The Cryptofictional Records Wing: Varley's "Gaea Trilogy" (1979-84)

Berkley/Putnam 1979, Ron Walotsky

John Varley's "Gaea" (or sometimes "Gaean") Trilogy is comprised of three novels: Titan (1979), Wizard (1980), and Demon (1984). In this epic science-fiction/fantasy series, Varley describes an encounter between Earth explorers and a sentient, moon-sized "Titan" (named Gaea) which contains a living ecosystem within its inner-tube-shaped interior structure.

Mondadori 1987, Vicente Segrelles

The first novel, Titan, describes how the series' main protagonist, the intrepid spaceship captain Cirocco Jones, first enters Gaea's world, and after an arduous journey eventually makes contact with the higher intelligence ruling the satellite. Wizard introduces some new visitors to Gaea (who regard this world as a kind of "pilgrimage site"), but more importantly also charts Cirocco's development from a Gaean "Wizard" to a "Demon" opposed to Gaea's existence. The climactic third novel, Demon, chronicles the final conflict between Cirocco and Gaea. After remnants of a war-torn Earth flee to Gaea, they find themselves caught up in the "war" between Gaea and the Demon.

Denoël 1980, Stéphane Dumont

Aside from the intriguing aspects of the interior world of Gaea (complete with both friendly and hostile fauna), the events of the Gaea trilogy also outline a convoluted three-way struggle between the heroic Cirocco, her sympathetic friend/lover Gaby and the near-omnipotent, half-senile Gaea herself.

Varley Vade mecum
A Short Overview of Titan (Varley.net)
https://ammonra.org/gaea/index.html
More Maps (Timothy Sandefur)
The Sex Chart That Changed My Life: Spectrums of Sexuality in John Varley’s "Wizard" (Annalee Newitz)

Notes and chapter-by-chapter synopses for each book follow.

Science Fiction Book Club catalog, July, 1979

Berkley Books 1980, Anthony Russo

Titan

This first novel introduces the intrepid, adventure-seeking Cirocco Jones, her faithful friend Gaby Plauget and the enigmatic planetary entity named Gaea. Besides describing the many unusual (and sentient) forms of life inside Gaea (most notably the centaur-like Titanides), it also acts as both a survival saga and a mystery, as Cirocco gets closer and closer to the real nature of the planetoid.

Brief Synopsis: After the Earth exploration ship Ringmaster discovers a hollow, wheel-shaped space habitat (a 1300 km-wide being named Gaea), the crew are captured and brought inside the structure against their will. Eventually, members of the crew emerge on the interior of Gaea and struggle to survive in this strange new world. During their journeys they encounter sentient "blimps", "angels" and "centaurs" (Titanides) native to Gaia's interior. In the end, Captain Cirocco Jones spearheads an expedition to the wheel's central hub and makes contact with the higher intelligence controlling the planetoid-sized Titan.

As the DSV (Deep Space Vessel) Ringmaster approaches Saturn, its astro-navigator Gaby Plauget spots a hitherto undetected twelfth satellite orbiting the planet and names it Themis. Even more intriguing, the satellite appears to be an artificial construction with 6 lights distributed on its surface in a hexagonal shape.
As the ship gets closer, infra-red readings reveal "spokes" and "reflectors" inside Themis which apparently provide day and night environments for fixed portions of the structure's rotating outer rim. However, no means of docking can be detected. Meanwhile, Gaby confides in Captain Cirocco Jones that she is worried about their shipmate Gene's overbearing sexual overtures.
Soon after coming into a closer position with Themis, the artificial satellite unleashes tentacled appendages which grab hold of Ringmaster and begin tearing it apart. Once the cabin is exposed to outer space, the tentacles begin capturing the crew members.
Urania #839 1980, Karel Thole
Some time later, Cirocco wakes up underground, and after a nightmarish struggle eventually emerges on the inner surface of Themis, clothed in only bits of metal electronics remaining from her now-dissolved suit. Eventually, she makes contact with Gaby by radio.
Cirocco and Gaby eventually find each other by following a stream. Transformed by her experience in the "ground" of Themis, Gaby vows to change her outlook on life and spontaneously declares her love for Ciroccoo.
While following the stream through a forest, the two women kill a "smiler" (a docile six-legged creature) for food. Afterwards, they experience a bitterly cold, "moaning" wind which causes the temperature to dramatically drop for a short time. Eventually, they come to the top of a cliff, and realize that they are on a "daylight" stretch of Themis' interior, with a "night" partition stretching before them from the bottom of the cliff. Above them they see giant cables extending into the hollow spokes leading to the central hub of Themis.
Calvin, Ringmaster's medic, soon appears and, like Gaby, seems to have emerged from the ground of Themis with a subtly-altered mental "outlook". Also, he has somehow been given the ability to communicate with the giant, semi-sentient blimps which navigate through the sky (the interior of Themis). Calvin leads them aboard a blimp named Whistlestop and they head out over the cliff to rendezvous with two other Ringmaster survivors in the forest below, Bill and August.
As Whistlestop floats above Bill and August's camp (in an area they have named Hyperion), Calvin teaches Cirocco and Gaby how to descend from Whistlestop using the organic parachutes created inside the blimp's "gondola". After being reunited, Cirocco and Bill rekindle their shipboard love affair, although Bill seems to have lost some of his memory.
Calvin eventually decides to leave with Whistlestop, as his new personality finds more comfort away from other humans. August leaves with him in order to seek her missing sister April (another Ringmaster crewmember). After a few days of inactivity, a restless Cirocco tells Bill and Gaby that she intends to somehow reach the central hub of Gaea (Themis' "true" name according to Calvin).
The three of them create a small canoe out of a giant shell and name it "Titanic". For several weeks, they proceed south through Hyperion's jungle region by floating down a stream towards the newly-dubbed "Ophion River" and one of the vertical cables leading up to Gaea's hub. When Cirocco and Gaby realize that they have missed their menstrual periods, they summon Calvin and August (through a pre-arranged signal to the blimps). However, when he arrives, Calvin insists that they need fire and tools before he can do anything about their conditions. He also reports that the interior of Gaea seems to be in a state of disrepair or abandonment.
After hiking through some more jungle, Cirocco, Bill and Gaby reach the central cable extending vertically up from Hyperion's surface into the spoke above, but find it in a state of disrepair, with some smaller strands at the bottom broken off. They also discover the ruins of a stone building nearby.
Berkley Books 1979, R. Courtney
The explorers next travel north through a swampy area and eventually find a source of fire. When Bill tries to kill a giant saw-toothed "mudfish" for food, it attacks him and injures him severely. After returning to the Ophion River, they try to reach more hospitable land in the east.
After reaching higher ground, a "Titanide" (Gaean centaur) named Hornpipe appears and introduces herself to Cirocco (who realizes that she has somehow been imbued with the Titanides' speech). Cirocco asks Hornpipe to summon help for Bill, who is still very ill.
A Titanide healer named Lullaby arrives and does his best to help Bill's condition, despite the fact that he has never seen a human before.
As the Titanides begin transporting the humans in a wooden wagon to "Titantown", Whistlestop appears above and Calvin descends, along with Gene and several Titanides. However, a swarm of "Angels" (armed, winged humanoids) emerge from behind Whistlestop's bulk and attack the Titanides. They nearly kill all of the centaurs but the arrival of a Titanide army drives them away.
Days later in Titantown, Calvin performs an abortion on Cirocco, taking out a 4-legged creature from her womb. Later, she is angered when Gene offers to teach the Titanides how to make gunpowder and crossbows in their war with the Angels. Cirocco tells the Titanides' leader Meistersinger that she would much prefer to act as a diplomat in order that the two races might find peace. When she tells Meistersinger that she plans to go up the spoke to find Gaea, the Titanide admires her for her "death wish".
Hornpipe and another Titanide named Panpipe bring Cirocco and Gaby to one of the lateral cables slanting up into one of Gaea's spokes. While they make plans for an ascent, Angels appear. Cirocco and Gaby force Hornpipe to hide, but Panpipe is slain in her instinct-driven battle frenzy.
After several days of preparation, Cirocco, Gene and Gaby board Whistlestop, who takes them as high and near the top of the spoke as he can. The explorers then descend on organic parachute lines to the spoke cable to climb up the rest of the way.
While climbing up the surface of the gigantic cable, the explorers discover a multi-storied crystal structure, mostly in a state of disintegration. During a rest stop there, a suddenly-maddened Gene rapes and knocks Gaby unconscious, after which he rapes Cirocco at knife point. However, when Cirocco notices Gaby waking up, she manages to flee into the upper regions of the crystal structure. After Gaby knocks Gene out with an axe from behind and vengefully mutilates him, Cirocco has him thrown back down to the surface of Hyperion in one of the blimp parachutes.
Cirocco and Gaby find and ascend a stone staircase spiraling up the outside of the cable. After several days of passing through hot and cold zones they reach a floor which acts as a kind of "valve" in the spoke passage.
They soon notice that trees grow out from the inner sides of the spoke, sprouting out horizontally from the wall. Climbing the "branches", the pair continue their ascent, making hammocks for resting periods. When the temperature drops for a few days, they discover that they can find refuge by burrowing into the side of the spoke wall, which appears to have organic resealing properties. While waiting out the cold freeze, Cirocco and Gaby become more intimate. Cirocco also tells Gaby that she is making this climb in order to contact the "rulers" of Gaea in the hopes of finding a way for the Titanides and the Angels to end their genetically-induced war.
As their ascent continues, they come across an Angel who turns out to be April, the last missing member of Ringmaster's crew, now transformed. They also learn that April had been the one who had inspired the Angels into using Whistlestop as a tactical shield during their attack on the Titanide wagon long ago. April tells Cirocco that the entire structure is a living entity named Gaea, but she may be able to seek an audience with her at the hub if she has a good story to tell.
Analog, April 1979, Paul Lehr
After several months of further climbing, Cirocco and Gaby reach the hub where they are confronted by an awe-inspiring "Mother-Earth" figure. Summoning her anger and courage, Cirocco demands a reckoning for her crew's misfortunes and relates her story. The gigantic figure disappears, after which they are greeted by a normal-sized, dumpy-looking brown woman.
Gaea explains that she is a living planetoid created by long-disappeared "builders" millions of years ago, and that many beings like her are scattered throughout the galaxy. Most of the lifeforms in her "body" are derived from genetic seeds stored by the builders, but in the case of the Titanides and the Angels, she had created them out of imagery received from Earth TV transmissions. Also, the two races are at war because Gaea found Earth films depicting war very stimulating. When Cirocco asks her to end the war, she agrees immediately and begins a process of "reprogramming" her "children". Gaea then explains that, due to her advanced age, some of the peripheral "brains" on the rim of her structure no longer cooperate with her, and that one region, Oceanus, had been the one to destroy Cirocco's ship.
Gaea explains that after Oceanus had abducted Cirocco and her crew, the rebellious brain had begun to alter their minds, at which point Gaea had managed to recapture them and then have them "birthed" from the ground. She then reports that an Earth ship is situated nearby and that a human base camp has already been established near Titantown. She also apologizes for trying to create a hybrid race through impregnating Cirocco and her fellow female crew members. As Cirocco prepares to leave, Gaea proposes that she become her representative on the rim, a "Wizard" of her world.
After using organic parachutes to jump down to Whistlestop, the blimp brings Cirocco and Gaby to the newly-established Earth base near Titantown. There, Cirocco informs the Earth commander that she intends to remain on Gaea. When the military try to arrest her, Gaea makes a show of force by tugging on one of her cables, causing massive winds and dust storms. Although Bill and August elect to go back to Earth, Gaby and Calvin also decide to remain on Gaea.

Orbit 1985, Peter Goodfellow

Wizard

In Wizard, Varley introduces some new predators to the world of Gaea, such as the "buzz bombs" (hostile ramjets) and the "sand wraiths" (shapeless underground predators). Much of the story also goes into more detail about the sexual behavior of the Titanides and Cirocco's role in their life-cycle. In the background, increasing hostilities on Earth hint at the possibility of a much more serious conflict to come, as more and more tourists/refugees begin arriving on Gaea.

Brief Synopsis: Two human "pilgrims" named Chris and Robin arrive on Gaea seeking miracle cures for their neurological maladies. Later, they agree to accompany Cirocco and Gaby on an "inspection tour" around the rim territories of Gaea. After various adventures through the regions Hyperion, Rhea, Crius and Phoebe, the expedition is scattered by an attack of airborne buzz bombs and burrowing sand wraiths in Tethys. Gaby eventually reveals to Chris and Robin that for a long time she has been contemplating the satellite-deity's overthrow, and for this reason Gaea has targeted her for death. In fact, the true purpose of their journey has always been to feel out the possibility of finding allies amongst Gaea's semi-independent perimeter brains. After Chris and Robin eventually make it out of the underground catacombs of Thea, Cirocco goes up to the hub to confront Gaea for attacking her friend.

PROLOGUE: Fairest of the Fair: A wheel-shaped "god" named Gaea is born floating near Saturn and exists peacefully for millions of years. Eventually nearing "old age", her secondary brains (situated on her rim) become more and more insubordinate (or insane). After a time of war between Gaea and her perimeter brains (resulting in the decimation of several nascent civilizations inside the hollow world), a fragile truce comes about. Thousands of years later, Gaea begins detecting radio and television transmissions from Earth. Sometime in the 21st century, an Earth spaceship arrives on Gaea, after which diplomatic relations are established between the two entities. In order to make herself more valuable to the humans (and thus less vulnerable to nuclear destruction), Gaea begins offering humanity "miracles".

Flag of Caprice: A young man named Chris'fer Minor visits the Gaean Embassy on Earth and asks for a visa to visit Gaea and gain an audience with her.
The Mad Major: Chris explains to his Titanide interviewer that he is seeking a cure for his incurable multiple personality disorder. After a long series of bizarre, non-relevant questions, the Titanide tells Chris that Gaea has been searching for "crazy people" and that he has been approved to go to Gaea (although he must change his last name to "Major").
The Screamer: In the 21st century, a "coven" of witches living in Australia become wealthy when a gold-laden asteroid crashes near their land. The Coven use the money to build themselves a self-sufficient space station at one of the Lagrange points on the far side of the moon.
Little Giant: A young member of the Coven named Robin ("of the Nine-Fingers") receives a letter from the Gaean Embassy approving her audience with Gaea (Robin seeks a cure for her epileptic attacks).
Prince Charming: While undergoing decontamination procedures on the way to Gaea, Chris has an episode leading to sex and violence. After he emerges from confinement, he is sent on to Gaea in an organic capsule and eventually emerges inside Hyperion.
Tent City: Robin arrives in Titantown with her anaconda familiar Nasu. She explores the various "tourist attractions" centered around the Titanide village, which include gambling dens, sex dens and sideshows. She is confused when human behavior doesn't match what she had been taught at the Coven. She has a brief fling with a prostitute named Trini.
Harmony Heaven: Chris takes a capsule from Hyperion up to the hub and gains an audience with Gaea, who tells him that she will give him the cure to his disease but he must first do something "heroic". She tells him that he will find opportunities for heroism if he explores Gaea's interior.
The Aviator: Robin departs from a similar audience with Gaea. When she enters the elevator she falls through the bottom into the sky towards the rim. Expecting to be killed, she is surprised when an Angel helps her glide into the sea, after which he asks for payment for his services.
The Free-Lance: For almost 75 years, Gaby Plauget has remained inside Gaea, acting as a "freelance" agent who oversees maintenance operations on the rim. After using organic explosives to free up a bottled up a drain at the bottom of the Ophion River, she gets a call from Gaea and is instructed to check on Cirocco, the Wizard.
Freff 1980
The Melody Shop: Gaby and her Titanide friend Psaltery reach Cirocco's house, located between two mountain peaks in Rhea. Gaby finds her sleeping off a three-day binge.
The Purple Carnival: Each year, a Purple Carnival is held north of Titantown in a crater known as Grandioso, where a few hopeful Titanides are given permission to bear children. When Robin arrives, she meets Gaby amongst the crowd.
The Bride-Elect: Chris awakes from one of his "spells" and realizes that he has joined the party of a Titanide named Valiha at the Carnival, acting as Valiha's good luck charm. After a brief meeting with Gaby, Chris then meets Cirocco, who "fertilizes" Valiha's egg by putting it in her mouth.
Hospitality: Cirocco and Gaby invite Chris and Robin to join them on a journey across the rim, offering them the opportunity to do something "heroic".
Gingeroso: Chris wakes up in a hotel bedroom with a prostitute named Trini without his short term memory. Trini tells Chris to beware of Gaby.
The Enchanted Cat: The travelers gather at a bar named "La Gata Encantada" to begin their journey. A drunken Cirocco is startled to run into a cowering Gene. Gaby threatens to kill Gene if they run into him again.
The Circumnavigation Club: Just before the travelers board canoes to float down the Ophion River, Gaby reacts harshly when Robin criticizes Cirocco's drunken demeanor. Later, Gaby explains to Chris that Gaea had altered Cirocco and the Titanides' genetic makeup so that only Cirocco can fertilize Titanide eggs, therefore making her eternally responsible for showing up at Carnival to continue the Titanide race.
Recognition: As Chris and Robin get to know each other better, Robin admits that her ideas of modern society are outdated or exaggerated due to her sheltered life at the Coven.
Wide Awake: Later, Gaby and Robin have a duel to resolve their earlier conflict and end up gaining a much better understanding of each other. Valiha visits Chris and demonstrates her love for him.
Eternal Youth: While traveling on the "Circum-Gaea Highway", Gaby explains to Chris how she had constructed it, and that in return for such freelance work she has been given an extended lifespan. Cirocco sneaks off back to the Melody Shop and gets drunk.
Resumption: Gaby and Cirocco have a conversation in which Rocky hints that she may not be able to go through with their "secret plan". Nonetheless, when the party depart from the Melody Shop, Rocky joins them at the last minute.
Hands Across the Sea: The expedition build a small boat in order to travel through Rhea's sea, the Nox. On the journey, Chris flirts with Robin, after which Cirocco points out a Gaean blimp and a Gaean "sub" making love at the water's surface. Chris asks Gaby about intimacy with a Titanide.
The Idol's Eye: The expedition reaches Minerva, an island created from Rhea's vertical cable. While Cirocco goes off on a mysterious errand by herself, Gaby shows the others a golden idol with a missing eye and explains that it had once held a diamond in its socket. The eye had once been a "quest object" for Gaea's pilgrims, but lately Gaea has been unable to create new quest objectives for her pilgrims. Later, the group spot giant chicken tracks, which Robin had secretly made as a practical joke on Gaby and Rocky.
Tempest and Tranquil: Rocky tells Gaby that her meeting with the "mad" rim brain of Rhea had gone better than expected, but not to count on her cooperation. The group depart Minerva, and after weathering a storm, reconnect with the Ophion which takes them to the next rim region, Crius.
The Grotto: When Cirocco descends to meet with Crius, she invites the rest of the group to accompany her. They encounter an hourglass-shaped object which speaks to Cirocco about matters of routine maintenance, although with more defiance than Gaby had expected.
Inglesina: After a brief encounter with a human nudist colony, the group reach the island of Inglesina, where Cirocco blesses the Titanides of Crius with a Carnival. During this stopover, Chris and Robin become intimate, but Cirocco stops them from accidentally conceiving a child out of ignorance of Coven contraceptive habits, an act which puts some distance between the two pilgrims.
Path of Glory: While entering the dark, swampy region of Phoebe, Chris is tempted to accomplish a "heroic act" by killing the nearby giant ape monster Kong (a creature Gaea had created based on King Kong). Gaby, Cirocco and Robin convince him to wait for a better opportunity.
Burst of Flame: After Cirocco returns from her visit with Phoebe's underground brain, the group are ambushed by two "buzz bombs" (flying predators which lance their victims). Gaby's Titanide friend Psaltery is slain in the attack.
Triana: The group soon float down the Ophion into a canyon cutting through the desert region of Tethys. At the end of the river they encounter a lake named Triana which is filled with bones. Gaby wonders if the buzz bombs had been sent by Phoebe to kill them.
Berkley Books 1980, R. Courtney
Across the Sands: As the group crosses the sands of Tethys, Cirocco warns them about vicious, xenophobic sand wraiths who attack from beneath the sands. However, since they are vulnerable to water, the group are armed with water pistols and water balloons in slingshots.
Rolling Thunder: Soon they are chased by sand wraiths and buzz bombs and are forced to seek cover in a shallow pit. The sand wraiths begin throwing "spears" at them from beyond the range of their water pistols.
Heat Lightning: When the buzz bombs begin dropping napalm on the group, they race across the sands in order to reach the central cable above Tethys' brain. One Titanide is killed by sand wraiths and Gaby is severely burned by a napalm bomb. Robin, Chris and Valiha make it to the Tethys cable with Gaby's unconscious form and descend the stairs in order to seek shelter.
The Vanished Army: Cirocco and Hornpipe eventually arrive at the top of the Tethys staircase to find it buried in rubble due to buzz bomb suicide attacks. Cirocco tells Hornpipe to gather an army from Titantown and have them come to Tethys to help her dig out her friends.
Firebrand: Near the top of the stairs, Gaby uses her last moments to explain to the others that Gene had been behind the buzz bomb and sand wraith attacks. He had been trying to kill Gaby under orders from Gaea herself. This is because she and Cirocco had been considering the possibility of overthrowing Gaea, and the true purpose of their rim journey had been to feel out her perimeter brains on the subject.
Revelation: As Gaby's body shuts down, her consciousness is horrified to find itself drawn up into Gaea's hub.
Runaway: Chris and Robin decide to head downwards, although Valiha becomes more and more resistant the lower they get. Eventually they reach Tethys' brain who mistakes Chris for Cirocco. When Tethys decides to "eat" Valisa, the trio rush up one of the side tunnels. Unfortunately, Valiha breaks her legs during the blind flight.
Carry On: While Chris prepares to try some amateur bone-setting, Robin experiences a moment of shame when she realizes that she had felt true fear during the desert attack earlier. Chris encourages her to face her fear.
West End: The trio become concerned about food, especially since Valiha will likely give birth before she is well enough to walk out of the underground labyrinth. Fortunately, they discover a plentiful food source ("Gaea's milk") near their camp. Robin eventually heads off on her own in an effort to find help from the tunnels ahead, while Chris and Valiha stay behind (and become more intimate).
Bravura: After several days wandering in the tunnels, Robin reaches the brain of Thea and makes it past the suspicious brain by declaring herself to be on a mission on behalf of the Wizard. Eventually, she emerges from Thea's staircase into a wintry environment. After another long, arduous trek, she encounters an outpost (established by Gaby long ago) where she finds Trini, the prostitute she had been with when first arriving in Gaea.
The Outpost: Cirocco soon arrives at the outpost in an armed jet with a doctor who treats Robin for exposure and pneumonia. When Cirocco asks about Gaby, Robin tells her what had happened to her, and tells her of Gene and Gaea's role.
Proud Heritage: As Chris and Valiha continue to make their way underground, they discuss humanity's relationship to the Titanides. Later, Valiha gives birth to Serpent, who is able to speak English almost immediately after being born. Eventually, they hear explosions and realize Cirocco has found them.
Entry of the Gladiators: When Chris and Robin return to the hub to visit Gaea's human-shaped avatar, she arrogantly cures them of their maladies without obtaining their permission. When Gaea mocks Chris for his feelings for Valisa he tries to attack her but is restrained. A similar sequence of events happens when Robin realizes her 10th finger has been grown back.
Battle of the Winds: After learning of Chris and Robin's safe return to Titantown, Cirocco has some Angels bring her up to the hub to confront Gaea.
The Thin Red Line: When Gaea refuses Cirocco's demands to end the population-control measures placed on the Titanides, Cirocco states that she will kill her. In a peace gesture, Gaea offers to make a "new Gaby", exactly the same as the one she had had killed. Cirocco blows apart Gaea's human form with revolver shots and then shoots at the enigmatic red line shining above the audience chamber.
Thunder and Blazes: Expecting to be slain on the spot, Cirocco soon finds herself moving towards the hub's exit spoke after she is prompted by a mysterious voice (seemingly Gaby's). Avoiding earthquakes and lightning bolts, she jumps down the spoke where Angels await her to carry her back to the surface.
Fame and Fortune: Before Robin departs Gaea to return to the Coven, she has a farewell picnic with Chris, who has decided to remain on Gaea with Valiha's family.

