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Demon Princes #1-5
Demon Princes
In a far-off future, criminals have the freedom to pursue their most violent passions among the civilized worlds of the Oikumene, assured that justice cannot follow when they escape into the lawless Beyond—a vast playground where the most elusive and monomaniacal murderers, thieves, and slavers can conquer a world of their own, play out complex fantasies of bloodlust, pursue revenge and immortality over generations, give themselves to a psychotic world of self-absorption, and devalue their neighbors' property values.
Five of the most quixotic and efficient killers in the Gaean Reach gathered to execute a joint venture, slave-taking on the colony world of Mount Pleasant. One survivor of that raid dedicates his life to mold his grandson, Kirth Gerson, into a seeker of justice and executioner of these five. Gathered in this unified offering is the tale of Gersen's revenge.
Gersen's tale begins with The Star King on the backwater of Smade's World, and covers five manhunts that span known space. Gersen, himself a part-time operative for the stellar Interpol, the IPCC, becomes a counterfeiter, kidnapper, and more as his destiny dictates.
Jack Vance marked his entrance to the field of large scale science fiction with this series. Settings range from Sailmaker Beach on oceanic Alphanor of the Rigel Concourse, to the deserts of Dar Sai, the poisoners' steppes of Sarkovy, and an incredible variety of other worlds of the Beyond. We are introduced to Mankind's loose confederation of settled space, the Gaean Reach, which figures prominently in many of Vance's later tales.
The Demon Princes offers vividly imagined and meticulously fleshed characters who inhabit a universe of fantastic environments and deadly perils. Kirth Gersen's antagonists are exemplars of excessive self-esteem and artistic flair for the sadistic and ironic. There isn't a slow moment as Gersen works to keep his skin intact while pursuing some of the most interesting and flamboyant criminals in SF.
Cover art by David Russell
Five of the most quixotic and efficient killers in the Gaean Reach gathered to execute a joint venture, slave-taking on the colony world of Mount Pleasant. One survivor of that raid dedicates his life to mold his grandson, Kirth Gerson, into a seeker of justice and executioner of these five. Gathered in this unified offering is the tale of Gersen's revenge.
Gersen's tale begins with The Star King on the backwater of Smade's World, and covers five manhunts that span known space. Gersen, himself a part-time operative for the stellar Interpol, the IPCC, becomes a counterfeiter, kidnapper, and more as his destiny dictates.
Jack Vance marked his entrance to the field of large scale science fiction with this series. Settings range from Sailmaker Beach on oceanic Alphanor of the Rigel Concourse, to the deserts of Dar Sai, the poisoners' steppes of Sarkovy, and an incredible variety of other worlds of the Beyond. We are introduced to Mankind's loose confederation of settled space, the Gaean Reach, which figures prominently in many of Vance's later tales.
The Demon Princes offers vividly imagined and meticulously fleshed characters who inhabit a universe of fantastic environments and deadly perils. Kirth Gersen's antagonists are exemplars of excessive self-esteem and artistic flair for the sadistic and ironic. There isn't a slow moment as Gersen works to keep his skin intact while pursuing some of the most interesting and flamboyant criminals in SF.
Cover art by David Russell
1104 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1986
About the author
Jack Vance
815 books1,453 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
October 21, 2008
4.0 to 4.5 stars. This omnibus collects all 5 volumes of the excellent, and under-rated, Demon Prince series by Jack Vance. Kirth Gersen is the sole survivor of the "Mount Pleasant Massacre" that was perpetrated by five arch-criminals known as "the Demon Princes." Each book follows Kirth as he tracks down and gets revenge on one of the Demon Princes. I have reviewed each of the individual installments elsewhere so I will just reiterate my basic impression of Vance as a writer in this series.
