The Jack Vance Treasury [Hardcover]

Terry Dowling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

Nebula and World Fantasy Grand Master Jack Vance is one of the most admired and cherished writers of science fiction and fantasy in the world, and is one of the truly important and influential storytellers of the 20th century. From his first published story "The World Thinker" in 1945 to his final novel Lurulu in 2004, Vance has shown an astonishing range of inventiveness, versatility and sheer storytelling power, as well as a gift for language and world-building second to none. Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Edgar awards, his acclaimed first book The Dying Earth and its sequels helped shape the face of modern heroic fantasy for generations of readers -- and writers! In more than sixty novels, he has done more than any other author to define science fantasy and its preeminent form: the planetary adventure. Born in San Francisco in 1916, Vance wrote much of what you'll find between these covers both abroad and at home in the hills above Oakland, either while serving in the merchant marine or traveling the world with his wife Norma, all the while pursuing his great love of fine cuisine and traditional jazz. Now, at last, the very best of Vance's mid-length and shorter work has been collected in a single landmark volume. With a Preface by Vance himself and a foreword by long-time Vance reader George R.R. Martin, it stands as the capstone to a splendid career and makes the perfect introduction to a very special writer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Encompassing multiple permutations of the planetary romance genre, this best-of collection gathers 18 seminal if sometimes redundant stories and novellas, dating from the 1950s to the 1970s, from SF Grand Master Vance. A brief, illuminating snippet by Vance follows each piece. Novellas include "The Dragon Masters," in which two rivals can't bring themselves to work together when strangers descend from the sky to kill them all, and "The Last Castle," in which slaves revolt and lay siege to the castles of their former masters. Standout stories include "The Moon Moth," the tale of a clueless diplomat who must learn the intricacies of a highly patterned society, and "The Gift of Gab," in which men discover a strange intelligence while mining the bounty of off-world seas. Though the dearth of significant female characters makes the collection feel dated, Vance's stylistic bravado and lush, baroque prose create compelling worlds that blur the line between fantasy and far-flung future-world SF. Vance has won Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Edgar awards. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Now in the twilight of a career spanning back to the 1940s, Vance is a legend among his colleagues, many of whom look to the Grandmaster's works for invaluable tips on literary style and character development. Here, editors Dowling and Strahan offer the commendable results of poring through Vance's prodigious oeuvre and selecting stories to showcase his best work and feature some of his most cherished recurring protagonists. "The Overworld" and "The Sorcerer Pharesm," for instance, star bumbling rogue Cugel the Clever, a stalwart of Vance's many Dying Earth tales set on a far-future Earth bereft of science and seduced by magic. Vance's prowess with hard sf is on display with "Sail 25," about a fleet of starships driven by sun-sails, and his mastery of fantasy comes through in "The Miracle Workers," a nontraditional swords-and-sorcery yarn. With an introduction by George Martin and insightful afterwords to each piece by Vance himself, this is a celebration for his fans, an ideal introduction for new readers of his work. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 633 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean Press (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596060778
• ISBN-13: 978-1596060777
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,143,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jack Vance Variety, May 29, 2007

By 

Stewart Teaze (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jack Vance Treasury (Hardcover)

This collection of 18 short stories/novelletes provides a good sample of the variety of stories that the Grand Master put out.

Two of the stories were Hugo Winning novelettes (which I had first read in the early 70's in first THE HUGO WINNERS anthology), THE DRAGON MASTERS(1963) and THE LAST CASTLE(1966). I just reread these two stories, and they are actually BETTER than I had remembered them - both of these stories are absolutely top notch.

Many of the other stories are more fantasy oriented, and not really my cup of tea. There are eight pure SciFi short stories - almost all of which are worth reading. I especially liked THE KOKOD WARRIORS(1951). THE MOON MOTH(1961), THE SECRET(1966) and THE NEW PRIME(1951) were also enjoyable. Those four all hold up better to time than SAIL 25(1962), and are more enjoyable than THE GIFT OF GAB(1955), NOISE(1951), and THE MEN RETURN(1957).

If you haven't read THE DRAGON MASTERS, THE LAST CASTLE, or THE KOKOD WARRIORS, you really must get this book and read these three stories. They all hold up extremely well to time, and are true far-future SciFi classics. These three stories, and THE FACE (1979, from THE DEMON PRINCES series), show that when Jack Vance is good, he is VERY good.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely gratifying for the Vance fan, April 8, 2011

By 

W. ingle "Bill Ingle" (Wagram, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Jack Vance Treasury (Hardcover)

This book is rounding out my Vance collection. I bought it for that purpose, but after reading it, it only enhances his body of work. I treasure all his writing, primarily because of his craft with the language. He is definitely a master, and showed every evidence of it even 50 years ago.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I needed, March 22, 2011

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jack Vance Treasury (Hardcover)

Once upon a time, I viewed science fiction and fantasy as two distinctly separate genres, but that all changed once I happened upon the works of Jack Vance. With Tales of the Dying Earth, Vance made me realize that the two could, in a way, work together, and I had to hunt down more examples. I found them, plus so much more, in THE JACK VANCE TREASURY, a hardcover collection packed full of novellas and short stories. Included are several more sci-fi/fantasy blends, such as "The Dragon Masters", "The Miracle Workers", "The Moon Moth", and "The Last Castle". These stories are much stronger examples of genre-blending than what is presented in the Dying Earth tales, and they are truly outstanding.

In addition, several of Vance's straight sci-fi tales are included, such as "Sail 25", "The Gift of Gab", "Noise", "The Kokod Warriors", and "The Mitr". "The Men Return", "The New Prime", and "The Secret" could also be considered sci-fi, but not in the standard sense. Also included are three of the aforementioned Dying Earth tales - "Liane the Wayfarer", "Guyal of Sfere", and "Morreion" - as well as "Overworld", "The Sorcerer Pharesm", and "The Bagful of Dreams" (three excerpts from the Cugel adventures).

As this collection includes work from a approximate 20-year period [1951 - 1973?], the quality varies, but there's really not a weak story in the bunch. They're all extremely creative and are definitely not your run-of-the-mill filler material. Many of the stories in this book eschew theatrics or action in favor of weighty topics: genetic engineering, language, the scientific method, and alien psychology, just to name a few. One thing that I admire about Vance's style is how richly he fleshes out his characters and concepts - the man is a "world builder" in the truest sense of the term, creating fascinating alien cultures and settings. As a result, I was pulled deeply into these stories, and once they ended, I had a hard time leaving. Another thing I admire about his style, and this is made all the more amazing when considering the first, is its brevity - many of the concepts in these stories could have easily been expanded into turgid full-length novels by a lesser writer, but Vance gives the reader just the right amount of material to make his point and then moves on to something else. I appreciate this highly, as it's a skill that many of today's authors unfortunately lack. Each story contains an afterword of sorts by Vance, a few of which provide insight to what was just read; however, the bulk of them appear to be random quotes.

This book has apparently entered the realm of remainders, so you can probably score a mint copy for a fraction of the cover price if you cast your net widely enough. Don't be tempted to pay inflated prices!