What do you think?
Rate this book
Cadwal Chronicles #1-3
The Cadwal Chronicles
"For centuries the breathtakingly beautiful planet Cadwal has been held in trust by a centuries-old Charter of Conservancy, created by the now-defunct Naturalist Society on Old Earth.
Over time, restrictions on population expansion written into the Charter have become irksome to some who live on Cadwal—those who would take the unexploited wealth of Cadwal for themselves, also those forced to leave the planet to keep population in check.
Glawen Clattuc grows to manhood within the insular community of Araminta Station, the primary settlement on the planet, and becomes attuned to conflicts among the parties wishing to break free of the Charter. He joins the Constabulary, and ties mysterious events and circumstances together. To uphold the Conservancy, much depends upon locating the original Charter document, which has been lost for many years; Glawen is chosen to search for the Charter, on backwater Earth and worlds beyond.
The Cadwal Chronicles was written by Vance in his maturity- an accomplished master sure of his game- using a light touch and broad palette of characters.
"
Over time, restrictions on population expansion written into the Charter have become irksome to some who live on Cadwal—those who would take the unexploited wealth of Cadwal for themselves, also those forced to leave the planet to keep population in check.
Glawen Clattuc grows to manhood within the insular community of Araminta Station, the primary settlement on the planet, and becomes attuned to conflicts among the parties wishing to break free of the Charter. He joins the Constabulary, and ties mysterious events and circumstances together. To uphold the Conservancy, much depends upon locating the original Charter document, which has been lost for many years; Glawen is chosen to search for the Charter, on backwater Earth and worlds beyond.
The Cadwal Chronicles was written by Vance in his maturity- an accomplished master sure of his game- using a light touch and broad palette of characters.
"
1144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 8, 2012
24 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Jack Vance
777 books1,587 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 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 22, 2023
Not Vance's best series but still a very fun read-as they always are. Spanchetta is a particularly memorable character. The final scene of Araminta Station contains Vance's best atmospheric descriptors as an author.
Most reviewing this series seem to find the quality drop off of the final volume quite stark. But while it is definitely there, I found it far less dramatic than I feared it would be based off of the commentary of others. The final volume is a kind of conclusion-coda, not dissimilar to the final act of Madouc in the Lyonesse series, and should be seen that way.
Most reviewing this series seem to find the quality drop off of the final volume quite stark. But while it is definitely there, I found it far less dramatic than I feared it would be based off of the commentary of others. The final volume is a kind of conclusion-coda, not dissimilar to the final act of Madouc in the Lyonesse series, and should be seen that way.
November 10, 2025
This trilogy is a magnificent literary achievement that honors the science-fiction genre. It feels almost unfair that the author of the Dying Earth tales could produce something at least as good—probably better—and altogether different. Yet here it is: ultimate proof that human existence really is unfair.
It’s not only that the writing is magical, unsurpassable in its classical elegance and wit, and unbelievably fetching. (The reviewer from Publishers Weekly who claimed that “Vance’s polished and formal style creates an emotional gap that is difficult to bridge; consequently, his characters lack real depth,” was, frankly, out of his depth.)
It’s not only that the imagination — the world-building, whether of the distant planets orbiting Cadwal or of old Earth in the far future — is something to behold, a spell of invention and atmosphere that grips the reader and never lets go. It’s not only that the villains — the Clattuc sisters, Spanchetta and Simonetta — are (literarily) out-of-this-world fan-tas-tic.
It’s all that and a plot that manages to be adventurous, gallant, and quietly feminist; simultaneously politically relevant and intelligently polemical, with its paradoxical inversion of moral alignments — the reactionaries, conservationists, and elitists cast as the good guys, while the defenders of “the people” and “progress” embody the threat.
It’s incredible. It’s one of the best works I’ve read in my life.
Jack Vance, extraordinaire:
Halfway along the Perseid Arm near the edge of the Gaean Reach, a capricious swirl of galactic gravitation has caught up ten thousand stars and sent them streaming off at a veer, with a curl and a flourish at the tip. This strand of stars is Mircea’s Wisp.
To the side of the curl, at seeming risk of wandering away into the void, is the Purple Rose System, comprising three stars: Lorca, Sing, and Syrene. Lorca, a white dwarf and Sing, a red giant, orbit close around each other: a portly pink-faced old gentleman waltzing with a dainty little maiden dressed in white. Syrene, a yellow-white star of ordinary size and luminosity, circles the gallivanting pair at a discrete distance.
Syrene controls three planets, including Cadwal, an Earth-like world seven thousand miles in diameter, with close to Earth-normal gravity.
Wayness had departed Araminta Station aboard the Perseian Lines’ packet Faerlith Winterflower, which would carry her down Mircea’s Wisp to Andromeda 6011 IV: a junction world where she would transfer to a Glistmar Explorer Route space cruiser for the remainder of her voyage to Earth.
Wayness’ departure left a dreary void in Glawen’s life. Overnight, existence became drab and dull. Why had he allowed her to go so fearfully far away, beyond the reach of human perception? He asked himself the question often, and the answer came always in company with a rueful smile: he had been given no voice in the matter. Wayness had made her own decision, on the basis of her own best judgment. This was a process which, in all justice, could not be faulted: so Glawen assured himself, though without full or fervent conviction.
In some respects, Wayness must be compared to a natural force: sometimes warm and beneficent (and in the last few weeks, breathtakingly affectionate), sometimes mysterious and baffling, but never susceptible to human control.
Glawen pondered this unique individual named Wayness Tamm.
(...) the two went out on the verandah and stood by the balustrade. After a moment Pirie Tamm said: “You seem pensive. Are you discouraged by the scope of the job you have taken on?”
“Oh no. For the moment, at least, I had put both Nisfit and the Society out of my mind. I was admiring the sunset. I wonder if anyone has ever made a formal study of sunsets as they appear on different worlds. There must be many interesting varieties.”
“Without a doubt!” declared Pirie Tamm. “Off the top of my head I can cite half a dozen striking examples! I particularly recall the sunsets of Delora’s World, at the back of Columba, where I went to research my treatise. Each evening we were treated to marvelous spectacles, green and blue, with darts of scarlet! They were unique; I would recognize a Delora sunset instantly among a hundred others. The sunsets of Pranilla, which are filtered through high-altitude sleet storms, are also memorable.”
“Cadwal sunsets are unpredictable,” said Wayness. “The colors seem to explode from behind the clouds and are often garish, though the effect is always cheerful. Earth sunsets are different. They are sometimes grand, or even inspiring, but then they wane quietly and sadly into the blue dusk and create a melancholy mood.”