Vance is a master story-teller with an incredible imagination and a talent for concise, descriptive writing that immerses his readers in the worlds he creates without needing a lot of pages to do it. Each of the Demon Prince novels are only around 200 pages but every page is so filled with the history, the culture, the economy, the governments and the people of the Oikumene (the universe setting in which these stories take place) that authors with 600 pages could not provide this much depth. Yet such information is so seamlessly interwoven into the plot, that you never get the "info dump" feeling that can sometimes detract from the pace of the story.
Bottom-line, Vance is rightfully considered one of the best writers of science fiction's golden age and this is a superb example of why. Highly Recommended!!!! (less)
Vance is a master story-teller with an incredible imagination and a talent for concise, descriptive writing that immerses his readers in the worlds he creates without needing a lot of pages to do it. Each of the Demon Prince novels are only around 200 pages but every page is so filled with the history, the culture, the economy, the governments and the people of the Oikumene (the universe setting in which these stories take place) that authors with 600 pages could not provide this much depth. Yet such information is so seamlessly interwoven into the plot, that you never get the "info dump" feeling that can sometimes detract from the pace of the story.
Bottom-line, Vance is rightfully considered one of the best writers of science fiction's golden age and this is a superb example of why. Highly Recommended!!!! (less)
June 14, 2019
Absolutely five stars. Jack Vance has the deftest touch, and when it comes for intricate plotting, brilliant dialog, dry wit, and unbounded imagination he can't be beat. He's in a class of his own, and this collection of the Demon Princes is him at his best. There are very few novels that I find an absolute delight to read, where I am so comfortable and eager to just sit back and enjoy the tale, that stumbling across this series made it an absolute pleasure.
I'll skip the summary, since that should be obvious from a quick read of the back cover, and instead urge you to simply pick this up and dive right in. Vance has an unparalleled ability to toss of entire worlds in a few paragraphs, creating endless societies, cultural mores, customs and traditions with less effort than one would deem possible. This isn't done gratuitously; each of these different locales places a key role in the development of the plot, as the hero Gersen must learn to navigate their idiosyncrasies in order to accomplish his goals.
And the humor! Droll, wry, erudite, light and pithy, Vance's is humor clearly is to my liking, and I reread these books to savor the exchanges Gersen has with the endless minor characters he comes across during his travels. For example:
"Naturally, naturally," agreed Magnus Ridolph. "However, let us view the matter from a different aspect. Let us momentarily forget that we are friends, neighbors, almost business associates, each acting only through motives of the highest integrity. Let us assume that we are strangers, unmoral, predatory."
Blantham blew out his cheeks, eyed Magnus Ridolph doubtfully. "Far-fetched, of course. But go on."
That's but a selection amongst thousands. For a truly masterly review, I urge you to visit the Owlcroft site and read what it's author had to say there. You can visit his review here.
I'll skip the summary, since that should be obvious from a quick read of the back cover, and instead urge you to simply pick this up and dive right in. Vance has an unparalleled ability to toss of entire worlds in a few paragraphs, creating endless societies, cultural mores, customs and traditions with less effort than one would deem possible. This isn't done gratuitously; each of these different locales places a key role in the development of the plot, as the hero Gersen must learn to navigate their idiosyncrasies in order to accomplish his goals.
And the humor! Droll, wry, erudite, light and pithy, Vance's is humor clearly is to my liking, and I reread these books to savor the exchanges Gersen has with the endless minor characters he comes across during his travels. For example:
"Naturally, naturally," agreed Magnus Ridolph. "However, let us view the matter from a different aspect. Let us momentarily forget that we are friends, neighbors, almost business associates, each acting only through motives of the highest integrity. Let us assume that we are strangers, unmoral, predatory."
Blantham blew out his cheeks, eyed Magnus Ridolph doubtfully. "Far-fetched, of course. But go on."
That's but a selection amongst thousands. For a truly masterly review, I urge you to visit the Owlcroft site and read what it's author had to say there. You can visit his review here.
January 6, 2016
I would like to review each book individually at some future point, as it's something I intend to re-read soon. For now though, I can't hold back from offering some general commentary on what is, in my view, one of the most rewarding multi-volume sagas in genre fiction.
