Book Review: Jack Vance Writers of the 21st Century Tim Underwood & Chuck Miller

Book Review: Jack Vance Writers of the 21st Century Tim Underwood & Chuck Miller

Vancealot: Jack Vance in Review, TJ Jones

Taplinger Publishing Co., hardcover, 252 pages

Release Date: 1980

Availability: It is out of print but used copies are readily available on the Internet.

Having read all of Vance's published writings, most of them several times, I have been seeking intelligent, insightful, critical writings about the works of Jack Vance.  This book provides just that.  It is a 252 page collection of articles about Vance’s writings that includes eight thoughtful chapters, each by a different author.  It was edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, two well known publishers and admirers of Jack Vance.  The collection was published in 1980 and is currently out of print but available as an affordable used book.  If you admire Vance's writings you should really love reading this book.  Below is a brief summary of the introduction, eight chapters and the afterword:

The introduction by Tim Underwood is six pages long and is very well written and interesting.  I would like to read more of Tim Underwood's writings about Jack Vance but have only located a few articles.  If any readers have any of these difficult to locate writings about Vance's works, I'd love to learn about where to obtain a copy.

The first chapter by Norman Spinrad is ten pages long and is titled "Jack Vance and The Dragon Masters."  Spinrad is a columnist, editor, critic, screenwriter and author who won the Hugo award in science fiction in 1969.  He begins by questioning how such a wonderful writer as Vance could be so relatively obscure.  Although this was published in 1980, his question remains relevant today.  In discussing Vance's writings Spinrad states, "A man whose prose style is so unique that a random paragraph taken out of almost any piece of science fiction or fantasy he has written is sufficient to identify itself as unmistakably the work of Jack Vance."  Yet in the 1940s and 1950s many people thought that Jack Vance was merely a pseudonym for Henry Kuttner.  Spinrad continues by discussing how Jack's writings do not fall within the traditional framework of science fiction or fantasy.  That is less applicable today where we have a number of writers who do not fall into specific genres as they once were defined.  But Vance was something of a pioneer at writing uniquely creative works that could not be easily categorized.  Spinrad makes a number of valid points such as, "For Vance, plot and even character are skeletons upon which to hang his overriding concern for place and time, for a sense of history always imbued with a mordant irony reminiscent of the late Mark Twain."  He discusses how Vance "is perhaps the premier stylist in the science fiction genre in terms of fusing, prose, tone, viewpoint, content and mood into a seamless synergetic whole."  His discussions about Jack in general and The Dragon Masters specifically were delightful and insightful, leaving me with the strong desire to read more.

The second chapter, and perhaps my favorite, is "Fantasms, Magics, and Unfamiliar Sciences: The Early Fiction of Jack Vance, 1945-50" by Peter Close.  Close is a British sociologist who wrote for Science Fiction Review and was planning a full length book dealing with the literature of Vance.  (I wish he had completed it!)  Among his many insightful observations are that Jack "started with three apparently natural gifts--a free, witty, unmannered style; an almost frighteningly fertile imagination, and a special talent for the visualization of physical color and detail."  He explains how some of the early works lacked plots and had some technical errors but still managed to be interesting and entertaining because of Vance's "magnificent tour-de-force of imagination."  Close continues on for 43 pages in what is one of the finest and most insightful articles about Vance's writings that I have ever encountered.  This chapter alone is worth the price of the book, and I can't recommend it too highly!

The third chapter by Arthur Jean Cox is titled "Jack Vance--The World-Thinker" and is 19 pages long.  Cox is a science fiction writer from Los Angeles.  He begins with the simple statement that, "Jack Vance is the best writer in science fiction."  But after grabbing our attention, he continues on with the qualification, "You will notice that I don't say that he is the best writer of, but the best writer in science fiction..."  He mentions that "Vance is, mostly a writer of colorful adventure stories."  Vance's stories are often about "the world against which the hero movies in his quest for knowledge, wealth, love, revenge--has been brought into existence by speculations of the sort essential to science fiction."  Cox's insights and observations are often fascinating and he emphasizes three of Vance's special strengths, "his preoccupation with cultural motifs; the tension provided by the polarity between the lure of Empyrean and the comforts of Home; the cool introjective temperament, unique in science fiction."

Chapter four by Don Herron is 16 pages long and titled "The Double Shadow: The Influence of Clark Ashton Smith."  Herron is an editor and author specializing in fantasy, horror and detective fiction.  One interesting comparison of the two writers is their ability to develop strange evocative names for characters.  He lists some in columns for comparison.  Both writers are also adept at "depicting aliens and odd societies."  They each will ridicule some of the absurdities of religion" and "Both can be totally sardonic, poking fun at any subject that comes along..."  Herron provides some interesting contrasts and comparisons between the two authors.

Our fifth chapter is 14 pages and is titled "Tschai: Four Planets of Adventure" by Mark Willard.  Willard is a science fiction critic and essayist.  This is an especially engaging and thoughtful chapter and focuses on the amazing world of Tschai where, "Scores of characters, dozens of locales, a seething wealth of events, attitudes, insights are paraded upon the stage; and four worldviews are provided in the brushes with the four alien races who give the books their titles."  The chapter is a very well written and observant and has the advantage of analyzing one of the most fantastic and magically detailed worlds ever created in literature.  Herron's article is essential reading for anybody who loves Vance's writings.  It was one of my very favorite chapters!

The famous science fiction writer and editor Robert Silverberg wrote the 13 page chapter six.  Its title is "The Eyes of the Overworld and The Dying Earth."  He mentions that some of Vance's early works were repetitive and formularized but that Jack's "sense of color and image, his power to evoke mood and texture and sensory detail, was already as highly developed as that of anyone then writing science fiction."  Vance was, of course, dismissive, and seemed almost embarrassed by some of his early writings.  One can understand why he might be lacking in enthusiasm for these early efforts because many of his works are such wonderful masterpieces.  But there was a magical creativity that infused almost everything Vance wrote including the earliest works, and real fans will want to read them all.  Silverberg's observations are all interesting.  He states for example that Vance's To Live Forever is a "powerful novel" that "may be his supreme accomplishment in science fiction."  Silverberg continues his discussion comparing The Eyes of the Overworld and The Dying Earth.

Chapter seven is titled "Jack Vance's General Culture Novels: A Synoptic Survey" and was written by Terry Dowling.  It is the longest chapter at 47 pages.  Dowling is an English Master in Australia who wrote a science fiction musical and has authored essays on various science fiction writers.  He explains the distinction between xenology (also called exobiology) and xenography and xenological stories.  He continues on to analyze and discuss Emphyrio, The Durdane Trilogy, Trullion: Alastor 2262, The Gray Prince, Showboat World, Marune: Alastor 933, The Dogtown Tourist Agency, and Maske: Thaery.  This was one of the more interesting chapters in the book and one of my favorites.

"Jack Vance: Science Fiction Stylist" by Richard Tiedman is chapter eight.  This is a 44 page revision of the original 1965 monogram that was the first critical piece ever written about Vance's writings.  Tiedman is a professional writer who specializes in all aspects of music, and use to be a critic for the classical music magazine The American Record Guide.  He discusses how examining even one page from a work by Vance can often identify Vance as the writer.  This is in contrast to so many books that "are subdued in tone and stinted in color, utilizing only the middle register of possibilities."  Vance's "stories are attended by a very personal and unmistakable method of sentence construction, rhythmic variety, and extravagant imagery--all controlled with great technical dexterity."  "In Vance, the reader sees, senses, and is shown, rather than being told."  He acknowledges that "Probably Vance's greatest weakness lies in the area of plot improbabilities, or, more specifically, improbable events."  Vance admired the writings of John Ruskin, and some of their similarities are examined in sample passages.  Tiedman provides a fascinating discusses of over a dozen specific writings by Vance.  He mentions that he initially "completely underestimated The Languages of Pao," how he now finds The Dragon Masters to be "one of Vance's most magnificently crafted stories."  He also mentions being fond of some of Vance's mystery stories, specifically The Man in the Cage, The Deadly Isles, The Fox Valley Murders and The Pleasant Grove Murders.  Tiedman also now feels that The Blue World is "altogether one of Vance's most beautiful books."  The entire chapter is very stimulating and a pure pleasure to read.  I highly recommend it as one of the standouts of the book.  I hope to locate more Tiedman writings about Jack.

The next section is not a chapter but a two page afterward titled "Concerning Jack Vance: An Afterword by Poul Anderson."  This is followed by a  two page "Jack Vance: A Biographical Note."  Then we have "Jack Vance: A Bibliography Compiled by Marshall B. Tymn" that is eight pages in length and 3 pages of "Notes."  The book finishes with a three page summary of the contributors.

I found this collection to be extraordinarily interesting and highly enjoyable reading and plan to read it again many times.  It is perhaps the finest book ever written about Vance's writings even though it does not cover Vance's publications since 1980.  This is a real classic and recommended as an essential reading for any persons who love to read about the writings of Jack Vance.  I rated it a 5.