What do you think?
Rate this book
Future Tense
Contains the stories: Dodkin's Job, Ullward's Retreat, Sail 25, and The Gift of Gab.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1964
1 person is currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Jack Vance
776 books1,583 followersAka John Holbrook Vance, Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Alan Wade.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 15, 2016
a good survey of some early novellas by one of my favorite authors.
3 stars for "Ullward's Retreat", which visits a crowded future Earth and an entire planet owned by only one person. turns out that the two places aren't that different from each other - at least as far as humans are concerned. as with most Vance, this cozy tale drips with irony as it illustrates the amusing hypocrisies of various tunnel-visioned men and women. the grass is always greener... no place like home...
2 stars for "Dust of Far Suns" (alternately known as "Sail 45"). a cunning mofo takes a bunch of inexperienced novices and turns them into true (space) men. although the weakest of the lot, there is some wry amusement to be had in the characterization of the sly and callous Henry Bent, and his complete disinterest in saving lives.
3 stars for "The Gift of Gab". on a watery planet somewhere, something is killing men for some reason. could those strange sea creatures be sentient? and vengeful? although the novella devolves into a too-briskly paced thriller in its second half, I really enjoyed the creepily unsettling atmosphere of the first half as the men slowly wake to the fact that they are being picked off one by one. it is always a pleasure to see Vance illustrate his staunchly pro-environmentalist stance in his typical charmingly cold-blooded fashion.
4 stars for "Dodkin's Job" - a genuine classic. I loved it. Luke Grogatch is a middle-aged man on a professional downward spiral, being bumped lower and lower due to his increasing frustration with red tape and stupidity. he really needs to learn to hide that negativity! finally comes his last straw, in the form of a new rule about what to do with his shovel. and back up the corporate ladder he goes, in a quest to get to the bottom of who exactly issued this doltish memorandum. the moral of the story reminded me of Catch-22's Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen: sometimes the most insignificant cog is capable of making the most significant changes in the machine - and often for the most petty of reasons. this sardonic story had me smiling from beginning to end. although it was more of a condescending sneer than a smile. oh, humans!
3 stars for "Ullward's Retreat", which visits a crowded future Earth and an entire planet owned by only one person. turns out that the two places aren't that different from each other - at least as far as humans are concerned. as with most Vance, this cozy tale drips with irony as it illustrates the amusing hypocrisies of various tunnel-visioned men and women. the grass is always greener... no place like home...
2 stars for "Dust of Far Suns" (alternately known as "Sail 45"). a cunning mofo takes a bunch of inexperienced novices and turns them into true (space) men. although the weakest of the lot, there is some wry amusement to be had in the characterization of the sly and callous Henry Bent, and his complete disinterest in saving lives.
3 stars for "The Gift of Gab". on a watery planet somewhere, something is killing men for some reason. could those strange sea creatures be sentient? and vengeful? although the novella devolves into a too-briskly paced thriller in its second half, I really enjoyed the creepily unsettling atmosphere of the first half as the men slowly wake to the fact that they are being picked off one by one. it is always a pleasure to see Vance illustrate his staunchly pro-environmentalist stance in his typical charmingly cold-blooded fashion.
4 stars for "Dodkin's Job" - a genuine classic. I loved it. Luke Grogatch is a middle-aged man on a professional downward spiral, being bumped lower and lower due to his increasing frustration with red tape and stupidity. he really needs to learn to hide that negativity! finally comes his last straw, in the form of a new rule about what to do with his shovel. and back up the corporate ladder he goes, in a quest to get to the bottom of who exactly issued this doltish memorandum. the moral of the story reminded me of Catch-22's Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen: sometimes the most insignificant cog is capable of making the most significant changes in the machine - and often for the most petty of reasons. this sardonic story had me smiling from beginning to end. although it was more of a condescending sneer than a smile. oh, humans!
