Book Review: The Narrow Land-Jack Vance

Book Review: The Narrow Land-Jack Vance

Vancelot: Jack Vance in Review, TJ Jones

DAW Books, mass market paperback, 176 pages

Release Date: 1982

Cover art: Wayne D. Barlowe

Contents:

·       The Narrow Land, 23 pages, novelette

·       The Masquerade on Dicanthropus, 15 pages, short story

·       Where Hesperus Falls, 8 pages, short story

·       The World Thinker, 25 pages, novelette

·       Green Magic, 12 pages, short story

·       The Ten Books, 21 pages, novelette

·       Chateau d’If, 61 pages, novella

This is a mass market paperback that is out of print but can be easily found used.  The print is typically small but dark and clear so I can read it with reading glasses, something I’m not able to do with most mmps.  It has the same contents as the 1984 issue by Coronet.  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) Overall I rate this collection as a 4 or “Really liked it.”  Below are brief reviews of each story:

The Narrow Land-Jack Vance novelette

This is a 23 page novelette that was first published in July, 1967 in Fantastic magazine.  It is a fascinating story that I found totally engaging and thought provoking.  One thing that makes it very unusual is that the protagonist is an alien creature that hatches on a beach and then crawls to the water where it tries to survive while exploring its environment. Vance is a superb master at creating other worlds.  In this story he creates a world from the perspective of an alien creature who must learn about his new world while trying to figure out who and what he is. Through Vance's masterly use of language, I actually felt like I was viewing the world from the consciousness of this creature.  It is amazing how much Vance can create in so few pages. Our main character, Ern, learns that he is one of what he refers to as "water children" and that there are different types of children, some with single crests and others with double crests. They are born with some minimal ability to speak. Ern finds out that he must be wary of predatory birds, a large dangerous creature he calls an "ogre" and "men" who come to the beach to capture water children.  Ern learns to speak fluently and to eventually walk on land where he discovers what he is and encounters a frightening world were "children" are eugenically culled and where the single and double crested adult creatures kill each other as enemies. A number of sociological and psychological issues are presented as the story develops.  I found this short work to be a masterpiece and one of Vance's finest writings. I’ve read this numerous times and think it needs to be read more than once to be fully appreciated. It is an amazing work.  My rating: 5.

The Masquerade on Dicantropus-Jack Vance short story

The Masquerade on Dicantropus is a 15 page short story that is an early work, originally published in September, 1951 in Startling Stories magazine.  A couple named Jim and Barbara Root live on the planet Dicantropus where Jim is studying the planet's archeology and Barbara is deeply bored and unhappy. Jim agrees to return to Earth in three months when the next supply ship arrives and suggests that they might engage in more swimming and badminton until then. There is an unusual pyramid on the planet that intrigues Jim but he is afraid to explore it because the alien beings called Dicantropus who live on the planet have warned him to stay away from it.  One day one of the resident creatures swims up to them wearing a diamond necklace.  They converse with the Dicantropus but it will only say that it found the necklace but not where. The Roots suspect it came from the pyramid and Barbara wants Jim to explore the pyramid in case there are more jewels there.  Jim refuses because of the dangers involved but when another man crash lands on the planet, Barbara convinces the new visitor to explore the pyramid.  They will soon find out what the pyramid is and who the Dicantropus are.  I’ve read this story three times and found it fairly interesting.  I rated it a 3 "Liked it" each time.

Where Hesperus Falls-Jack Vance short story

Where Hesperus Falls is an 8 page short story that was published first in October, 1956 in Fantastic Universe magazine.  Henry Revere is a man who lives in a very technologically advanced society where he is told, "you are not your own property. You are a ward of the race." Henry, you see, is over 96,000 years old and is kept living even though, "life long ago lost that freshness and anticipation which makes it enjoyable."  Bored with life, Henry keeps trying to kill himself but is thwarted each time by the intense surveillance and advanced medical skills of those who watch over him as his "servants."  He is not really a prisoner, but he is not allowed to die. Thousands of years ago Henry had been a bio-chemist and offered himself as the subject of an experiment. But this resulted in "an incalculable error had distorted the experiment, with my immortality as the perverse result."  He now finds himself being, "a living fossil, a curio among curious, a public ward, a creature denied the option of life or death."  Henry's only interest other than suicide is writing his great "History of Man."  What Henry does about his dilemma and how he does it are the basis of the story.  I’ve read this three time so far and rated it a 3 "Liked it."

The World-Thinker-Jack Vance novelette

The World-Thinker was the first story Vance ever published and was issued in Thrilling Wonder Stories in August of 1945. It is a 25 page novelette that Vance wrote while he was at sea.  I don’t think it is such a bad story for a first publication but years later in Vance said he found it embarrassing.  In Vance’s introduction to the 1982 collection Lost Moons he said The World-Thinker and another story Dream Castles were bothw “so embarrassing that I rewrote a few stand-out passages, a lick-and-a promise operation rather like putting rouge on a corpse.”

The story involves Isabel May who escapes prison on Earth and flees in a spaceship pursued by Lanark who is hired to capture her alive.  She possesses a very valuable code that is highly important to the government. Lanark finally tracks her spaceship down on another planet but cannot find Isabel. Instead he encounters a godlike creature named Laoome, "the one-time Sage of the Fifth Universe--Laoome the World-Thinker, the Final Sage of the Fifth Universe."  Laoome has the ability to create through his mind other planets and realities and has placed Isabel under his protection on one of the planets he created.  Lanark convinces Laoome to allow him to visit this planet to talk with her. A number of cosmological ideas are explored in this early work.  I’ve read this three times.  It is a bit clumsy and amateurish and certainly not one of Vance’s best stories but I rated it a 3 "Liked it."

Green Magic-Jack Vance short story

Green Magic is a 12 page short story that was probably written in 1956 and was first published in June, 1963 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.  It has been included in numerous science fiction anthologies and is in the Jack Vance collections:  The Moon Moth and Other Stories and Wild Thyme, Green Magic.  There was also a 1979 limited pamphlet release of 300 copies by Underwood Miller Limited. This is a philosophical fantasy story rather than science fiction.  Howard Fair is well trained in white magic and black magic and knows some purple magic. He is intrigued when he finds an old notebook by his great uncle that describes green magic.  He meets some sprites who come from a world of green magic but who warn him that it would be dangerous for him to study it.  He is told that his grand uncle studied it and ended up regretting having done so.  Despite their warnings, Fair's curiosity and desire to learn are greater than any concerns he has and he manages to persuade the sprites to allow him to learn green magic.  His learning is described as a fascinating process and it changes him forever.  Is it sometimes better to remain ignorant and innocent?  Is it worthwhile to try to discover knowledge that might make you unhappy or discontent?  These questions and others are explored in this story which I found to be quite interesting.  I’ve read this several times and rate it a 3+ (Liked it plus.)

The Ten Books-Jack Vance short story (author’s preferred title), AKA: Men of the Ten Books

The Ten Books is also known as "Men of the Ten Books" and was first published in Startling Stories in 1951.  It is a 21 page (7,300 words) short story.  A couple, Ralph and Betty Welstead from Earth, are exploring other planets in their spaceship and discover a planet about the size and temperature of Earth.  When they land they find a thriving society that greets them as long awaited heroes or rescuers.  The planet called Haven is inhabited by humans who are the descendants of those who crash landed there 271 years previously. Other than a few verbal stories passed on from their predecessors, the only thing they know about Earth is from some books they have, the ten volume edition of "The Encyclopedia of Human Achievement."  These books adulate human achievement on Earth and do not mention poverty, crime or any social or cultural problems. Although Haven society runs in perfect harmony and is almost a paradise, the people from Haven idolize Earth and have glorified it into something that is far grander than their own planet.  Now that a ship from Earth has arrived, many of them want to visit Earth, a planet they think is magnificent beyond their imagination.  The Welstead's have to decide whether or not to tell them the truth about Earth, that it is not the idealized paradise the books depict.  They are concerned about what will happen to the people of Haven because they have been eagerly awaiting rescue for nearly three centuries.  I’ve read this story several times, found  fairly interesting, and rated it a 3 "Liked it."

Chateau d'If-Jack Vance novella (author’s preferred title), AKA: New Bodies for Old

Chateau d'If is a 61 page novella that was first issued in August, 1950 in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories under the title “New Bodies for Old.”  Five friends are sitting together at the Oxonion terrace having drinks and conversing. They seem bored and have had enough to drink but decide to continue drinking anyhow.  One of them comments, "Might as well spend my money on liquor as anything else."  Another comments that "drunkenness is about the only adventure left." Someone else mentions how expensive adventures are and that it costs twenty million dollars for planetary rocket.  One member says that he heard interesting things about an adventure that might be more affordable.  It is called Chateau d'If. While they are talking a telescreen commercial appears with the message, "Jaded? Bored? Want adventure? Try the Chateau d'If."  Members of the group are intrigued and decide to pool their money to sponsor one of them to visit Chateau d'If and report back to the rest of the group.  They roll dice to see who will be the test subject and Zaer loses.  After visiting Chateau d'If though, Zaer does not appear at the scheduled time to meet his friends.  He is later observed by one of the friends at an expensive hotel. He informs the other members of the group so they decide to go to the hotel to find Zaer. They find him in the company of a beautiful woman in a sumptuous setting, obviously having obtained a great deal of money. But when they approach Zaer, he does not seem recognize them. When they mention the money they pooled together to sponsor him to visit Chateau d'If, he pulls out his wallet and reimburses them even though he claims he has no idea what it is all about.  The group members conclude that he is being secretive and somehow obtained a large sum of money after visiting Chateau d'If . They are now all eager to sign up for this experience themselves.  We eventually learn what Chateau d'If is and the mystery of what happens to people when they sign up.  I’ve read this story many times. This early work by Vance is well worth reading.  My rating: 4 “Really liked it.”