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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Jack Vance

02:34 / 17.06.04

Currently I decided to read the Tales of a Dying Earth and I'm completley drawn into it.
Originally I was led to him through reading Gene Wolfe. Are there any other Vance fans here?

trouser the trouserian

04:35 / 17.06.04

Who could possibly forget an author of books like "Servants of the Wankh"?

17:52 / 24.06.04

Well for a pretty prolific author, I don't seem to hear about him that much unless in connection to other authors.

21:36 / 04.10.04

He used to be a lot more popular in the past - hell, in the '80s Vance was God to anyone smart enough to see through the cyberpunk scam.

He did a number of great numbers - "Emphyrio" is quite good, as is "The Languages of Pao".
"Big Planet" is a classic, as is "Dragon Masters".
The Demon Princes Cycle probably did not age well, but it's still a great read.
Of the recent stuff, "Night Lamp" is pretty solid.

His plots may seem repetitive, but what's completely fascinating is his control of language.

I'll have to dust off those old books.

Oh, and as I am at it - Jack Vance was also Ellery Queen... in the sense that he ghost-wrote a number of mystery novels for Dannay & Lee - unsurprisingly, the best entries in the Queen canon.

12:19 / 29.09.05

Dr. Dee, do you have a list of the Ellery Queen titles that Vance wrote? For us would be completists?

12:21 / 29.09.05

No one mentioned the Lyonesse Trilogy? Right up (down?) there with Gormenghast as a little read classic.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

20:58 / 29.09.05

Ah, Vance! Where to start. In fact, I can't even begin to really express how much of an influence Vance had on me (in language at least). For a start, the are NO CAPSLOCK TEH BARBARIAN characters in his stories. Nope, every single character is eloquent and erudite, and even his worst stories are incomparable.

The best thing ever was reading one of his recent books (I won't say which) only to discover that he had even named one spaceship with my family name (which is not very widespread or well known, except in France) - co-incidentally, I am sure.

I'm really going to have to go and re-read The Dying Earth soon - it really is the pinnacle of Vance's writing, especially "Cugel's Saga" - even though many many others of his prolific output is almost as stunning (the Alastor and Durdane series spring to mind)...and FUCK! I just looked over my bookshelf, and realised that I leant my copy of "Cugel's Saga" to one of the most notorious losers of property in the whole of North London - about 6 years ago at a wild guess... shit. That's that particular treasure gone for a Burton then. Arse.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:18 / 29.09.05

I've got a funny feeling it may not have been the flame-haired maniac you're thinking of... it could well have been me. In which case, I'll still have it. (Cos I'm pretty damn sure I have a copy, and I'm buggered if I can remember buying one)...

Beer-drinking horses. I really must read more Vance.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

11:36 / 30.09.05

Grafton edition - in which case it might be mine, though I'm sure I lent it to Coiled Jim...

21:33 / 04.10.05

If all the conversations from all of Vance were collected together in one book, I would read it for hours at a time. I sometimes think no one has ever done dialogue better.

21:34 / 04.10.05

How recent is his 'recent stuff'? He's not dead, I take it?

21:38 / 04.10.05

Anyone else got a line on Vance's Ellery Queen Titles?

23:11 / 04.10.05

angus, there's an 'edit' button at the side of your posts. It's generally considered good form to use that, rather than keep on posting a string of one-liners. Either that or think about what you want to say first.

22:09 / 05.10.05

Jack Vance used to be a favourite.

The Dying Earth books are my favourites.
Although the Lyonesse series is an attempt at high fantasy, they end up being episodic and... well, quirky. Which is just as well, because that's what he's best at.

All fans of fantastic literature should read his crime novel Bad Ronald. It's quite funny.

17:25 / 07.10.05

"Either that or think about what you want to say first."

Yeah, I'm sorry about the clumsy posting, but needless snark is also kind of irritating.

22:36 / 08.10.05

It's not even snark, just advice, because a string of posts within a few minutes of each other is pretty much indicative that you're not thinking about what you've got to say before you say it.

14:43 / 10.10.05

No, it's snark. I grant I was clumsy, but I'm new to the board - or chat rooms of any kind - and a few slips are understandable. Your advice about editing was to the point.

Going further and suggesting I'm not thinking before posting was just catty, and unhelpful, and... snark. Perhaps you should look the word up.

14:46 / 10.10.05

No, it's snark. I grant I was clumsy, but I'm new to the board - or chat rooms of any kind - and a few slips are understandable. Your advice about editing was to the point.

Going further and suggesting I'm not thinking before posting was just catty, and unhelpful, and... snark. Perhaps you should look the word up.

14:48 / 10.10.05

That double post was totally not my fault - but it sure makes me look dumb.

Shit, maybe I do need to think first.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

19:01 / 13.10.05

How recent is his 'recent stuff'? He's not dead, I take it?

No, still going, perhaps not strong, but still writing away, albeit slowly. I haven't got his most recent book Lurulu from 2004 as yet, but Ports Of Call from 1999 was still in very good ironic Space Operatic form. The Laughing Magician is due in December 2005, and I would assume from the title that it's a Dying Earth novel.

The Jack Vance Information Page has news and stuff, but is a bit old and clunky.

22:47 / 13.10.05

The Laughing Magician is "just" The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga collected, nothing new, alas.

Link

Tales of the Dying Earth collects all four Dying Earth books, but I don't know how available it is nowadays.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

19:59 / 14.10.05

The Laughing Magician is "just" The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga collected, nothing new, alas.

Ah, but well worth it the same.