May 28, 2024
The collection "Dust of the Far Suns" (1981) has the same contents as the 1964 collection titled "Future Tense." They are comprised of three novelettes and one novella. I had not encountered any of these four stories in other collections and enjoyed all of them but especially "Dodkin's Job." Vance fans will want to read this collection, and other readers who like very creative, exceptionally well written fiction with irony, suspense and humor might want to give these a try. I rated the collection as an overall 4.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
The title of the 1981 collection derives from the first story "Dust of Far Suns, which is a 29 page novelette that was first published in 1962 in the magazine Amazing Stories. It has also been known as "Gateway to Strangers" and "Sail 25." Henry Bent is an irritable, unpleasant, overly sensitive, dictatorial character who seems to be "a man of a different species." He teaches pilots to operate spaceships, in this instance it is one that has a huge sail (thus the alternative title "Sail 25"). Bent tells his cadet crew that he does not expect to be liked and that if they do like him then he has failed because, "I haven't pushed you hard enough." All pilots know Bent and respect his skills, but they also invariably dislike him. He has trained almost every well known pilot and is about to train a new crew. During the training flight when Bent is not drunk or hiding from the others, he is sneaking around the ship, spying on the cadets, keeping track of their behavior by making comments in his notebooks where he records demerits. These demerits will determine who passes and who gets axed from the program. Bent also says that he is retiring, that this will be his last flight and hints that he wants to die in space. Is he suicidal? Has he become an incompetent drunk? Or is this the finest training the cadets will ever receive? Each member of his crew reacts differently to Bent's behavior and the challenges of the training. It is all done with humor with a memorable character who is as difficult as any boot camp sergeant. My rating: 3.5
The second story is "Dodkin's Job," a 40 page novelette that was first published in 1959 in the magazine Amazing Science Fiction. This is not really science fiction, fantasy or mystery but more of an ironic dystopian story with hints of Kafka and even Monty Python. I loved this story and thought it was hilarious. If you have ever worked in a big bureaucracy or have had to deal with one, you will probably identify with the main character who lives in a "big brother" like society where, "The population ordered their lives by schedule, classification and precedent." Luke Grogatch is too rational for such a society so he keeps losing jobs and has now been demoted to the rating of "Flunky/ClassD/Unskilled." If he gets demoted again he could end up being sent to the "Disorganized House" where he would be nonclassified and isolated with "criminals, idiots, children and proved Nonconformists." He decides to "submit slavishly to witless regulations" and begins his new job shoveling debris in a sewage system by hand using a shovel. All of his suggestions for improving the job are rejected, and the work seems meaningless. One day a new directive is announced ordering all employees to turn in their tools at a central warehouse at the end of the day and pick them up again each morning. This applies to Luke's shovel. He asks if he can purchase his own shovel and not have to turn it in each day but is told that the directive says "all tools" so that even a self purchased tool would not be exempt. Luke complies at first. But after the lengthy trip to turn in the shovel, he has to wait in a long line with the whole process taking an hour and a half. This means he will have to spend three hours each day dropping off and picking up his shovel. Luke decides to object by appealing to those who issued the directive but each supervisor claims he was simply following orders from above. Luke continues appealing to those higher up in administration, assuming that he will finally encounter the person who is responsible for the directive. His encounters with ineffective, irresponsible, uncaring bureaucratic officials develop into one of the funniest stories I've read in a long time. Dodkin, by the way, is a person Luke meets later who has what Luke considers to be the ideal job. I rated this one a 5.
"Ullward's Retreat" was written by Vance in 1957 and published initially in 1958 in Galaxy Magazine. It is a 25 page novelette. Bruham Ullward is a wealthy man who lives in a futuristic society where real estate is incredibly expensive and conditions very crowded. He has the rare luxury of having a real tree and moss on his property. Sometimes he offers the rare gift of a real leaf to visitors. Electronic "illusion-panes" simulate three dimensional electronic scenes of beautiful views by generating mountains, valleys, skies and moons. Ullward wants to expand his property by purchasing small parcels even at their outrageously high prices, but other owners won't sell. He is delighted when he encounters an opportunity to lease half a planet where he will have plenty of room. Ullward builds his new retreat on this planet and moves. The owner lives on the other half of the planet, and there is a strict contract rule forbidding trespass on the other's property. Ironically when visitors arrive at his new home, they compare his beautiful natural views to illusion-panes, claim the natural rocks do not look real, are fearful of the waves on a real beach, and even object to Ullward's new privacy stating, "I love the privacy and solitude--but I thought there'd be more people to be private from." Ullward also begins having privacy issues with the owner even though each of them has half of the planet to himself. Was he better off back on his crowded home planet where nature, views and many other things were synthetic or simulated? It is a fun and interesting story that Vance himself continued to like. I rated it a 4.
"The Gift of Gab" is a 56 page novella that was first published in Amazing Science Fiction in 1955. 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 a strange creature grabs Fletcher by the leg and tries to pull him into the sea. This is a planet where there are suppose 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 found this enjoyable to read and I rated it a 3.5.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
The title of the 1981 collection derives from the first story "Dust of Far Suns, which is a 29 page novelette that was first published in 1962 in the magazine Amazing Stories. It has also been known as "Gateway to Strangers" and "Sail 25." Henry Bent is an irritable, unpleasant, overly sensitive, dictatorial character who seems to be "a man of a different species." He teaches pilots to operate spaceships, in this instance it is one that has a huge sail (thus the alternative title "Sail 25"). Bent tells his cadet crew that he does not expect to be liked and that if they do like him then he has failed because, "I haven't pushed you hard enough." All pilots know Bent and respect his skills, but they also invariably dislike him. He has trained almost every well known pilot and is about to train a new crew. During the training flight when Bent is not drunk or hiding from the others, he is sneaking around the ship, spying on the cadets, keeping track of their behavior by making comments in his notebooks where he records demerits. These demerits will determine who passes and who gets axed from the program. Bent also says that he is retiring, that this will be his last flight and hints that he wants to die in space. Is he suicidal? Has he become an incompetent drunk? Or is this the finest training the cadets will ever receive? Each member of his crew reacts differently to Bent's behavior and the challenges of the training. It is all done with humor with a memorable character who is as difficult as any boot camp sergeant. My rating: 3.5
The second story is "Dodkin's Job," a 40 page novelette that was first published in 1959 in the magazine Amazing Science Fiction. This is not really science fiction, fantasy or mystery but more of an ironic dystopian story with hints of Kafka and even Monty Python. I loved this story and thought it was hilarious. If you have ever worked in a big bureaucracy or have had to deal with one, you will probably identify with the main character who lives in a "big brother" like society where, "The population ordered their lives by schedule, classification and precedent." Luke Grogatch is too rational for such a society so he keeps losing jobs and has now been demoted to the rating of "Flunky/ClassD/Unskilled." If he gets demoted again he could end up being sent to the "Disorganized House" where he would be nonclassified and isolated with "criminals, idiots, children and proved Nonconformists." He decides to "submit slavishly to witless regulations" and begins his new job shoveling debris in a sewage system by hand using a shovel. All of his suggestions for improving the job are rejected, and the work seems meaningless. One day a new directive is announced ordering all employees to turn in their tools at a central warehouse at the end of the day and pick them up again each morning. This applies to Luke's shovel. He asks if he can purchase his own shovel and not have to turn it in each day but is told that the directive says "all tools" so that even a self purchased tool would not be exempt. Luke complies at first. But after the lengthy trip to turn in the shovel, he has to wait in a long line with the whole process taking an hour and a half. This means he will have to spend three hours each day dropping off and picking up his shovel. Luke decides to object by appealing to those who issued the directive but each supervisor claims he was simply following orders from above. Luke continues appealing to those higher up in administration, assuming that he will finally encounter the person who is responsible for the directive. His encounters with ineffective, irresponsible, uncaring bureaucratic officials develop into one of the funniest stories I've read in a long time. Dodkin, by the way, is a person Luke meets later who has what Luke considers to be the ideal job. I rated this one a 5.
"Ullward's Retreat" was written by Vance in 1957 and published initially in 1958 in Galaxy Magazine. It is a 25 page novelette. Bruham Ullward is a wealthy man who lives in a futuristic society where real estate is incredibly expensive and conditions very crowded. He has the rare luxury of having a real tree and moss on his property. Sometimes he offers the rare gift of a real leaf to visitors. Electronic "illusion-panes" simulate three dimensional electronic scenes of beautiful views by generating mountains, valleys, skies and moons. Ullward wants to expand his property by purchasing small parcels even at their outrageously high prices, but other owners won't sell. He is delighted when he encounters an opportunity to lease half a planet where he will have plenty of room. Ullward builds his new retreat on this planet and moves. The owner lives on the other half of the planet, and there is a strict contract rule forbidding trespass on the other's property. Ironically when visitors arrive at his new home, they compare his beautiful natural views to illusion-panes, claim the natural rocks do not look real, are fearful of the waves on a real beach, and even object to Ullward's new privacy stating, "I love the privacy and solitude--but I thought there'd be more people to be private from." Ullward also begins having privacy issues with the owner even though each of them has half of the planet to himself. Was he better off back on his crowded home planet where nature, views and many other things were synthetic or simulated? It is a fun and interesting story that Vance himself continued to like. I rated it a 4.
"The Gift of Gab" is a 56 page novella that was first published in Amazing Science Fiction in 1955. 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 a strange creature grabs Fletcher by the leg and tries to pull him into the sea. This is a planet where there are suppose 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 found this enjoyable to read and I rated it a 3.5.
Read
December 31, 2018This is a reread. DAW books came out with reprints of almost all of Jack Vance's early work in the late seventies and early eighties and I merrily snapped them all up-I have kept them to this day. Future Tense was renamed Dust of Far Suns for reasons I really don't comprehend. So though this is my second time around with this book this is the first time I have read under its' original and catchier title of Future Tense. My older edition puts the short stories contained herein in a different order-as far as I can tell that and the other title are the only material differences in the editions. When people think of the premier writers of the classic science fiction era they think Bradbury, Heinlein, Clarke and Asimov-which is a shame as Jack Vance outshone all of them. Vance's mordant wit and complete mastery of language are on fine display here. Constant Reader: anything you can by Jack Vance you should definitely pick up.
August 20, 2021
Vance's quirky approach to storytelling just hits with me. Somehow he makes a story about the frustrations of bureaucracy interesting; I was put in mind of the film Brazil. The changes in the outcomes of the directive from one level to another were kind of like an arcane version of the game telephone. I quite liked the aliens in the final of the four stories, and it was satisfying to have Chrystal get his comeuppance at the end.
June 2, 2013
When I picked up Dust of Far Suns, I didn't realize I'd be reading one of the author's books when he passed away. But sadly, he did pass away a few days ago. Which makes saying that I found the book to be just average a bit uncomfortable. I have read - and love - Vance's Dying Earth books. I thought I would enjoy this one more than I did.
January 3, 2022
There’s a lot of Grogatch in me, and I’m glad to see him ‘win.’
“(Lr.: abbreviation of Lamster, in turn contraction of Landmaster—the polite appellation in current use.).” Vance’s inventiveness isn’t restricted to the space and ocean-faring technologies, nor the various algae and synthetic algae and imitation synthetic algae (a funny thought, all its own), but goes down to the various expositional little blip like Lr., which honestly feels as natural and useful to me as any other designation (we live in a contentious enough time wrt pronouns, and as a little left-leaning shit I’d be happy if we could more readily identify the rich landowners when the rev came).
Sail 25 is fun and a little like an imaginative Whiplash, but I think the weakest story.
The Gift of Gab is unexpectedly my favourite. It’s wild to think of Vance in the Merchant Marines, taking a break to look out of the water, drumming up a tale of divesting ourselves from extra-planetary resource extraction to instead protect and nurture intelligent life. Our contemporary ‘ecologically-attuned’ writers a la Vandermeer might benefit from a refresher in Vance’s exactitude and humour.
Very pleased this is the first book I finished this year. I hope it speaks to the year to come.
“(Lr.: abbreviation of Lamster, in turn contraction of Landmaster—the polite appellation in current use.).” Vance’s inventiveness isn’t restricted to the space and ocean-faring technologies, nor the various algae and synthetic algae and imitation synthetic algae (a funny thought, all its own), but goes down to the various expositional little blip like Lr., which honestly feels as natural and useful to me as any other designation (we live in a contentious enough time wrt pronouns, and as a little left-leaning shit I’d be happy if we could more readily identify the rich landowners when the rev came).
Sail 25 is fun and a little like an imaginative Whiplash, but I think the weakest story.
The Gift of Gab is unexpectedly my favourite. It’s wild to think of Vance in the Merchant Marines, taking a break to look out of the water, drumming up a tale of divesting ourselves from extra-planetary resource extraction to instead protect and nurture intelligent life. Our contemporary ‘ecologically-attuned’ writers a la Vandermeer might benefit from a refresher in Vance’s exactitude and humour.
Very pleased this is the first book I finished this year. I hope it speaks to the year to come.
