Vancealot: Jack Vance in Review

Jack Vance Series   Alastor Cluster Series 1.      Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973) 2.      Marune: Alastor 933 (1975) 3.      Wyst: Alastor 1716 (1978)   Bain, Joe Series (Joe Bain) 1.      The Fox Valley Murders (1966) 2.      The Pleasant Grove Murders (1967) 3.      The Genesee Slough Murders-outline for a novel (1994)   Big Planet Series (same planet) 1.      Big Planet (1952) 2.      Showboat World (1975) AKA: The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River   Cadwal Chronicles (Glawen Clattuc) 1.      Araminta Station (1988) AKA: Cadwal Chronicles Book 1 2.      Ecce and Old Earth (1991) AKA: Cadwal Chronicles Book 2 3.      Throy (1992) AKA: Cadwal Chronicles Book 3   Demon Princes, The Series (Ki...

Alastor Cluster Series-Jack Vance Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973) Marune: Alastor 933 (1975) Wyst: Alastor 1716 (1978) The setting for each of these novels is in the fictional Alastor Cluster which consists of 30,000 stars and 3,000 inhabited planets with a population of five trillion people.   The Alastor Cluster is part of Vance’s larger fictional universe called the Gaean Reach.   It is helpful to read Trullion: Alastor 2262 first to become familiar with the setting and people. See my reviews under each novel’s title

Bain, Joe Series-Jack Vance 1.      The Fox Valley Murders (1966) 2.      The Pleasant Grove Murders (1967) 3.      The Genesee Slough Murders-outline for a novel (1994) These two mystery novels and an outline are stand-alone works that are interconnected because of sharing the same main character and setting.   Each features Joe Bain, the rural sheriff in the fictional county of San Rodrigo a few hours drive south east of San Francisco.   It is a very regional setting where everybody knows each other, nothing is secret for very long and a person’s personal history is readily recalled. See my reviews under each work’s title.

Big Planet “Series”-Jack Vance 1.      Big Planet (1952) 2.      Showboat World (1975) AKA: The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River Although Big Planet and Showboat World are sometimes referred to as the Big Planet series Showboat World is not a sequel to Big Planet, a novel that was first published 23 years earlier in 1952.   Vance only uses the planet called Big Planet for the setting.   None of the characters or story line are shared.   Even some things about the planet have changed so that it now has a moon whereas the original Big Planet did not have any moons.   But it is still a huge planet that was settled by religious fanatics, cultists, misfits and other people who fled Earth years ago.   There is no central government and each town has its own customs, rules, laws, religion, and culture.   Because there is almost no heavy metal on Big Planet, it has never been technologically developed and...

Cadwal Chronicles-Jack Vance Trilogy Araminta Station (1988) AKA: Cadwal Chronicles Book 1 Ecce and Old Earth (1991) AKA: Cadwal Chronicles Book 2 Throy (1992) AKA: Cadwal Chronicles Book 3 The Cadwal Chronicles is a trilogy that is set in the fictional universe of the Gaean Reach on the planet of Cadwal which is a large nature preserve.   Our main character, Glawen Clattuc fights to protect the planet from developers and others.   The novels should be read in order because the same story line continues through them. See each novel by its title for my reviews.  

Demon Princes, The Series-Jack Vance 1.      Star King (1964) 2.      The Killing Machine (1964) 3.      The Palace of Love (1967) 4.      The Face (1979) 5.      The Book of Dreams (1981) In each of the five novels Kirth Gersen attempts to track down and kill one of the five star kings who are nonhuman aliens who changed their appearances to resemble humans.   All five were responsible for murdering Kirth’s family and everyone in his colony except for him and his grandfather.   It is helpful, but not absolutely necessary, to read the books in order. See individual titles for my reviews  

  Durdane Series ( Gastel Etzwane )- Jack Vance trilogy 1.      The Anome (1971) AKA: The Faceless Man, Durdane Book 1 2.      The Brave Free Men (1972) AKA: The Roguskhoi , Durdane Book 2 3.      The Asutra (1973) AKA: Durdane Book 3 The setting for the trilogy is in the far future on the planet of Durdane which was colonized nine thousand years ago by people from Earth.   The main character, Gastel Etzwane. lives in the confederation of Shant that is composed of 62 cantons that are “in loose confederation under the rule of the Faceless Man.” The Faceless Man (formally referred to as the “Anome”) enforces all the laws of the 62 cantons so rules over all of Shant and is feared by the citizens because they are required to wear torcs around their necks that can be exploded remotely by the Anome.   The series follows the adventures of Etzwane as he appeals to The Faceless Man and tries to resolve problem...

Planet of Adventure, The Series-Jack Vance AKA: The Tschai Series 1.      City of Cash (1968) 2.      Servants of the Wankh (1969) 3.      Dirdir, The (1969) 4.      Pnume, The (1970) This is a series of novels that all feature Adam Reith as the main character on the planet of Tschai .   Tschai is populated by four species: the original Pnume , the Cash , The Wankh and the Dirdir .   Reith visits the land of each of these species where he engages in adventures with the local population. It is helpful to read these novels in order.   Each novel is reviewed under its own title. The Tschai Series- Jack Vance The series The Planet of Adventure series is sometimes referred to as The Tschai Series because all four novels are located on the planet of Tschai which orbits the star Carina 4269 and is 212 light years from Earth.