Epilogue: Semper Fidelis: Hornpipe cares for Cirocco in the highlands in between Hyperion and Rhea, and expects that Gaea will soon be hearing from the Demon.

G. P. Putnam's Sons/SFBC 1984, Steve Ferris

Demon

Demon charts Gaea's increasing madness and growing obsession with the movie industry of old Earth. Human refugees fleeing from a nuclear war on Earth arrive on Gaea, but find themselves victimized by both Gaea and their own kind. Gaea soon builds a Gaean "film studio", while at the same time uses "zombies" (dead humans reanimated by Gaean parasites) and "Lustmorder fleets" (a semi-sentient air force led by an airborne leviathan) to hunt down Cirocco Jones.

Brief Synopsis: Although many years of skirmishing have passed, Cirocco has not yet found a way to destroy Gaea. In the meantime, Gaea has incarnated most of her consciousness into a giant Marilyn Monroe figure, and travels across the rim leading a personal film festival supported by bizarre creatures, slaves and zombies (animated from slain Earth refugees). When Robin returns to Gaea with her baby son Adam, Gaea's zombie forces manage to kidnap the child. In the following year, Gaea grooms the child to be the new "hero" of her world (in place of Cirocco), while Cirocco herself slowly builds a ragtag army out of criminals and gangsters drawn from the Gaean arrival zone ("port city") of Bellinzona. At the same time, the "ghost" of Gaby helps the "Demon" realize a plan which will hopefully end Gaea's reign forever.

Short Subjects

Coming Attractions: A wilderness area is prepared by laborers and film crew (alien creatures designed and created by Gaea) for the arrival of the Pandemonium Traveling Film Festival, a caravan hosted by Gaea (now in the form of a giant version of Marilyn Monroe).
Newsreel: Sometime after the beginning of World War V (an ongoing Earth-based nuclear war featuring weekly detonations), a young man named Conal (a descendant of Gene's) arrives in Gaea intending to kill Cirocco. He finds her at the Enchanted Cat tavern, but is easily knocked out. After Cirocco tortures him for awhile, she eventually believes his story and allows him to live. As the years pass, Conal eventually becomes totally devoted to Cirocco.
Musical Interlude: 15 years have passed since Cirocco's escape from the hub. In the brutal "immigrant portal" of Bellinzona, a Titanide named Rocky operates on Cirocco's skull in order to remove a small, sentient spy secretly implanted there by Gaea many years ago.
Episode 10: As the war rages on Earth, refugees begin arriving on Gaea. One day, two women arrive with a male child and are immediately attacked by Bellinzona slave-traders at the arrival portal. Conal saves the baby and brings Titanide reinforcements to save the two women.
Travelogue: After surveying the remains of Kong (recently slain by the Gaea giantess), Cirocco makes a long solo trek across the rim to finally arrive at Chris' tree-house in Dione (a rim whose brain is dead, and therefore safe from Gaea). On the way, she has a brief encounter with Gaby's "ghost".

(from Varley Vade mecum)

First Feature

Conal and several Titanides (including Serpent, Valiha and Rocky) escort a now middle-aged Robin, her rebellious, self-centered daughter Nova and Robin's baby son Adam towards Tuxedo Junction, Chris' tree-house home.
Shortly after Cirocco and Chris (now with hairy legs and a tail) share an intimate moment, they hear the arrival of their guests.
A horrified Robin learns that Gaea had impregnated her with Chris' DNA during their last audience with her at the hub (ultimately resulting in the births of both Nova and Adam). Cirocco then presents a filmstrip retrieved from Kong's mountain showing Gaea fighting and raping the beast.
Cirocco uses "Snitch" (the parasite extracted from her skull) to confirm that Robin does not have a Gaean spy in her brain as well. Robin, Cirocco and Chris then visit a Gaean "fountain of youth" pool to rejuvenate (de-age) themselves (except for Chris who becomes more Titanide than ever).
Gaea's zombie "Apostles" (led by a slightly more intelligent zombie "Priest" named Luther) attack the Free Females (Amazonian Earth refugees) in Bellinzona searching for Adam. After he raids the nearby cemetery for new recruits, Gaea informs her lieutenant of Adam's location.
Nova is impressed when she sees her mother rejuvenated. Later, she tries to draw Cirocco to her with a Coven "love potion" (which fails).
Lying by a nearby shore, Cirocco has an intimate experience with Gaby, apparently experienced as a "dream". When she wakes up, she senses danger and runs back towards Tuxedo Junction.
Chris tells Robin that he is becoming a Titanide in order to understand his long ago "break up" with Valiha. However, because he fears the loss of his humanity, he asks for custody of Adam as a link to his past. Robin accedes to his request.
Rocky and Valiha begin a mating ritual, while Conal develops an attraction for Nova. However, the scent of zombies soon draws their attention.
Gaean zombies (undead creatures animated by "deathsnakes") attack Tuxedo Junction and, despite Cirocco and the others' best efforts, manage to kidnap Robin's son Adam. They then pass the infant on to an Angel which carries Adam up into the sky. In the aftermath, Cirocco learns that Nova's "love potion" apparently has a devastating effect on the zombies.
Luther arrives at Tuxedo Junction to find that his forces have arrived too late - Gaea's other zombie force (led by a creature named Kali) has already captured the boy. He and Kali confront each other outside Tuxedo Junction.
Cirocco orders the Titanides to prepare more of Nova's anti-zombie love potion. In the meantime, the humans take off in "Dragonflies" (state-of-the-art jets imported from Earth) in pursuit of Adam's Angel captor.
Cirocco's search fails to turn up Adam and the Angel's location on radar. She then threatens Snitch in order to get a fix on their quarry's general direction.
While the search goes on, Conal tries to cure Nova of her extremely bigoted opinion against all non-females.
The two Dragonflys locate Adam, which is being carried by a zombie "death angel". Cirocco decides to wait for the zombie's inevitable hand-off to its relief flier before taking any action. By interrogating Snitch, they also learn that Gaea wants Adam because, like Cirocco, the child can "activate" Titanide eggs. With Adam in Gaea's possession, she would then hold the continued existence of the Titanides in her power.
Cirocco's party decides to try and intercept Adam when he gets to Cronus. Meanwhile, the Titanide Rocky executes some slavers in Bellinzona in order to obtain zombies for testing out Nova's formula back at Tuxedo Junction.
After an attempt to intercept the death angel fails near Mnemosyne, Cirocco has Conal continue to follow Adam while she detours to her personal hanger/armory in the north to take command of a Mantis (flying battleship). At the same time, a "Luftmorder" (a Gaean flying fortress docked in the upper region of a spoke) sends some buzz bombs after Conal's Dragonfly.
After a fiery aerial battle Conal shoots down the buzz bombs, but he and Nova are forced to bail out of their Dragonfly. When Gaea is alerted to the buzz bomb attack by the Lustmorder, she destroys the air base for risking Adam's safety. Cirocco picks up Conal and the others in the Mantis and is informed about the new buzz bombs (now armed with guided missiles).
Not sure of any other options, Cirocco bombs Pandemonium with her Mantis and destroys most of it, although Gaea herself only sustains minor scratches. In the aftermath, Chris bails out over Gaea's caravan in order to look after Adam (who falls into Gaea's clutches a minute later).

Publicações Europa-América 1986

Second Feature

Back at Tuxedo Junction, Cirocco begins testing various ingredients from Nova's potion on the captured zombies.
While teaching Robin to swim, Conal begins flirting with her.
About a month and a half after Gaea's capture of Adam, Valiha tells Rocky that she accepts his proposal to become her mate.
Cirocco is visited by the ghost of Gaby, who tells her that she must approach her battle with Gaea from a new angle. Gaby also reveals that Gaea believes herself to be the "villain" of the movie, and that if Cirocco fails as a hero, then she will put Adam in that role.
Robin and Conal continue their flirtatious sexual affair.
Cirocco brings Nova with her on a visit to Whistlestop where she consults with a now-very-aged Calvin.
During a great feast, Cirocco tells her friends that Gaea had been the one to orchestrate their "roles" in this drama. Gaea had dropped the asteroid giving birth to the Coven, helped inspire Conal to come to Gaea searching for vengeance, and had even started the Earth nuclear war. She then begins explaining her true plan.
After the meeting, Cirocco mourns for her lonely life in a room by herself, and the Titanides below sing a sympathetic song for her.
Gaea builds New Pandemonium in Hyperion and spends her time showing Adam films featuring Marilyn Monroe. One day, Dragonflies appear in the sky writing "SURR" in the air. During the distraction, Cirocco sneaks into Chris' pavilion and tells him that he will have to hold out for at least a year before help arrives.
Conal, Robin and Nova spread zombie-killer over New Pandemonium during their sky-writing of "SURRENDER GAEA". Cirocco escapes New Pandemonium by passing herself off as "Alec Guinness".
Cirocco uses her Titanide allies to take over Bellinzona. Whistlestop floats above the city as a symbol of her rule.
After dealing with the gangland leaders of Bellinzona, Cirocco meets with the leaders of the Free Females (Trini) and the Vigilantes (Stuart) to inform them that she plans run the city as a temporary dictatorship.
In the ensuing days, the Titanides reinforce Cirocco's draconian laws. One day, Rocky breaks up a fight between a man and a woman with a child. He then tries to comfort the unborn Titanide he carries in his womb.
When Gaea's "manna" (free food falling from the spoke above) stops ariving, Cirocco begins using prisoners to create a workforce to feed the people of Bellinzona.
A fishing fleet is established, which works with the Gaean submarines to gather food from the sea.
In New Pandemonium, Gaea begins inserting her image and voice into more and more TV shows in order to gain Adam's love.
As Serpent makes sketches of the prison labor camp, he thinks about the flaws of human nature.
As the weeks go by, Robin becomes the "Mayor" of Bellinzona, while Conal acts as Cirocco's ears on the ground. During a meeting, Conal tells Cirocco that the people need to feel that Cirocco is more than just a face projected from Whistlestop's floating bulk.
After the meeting, Conal appreciates the gradual improvements made in Bellinzona and then joins Robin in their shared apartment.
Cirocco briefly visits the fountain of youth to rejuvenate herself, but also consults with Snitch about the situation in New Pandemonium. Snitch mentions that Gaby is getting ready to pull a "dirty trick".
With all the zombies now disintegrated by Nova's formula, Gaea completes the construction of New Pandemonium using the remaining human prisoners at her disposal.
After Gaby dies at the bottom of the Tethys cable, her "dream consciousness" floats up to the hub where Gaea rants at her for "ruining" Cirocco. She is then flung into the thin red line in Gaea's hub where she somehow retains her sanity and begins learning the ways of "magic".
Eight months after Chris' arrival at New Pandemonium, he asks Gaea why she hates Cirocco. Gaea accidentally lets slip that she is actually much younger than she had once claimed to be.
Cirocco has a "dream-journey" in which Gaby takes her to an underground hangar of Earth ships, Gaea's atom-smasher (with which she uses to manufacture metals), a frozen area where genetic material from Earth is stored, and a nest of Supra Angels. There, Gaby tells Cirocco that they will use dynamite against Gaea.
After Bellinzona weathers an aerial attack from Gaea's "air-force" (a Lustmorder and its buzz bomb fleet), Cirocco gains public support from the citizens of the zone and begins creating a real army (although her methods tend to be totalitarian).
Cirocco brings Robin down to the chamber below the central cable of the dead rim brain Dione. There, she discovers that Nasu (whom she had thought lost while with Chris and Valiha many years ago under Tethys) has now grown into a gigantic monster snake. Cirocco asks Robin to ask Nasu to help them kill Gaea.
Nova is disturbed when her Titanide friend Virginal no longer enjoys her company. She soon realizes that she must open herself up socially and discard her prejudices.
Conal reassures Cirocco that she has not become a power-addicted dictator, and recalls some moments in the past that they had shared.
In a final meeting with her army staff before the Great March to New Pandemonium, Cirocco makes some hard decisions about what percentage of troops to leave behind to protect Bellinzona (as a precaution against total defeat).

Publicações Europa-América 1986

Third Feature

The Bellinzona army heads west towards Mnemosyne. As troops falter along the way, Cirocco has them establish interim camps to slow down any future reprisal attacks from Hyperion.
Underground, Nasu travels through the acid-filled antechambers ruled by the rim brains.
Gaea's most loyal brain, Cronus, tries to warn Gaea about the gigantic snake heading her way, but Gaea's "assistant" blocks his calls.
At Adam's palatial home (now named "Tara"), Chris feels that he is losing the battle for Adam's mind, as Gaea increasingly uses TV to twist the child's mind.
As the Bellinzona army prepares to cross over into Cronus, Cirocco makes plans in case the Gaean Lustmorders and buzz bombs stage an attack.
As the Lustmorder above Tethys awaits orders from Gaea, it notices Angels building strange-looking nests in its spoke well.
In Cronus, Cirocco's force is attacked by one of the Gaean squadrons. Eventually, Conal arrives with his air force and destroys them, although there are many casualties.
While trying to guess Gaea's next move, Cirocco makes plans to organize a sneak attack on the Gaean air-force.
The Supra Angels use dynamite to ignite the Gaean air force bases around the rim in a simultaneous detonation. With no spokes to refuel in, the airborne Luftmorders and buzz bombs become easy prey for Conal's forces.
When one Luftmorder gets through Conal's squadron, Conal takes it out himself in a near-suicidal run against the behemoth, and manages to escape with only minor injuries.
When Gaea is informed that her entire air-force has been destroyed, she returns to her screening room to watch more films.
After taking care of the dead and wounded, Cirocco's army crosses the jungle of Cronus, taking on further casualties from strange jungle predators.
In Mnemosyne, the army encounters a gigantic sand-worm, inspired by the film version of the Frank Herbert novel Dune. Despite its fearsome reputation, it turns out to be a very slow, lumbering beast. After carving graffiti into its hide, the army continues on to the shores of Oceanus.
While the Bellinzona army makes camp on the frozen ocean of Oceanus, Gaby brings Cirocco and Conal to Oceanus' central cable where they find Gene. They soon discover that Gene (and the rest of the Ringmaster crew) had all had Gaean mind parasites embedded in their brains during their first arrival in Gaea. Cirocco removes the monstrous creature from Gene's brain, after which Gaby asks Gene for his help in destroying Gaea.
At the bottom of Oceanus' central cable, Cirocco learns that Oceanus' brain had died thousands of years ago, and since then a schizophrenic Gaea had "impersonated" the dead brain in her own imagination. After returning to camp, Cirocco leads her army on to Hyperion within sight of New Pandemonium.
In Gaea's screening room her, film projector breaks down, prompting her to go outside to look for Cirocco's arrival.
Cirocco meets her friends and tells them that her main priority is to kill Gaea, even if she loses Adam and her own life in the process. She then meets with her army staff and tells them that their true purpose is to distract Gaea from another attack.
In Tara, Chris and Adam watch as Cirocco's army appears over the horizon, and Gaea prepares her troops (although many are equipped only with prop guns).
Both Cirocco and Gaea make fiery displays with brass bands and visual displays. Nasu then erupts from the ground beneath Gaea's feet and begins to crush her, but the snake is eventually killed. Gaea then "reforms" her bent form, after which she strides out of the circular barricade surrounding New Pandemonium.
During the monster battle, Gaby contacts Chris with instructions to head out from the rear of the city. Gaby influences Luther's mind so that he also heads out on a train towards Chris' gate. In Whistlestop, Calvin uses a lighter given to him by Gaby to detonate the hydrogen blimp as it collides into Gaea's gigantess form.
Gaea disappears under the flames, but eventually emerges from the moat and regenerates her burnt skin. In the meantime, Gaby meets Conal and Robin on another part of the wall and gives them instructions to intercept Chris.
Under Gaby's mental influence, Luther lowers a drawbridge, allowing Conal and Robin's force of Titanides to penetrate the outer wall of New Pandemonium. While they grab Chris and Adam and begin their escape, Gene sets off a cache of dynamite in the chamber of Oceanus' dead brain. At the same time, Cirocco charges Gaea single-handed in order to distract her from what's happening beneath Oceanus. Too late, Gaea realizes her true threat and begins frantically climbing the Hyperion cable in order to reach the hub. The detonation of the Oceanus chamber causes the cable above it to snap, and the rim drops outwards. Gaea is crushed on the flailing cable strand.
Up at the hub, inside the thin red line, Gaby destroys the part of Gaea's consciousness that resides there, therefore destroying the rest of the Titan's mind.
After Snitch dies ("Is this the end of Gaea?"), a beam of light from the hub reaches out and lifts Cirocco skyward.

Fade Out

In the hub, Gaby asks Cirocco to rule the Wheel with her in the thin red line. She explains that the Wheel has been ruled by generations of Wizards who eventually move into the top spot, and that Gaea had been grooming Cirocco to replace her eventually. Cirocco declines and tells Gaby to ask her again in two centuries, after which she leaps down the Dione spoke to live life for herself for the first time.

Freff 1979

Ace Books 1999, Todd Cameron Hamilton

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Varley's "Gaea Trilogy" (1979-84)