Book Review: The Best of Jack Vance-Jack Vance

Book Review: The Best of Jack Vance-Jack Vance

Vancelot: Jack Vance in Review, TJ Jones

Pocket Books, mass market paperback, 274 pages

Release Date: 1976

Cover art: Charles Moll

Contents:

·       Preface to the Collection, Jack Vance, 1 page

·       Sail 25, 28 pages, novelette

·       Ullward’s Retreat, 23 pages, novelette

·       The Last Castle, 59 pages, novella

·       Abercrombie Station, 58 pages, novella

·       The Moon Moth, 37 pages, novelette

·       Rumfuddle, 57 pages, novella

This is a mass market paperback that is out of print but easily located used.  It is one of the finest collections of Jack Vance’s shorter works and includes the great classic work The Moon Moth and the award winning The Last Castle.  I rate the overall collection as a 4 or “Really liked it.” The print small as are all mmp books but is fairly dark and clear.  All of these stories are now available from Spatterlight Press in trade paperback editions. In addition to being in larger font, the Spatterlight releases have the advantage of being the same corrected releases that were issued under the limited and costly Vance Integral Editions.  (VIE) Below is a brief review of each story: 

Sail 25-Jack Vance novelette (author’s preferred title), AKA: Gateway to Strangers and Dust of Far Suns

Sail 28 page novelette that was first published in August, 1962 in the magazine Amazing Stories. It has also been known as "Gateway to Strangers" and "Dust of Far Suns."  Henry Bent is an irritable, unpleasant, overly sensitive, dictatorial character who seems to be "a man of a different species."  He teaches pilots to operate spaceships, in this instance it is one that has a huge sail (thus the title "Sail 25"). Bent tells his cadet crew that he does not expect to be liked and that if they do like him then he has failed because, "I haven't pushed you hard enough." All pilots know Bent and respect his skills, but they also invariably dislike him.  He has trained almost every well known pilot and is about to train a new crew.  During the training flight when Bent is not drunk or hiding from the others, he is sneaking around the ship, spying on the cadets, keeping track of their behavior by making comments in his notebooks where he records demerits.  These demerits will determine who passes and who gets axed from the program. Bent also says that he is retiring, that this will be his last flight and hints that he wants to die in space.  Is he suicidal?  Has he become an incompetent drunk? Or is this the finest training the cadets will ever receive? Each member of his crew reacts differently to Bent's behavior and the challenges of the training.  It is all done with humor with a memorable character who is as difficult as any boot camp sergeant.  I’ve read this four times and rated it 3+ “Liked it plus”

Ullward’s Retreat-Jack Vance novelette

Ullward's Retreat was written by Vance in 1957 and published initially in December, 1958 in Galaxy Magazine.  It is a 23 page (7,800 words) novelette. Bruham Ullward is a wealthy man who lives in a futuristic society where real estate is incredibly expensive and conditions very crowded.  He has the rare luxury of having a real tree and moss on his property. Sometimes he offers the rare gift of a real leaf to visitors.  Electronic "illusion-panes" simulate three dimensional electronic scenes of beautiful views by generating mountains, valleys, skies and moons.  Ullward wants to expand his property by purchasing small parcels even at their outrageously high prices, but other owners won't sell. He is delighted when he encounters an opportunity to lease half a planet where he will have plenty of room. Ullward builds his new retreat on this planet and moves. The owner lives on the other half of the planet, and there is a strict contract rule forbidding trespass on the other's property. Ironically when visitors arrive at his new home, they compare his beautiful natural views to illusion-panes, claim the natural rocks do not look real, are fearful of the waves on a real beach, and even object to Ullward's new  privacy stating, "I love the privacy and solitude--but I thought there'd be more people to be private from."  Ullward also begins having privacy issues with the owner even though each of them has half  of the planet to himself.  Was he better off back on his crowded home planet where nature, scenic views and many other things were synthetic or simulated?  It is a very enjoyable and interesting story that Vance himself continued to like. I’ve read it four times and so far and rated it a 4.

The Last Castle-Jack Vance novella

The Last Castle was first published in Galaxy Magazine in April, 1966.  It is a 59  page novella, but it has sometimes been incorrectly labeled as a novelette and as a novel.  It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1967 and the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1966.  It was also nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Novel. The setting is in the far future where for the past seven hundred years most humans on Earth live in luxury castles as elite clans of arrogant, ruling aristocrats who call themselves “gentlemen.”  Working under them are two alien, nonhuman species the Peasants and the Meks. The Peasants are “small andromorphs originally of Spica Ten” who are incapable of being aggressive. The Meks were brought to Earth from another planet called Etamion Nine and seem very submissive. They have a large maw and syrup sacs on their body that were once used for extracting “decayed swamp vegetation” on their home planet.  Now the syrup sacs are filled with a syrup manufactured by humans. Mek brains seem to function as radio receivers that allow them to communicate with each other and to work as one.  They are described as being a “hybrid of sub-man and cockroach” and are thought to be devoid of feelings. The “gentlemen” are also served by giant birds that talk and provide transportation for the humans and beings called Phanes that are beautiful but very fragile.  On Earth there are also some humans, called Nomads, who have revolted against the gentlemen and live an independent, self-sufficient life without Meks, Peasants, Phanes, giant birds and castles. Most of the labor in the castles, even the most technical such as the maintenance of spaceships is performed by the Meks.  The humans think the docile Meks are content working for them, so are taken by surprise when there is an uprising and all of the Meks begin to fight and kill humans.  The Meks rightly view themselves as being slaves to the humans and think there is room on Earth for only one species.  The Meks defeat all castles except the largest and best defended one called Castle Hagedorn.  One of the Hagedorn clan leaders there, Xanten, organizes a final stand against the Meks. Using animated dialog and interesting customs and interactions, Vance presents humanitarian and ethical issues in a well written and absorbing story.  The Meks might be insect like and nonhuman but they clearly can think for themselves and don’t want to be enslaved anymore.  This is one of Vance’s better works even though it is not among his very finest efforts.  It is a pity that more of Vance's writings did not receive awards. I’ve read The Last Castle several times and rated it a 4 “Really liked it.”

Abercrombie Station-Jack Vance novella

Abercrombie Station is a 58 page novella that was initially published in February, 1952 in Thrilling Wonder Stories. This is one of the few Vance works that has a woman as the main character.  Jean Parlier is an attractive, vivacious, charismatic, clever sixteen year old girl who is also tough minded, very independent and street smart.  Jean is encouraged by a mysterious man to obtain a job as a housekeeper at the home of a wealthy man, Earl Abercrombie, on a private satellite which he owns called Abercrombie Station.  This is one of twenty two resort satellites.  Abercrombie is unmarried and has some terminal medical condition.  The plan is for Jean to marry Abercrombie and then, after he dies, to obtain two million dollars from the mysterious coconspirator who recruited her to do this.  Jean is a "gravity girl" from Earth, however, and the satellite she visits has no gravity and also has a much different concept of female beauty.  On this strange satellite the larger and rounder the woman is the more attractive she is considered, so most of the women living on the satellite are as wide as they are tall and float around in the air like big balloons while hired help wear magnetic shoes to keep themselves on the floor.  So Jean has a problem with attracting this billionaire because she is considered malnourished, unhealthy and scrawny by their standards and is thought to be extremely unattractive even though she is very pretty by Earth standards.  Her billionaire employer also has a large zoological collection of extremely bizarre alien creatures that he keeps in his natural history museum.  He seems to find these creatures to be more of an attraction than any of the women.  No challenge is too much for Jean, however, as she does her best to attract Abercrombie.  This is essential reading for Vance fans.  I’ve read Abercrombie Station four times and rate it a 4 (Really liked it.)

The Moon Moth-Jack Vance novelette

The Moon Moth is a marvelous work. It is a novelette of 37 pages that was first published in Galaxy Magazine in August, 1961.  It takes place on the planet Sirene where adherence to specific local customs and protocol is more important than money or even life itself. Edwer Thissell was recently appointed as the new Consular Representative from Earth after the previous Representative to Sirene was killed because he violated a social norm. Thissell has been taking lessons to learn to play various musical instruments in order to communicate with the locals.  All communication on Sirene must be made by playing the appropriate musical instruments and singing in a certain respectful way. Social behavior expected on Sirene is so detailed and complex that it is almost incomprehensible to anyone not born in the culture. Slight violations or mistakes might be interpreted as a grave insult or offense and can lead to bodily harm or even death.  All of the Sirene residents also wear special masks as must the four men from Earth.  Only certain types of masks can be worn depending on the status and musical skills of the wearer.  The mask Thissell wears is of the "moon moth." It is a mask of low prestige but a safe one to wear. Thissell is sent a special message by his superiors assigning him the duty of capturing an assassin from Earth who will soon arrive to Sirene.  Unfortunately the message is delayed, and the assassin is able to elude capture.  Thissell must begin the process of tracking him down in the town where he has to interact with the local people. He knows that violating the strict rules of behavior can lead to severe consequences but he also knows that he will lose his job if he fails.  In many of Vance’s writings he creates a world or society that has strange, often seemingly nonsensical rules and social norms that, although absurd to us as outsiders, are in many ways no more strange than ones in our own cultures on Earth.  Masks in Sirene, for example, are like social fronts or facades that we encounter with people in our own culture daily.  Esteem and status in Sirene culture are based on such things as the quality of singing and playing strange musical instruments whereas on Earth, in many places, social status is often based on such things as being a popular musician, actor, or athlete.  If an outsider from another world viewed various rituals, social norms and cultural beliefs on Earth they would probably appear to be as odd and arbitrary as those on the planet Sirene seem to us.  Vance is an amazingly skillful creator of other worlds and these strange worlds often prompt us to recognize the odd and irrational elements of our own culture. The Moon Moth is complex, thought provoking, well thought out and very skillfully written.  I’ve read and reread every published work by Vance and this is probably the finest short work Vance ever wrote. It is essential reading, a real classic and one of the finest short works ever written. I’ve read it multiple times and rate it a 5.

Rumfuddle-Jack Vance novella

Rumfuddle is a 57 page novella that was initially published in 1973 in an anthology called Three Trips in Time and Space.  It had been commissioned for a collection of three stories on the same theme by three different authors. It is an odd and rather lose story about portals that open to different universes.  The portals also allow time travel (backwards but not forward) and one might even encounter multiple selves that exist in alternate universes.  Initially the portals were used to solve social, economic and other problems, but some people are now using the portals for entertainment purposes and even mischief.  If you can go with the flow of this story and accept the loose ends, it can be entertaining and humorous.  Where else would you encounter a football team where the quarterback is Machiavelli and the front line is manned by Achilles, Charlemagne, Hercules, Goliath, Samson, Richard the Lion Hearted and Billy the Kid? This is not a story that will appeal to everyone, but I’ve read it several times and really liked it so rated it a 4