiss ends their casual romance.

Carter fills a clay vessel with living water from the pond. Nicodemus carefully packs a Shakespearean volume and pockets stuffed with emeralds. The ship’s mind prepares for the next stage of its eternal flight through the abyss. Bidding farewell to the white stone house, the man glances at the entrance. A time-bleached skull winks cheerfully at the departing travelers.