The Jack Vance Treasury (Hardcover)

~ Terry Dowling (Author)

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.)
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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

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 633 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean Press (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596060778
• ISBN-13: 978-1596060777
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #334,846 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 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 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.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Collection, Especially for those New to Vance, October 5, 2008

By	Kenneth R. Austin (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This collection has a great selection of stories if you're a newcomer to Vance.

Shame on Subterranean for the small print run. I would rather Mr. Vance have gotten his share of my purchase instead of the used book dealer*.

* - She was a very nice used book dealer...

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Vance collection!, March 16, 2007

By	T. D. Randall - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great collection of some of Vance's work, which can be hard to find.