Book Review: Dust of Far Suns-Jack Vance

Book Review: Dust of Far Suns-Jack Vance

Vancelot: Jack Vance in Review, TJ Jones

DAW Books, mass market paperback, 160 pages

Release Date: 1964

Cover art: Paul Chadwick

Contents:

·       Dust of Far Suns, 29 pages, novelette

·       Dodkin’s Job, 40 pages, novelette

·       Ullward’s Retreat, 25 pages novelette

·       The Gift of Gab, 56 pages novella

Dust of Far Suns is a collection of four shorter works by Jack Vance.  It includes three novelettes and one novella.  These stories were written between 1955 and 1962 and are all well worth reading.  For me Dodkin’s Job is the finest of the four.  The font and print size is about average for a mass market paperback. Although this collection is out of print, used copies can easily be located. 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 in this collection:  

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

Dust of Far Suns  is a 29 page novelette that was first published in August, 1962 in the magazine Amazing Stories under the title “Dust of Far Suns.” It has also been known as "Gateway to Strangers" and "Sail 25."  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 alternative 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.  My rating: 3+ “Liked it plus.”

Dodkin's Job-Jack Vance novelette

Dodkin's Job is a 40 page novelette that was first published in October, 1959 in the magazine Amazing Science Fiction.  This is not really science fiction, fantasy or mystery but more of an ironic dystopian story with hints of Kafka and even Monty Python.  I loved this story and thought it was hilarious.  If you have ever worked in a big bureaucracy or have had to deal with one, you will probably identify with the main character who lives in a "big brother" like society where, "The population ordered their lives by schedule, classification and precedent."  Luke Grogatch is too rational for such a society so he keeps losing jobs and has now been demoted to the rating of "Flunky/ClassD/Unskilled."  If he gets demoted again he could end up being sent to the "Disorganized House" where he would be nonclassified and isolated with "criminals, idiots, children and proved Nonconformists." He decides to "submit slavishly to witless regulations" and begins his new job shoveling debris in a sewage system by hand using a shovel. All of his suggestions for improving the job are rejected, and the work seems meaningless. One day a new directive is announced ordering all employees to turn in their tools at a central warehouse at the end of the day and pick them up again each morning. This applies to Luke's shovel. He asks if he can purchase his own shovel and not have to turn it in each day but is told that the directive says "all tools" so that even a self purchased tool would not be exempt.  Luke complies at first. But after the lengthy out of the way trip to turn in the shovel, he has to wait in a long line with the whole process taking an hour and a half. This means he will have to spend three hours each day dropping off and picking up his shovel.  Luke decides to object by appealing to those who issued the directive but each supervisor claims he was simply following orders from above.  Luke continues appealing to those higher up in administration, assuming that he will finally encounter the person who is responsible for the directive.  His encounters with ineffective, irresponsible, uncaring bureaucratic officials develop into one of the funniest stories I've encountered.  Dodkin, by the way, is a person Luke meets later who has what Luke considers to be the ideal job.  I’ve read this story three times and rated it a 5.

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 25 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.

Gift of Gab, The-Jack Vance novella

The Gift of Gab is a 56 page (17,900 words) novella that was first published in Amazing Science Fiction in September, 1955.  Our main character, Fletcher, works on a barge on an alien planet where they harvest barnacles and sea slugs from the ocean to make chemical compounds. One of his men turns up missing and then a strange creature grabs Fletcher by the leg and tries to pull him into the sea.  This is a planet where there are suppose to be nothing that is predatory toward people.  All of the animals on the planet seem harmless, including the very common seal like marine creature called a dekabrach.  But much more is going on with the habitants of the planet and also with his coworkers on another barge.  The intrigue builds as Fletcher, who is stuck on the planet with his crew until relief arrives, tries to investigate the mystery.  "Gab," incidentally, refers to communication between different species.  I’ve read this several times and found it to be interesting and enjoyable to read and rated it a 4 “Really liked it.”