Pirie Tamm gave the sky a frowning inspection. “The effect you mention is real. Still, the mood never lasts long and disappears completely by the time the stars come out. Especially,” he added, by way of afterthought, “when a jolly meal at a well-laid table is in the offing. The spirits soar under these conditions like a lark on the wing. Shall we go in?”
Glawen and Chilke returned to Lipwillow on the Big Muddy River. In Poolie’s, at the end of the pier, they watched the sun settle into the water, drank beer and discussed what they had learned, which was not inconsiderable.
Other more intimate services were readily available at Pussycat Palace, famous up and down Mircea’s Wisp and beyond, for the affable versatility of the attendants - though nothing was free.
“In that case, this is my suggestion,” said Glawen. “Let me out of this hole, give me the information I need, then explain what you want of me. If it is something I can do, and is not criminal, immoral, harmful, hurtful or even disgraceful, and won’t take too long or cost too much, I will do it.”
Jack Vance, on the human condition:
Nominy spoke on, in a mellow and cultured voice. “From the first we have used teams of workmen with different skills, and some with no skills whatever, from all corners of the Reach. For a period Mr. Barduys experimented with a folk known as ‘Yips.’ They were strong, with easy dispositions, and quite cooperative, unless they were asked to work: an occupation they found uncongenial. From a gang of three hundred we suffered an attrition rate of about thirty percent a month, until all the Yips were gone and the experiment was pronounced a failure.”
“There is no question, and I state this positively,” wrote Floreste. “I am one of the few persons who may properly profess the designation ‘Over-man’; there are few indeed like me! In any case, ordinary strictures of common morality should not apply, lest they interfere with my supreme creativity. Alas! I still am like a fish in a tank, swimming with other fish, and I must obey their procedures or they will nip my fins!”
Floreste agreed that his dedication to ‘Art’ had persuaded him to irregularities. “I have taken shortcuts on the long and tedious route to my goals; I have been trapped and now my fins must be nipped.”
Glawen pretended an ingenuous interest, while despising himself for the dissimulation: “If so, by what means are you influenced?”
“There are no certain methods. You might appeal to my altruism. I would laugh at you. Flattery? Try all you like; I will listen with interest. Omens and portents? I fear nothing. Threats? One word and I would order my clerks to beat you well. They would do so, and paint you in a variety of indelible colors. A bribe? I already have more money than I could spend in a thousand years. What else is there?”
“Ordinary human decency.”
“But I am extra-ordinary, or hadn’t you noticed? It is not by my choice that I am human. As for ‘decency,’ the word was defined without my participation; I am not bound by it.
“Ah,” said Glawen. “I am beginning to understand. You refer to the Sanart Scientists?”
“I refer to one of their factions: the so-called Ideationists. These folk are fanatics who make a virtue out of severity. In the past they have attacked us financially, philosophically and verbally, none of which troubles us. Recently gangs of anonymous raiders have come down from the Wild Counties and attacked us by night, killing and depredating.
“There is our predicament. Our enemy is motivated by his ‘Idea,’ which is not inherently ignoble. Its virtues are self-evident; where is a force more violent than that which is generated by a surfeit of virtue? How does one fight virtue? With depravity? Is depravity, after all, any better than virtue? Arguable. At the very least, depravity allows the practitioner a variety of options. Personally, I advocate neither extreme. I merely want to live my life out in placid self-indulgence. Yet here I sit, at this moment, caught up by these Sanart passions. They want me to embrace their Idea. I resist; I am forced into an uncomfortable posture of self-defense and worry. The sweetness of my soul has gone rancid; I am pushed willy-nilly into a condition of hatred.
“So then: what does one do? He sits himself in his chair to think - as I do now. He stimulates his mind with Yellow Frost - as I do now.” Sir Mathor drank from his goblet. “I say: are you gentlemen not drinking?”
Lilo paid no heed. “- allow nothing to distract us, especially a foolish indulgence in transient frivolity. Pain can be ignored; pleasure is more insidious.”
“And far nicer, don’t you think?”
Lilo compressed her lips. “That idea lacks both merit and consequence.”
“For Mutis and Zaa, perhaps. Not for me. I grieve for pleasures I’ve missed, but I spare not a thought for the pain I have neglected to suffer.”
“I estimate another hour or an hour and a half. I am driving slowly because of the wind. The gusts make steering unpredictable at high speeds. What is your opinion on this?”
“I believe that safety is important. It is better to arrive alive than dead.”
“This is exactly my point,” said Bant. “I have explained this to Esmer; what is the value of thirty minutes, more or less, to a corpse? He is already late and no longer in a hurry. The time is more useful on this side of the veil, such is my belief.”
Wayness made a note of the address. “I wish I could rid myself of the conviction that I was being followed.”
“Ha! Perhaps you are, for a fact, being followed and this is the basis of your conviction.”
Even now his skin crawled to think of the grotesque deeds done to him, Glawen Clattuc. Even so, why should he be surprised? The cosmos took no notice of human rationality, or human anything whatever. As he sat brooding, another curious mood came to trouble his mind: a waft of rending grief and woe, a sadness not to be contemplated, and perhaps beyond understanding.
Glawen spoke on. “You murdered the girl for no reason whatever.”
Zaa was unmoved. “Mistakes are made everywhere. Each instant, across the Gaean Reach, a thousand such events are taking place. They are implicit to the conduct of coherent civilization.”
Lefaun Zadoury found a vacant table and they were served tea and cakes. Lefaun looked to right and left apologetically. “The splendor and the luxury as well as the best cakes, are reserved for the big-wigs, who use Prince Konevitsky’s grand dining room. I have seen them at it. Each uses three knives and four forks to eat his herring, and wipes the grease from his face with a napkin two feet square. The riffraff like ourselves must be content with less, though still we pay fifteen pence for our snack.”
Wayness said gravely: “I am an off-worlder and perhaps naive, but it seems not all so bad. For a fact, in one of my cakes I found no less than four almonds!”
Lefaun Zadoury gave a dour grunt. “The subject is complex and yields only to careful analysis.”
Wayness had no comment to make and the two sat in silence.
It’s not only that the writing is magical, unsurpassable in its classical elegance and wit, and unbelievably fetching. (The reviewer from Publishers Weekly who claimed that “Vance’s polished and formal style creates an emotional gap that is difficult to bridge; consequently, his characters lack real depth,” was, frankly, out of his depth.)
It’s not only that the imagination — the world-building, whether of the distant planets orbiting Cadwal or of old Earth in the far future — is something to behold, a spell of invention and atmosphere that grips the reader and never lets go. It’s not only that the villains — the Clattuc sisters, Spanchetta and Simonetta — are (literarily) out-of-this-world fan-tas-tic.
It’s all that and a plot that manages to be adventurous, gallant, and quietly feminist; simultaneously politically relevant and intelligently polemical, with its paradoxical inversion of moral alignments — the reactionaries, conservationists, and elitists cast as the good guys, while the defenders of “the people” and “progress” embody the threat.
It’s incredible. It’s one of the best works I’ve read in my life.
Jack Vance, extraordinaire:
Halfway along the Perseid Arm near the edge of the Gaean Reach, a capricious swirl of galactic gravitation has caught up ten thousand stars and sent them streaming off at a veer, with a curl and a flourish at the tip. This strand of stars is Mircea’s Wisp.
To the side of the curl, at seeming risk of wandering away into the void, is the Purple Rose System, comprising three stars: Lorca, Sing, and Syrene. Lorca, a white dwarf and Sing, a red giant, orbit close around each other: a portly pink-faced old gentleman waltzing with a dainty little maiden dressed in white. Syrene, a yellow-white star of ordinary size and luminosity, circles the gallivanting pair at a discrete distance.
Syrene controls three planets, including Cadwal, an Earth-like world seven thousand miles in diameter, with close to Earth-normal gravity.
Wayness had departed Araminta Station aboard the Perseian Lines’ packet Faerlith Winterflower, which would carry her down Mircea’s Wisp to Andromeda 6011 IV: a junction world where she would transfer to a Glistmar Explorer Route space cruiser for the remainder of her voyage to Earth.
Wayness’ departure left a dreary void in Glawen’s life. Overnight, existence became drab and dull. Why had he allowed her to go so fearfully far away, beyond the reach of human perception? He asked himself the question often, and the answer came always in company with a rueful smile: he had been given no voice in the matter. Wayness had made her own decision, on the basis of her own best judgment. This was a process which, in all justice, could not be faulted: so Glawen assured himself, though without full or fervent conviction.
In some respects, Wayness must be compared to a natural force: sometimes warm and beneficent (and in the last few weeks, breathtakingly affectionate), sometimes mysterious and baffling, but never susceptible to human control.
Glawen pondered this unique individual named Wayness Tamm.
(...) the two went out on the verandah and stood by the balustrade. After a moment Pirie Tamm said: “You seem pensive. Are you discouraged by the scope of the job you have taken on?”
“Oh no. For the moment, at least, I had put both Nisfit and the Society out of my mind. I was admiring the sunset. I wonder if anyone has ever made a formal study of sunsets as they appear on different worlds. There must be many interesting varieties.”
“Without a doubt!” declared Pirie Tamm. “Off the top of my head I can cite half a dozen striking examples! I particularly recall the sunsets of Delora’s World, at the back of Columba, where I went to research my treatise. Each evening we were treated to marvelous spectacles, green and blue, with darts of scarlet! They were unique; I would recognize a Delora sunset instantly among a hundred others. The sunsets of Pranilla, which are filtered through high-altitude sleet storms, are also memorable.”
“Cadwal sunsets are unpredictable,” said Wayness. “The colors seem to explode from behind the clouds and are often garish, though the effect is always cheerful. Earth sunsets are different. They are sometimes grand, or even inspiring, but then they wane quietly and sadly into the blue dusk and create a melancholy mood.”
Pirie Tamm gave the sky a frowning inspection. “The effect you mention is real. Still, the mood never lasts long and disappears completely by the time the stars come out. Especially,” he added, by way of afterthought, “when a jolly meal at a well-laid table is in the offing. The spirits soar under these conditions like a lark on the wing. Shall we go in?”
Glawen and Chilke returned to Lipwillow on the Big Muddy River. In Poolie’s, at the end of the pier, they watched the sun settle into the water, drank beer and discussed what they had learned, which was not inconsiderable.
Other more intimate services were readily available at Pussycat Palace, famous up and down Mircea’s Wisp and beyond, for the affable versatility of the attendants - though nothing was free.
“In that case, this is my suggestion,” said Glawen. “Let me out of this hole, give me the information I need, then explain what you want of me. If it is something I can do, and is not criminal, immoral, harmful, hurtful or even disgraceful, and won’t take too long or cost too much, I will do it.”
Jack Vance, on the human condition:
Nominy spoke on, in a mellow and cultured voice. “From the first we have used teams of workmen with different skills, and some with no skills whatever, from all corners of the Reach. For a period Mr. Barduys experimented with a folk known as ‘Yips.’ They were strong, with easy dispositions, and quite cooperative, unless they were asked to work: an occupation they found uncongenial. From a gang of three hundred we suffered an attrition rate of about thirty percent a month, until all the Yips were gone and the experiment was pronounced a failure.”
“There is no question, and I state this positively,” wrote Floreste. “I am one of the few persons who may properly profess the designation ‘Over-man’; there are few indeed like me! In any case, ordinary strictures of common morality should not apply, lest they interfere with my supreme creativity. Alas! I still am like a fish in a tank, swimming with other fish, and I must obey their procedures or they will nip my fins!”
Floreste agreed that his dedication to ‘Art’ had persuaded him to irregularities. “I have taken shortcuts on the long and tedious route to my goals; I have been trapped and now my fins must be nipped.”
Glawen pretended an ingenuous interest, while despising himself for the dissimulation: “If so, by what means are you influenced?”
“There are no certain methods. You might appeal to my altruism. I would laugh at you. Flattery? Try all you like; I will listen with interest. Omens and portents? I fear nothing. Threats? One word and I would order my clerks to beat you well. They would do so, and paint you in a variety of indelible colors. A bribe? I already have more money than I could spend in a thousand years. What else is there?”
“Ordinary human decency.”
“But I am extra-ordinary, or hadn’t you noticed? It is not by my choice that I am human. As for ‘decency,’ the word was defined without my participation; I am not bound by it.
“Ah,” said Glawen. “I am beginning to understand. You refer to the Sanart Scientists?”
“I refer to one of their factions: the so-called Ideationists. These folk are fanatics who make a virtue out of severity. In the past they have attacked us financially, philosophically and verbally, none of which troubles us. Recently gangs of anonymous raiders have come down from the Wild Counties and attacked us by night, killing and depredating.
“There is our predicament. Our enemy is motivated by his ‘Idea,’ which is not inherently ignoble. Its virtues are self-evident; where is a force more violent than that which is generated by a surfeit of virtue? How does one fight virtue? With depravity? Is depravity, after all, any better than virtue? Arguable. At the very least, depravity allows the practitioner a variety of options. Personally, I advocate neither extreme. I merely want to live my life out in placid self-indulgence. Yet here I sit, at this moment, caught up by these Sanart passions. They want me to embrace their Idea. I resist; I am forced into an uncomfortable posture of self-defense and worry. The sweetness of my soul has gone rancid; I am pushed willy-nilly into a condition of hatred.
“So then: what does one do? He sits himself in his chair to think - as I do now. He stimulates his mind with Yellow Frost - as I do now.” Sir Mathor drank from his goblet. “I say: are you gentlemen not drinking?”
Lilo paid no heed. “- allow nothing to distract us, especially a foolish indulgence in transient frivolity. Pain can be ignored; pleasure is more insidious.”
“And far nicer, don’t you think?”
Lilo compressed her lips. “That idea lacks both merit and consequence.”
“For Mutis and Zaa, perhaps. Not for me. I grieve for pleasures I’ve missed, but I spare not a thought for the pain I have neglected to suffer.”
“I estimate another hour or an hour and a half. I am driving slowly because of the wind. The gusts make steering unpredictable at high speeds. What is your opinion on this?”
“I believe that safety is important. It is better to arrive alive than dead.”
“This is exactly my point,” said Bant. “I have explained this to Esmer; what is the value of thirty minutes, more or less, to a corpse? He is already late and no longer in a hurry. The time is more useful on this side of the veil, such is my belief.”
Wayness made a note of the address. “I wish I could rid myself of the conviction that I was being followed.”
“Ha! Perhaps you are, for a fact, being followed and this is the basis of your conviction.”
Even now his skin crawled to think of the grotesque deeds done to him, Glawen Clattuc. Even so, why should he be surprised? The cosmos took no notice of human rationality, or human anything whatever. As he sat brooding, another curious mood came to trouble his mind: a waft of rending grief and woe, a sadness not to be contemplated, and perhaps beyond understanding.
Glawen spoke on. “You murdered the girl for no reason whatever.”
Zaa was unmoved. “Mistakes are made everywhere. Each instant, across the Gaean Reach, a thousand such events are taking place. They are implicit to the conduct of coherent civilization.”
Lefaun Zadoury found a vacant table and they were served tea and cakes. Lefaun looked to right and left apologetically. “The splendor and the luxury as well as the best cakes, are reserved for the big-wigs, who use Prince Konevitsky’s grand dining room. I have seen them at it. Each uses three knives and four forks to eat his herring, and wipes the grease from his face with a napkin two feet square. The riffraff like ourselves must be content with less, though still we pay fifteen pence for our snack.”
Wayness said gravely: “I am an off-worlder and perhaps naive, but it seems not all so bad. For a fact, in one of my cakes I found no less than four almonds!”
Lefaun Zadoury gave a dour grunt. “The subject is complex and yields only to careful analysis.”
Wayness had no comment to make and the two sat in silence.
April 29, 2015
The series starts off with a murder mystery and political thriller elements, set on a foreign planet that's meant to be a nature conservancy. The lead character, Glawen Clattuc is probably just about going to be allowed to stay as one of the top 20 ranked people in his family, but it's touch and go as old enmities in his family conspire to keep him out of the Araminta Station. The story covers, initially, the plant of Cadwal, it's various life forms and quirky settlements... the colonial styles of Araminta, the sea shanty island of Yiptown and the Scandanavian cliff dwellings of Stroma. We also get tours of Old Earth, hardly recognizable from the earth we know, but with another wide variety of carefully created, odd cultures.
And that's where Jack Vance excels. Creating interesting cultures and settings for his lead characters to chase through and find. They bounce along through them, making some better, some worse, and leaving hearts and bodies broken. Often without much regard for what they leave behind. Justice is served though, and the stories come full circle with a neat happy ending. At least most of the endings are happy for someone.
Those neat closures are a little too neat, and little too rushed in places, but overall, this is a good read.
And that's where Jack Vance excels. Creating interesting cultures and settings for his lead characters to chase through and find. They bounce along through them, making some better, some worse, and leaving hearts and bodies broken. Often without much regard for what they leave behind. Justice is served though, and the stories come full circle with a neat happy ending. At least most of the endings are happy for someone.
Those neat closures are a little too neat, and little too rushed in places, but overall, this is a good read.
November 1, 2017
The Cadwal Chronicles (Cadwal Chronicles #1-3)
This is the Spatterlight Press omnibus eBook of Jack Vance's three novels that comprise The Cadwal Chronicles. These are Araminta Station, Ecce and Old Earth and Throy. All three are very well written and highly recommended. Each is reviewed below:
Araminta Station
Araminta Station is a 554 page novel by Jack Vance that was first published in 1987. It is much longer than most of his novels and is a later works written when he was at the peak of his talents. It is also the first novel of three that comprise the Cadwal Chronicles. This the second time I've carefully read this novel and have found it to be the best of the three in the series and one of Vance's finest. It is fascinating, intriguing and one of Vance's better novels. I look forward to reading again in a year or two.
The setting is the distant future, mostly on the planet Cadwal. Old Earth continues to exist and can be readily visited. Cadwal is a planet in the Gaean Reach that was discovered by the Naturalist Society of Earth 900 years previously. Now it is managed by the Naturalist Society under a Charter that has maintained the planet as somewhat of a natural preserve, mostly undeveloped. It is managed by a Conservator plus six bureaus or families of 40 persons each (240 total) who reside at Araminta Station on the continent of Deucas. Each bureau or house is composed of the descendents of families that are descendents of the original six administrators hundreds of years ago. A rigorous social rating or caste system has been established so that only those who score the best (low scores or "index numbers" are better) are considered for possible appointment to one of the bureaus. Once a person turns 21 he or she may be granted "Agency status" as a member of one of the six bureaus if they have a good enough rating, if there is an opening and if they pass an exam. There is a 240 person limit (120 men and 120 women) so most persons at the age of 21 end up becoming "collateral" with almost no authority, minimal prestige and much less opportunity for employment or advancement. Persons who become collateral remain members of the Naturalist Society. Many of them move to a colony called Stroma on the continent of Throy or leave the planet entirely. Persons accepted into the bureau remain in the house of their birth and are considered Cadwal Agents. There is a major division in the Naturalist Society between the Conservationists and the LPFers (Life, Peace and Freedom.) The Conservationists want to adhere strictly to the Charter and keep Cadwal as a preserve. The LPFers (many who are collaterals and reside on Stroma) do not want to follow the Charter and advocate reform by which they mean additional settlements or estates for themselves and allowing the Yips to move to Deucas on a permanent basis.
Laborers are not included in this limit of 240 people, and most of the labor is done by Yips. Yips are described as being tall, blonde haired, and biologically very similar to other people but appear unable to interbreed with other humans. Yips were brought to Cadwal as workers and most of them live on Lutwin Atoll in a city called Yipton. They can sign up to temporary work at Araminta Station for six month periods but are not allowed to live anywhere else on the planet. Yiptown has now become a tourist attraction and is ruled by the leader of the Yips called the "Oomphaw." The population of Yips on the planet is around 100,000 so they far outnumber Naturalist Society members. There are rumors that the Yips want to take over Araminta Station and the continent of Deucas, the most habitable of three continents on the planet because of its temperate climate. Conservationists want to send most or all of the Yips to another planet for resettlement. LPFers want to allow the Yips to expand and settle on the Deucas and elsewhere even though this would probably mean an end to the natural preserve, with Cadwal eventually becoming like any other planet.
Our main protagonist is Glawen Clattuc whose father, Schrade Clattuc, works with the local police called Bureau B. Bureau B. has authority to enforce the Charter and maintain the peace on the planet but allows the Oomphaw of Yiptown to control things on Lutwen Atoll where most of the Yips live. The Bureau also tries to insure that Yips do not have advanced weapons or airships, but there is evidence that Yips have been stealing weapons and parts to assemble a combat airship. The assumption is that they are attempting to arm themselves in order to invade Araminta Station and all of the Deucas continent.
Much of the initial story involves Glawen's growing up as a teenager in this culture, striving and competing to obtain Agency status while being infatuated with several girls and dealing with a few adversaries. He joins Bureau B and is involved in an elaborate on and off world investigation after his girlfriend suddenly disappears during a festival and is thought to have been kidnapped and murdered. This leads to his becoming a captive of a bizarre religious cult on another planet where he is kept in an ancient tomb and expected to help repopulate the religious cult by breeding with the women there, all of the cult men having become infertile. Glawen escapes after six months of confinement only to find that his father is either dead or imprisoned. This promises to lead to another adventure in the sequel novel Ecce and Old Earth.
In Araminta Station and the other Cadwal Chronicles technological and scientific explanations are very minimal so they are science fiction mostly because they involve different planets and is in the distant future. They are among the few Vance novels where a woman (Wayness Tamm) plays a very important role both in her romance Glawen and in the action and plot. In the next two novels in the series she even takes the lead role at times and her character continues to be developed portraying her as intelligent, tenacious, competent and independent.
Araminta Station is an action packed novel, brimming with police investigations, detective work, mystery, social satire, and creative descriptions of different people, cultures and planets (world building) along with many characters and much more character development than we usually find in shorter Vance novels. Although I found it very engaging, the novel is dense with details so that for full appreciation careful reading is necessary and repeated readings continue to unveil interesting complexities. This adds depth to the sociological, psychological and anthropological aspects of the novel while making the investigative and detective aspects of the story even more fascinating. Araminta Station is an excellent novel by one of our great science fiction writers. It can be read as a stand alone novel, but the saga continues in two more volumes that are worth reading, although not up to the same level. Araminta Station is long, complex and detailed so would probably not be a good choice for a person new to the writings of Vance.
Ecce and Old Earth
Ecce and Old Earth was first published in 1991 and is the second of three novels that comprise The Cadwal Chronicles. My copy is 326 pages long making it one of Vance's longer works, although shorter than the first novel in the series, the 554 page Araminta Station. It is also a later work by Vance. This is my second reading of this work and I liked it even better after reading it again. It is not as dazzling a novel as the first in the series, Araminta Station, but it is better written and more interesting than Throy the third novel in The Cadwal Chronicles. It is a worthy follow up to Araminta Station.
The story line in Ecce and Old Earth takes a different direction after Araminta Station. It moves from a focus on a murder investigation to that of rescuing Glawen Clattuc's father and of searching for the lost Charter of the Naturalist Society. The original Charter allows the person who possesses it to control the planet Cadwal. Cadwal has been maintained in pristine condition as a natural preserve since it was first discovered 900 years ago. It is governed by the Naturalist Society and their Charter. One faction of the Naturalist Society called LPFers (Life, Peace and Freedom Party) wants to eliminate or modify the Charter so that Cadwal can be settled and developed. The other faction, the Conservationists or Charists, want to adhere strictly to the Charter and keep Cadwal undeveloped as a natural preserve.
Ecce and the Old Earth begins where the Araminta Station left off, with Glawen at home on the planet Cadwal finding out that his father is not dead but has been imprisoned by enemies. He makes plans to fly to the continent of Ecce to rescue his father from a remote prison there. Ecce is a tropical continent that is very dangerous because of all the fierce predatory animals that live there. These creatures are inactive during the heat of midday, however, so it is much safer to travel by foot or on land during that time. Vance vividly describes these bizarre, predatory, alien creatures and Glawen's many dangerous, nearly fatal, close encounters. The rescue attempt is daring, suspenseful and successful.
While Glawen was busy rescuing his father, his girlfriend, Wayness Tamm, the daughter of the Naturalist Society Conservator, left for Old Earth to attempt to locate the missing Charter. There are copies of the Charter, of course, but the original appears to have been sold years ago along with many other Naturalist Society possessions by an unscrupulous Secretary of the Naturalist Society of Earth. Tracking down the long chain of sellers and buyers takes much investigative work, giving the novel many elements of a mystery or detective novel. Glawen decides to leave for Earth to find Wayness and assist her with her search. Others, especially those who oppose adherence to the Charter, are also searching for the Charter because whoever possesses the original essentially owns the planet of Cadwal.
The rescue trip to Ecce presents a fascinating continent of creatures. The bizarre world of the Shadowmen is also quite intriguing. And it is comical and entertaining to read about the world where all the food is derived from a fungus and self esteem is increased by being unhelpful and insulting to visitors. But on Earth we learn only a little about what the distant future is like. The novel instead focuses mainly on mystery, detective work and various characters. Both Wayness and Glawen experience exciting adventures in various locations on Earth that include dangerous assassins, peculiar places, suspenseful mysteries, eccentric characters and many other encounters.
In Ecce and the Old Earth Wayness Tamm becomes as much of a main character as Glawen. It is one of the few works by Vance where a woman plays a major role and is developed as a multidimensional person rather than simply a token character. Wayness is portrayed as being intelligent, independent, capable, daring and persevering.
The Cadwal Chronicles are highly recommended to Vance fans. But the series would probably not be a good place to begin reading for persons unfamiliar with Vance's writings. The novels are long, dense and detailed. I found them very interesting, engaging and enjoyable to read, but persons fairly new to reading Vance might want to start elsewhere with shorter works that are less detailed and complex.
Throy
Throy was first published in 1992 so is one of Vance's later works. My hardcover copy is 248 pages, making it significantly shorter than the first two novels in the series The Cadwal Chronicles which, in my hardcover editions, were 554 pages and 326 pages each respectively. Although Throy is worth reading if one has read the other two novels, it is the weakest of the three in the series. It does not have the fascinating world building, complex plot and interesting character development of the brilliantly written Araminta Station nor does it have the mystery, suspense, drama and intriguing investigative work that is in Ecce and Old Earth. Throy does, however, provide a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy, and anybody who has read the first two novels will certainly want to read it.
After our two main characters, Glawen Clattuc and Wayness Tamm, finally find the lost original Charter, The Naturalist Society is taken over by the LPFers (Life, Peace and Freedom Party) who want to open Cadwal to settlement and development. But Glawen and Wayness moved quickly and out foxed the LPFers. The old Charter has been replaced by a new much stricter Charter and The Naturalist Society is no longer in control of the planet Cadwal Having legal control of the planet and a new Charter, however, mean little if you don't have the power to enforce your authority. And the LPFers are planning to take over the planet with the help of over 100,000 Yip people and the two Straidor-Ferox gunships they have hidden. The LPFers are now split into two factions that have some conflicting interests. Both factions of the LPFers agree to coordinate efforts to arrange transportation for the Yips. They plan to move them from Lutwen Atoll to the continent of Deucas. At Araminta Station, the headquarters of The Naturalist Society, they want to overpower the members there and take control of the planet. But the two LPFer factions are in disagreement about how many Yips to allow to remain on the planet and who should be in control of Cadwal. In addition, Lewyn Barduys, a shipping magnate who lives on another planet, is the only one with the means to transport that many people. The entire plans of both factions are totally dependent on Badruys' cooperation and assistance.
Glawen and Wayness travel to the planet Rosalia and visit Shadow Valley Ranch to try to meet with Lewyn Barduys to attempt to dissuade him from assisting the LPFers. On Rosalia they encounter bizarre alien creatures called tree-waifs, water-waifs and wind-waifs. The water-waifs become especially problematic and even dangerous for them and others. The waifs are described as being "notorious for their mysterious habits. Their activities seemed motivated by caprice mingled with a weird logic, so that their antics were a constant source of horrified fascination." Will Wayness and Glawen find Barduys and persuade him not to cooperate with transporting the Yips? Time is limited because an important meeting has been scheduled for the two LPFer factions to meet with Barduys to finalize transportation plans.
I enjoyed reading Throy and thought it provided a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, The Cadwal Chronicles. But it is not as interesting as the other two novels in the series and is the least well written. The first novel of the series, Araminta Station, though, is an amazing novel that is well worth reading. And Ecce and the Old Earth is a very good follow up novel. Because The Cadwal Chronicles are long, complex and detailed, though, the series might not appeal to readers who are unfamiliar with Vance's writings. But for Vance fans The Cadwal Chronicles are essential reading.
This is the Spatterlight Press omnibus eBook of Jack Vance's three novels that comprise The Cadwal Chronicles. These are Araminta Station, Ecce and Old Earth and Throy. All three are very well written and highly recommended. Each is reviewed below:
Araminta Station
Araminta Station is a 554 page novel by Jack Vance that was first published in 1987. It is much longer than most of his novels and is a later works written when he was at the peak of his talents. It is also the first novel of three that comprise the Cadwal Chronicles. This the second time I've carefully read this novel and have found it to be the best of the three in the series and one of Vance's finest. It is fascinating, intriguing and one of Vance's better novels. I look forward to reading again in a year or two.
The setting is the distant future, mostly on the planet Cadwal. Old Earth continues to exist and can be readily visited. Cadwal is a planet in the Gaean Reach that was discovered by the Naturalist Society of Earth 900 years previously. Now it is managed by the Naturalist Society under a Charter that has maintained the planet as somewhat of a natural preserve, mostly undeveloped. It is managed by a Conservator plus six bureaus or families of 40 persons each (240 total) who reside at Araminta Station on the continent of Deucas. Each bureau or house is composed of the descendents of families that are descendents of the original six administrators hundreds of years ago. A rigorous social rating or caste system has been established so that only those who score the best (low scores or "index numbers" are better) are considered for possible appointment to one of the bureaus. Once a person turns 21 he or she may be granted "Agency status" as a member of one of the six bureaus if they have a good enough rating, if there is an opening and if they pass an exam. There is a 240 person limit (120 men and 120 women) so most persons at the age of 21 end up becoming "collateral" with almost no authority, minimal prestige and much less opportunity for employment or advancement. Persons who become collateral remain members of the Naturalist Society. Many of them move to a colony called Stroma on the continent of Throy or leave the planet entirely. Persons accepted into the bureau remain in the house of their birth and are considered Cadwal Agents. There is a major division in the Naturalist Society between the Conservationists and the LPFers (Life, Peace and Freedom.) The Conservationists want to adhere strictly to the Charter and keep Cadwal as a preserve. The LPFers (many who are collaterals and reside on Stroma) do not want to follow the Charter and advocate reform by which they mean additional settlements or estates for themselves and allowing the Yips to move to Deucas on a permanent basis.
Laborers are not included in this limit of 240 people, and most of the labor is done by Yips. Yips are described as being tall, blonde haired, and biologically very similar to other people but appear unable to interbreed with other humans. Yips were brought to Cadwal as workers and most of them live on Lutwin Atoll in a city called Yipton. They can sign up to temporary work at Araminta Station for six month periods but are not allowed to live anywhere else on the planet. Yiptown has now become a tourist attraction and is ruled by the leader of the Yips called the "Oomphaw." The population of Yips on the planet is around 100,000 so they far outnumber Naturalist Society members. There are rumors that the Yips want to take over Araminta Station and the continent of Deucas, the most habitable of three continents on the planet because of its temperate climate. Conservationists want to send most or all of the Yips to another planet for resettlement. LPFers want to allow the Yips to expand and settle on the Deucas and elsewhere even though this would probably mean an end to the natural preserve, with Cadwal eventually becoming like any other planet.
Our main protagonist is Glawen Clattuc whose father, Schrade Clattuc, works with the local police called Bureau B. Bureau B. has authority to enforce the Charter and maintain the peace on the planet but allows the Oomphaw of Yiptown to control things on Lutwen Atoll where most of the Yips live. The Bureau also tries to insure that Yips do not have advanced weapons or airships, but there is evidence that Yips have been stealing weapons and parts to assemble a combat airship. The assumption is that they are attempting to arm themselves in order to invade Araminta Station and all of the Deucas continent.
Much of the initial story involves Glawen's growing up as a teenager in this culture, striving and competing to obtain Agency status while being infatuated with several girls and dealing with a few adversaries. He joins Bureau B and is involved in an elaborate on and off world investigation after his girlfriend suddenly disappears during a festival and is thought to have been kidnapped and murdered. This leads to his becoming a captive of a bizarre religious cult on another planet where he is kept in an ancient tomb and expected to help repopulate the religious cult by breeding with the women there, all of the cult men having become infertile. Glawen escapes after six months of confinement only to find that his father is either dead or imprisoned. This promises to lead to another adventure in the sequel novel Ecce and Old Earth.
In Araminta Station and the other Cadwal Chronicles technological and scientific explanations are very minimal so they are science fiction mostly because they involve different planets and is in the distant future. They are among the few Vance novels where a woman (Wayness Tamm) plays a very important role both in her romance Glawen and in the action and plot. In the next two novels in the series she even takes the lead role at times and her character continues to be developed portraying her as intelligent, tenacious, competent and independent.
Araminta Station is an action packed novel, brimming with police investigations, detective work, mystery, social satire, and creative descriptions of different people, cultures and planets (world building) along with many characters and much more character development than we usually find in shorter Vance novels. Although I found it very engaging, the novel is dense with details so that for full appreciation careful reading is necessary and repeated readings continue to unveil interesting complexities. This adds depth to the sociological, psychological and anthropological aspects of the novel while making the investigative and detective aspects of the story even more fascinating. Araminta Station is an excellent novel by one of our great science fiction writers. It can be read as a stand alone novel, but the saga continues in two more volumes that are worth reading, although not up to the same level. Araminta Station is long, complex and detailed so would probably not be a good choice for a person new to the writings of Vance.
Ecce and Old Earth
Ecce and Old Earth was first published in 1991 and is the second of three novels that comprise The Cadwal Chronicles. My copy is 326 pages long making it one of Vance's longer works, although shorter than the first novel in the series, the 554 page Araminta Station. It is also a later work by Vance. This is my second reading of this work and I liked it even better after reading it again. It is not as dazzling a novel as the first in the series, Araminta Station, but it is better written and more interesting than Throy the third novel in The Cadwal Chronicles. It is a worthy follow up to Araminta Station.
The story line in Ecce and Old Earth takes a different direction after Araminta Station. It moves from a focus on a murder investigation to that of rescuing Glawen Clattuc's father and of searching for the lost Charter of the Naturalist Society. The original Charter allows the person who possesses it to control the planet Cadwal. Cadwal has been maintained in pristine condition as a natural preserve since it was first discovered 900 years ago. It is governed by the Naturalist Society and their Charter. One faction of the Naturalist Society called LPFers (Life, Peace and Freedom Party) wants to eliminate or modify the Charter so that Cadwal can be settled and developed. The other faction, the Conservationists or Charists, want to adhere strictly to the Charter and keep Cadwal undeveloped as a natural preserve.
Ecce and the Old Earth begins where the Araminta Station left off, with Glawen at home on the planet Cadwal finding out that his father is not dead but has been imprisoned by enemies. He makes plans to fly to the continent of Ecce to rescue his father from a remote prison there. Ecce is a tropical continent that is very dangerous because of all the fierce predatory animals that live there. These creatures are inactive during the heat of midday, however, so it is much safer to travel by foot or on land during that time. Vance vividly describes these bizarre, predatory, alien creatures and Glawen's many dangerous, nearly fatal, close encounters. The rescue attempt is daring, suspenseful and successful.
While Glawen was busy rescuing his father, his girlfriend, Wayness Tamm, the daughter of the Naturalist Society Conservator, left for Old Earth to attempt to locate the missing Charter. There are copies of the Charter, of course, but the original appears to have been sold years ago along with many other Naturalist Society possessions by an unscrupulous Secretary of the Naturalist Society of Earth. Tracking down the long chain of sellers and buyers takes much investigative work, giving the novel many elements of a mystery or detective novel. Glawen decides to leave for Earth to find Wayness and assist her with her search. Others, especially those who oppose adherence to the Charter, are also searching for the Charter because whoever possesses the original essentially owns the planet of Cadwal.
The rescue trip to Ecce presents a fascinating continent of creatures. The bizarre world of the Shadowmen is also quite intriguing. And it is comical and entertaining to read about the world where all the food is derived from a fungus and self esteem is increased by being unhelpful and insulting to visitors. But on Earth we learn only a little about what the distant future is like. The novel instead focuses mainly on mystery, detective work and various characters. Both Wayness and Glawen experience exciting adventures in various locations on Earth that include dangerous assassins, peculiar places, suspenseful mysteries, eccentric characters and many other encounters.
In Ecce and the Old Earth Wayness Tamm becomes as much of a main character as Glawen. It is one of the few works by Vance where a woman plays a major role and is developed as a multidimensional person rather than simply a token character. Wayness is portrayed as being intelligent, independent, capable, daring and persevering.
The Cadwal Chronicles are highly recommended to Vance fans. But the series would probably not be a good place to begin reading for persons unfamiliar with Vance's writings. The novels are long, dense and detailed. I found them very interesting, engaging and enjoyable to read, but persons fairly new to reading Vance might want to start elsewhere with shorter works that are less detailed and complex.
Throy
Throy was first published in 1992 so is one of Vance's later works. My hardcover copy is 248 pages, making it significantly shorter than the first two novels in the series The Cadwal Chronicles which, in my hardcover editions, were 554 pages and 326 pages each respectively. Although Throy is worth reading if one has read the other two novels, it is the weakest of the three in the series. It does not have the fascinating world building, complex plot and interesting character development of the brilliantly written Araminta Station nor does it have the mystery, suspense, drama and intriguing investigative work that is in Ecce and Old Earth. Throy does, however, provide a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy, and anybody who has read the first two novels will certainly want to read it.
After our two main characters, Glawen Clattuc and Wayness Tamm, finally find the lost original Charter, The Naturalist Society is taken over by the LPFers (Life, Peace and Freedom Party) who want to open Cadwal to settlement and development. But Glawen and Wayness moved quickly and out foxed the LPFers. The old Charter has been replaced by a new much stricter Charter and The Naturalist Society is no longer in control of the planet Cadwal Having legal control of the planet and a new Charter, however, mean little if you don't have the power to enforce your authority. And the LPFers are planning to take over the planet with the help of over 100,000 Yip people and the two Straidor-Ferox gunships they have hidden. The LPFers are now split into two factions that have some conflicting interests. Both factions of the LPFers agree to coordinate efforts to arrange transportation for the Yips. They plan to move them from Lutwen Atoll to the continent of Deucas. At Araminta Station, the headquarters of The Naturalist Society, they want to overpower the members there and take control of the planet. But the two LPFer factions are in disagreement about how many Yips to allow to remain on the planet and who should be in control of Cadwal. In addition, Lewyn Barduys, a shipping magnate who lives on another planet, is the only one with the means to transport that many people. The entire plans of both factions are totally dependent on Badruys' cooperation and assistance.
Glawen and Wayness travel to the planet Rosalia and visit Shadow Valley Ranch to try to meet with Lewyn Barduys to attempt to dissuade him from assisting the LPFers. On Rosalia they encounter bizarre alien creatures called tree-waifs, water-waifs and wind-waifs. The water-waifs become especially problematic and even dangerous for them and others. The waifs are described as being "notorious for their mysterious habits. Their activities seemed motivated by caprice mingled with a weird logic, so that their antics were a constant source of horrified fascination." Will Wayness and Glawen find Barduys and persuade him not to cooperate with transporting the Yips? Time is limited because an important meeting has been scheduled for the two LPFer factions to meet with Barduys to finalize transportation plans.
I enjoyed reading Throy and thought it provided a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, The Cadwal Chronicles. But it is not as interesting as the other two novels in the series and is the least well written. The first novel of the series, Araminta Station, though, is an amazing novel that is well worth reading. And Ecce and the Old Earth is a very good follow up novel. Because The Cadwal Chronicles are long, complex and detailed, though, the series might not appeal to readers who are unfamiliar with Vance's writings. But for Vance fans The Cadwal Chronicles are essential reading.
November 30, 2018
This was probably the most underwhelming Jack Vance series that I've read. I've read books by him that seem to zip by in a dizzy flash and leave no impression, but even those were always snappy and readable. This one was well written and well thought out and had some good scenarios and good characters, but unlike any other Vance novel I've read, I started to find it a little boring.
I think the first book was both the most boring and also the most entertaining. The first half of the first book was so slow. No sense of pace whatsoever. I've never read a Vance book before that felt like it was taking so long to go absolutely nowhere. So I stopped reading it for a while, not something I've done before with his work. When I came back to it however I moved onto the second half of that book and that had some really exciting stuff that was about as good as anything Vance has written. So the first book is an uneven mix of slow, boring stuff and really brilliant stuff. Incidentally, I think it's also the longest individual volume that he published, certainly the longest of what I've read. Perhaps a little too long-form for its own good.
Books two and three are more samey, they're sort of interesting but not very. Not too long. Book three is actually pretty short. Pretty likeable. Not boring but nothing special. The series has certainly made less of an impression on me than some of his others, which is saying a lot, seeing as Planet of Adventure and The Demon Princes also didn't make much of an impression. Why do I read so much by this author who makes so little impression? I just enjoy the writing so much. Some writers are just enjoyable. And then it all evaporates from your head. C'est la vie.
I think part of the problem with this series is that it's relying on stuff that Vance doesn't do so well. It was obvious from his memoir that he's a big fan of lightweight mystery fiction, Agatha Christie, MC Beaton etc, and I think this is his attempt at writing that sort of thing, which feels like a mis-step for a writer who is known for writing in such a fluid, dream-like, delerious style. His writing just feels a bit hamstrung while he's trying to tie himself down to a proper mystery plot. It's also got a lot of politics oriented stuff. Again, not really his forte. If there's a scenario that can be dreamt up with unnerving lucidity in the space of 30 seconds then that is a scenario where Vance will excel. If there's a story that needs to be carefully planned out then that's a story where Vance will start looking like a kid who is stuck indoors with dusty textbooks when he wants to be outside chasing butterflies.
I guess I still enjoyed it, more or less. He's a funny writer, always imaginative, always wry, always charming. I just think this series is him doing something that he doesn't do all that well. Vance fans will probably still enjoy it.
I think the first book was both the most boring and also the most entertaining. The first half of the first book was so slow. No sense of pace whatsoever. I've never read a Vance book before that felt like it was taking so long to go absolutely nowhere. So I stopped reading it for a while, not something I've done before with his work. When I came back to it however I moved onto the second half of that book and that had some really exciting stuff that was about as good as anything Vance has written. So the first book is an uneven mix of slow, boring stuff and really brilliant stuff. Incidentally, I think it's also the longest individual volume that he published, certainly the longest of what I've read. Perhaps a little too long-form for its own good.
Books two and three are more samey, they're sort of interesting but not very. Not too long. Book three is actually pretty short. Pretty likeable. Not boring but nothing special. The series has certainly made less of an impression on me than some of his others, which is saying a lot, seeing as Planet of Adventure and The Demon Princes also didn't make much of an impression. Why do I read so much by this author who makes so little impression? I just enjoy the writing so much. Some writers are just enjoyable. And then it all evaporates from your head. C'est la vie.
I think part of the problem with this series is that it's relying on stuff that Vance doesn't do so well. It was obvious from his memoir that he's a big fan of lightweight mystery fiction, Agatha Christie, MC Beaton etc, and I think this is his attempt at writing that sort of thing, which feels like a mis-step for a writer who is known for writing in such a fluid, dream-like, delerious style. His writing just feels a bit hamstrung while he's trying to tie himself down to a proper mystery plot. It's also got a lot of politics oriented stuff. Again, not really his forte. If there's a scenario that can be dreamt up with unnerving lucidity in the space of 30 seconds then that is a scenario where Vance will excel. If there's a story that needs to be carefully planned out then that's a story where Vance will start looking like a kid who is stuck indoors with dusty textbooks when he wants to be outside chasing butterflies.
I guess I still enjoyed it, more or less. He's a funny writer, always imaginative, always wry, always charming. I just think this series is him doing something that he doesn't do all that well. Vance fans will probably still enjoy it.
January 10, 2021
The three books of the trilogy are an adventure. Glawen is a stalwart hero. Wayness shines in the second book. Eustace Chilke stands out in the third, and I think he must be my favorite.
Vance’s style is spare.
Vance’s style is spare.
November 15, 2020
Cadwal
Each Jack Vance story is a joy to read, making other works seem somewhat lacking. Vances characters are superb, his world building is unique and his plots are intricate. Don't miss this book!
Each Jack Vance story is a joy to read, making other works seem somewhat lacking. Vances characters are superb, his world building is unique and his plots are intricate. Don't miss this book!
December 17, 2020
A trilogy by The Master. At some point everyone should read Jack Vance.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews