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Handbook of Vance Space
A dictionary-style guide to the science fiction worlds of Jack Vance. A souvenir of the worlds you have visited in the past! A planning guide for your next excursion off world! A handy survival manual for unexpected occasions! A reference work on the science fiction of award-winning Grand Master Jack Vance! A handbook!
- GenresScience FictionReference
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 23, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 28, 2024
Michael Andre-Driussi has done a remarkable job of creating this amazing book which must have involved an incredible amount of time and much dedicated work. If you read it front to cover, as I did, you will probably want to do so slowly because it is really a dense reference book, one that all Vance fans will want to own rather than borrow. The paperback edition is a high quality trade paperback, but there is also a hardcover issue. The book's subtitle is "Everyman's Guide to the Planets of the Alastor Cluster, the Gaean Reach, the Oikumene and other exotic sectors from the Science Fiction of Jack Vance."
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
After the "Contents" and "Abbreviations" sections there is an "Index of Entries" followed by "Tables and Maps." The main section called "Entries" is an alphabetical listing of all the clusters, stars, planets, moons, places, inhabitants, creatures, etc. that are mentioned or described in Vance's writings--excluding his mysteries where all the settings were on Earth. "Entries" is followed by a "Star Map Collection" and "Appendices." The later is especially interesting because it includes: Spaceships, Sports, Tentative Unified Timeline, Source Texts and Their Primary Planets, Concerning the Rigel Concourse, Notes of the Modes or Phases of Marune, Itineraries, Subjective Listings, Secondary Texts, List of Real Stars and Linkages Between Texts. The timeline is an estimate based on references in the texts and at times involves some conjecture, but it is still fascinating.
As presented in "Handbook of Vance Space," the detailed complexity of Vance's worlds is astonishing. It helps us to see what an amazingly talented world builder he was. The text throughout is very well written and beautifully organized. This is a major contribution to Vance's legacy and all dedicated Vance fans will want to own a copy. It makes a great companion to The Jack Vance Lexicon: From Abiloid to Zygage by Dan Temianka. Very highly recommended!
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
After the "Contents" and "Abbreviations" sections there is an "Index of Entries" followed by "Tables and Maps." The main section called "Entries" is an alphabetical listing of all the clusters, stars, planets, moons, places, inhabitants, creatures, etc. that are mentioned or described in Vance's writings--excluding his mysteries where all the settings were on Earth. "Entries" is followed by a "Star Map Collection" and "Appendices." The later is especially interesting because it includes: Spaceships, Sports, Tentative Unified Timeline, Source Texts and Their Primary Planets, Concerning the Rigel Concourse, Notes of the Modes or Phases of Marune, Itineraries, Subjective Listings, Secondary Texts, List of Real Stars and Linkages Between Texts. The timeline is an estimate based on references in the texts and at times involves some conjecture, but it is still fascinating.
As presented in "Handbook of Vance Space," the detailed complexity of Vance's worlds is astonishing. It helps us to see what an amazingly talented world builder he was. The text throughout is very well written and beautifully organized. This is a major contribution to Vance's legacy and all dedicated Vance fans will want to own a copy. It makes a great companion to The Jack Vance Lexicon: From Abiloid to Zygage by Dan Temianka. Very highly recommended!
December 16, 2023
The book, "Handbook of Vance Space," by Michael Andre-Driussi is essential for anyone wanting to read Jack Vance's science fiction novels. It is an entire world, like Star Trek, Star Wars, or Farscape. I wish there had been books like these from the very beginning of each of these worlds. Luckily, now there is a book for the world of Jack Vance.
This is not a novel but a reference guide. It is a dictionary and has tons of resources in the book for all aspects of Vance's world. I was only vaguely familiar with Vance's work before having read this. It isn't so much a book you read front to back (though for this review that is exactly what I did), but a source to look up something you don't understand in Vance's world. It is easily accessible by a dictionary-style read. If you read something you don't know, look it up. It is in alphabetic order. Other source material in the back covers more in-depth explanations on certain subjects that couldn't be explained with a simple meaning.
You have a dictionary, star map collections, a listing of spaceships with descriptions, sports, timelines, source texts and which planets they are associated with, information on the Rigel Concourse, explanations on the modes or phases of Marune, and so much more. If you have never read Jack Vance, this book would be essential to start reading his work. It would make reading it a lot easier to understand immediately. If you have already read his work, this would be an invaluable tool to ensure comprehension. It is also great for helping you remember the entire world. I could see people using this book as a tool to write fanfiction.
I highly recommend anyone who reads science fiction to give this a shot, either before you start reading the Jack Vance world or if you're already a fan of the world. I would also recommend that you write down the cipher to keep it in front of you when you need it. I don't think there's anything out there quite like this, and not for this world.
This is not a novel but a reference guide. It is a dictionary and has tons of resources in the book for all aspects of Vance's world. I was only vaguely familiar with Vance's work before having read this. It isn't so much a book you read front to back (though for this review that is exactly what I did), but a source to look up something you don't understand in Vance's world. It is easily accessible by a dictionary-style read. If you read something you don't know, look it up. It is in alphabetic order. Other source material in the back covers more in-depth explanations on certain subjects that couldn't be explained with a simple meaning.
You have a dictionary, star map collections, a listing of spaceships with descriptions, sports, timelines, source texts and which planets they are associated with, information on the Rigel Concourse, explanations on the modes or phases of Marune, and so much more. If you have never read Jack Vance, this book would be essential to start reading his work. It would make reading it a lot easier to understand immediately. If you have already read his work, this would be an invaluable tool to ensure comprehension. It is also great for helping you remember the entire world. I could see people using this book as a tool to write fanfiction.
I highly recommend anyone who reads science fiction to give this a shot, either before you start reading the Jack Vance world or if you're already a fan of the world. I would also recommend that you write down the cipher to keep it in front of you when you need it. I don't think there's anything out there quite like this, and not for this world.
December 10, 2017
When you consider the sheer amount of planets Vance concocted to suit his often anthropological/sociological science fiction needs, this handbook really comes across as quite the achievement. Includes also indexes of works whose setting overlap (subtly and not), kinds of spaceship, and a very useful hypothetical timeline.
May 16, 2024
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
An exhaustive dictionary type reference book of all the planets and places in Jack Vance's books. Vance was prolific, so there is a lot to cover.
If you're into this kind of thing, definitely get it.
An exhaustive dictionary type reference book of all the planets and places in Jack Vance's books. Vance was prolific, so there is a lot to cover.
If you're into this kind of thing, definitely get it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews