More fantasy and science fiction by Jack Vance
Nopalgarth — (1973-1978) Publisher: “The Tree ruled the horizons, shouldered aside the clouds, and wore thunder and lightning like a wreath of tinsels- it had come to be worshipped by the first marveling settlers on Kyril”. Joe Smith arrives from Earth and soon is caught up in a political plot between opposing worlds. Ultimately he discovers the true, horrific nature of The Tree of Life…
Alastor — (1973-1978) Publisher: Trullion — world 2262 of the Alastor Cluster — is a water-world of fens, mists, and idyllic islands set in clear oceans whose teeming richness provides food for the taking. The Trill are a carefree and easy-living people, but violence enters their lives during raids of the Starmenters, freebooting galactic pirates who live short, perilous lives in pursuit of adventure, rape and pillage. Then there’s the planet-wide game of hussade — when the Trill’s passion for gambling drives them to risk all — even life itself, on the hazardous water-chessboard gaming fields. Their prize? The beautiful sheirlmaiden…
Durdane — (1973-1974) Publisher: The minstrel Gastel Etzwane lives in Shant — a country of cantons, each independently dictating its own law and customs. The enforcement of law is simple, quick, and inevitable: death by decapitation, from an explosive torc clamped around each citizen’s neck by authority of a single man — the Anome. For millennia Anomes have ruled Shant, dealing death as they see fit- and none dares defy them, until Gastel Etzwane risks his head to expose the Anome’s identity — and end the tyranny of these faceless men forever.
Ports of Call — (1998,2004)Publisher: Myron Tany is an unhappy young economist until his flamboyant great-aunt lets him captain her space yacht on an interstellar hunt for a clinic rumored to restore youth. But when a disagreement with Dame Hester leaves Myron stranded on a distant planet, he signs on as supercargo aboard the tramp freighter Glicca. He travels the exotic worlds of the Gaean Reach, finding adventure or misadventure at every touchdown. Jack Vance, grandmaster of lighthearted space opera, shapes a picaresque tale of adventure, romance, humor, and youth’s eternal yearning to see the wonders that lie beyond the horizon.
The Gray Prince — (1974) Publisher: When Schaine Madduc returned to Koryphon after five years in space, her home planet was not as she left it. The several intelligent species that had lived so long in a sort of symbiotic harmony were at each other’s throats. The humanoid Uldra were united in rebellion against the human land-holding community of which Schaine was part. The Uldra revolutionary leader and catalyst—the Gray Prince Jorjol—was actually an Uldra fostered in Schaine’s own home, and upon whom Schaine had exerted a profound influence. An influence far more profound than Schaine would have thought possible. An influence possibly powerful enough to smash her home, her family, and her entire way of life!
Vandals of the Void — (1953) Young adult. Publisher: Fifteen-year-old Dick Murdoch leaves Venus to meet his father Paul on the Moon. On the voyage there, the captain stops to examine the wreckage of a sister spaceship. No one knows what attacked the ship—some say it’s the Basilisk. Dick’s adventures aboard spaceship and on the Moon start to pay off as he finds more and more clues. Written for younger readers.
The Five Gold Bands — (1953) aka The Space Pirate. Kirkus Reviews: The first hardback edition of Vance’s 1950 short novel–a space opera wherein picaresque adventurer Paddy Blackthorne and his Earth cop-sidekick Fay Bursill team up to search for an important secret (how to manufacture a space drive) that, for safekeeping, has been divided into five parts and concealed at different locations. Each of the five gold bands of the title contains a cryptic clue to the whereabouts of a hidden part. Amply displayed here are the young Vance’s cardinal virtues, along with the usual flaws: a lively assortment of alien beings, a variety of exotic settings, strong characters, a narrative set forth with rare energy, color, pace, and style–not to mention the formulaic plot, strained motivations, and perfunctory resolution. Entertaining but by no means essential.
Gold and Iron (aka Slaves of the Klau) — (1958) Publisher: Roy Barch is taken slave by the Klau, along with the golden Lekthwan, Komeitk Lelianr. On the industrialized world Magarak, the Klau hunt Barch and others for recreation. Barch refuses to fall prey — and fights a grim battle to return to Earth.
The Man in the Cage — (1960) Publisher: Junketing around the Mediterranean in petty smuggling operations, Noel Hutson liked to think of himself as a gallant adventurer. But in the middle of a North African desert kasbah, with a truckload of contraband, the American feels less and less like a swashbuckling hero. Forced to reload his truck with a very suspicious cargo, he writes to his family asking for help. Noel disappears, and his brother Darrell comes to find him. Darrell’s search takes him to the ancient city of Fez, and into the desert- along the way meeting fanatics, beautiful women, and villains. An exciting suspense novel about an American making his way through a restless society of smuggling, murder, and North African politics.
Space Opera — (1965) Publisher: A society matron underwrites the interstellar tour of an Earth opera company, performing Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini for bewildered human and alien audiences on a kaleidoscopic range of planets. But intrigue and secret agendas complicate what was already a doubtful enterprise, and the matron’s feckless nephew finds that the simple country girl he plans to marry is far more mysterious than she seems. This is Jack Vance at his funniest, rolling out a rollicking picaresque tale where the belly laughs play a perfect duet with the grandmaster’s sly observations on the absurdities of life, love and librettos.
The Last Castle — (1966) Publisher: For 700 years the Meks served without complaint; they were indispensable, for no gentleman would demean himself with toil. But now they turn against the strongholds of civilization — Castle Halcyon, then Sea Island, Morninglight, and Maraval — one by one the proud castles of Earth fall; last standing is Castle Hagedorn. Winner Nebula Award 1966, Hugo award 1967.
Bad Ronald — (1973) Publisher: Misfit teenager Ronald Wilby accidentally kills a neighborhood girl, and his hyper-protective mother hides him between the walls of their house. Years pass, and Ronald’s mind slips into delusional fantasy. When his mother dies a new family with three teenage daughters moves in. Things go badly when Ronald decides the youngest belongs in his imaginary world.
Galactic Effectuator — (1980) Publisher: Featuring three tales of the galactic effectuator who first appeared in “The Dogtown Tourist Agency”, a tale suggesting that its author is a well-travelled man, intimately acquainted with the shortcomings of those who may seek to serve your needs in foreign lands.
Night Lamp — (1996) Publisher: Found as a child with no memory of his past, adopted by a scholarly couple who raised him as their own, Jaro never quiet fit into the rigidly defined Society of Thanet. When his foster parents are killed in a mysterious bombing, Jaro Fath sets out to discover the truth of his origins — a quest that will take him across light-years and into the depths of the past.
Magnus Ridolph — (2012) Publisher: “Magnus Ridolph didn’t look like an interstellar troubleshooter, at first. He was not tall and muscular, … and his voice and manner seemed far too mild for an adventurer. Yet there was a chill hardness in his mild eyes that warned of the deceptiveness of his appearance…” This is a collection of all stories featuring Magnus Ridolph, troubleshooter for hire. Invariably those with whom he associates try to either cheat him or take advantage of him, but Magnus Ridolph always comes up with the answer to their problem and, usually with an unexpected twist, manages to collect his full fee from the cheater.
CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE TITLES BY JACK VANCE.
(1916-2013)