March 1, 2018
a memorable organizational parable-like tale, a satire of what technology does to our appreciation of. the great outdoors, and then two fairly terrific science fiction novellas--one a training mission in space gone awry, and another a murder mystery on an alien ocean that requires communication with a seemingly unintelligent hostile species.
August 2, 2025
Vance's world building is always great and these straight science fictions stories are no exception but they are also somewhat bland plot-wise, making this a collection of four middling novellas that can probably be skipped by all but the most devoted.
June 9, 2020
A delightfully subversive series of non-conforming adventures.
January 18, 2024
A collection of 4 stories that are fun and quite thought provoking. My entry into this author’s work and it didn’t disappoint.
December 17, 2015
A joy, of course, and it's hard to pick a favorite, if only because each has a component that Vance would later amalgamate into his trademark style and voice.
"Dodkin's Job" has a weird, monomaniacal, and myopic societal hierarchy where an iconoclast starts making purely self-interested probings, and discovers that the seat of power may not be in glittery halls and offices.
"Ullward's Retreat", within another myopic society, explores boundaries and the effect of limitations. A man may prefer a walled garden if the grass is truly greener in his yard.
"Sail 25" is filled with the bloated character of Henry Belt, a callous space-mariner who might be training recruits or might have a death wish. Either way demerits will be awarded appropriately and fairly.
"The Gift of Gab" is the only one that didn't quite connect, as the characterization is relatively flat and the plot hinges, atypically for Vance, on purely technical matters. I found it dry.
"Dodkin's Job" has a weird, monomaniacal, and myopic societal hierarchy where an iconoclast starts making purely self-interested probings, and discovers that the seat of power may not be in glittery halls and offices.
"Ullward's Retreat", within another myopic society, explores boundaries and the effect of limitations. A man may prefer a walled garden if the grass is truly greener in his yard.
"Sail 25" is filled with the bloated character of Henry Belt, a callous space-mariner who might be training recruits or might have a death wish. Either way demerits will be awarded appropriately and fairly.
"The Gift of Gab" is the only one that didn't quite connect, as the characterization is relatively flat and the plot hinges, atypically for Vance, on purely technical matters. I found it dry.
July 9, 2015
Staub ferner Sonnen
by Jack Vance
""Was die Hartnäckigkeit von Aberglauben betrifft: Nur ein armseliger Geist hält sich für das Behältnis absoluten Wissens. Hamlet sprach über dieses Thema zu Hortio, wenn ich mich recht erinnere, in dem wohlbekannten Werk William Shakespeares. Ich selbst sah Seltsames und Erschreckliches. Waren es Halluzinationen? Wares es Manipulationen des Kosmos durch meinen eigenen Geist oder den Geist eines anderen - oder von etwas anderem? Ich weiss es nicht. Delhalb rate ich zu einer flexibelen Einstellung gegenüber etwas, über das die Wahrheit noch nicht bekannt ist.
Ich rate es, weil der Schock eines unerklärlichen Erlebnisses einen zu starren Verstand vernichten kann. Drucke ich moch klar genug aus?"
Jawohl, sir
by Jack Vance
""Was die Hartnäckigkeit von Aberglauben betrifft: Nur ein armseliger Geist hält sich für das Behältnis absoluten Wissens. Hamlet sprach über dieses Thema zu Hortio, wenn ich mich recht erinnere, in dem wohlbekannten Werk William Shakespeares. Ich selbst sah Seltsames und Erschreckliches. Waren es Halluzinationen? Wares es Manipulationen des Kosmos durch meinen eigenen Geist oder den Geist eines anderen - oder von etwas anderem? Ich weiss es nicht. Delhalb rate ich zu einer flexibelen Einstellung gegenüber etwas, über das die Wahrheit noch nicht bekannt ist.
Ich rate es, weil der Schock eines unerklärlichen Erlebnisses einen zu starren Verstand vernichten kann. Drucke ich moch klar genug aus?"
Jawohl, sir
December 27, 2013
I think this is out of print but I found it at a used bookstore and picked it up because I had never read anything by Vance. Some of the four short stories are stronger than others ("The Gift of Gab" is the standout) but there's definitely enough good and interesting stuff here that I want to check out some of Vance's novel-length work.
January 1, 2021
This is the first work I've read by Jack Vance and I really enjoyed it. A collection of short stories, each one had an interesting bit to them. Recommend!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews