Gift of Gab, The-Jack Vance novella

Gift of Gab, The-Jack Vance novella

The Gift of Gab is a 51/54/56 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 supposed 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.”

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Future Tense (1964)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Dust of Far Suns (1981)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Jack Vance Treasury (2007)

Included in Chateau d'If and Other Stories (2017, Spatterlight): CD (pb)