Revenge. We're told from a young age these days that it's not such a noble motivation. Nevertheless, society counters this by making revenge the theme of hundreds of movies, books and shows. Some of these are undeniable classics, where others are simply an excuse for what I recently heard termed "action porn". One's mileage may vary, of course, as to how much you find of value in these sorts of narratives. I noted to a friend recently that in film in particular it's becoming rather tiresome. Yet, upon reflection, some of my favourite classic books and films are revenge narratives. The best, of course, deliver more than just the temporary satisfaction of seeing barely sketched antagonists mowed down in a hail of machine gun fire. The best have depth, and action that brings about consequence, and a detailed skein of characters in shades of grey.
What's special about The Demon Princes? It's a bit like The Count of Monte Crysto in space. You could also compare it with that other science fiction classic, Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. It's also very familiar with the tropes of detective fiction, this being one of Vance's specialties. yet there's something that really sets it apart from all other work in the field, and I think that's Vance's style.
Everyone talks about "world building" these days,and how important it is, if you're going to set your story in a largely made-up universe. everyone wants context, verisimilitude, a sense of place. Understandable, certainly. Yet so many writers get so bogged down in their detail that a story that shouldn't encompass more than a couple of hundred pages suddenly turns into a thousand-page doorstopper with seven sequels. Vance had a unique and unparalleled talent for this. His vocabulary and knowledge branches far and wide into all sorts of fields and corners one might not expect, and he uses devices that one might find awkward in some hands, like notes (foot and end) to help give some credence to his worlds, yet it's all done so seamlessly, so naturally, with such confidence and precision that the reader doesn't even notice that the plot is moving at a leisurely pace, because Vance wants you to look, smell, listen to everything around you, not just follow a narrative through its paces. Vance has such unpretentious confidence in his own voice, such a grasp of exactly how to immerse a certain type of reader into his story, that details that might seem extraneous become integral, and if you, reader, allow him to be your guide for a while, you will really and truly feel like you are inside the world he has built.
He does these things with each and every element at his disposal. Although he can't resist making every character speak in his trademark grandiose and eloquent style of dialogue, every conversation reveals something; not a word is ever wasted. parallel with the story "proper", we have metatextual sections which begin every chapter, and they are as much fun to read as the story itself. These segues could take the form of articles from imagined periodocals, interviews, educational texts, songs, poems, religious tracts, fantastical musings (the "Scroll from the Seventh Dimension" which is exerpted once in every novel is a particular delight and when combined basically tells a story of its own), and quotes from famous persons. There is sociology, politics, economics, history -- all of its here, and because of the variety of sources from which these ideas come to the reader, none of it comes across as preachy or heavyhanded unless Vance has that specific intention in mind, which sometimes he clearly does!
Through five short novels, we follow Kearth Gersen as he travels through the galaxy in this grand and ambitious space opera to avenge himself on the five criminal masterminds who destroyed his family. He is one of Vance's "superman" protagonists: incredibly skilled at a multitude of crafts and means, able to use weapons or fight with his hands, build things or pilot a spaceship. Heinlein would have been proud of this man. The rest of us can feel a little awed at his abilities, for a short time, until we sort of realise (as Gersen himself begins to as the series strides toward its inevitable conclusion) that all these skills of his have been honed for a somewhat narrow purpose. He attempts romance several times, but it never really lasts long. He reflects, certainly, and at times there is a cloud of sadness around him, but none of this ever deflects him from what he sees as his ultimate purpose. Not only is Gersen not really that type of person, but Vance doesn't generally waste time on mopery and angst, prefering instead to have us draw conclusions about the depth of a character through his words and deeds. You won't find any italicised ruminations here or lengthy inner monologues, in other words, but trust me, you won't miss them at all.
I would say the series begins a little "lighter", and becomes more transcendent and immersive as it goes on, and as Vance's own career gains more experience. About twenty years separate the publication of the first and final book, so this is only natural. usually people cite either book four or five as the best in the series; for me it's book four, The face, which also has the most satisfying ending, one that will make you throw your hands in the air at the great poetic justice. The villains don't get their own clear perspective, as such, but through context and detail revealed through various means, they actually possess a great deal of depth, and while all five are undeniably dangerous, a couple wind up being rather tragic, and in the case of number four (Lens Larque), rather sympathetic. Vance never lets you forget that these are devious murderers and slavers, though, and you certainly wouldn't want to cross paths with any of these people unless you were armed with one hell of a plan. Vance asks us to believe that in this far future age, these five arch criminals are able to remain "anonymous", in the sense that though their names be notorious, noone really knows what they look like or how they might be found. While some may find this hard to swallow, remember that these people are incredibly rich and resourceful, and information dissemanation on a galactic scale is not exactly as simple as "The Internet". This provides the detection aspect of the work, as Gersen's primary task must be to sniff out these men and discover how they might be unearthed.
By no means should you skip the early books in the series. It's basically a semi-continuous narrative, and while each book is self-contained to a degree, you will want to see the progression of Gersen's quest through from the beginning to the end. Certainly, take breaks between each novel. Vance is rich and heavy, but not exhausting, and while I will concede that in many ways the series does get better as it goes on, the first two books are not markedly weaker than the rest.
I can't wait to begin the saga again. It's been a part of me for years and I always knew I would come back to it. Writing this now, i realise that the time is nie.
Revenge. We're told from a young age these days that it's not such a noble motivation. Nevertheless, society counters this by making revenge the theme of hundreds of movies, books and shows. Some of these are undeniable classics, where others are simply an excuse for what I recently heard termed "action porn". One's mileage may vary, of course, as to how much you find of value in these sorts of narratives. I noted to a friend recently that in film in particular it's becoming rather tiresome. Yet, upon reflection, some of my favourite classic books and films are revenge narratives. The best, of course, deliver more than just the temporary satisfaction of seeing barely sketched antagonists mowed down in a hail of machine gun fire. The best have depth, and action that brings about consequence, and a detailed skein of characters in shades of grey.
What's special about The Demon Princes? It's a bit like The Count of Monte Crysto in space. You could also compare it with that other science fiction classic, Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination. It's also very familiar with the tropes of detective fiction, this being one of Vance's specialties. yet there's something that really sets it apart from all other work in the field, and I think that's Vance's style.
Everyone talks about "world building" these days,and how important it is, if you're going to set your story in a largely made-up universe. everyone wants context, verisimilitude, a sense of place. Understandable, certainly. Yet so many writers get so bogged down in their detail that a story that shouldn't encompass more than a couple of hundred pages suddenly turns into a thousand-page doorstopper with seven sequels. Vance had a unique and unparalleled talent for this. His vocabulary and knowledge branches far and wide into all sorts of fields and corners one might not expect, and he uses devices that one might find awkward in some hands, like notes (foot and end) to help give some credence to his worlds, yet it's all done so seamlessly, so naturally, with such confidence and precision that the reader doesn't even notice that the plot is moving at a leisurely pace, because Vance wants you to look, smell, listen to everything around you, not just follow a narrative through its paces. Vance has such unpretentious confidence in his own voice, such a grasp of exactly how to immerse a certain type of reader into his story, that details that might seem extraneous become integral, and if you, reader, allow him to be your guide for a while, you will really and truly feel like you are inside the world he has built.
He does these things with each and every element at his disposal. Although he can't resist making every character speak in his trademark grandiose and eloquent style of dialogue, every conversation reveals something; not a word is ever wasted. parallel with the story "proper", we have metatextual sections which begin every chapter, and they are as much fun to read as the story itself. These segues could take the form of articles from imagined periodocals, interviews, educational texts, songs, poems, religious tracts, fantastical musings (the "Scroll from the Seventh Dimension" which is exerpted once in every novel is a particular delight and when combined basically tells a story of its own), and quotes from famous persons. There is sociology, politics, economics, history -- all of its here, and because of the variety of sources from which these ideas come to the reader, none of it comes across as preachy or heavyhanded unless Vance has that specific intention in mind, which sometimes he clearly does!
Through five short novels, we follow Kearth Gersen as he travels through the galaxy in this grand and ambitious space opera to avenge himself on the five criminal masterminds who destroyed his family. He is one of Vance's "superman" protagonists: incredibly skilled at a multitude of crafts and means, able to use weapons or fight with his hands, build things or pilot a spaceship. Heinlein would have been proud of this man. The rest of us can feel a little awed at his abilities, for a short time, until we sort of realise (as Gersen himself begins to as the series strides toward its inevitable conclusion) that all these skills of his have been honed for a somewhat narrow purpose. He attempts romance several times, but it never really lasts long. He reflects, certainly, and at times there is a cloud of sadness around him, but none of this ever deflects him from what he sees as his ultimate purpose. Not only is Gersen not really that type of person, but Vance doesn't generally waste time on mopery and angst, prefering instead to have us draw conclusions about the depth of a character through his words and deeds. You won't find any italicised ruminations here or lengthy inner monologues, in other words, but trust me, you won't miss them at all.
I would say the series begins a little "lighter", and becomes more transcendent and immersive as it goes on, and as Vance's own career gains more experience. About twenty years separate the publication of the first and final book, so this is only natural. usually people cite either book four or five as the best in the series; for me it's book four, The face, which also has the most satisfying ending, one that will make you throw your hands in the air at the great poetic justice. The villains don't get their own clear perspective, as such, but through context and detail revealed through various means, they actually possess a great deal of depth, and while all five are undeniably dangerous, a couple wind up being rather tragic, and in the case of number four (Lens Larque), rather sympathetic. Vance never lets you forget that these are devious murderers and slavers, though, and you certainly wouldn't want to cross paths with any of these people unless you were armed with one hell of a plan. Vance asks us to believe that in this far future age, these five arch criminals are able to remain "anonymous", in the sense that though their names be notorious, noone really knows what they look like or how they might be found. While some may find this hard to swallow, remember that these people are incredibly rich and resourceful, and information dissemanation on a galactic scale is not exactly as simple as "The Internet". This provides the detection aspect of the work, as Gersen's primary task must be to sniff out these men and discover how they might be unearthed.
By no means should you skip the early books in the series. It's basically a semi-continuous narrative, and while each book is self-contained to a degree, you will want to see the progression of Gersen's quest through from the beginning to the end. Certainly, take breaks between each novel. Vance is rich and heavy, but not exhausting, and while I will concede that in many ways the series does get better as it goes on, the first two books are not markedly weaker than the rest.
I can't wait to begin the saga again. It's been a part of me for years and I always knew I would come back to it. Writing this now, i realise that the time is nie.
November 24, 2017
Jack Vance’s ‘Demon Princes’ series, written over almost twenty years, is an amalgam of the three styles at which he excelled. And a curious hybrid beast it makes, perhaps the most distinctive example of Vance's always distinctive style, if not always the best of his books.
The books are nominally science fiction, and scrupulously observe all of the tropes of the genre. It is great fun to see how Vance obeys the rules while blithely doing his own thing – no professional genre writer was ever less constrained by the requirements of genre. Because at heart the books are fantasies, concerned primarily with exotic world-building and extravagant characterisation. Structurally, however, they are thrillers, each one a narrative of detection and revenge, with overtones of Jacobean revenge tragedy. So we have a series of outrageously colourful science-fictional-fantastical-revenge thrillers that could have come from no typewriter other than Jack Vance’s...
At the centre of the swirl of Vancian colour and language is the curiously colourless character of Kirth Gersen, the revenger. He is almost a cipher, his motives and actions described with un-Vancian economy. His backstory is only sketched in, and hardly relevant. He is simply a philosophical killing machine, and his few human contacts bear little emotional weight. The brevity with which he is dismissed in the final sentence of the final book is quite startling.
The Wikipedia article on the series makes the interesting observation that all of the ‘villains’ in the books are frustrated artists, but cannot decide if this is significant or not. Vance was the least ‘significant’ of writers. I’m sure the significance is simply that it gave Vance an opportunity to engage in his customary extravagant flights of fancy.
None of Vance’s characters are ‘real’, and yet sometimes they come to life with powerful vividness, particularly when they are allowed to have a childhood - 'Emphyrio' and 'Suldrun's Garden' are particularly potent evocations. This doesn’t happen for any of the characters in ‘The Demon Princes’, which may be why, despite its many wonderful things, it doesn’t fully engage the reader emotionally. Like all the best writers, Vance could write magically about childhood: 'The Demon Princes', in as much as it has any 'message', is about a man who was never allowed to be a child.
The books are nominally science fiction, and scrupulously observe all of the tropes of the genre. It is great fun to see how Vance obeys the rules while blithely doing his own thing – no professional genre writer was ever less constrained by the requirements of genre. Because at heart the books are fantasies, concerned primarily with exotic world-building and extravagant characterisation. Structurally, however, they are thrillers, each one a narrative of detection and revenge, with overtones of Jacobean revenge tragedy. So we have a series of outrageously colourful science-fictional-fantastical-revenge thrillers that could have come from no typewriter other than Jack Vance’s...
At the centre of the swirl of Vancian colour and language is the curiously colourless character of Kirth Gersen, the revenger. He is almost a cipher, his motives and actions described with un-Vancian economy. His backstory is only sketched in, and hardly relevant. He is simply a philosophical killing machine, and his few human contacts bear little emotional weight. The brevity with which he is dismissed in the final sentence of the final book is quite startling.
The Wikipedia article on the series makes the interesting observation that all of the ‘villains’ in the books are frustrated artists, but cannot decide if this is significant or not. Vance was the least ‘significant’ of writers. I’m sure the significance is simply that it gave Vance an opportunity to engage in his customary extravagant flights of fancy.
None of Vance’s characters are ‘real’, and yet sometimes they come to life with powerful vividness, particularly when they are allowed to have a childhood - 'Emphyrio' and 'Suldrun's Garden' are particularly potent evocations. This doesn’t happen for any of the characters in ‘The Demon Princes’, which may be why, despite its many wonderful things, it doesn’t fully engage the reader emotionally. Like all the best writers, Vance could write magically about childhood: 'The Demon Princes', in as much as it has any 'message', is about a man who was never allowed to be a child.
May 17, 2016
Jack Vance died recently so I thought I ought to devote some reading time to him. Apparently a lesser known but highly regarded Sci-Fi writer. I know I've read some of his short stories but this is the first novel-length book for me. It's actually 5 books in one stretching from 1964 to 1981.
Started last night and already happy with my choice. It's a fairly standard quest/revenge tale set in the future of humanity in and on new worlds in "outer space", but very literate and well written. Notes:
The cover of my hardbound edition is slightly different.
Have already encountered the name "Mr. Spock"! This first book's from 1964...
A bit further along after working last evening. Very much enjoying this generic but well-wrought story. I love the names he comes up with. Very imaginative...
And now for the next tale. The Star King is dispatched in a novel and gruesome way. The story is generic sci-fi in a way so the enjoyment comes more from Vance's interesting writing. Sort of wistful and bemused. Neither he nor Kirth Gersen get overly excited!
Now into the second installment called "The Killing Machine" and so far so good, though I did notice an almost verbatim copying of a descriptive sentence from the first book!
And moving on with the anticipated arrival of the most bodacious babe in the galaxy. By the way... what happened to the the bootylicious Pallis Atwrode from the previous tale? Not mentioned here...
Done with #2 and time for a break. I'm going to read "The Great Gatsby" and then go back for more. Vance wanders into some fantasy territory with the planet of Thamber. A bit of Anne McCaffrey w/o the dragons. Kirth gets the girl and it'll be interesting to see if she's still around for the next installment. Mr. G, by the way, is a smart and lucky fellow.
Moving on now to "The Palace of Love" and Viole Falushe. As others have noted the bad guys are getting ever weirder! But also sort of mundane. The girlfriend has been axed right away... as I expected. She might turn up again though. And now we're back on Old Earth - The Netherlands of all places!
Finished with the middle story, "The Palace of Love", last night. A more meandering, wistful detective story with a novel end for the bad guy, who was a bit more interesting than the previous two. A spurned teen-aged geek-genius turned monomaniac arch-criminal with a fascinating sort of emotional Disneyland-theme park. Something much like cloning turns up here. Now for a break before three and four. I'll have to renew this library book! Vance's writing continues to be a major plus...
Now started on #4: "The Face" and the baddie named Lens Larque. This one was written more than ten years after the first three. I guess JV needed a break. I've taken a break too and renewed the book and will now finish it.
And finished last night. This one's the longest of the series and the most detailed so far in its cultural creations. The author took a long break between this one and installment #3 and it was a great idea to do so. The desert world of Dar Sai reminds of "Dune" and I'll bet Vance read that before writing this. The Darsh are an amusingly scuzzy branch of the human race. The ending is a fine surprise too. Now on to the last one...
I'm all done now after staying up a bit late last night to finish "The Book of Dreams" - another great story. This episode has a bit more to do with the "Institute". Not surprising as the author has danced around that topic in the first four. Jack Vance is my new favorite sci-fi writer. The best prose-stylist in the genre so far though I have to admit I need to read more of some others like Dick, Farmer, Bradbury, Atwood and Le Guin. Will do... Lots of humor in this one: one of the key scenes takes place at a rural high school reunion from hell on a planet far, far away. Notes:
- Kirth Gersen has a bit of James Bond in him. Without the extravagance...
- There's also a link here to comic books. Howard seems kind of similar to Lex Luthor for instance.
- Howard and Viole had a similar backstory. Nerds... Howard's story is more fleshed out than Viole's.
- Point Kittery! My family lived right next to Kittery Point in Maine for years.
Started last night and already happy with my choice. It's a fairly standard quest/revenge tale set in the future of humanity in and on new worlds in "outer space", but very literate and well written. Notes:
The cover of my hardbound edition is slightly different.
Have already encountered the name "Mr. Spock"! This first book's from 1964...
A bit further along after working last evening. Very much enjoying this generic but well-wrought story. I love the names he comes up with. Very imaginative...
And now for the next tale. The Star King is dispatched in a novel and gruesome way. The story is generic sci-fi in a way so the enjoyment comes more from Vance's interesting writing. Sort of wistful and bemused. Neither he nor Kirth Gersen get overly excited!
Now into the second installment called "The Killing Machine" and so far so good, though I did notice an almost verbatim copying of a descriptive sentence from the first book!
And moving on with the anticipated arrival of the most bodacious babe in the galaxy. By the way... what happened to the the bootylicious Pallis Atwrode from the previous tale? Not mentioned here...
Done with #2 and time for a break. I'm going to read "The Great Gatsby" and then go back for more. Vance wanders into some fantasy territory with the planet of Thamber. A bit of Anne McCaffrey w/o the dragons. Kirth gets the girl and it'll be interesting to see if she's still around for the next installment. Mr. G, by the way, is a smart and lucky fellow.
Moving on now to "The Palace of Love" and Viole Falushe. As others have noted the bad guys are getting ever weirder! But also sort of mundane. The girlfriend has been axed right away... as I expected. She might turn up again though. And now we're back on Old Earth - The Netherlands of all places!
Finished with the middle story, "The Palace of Love", last night. A more meandering, wistful detective story with a novel end for the bad guy, who was a bit more interesting than the previous two. A spurned teen-aged geek-genius turned monomaniac arch-criminal with a fascinating sort of emotional Disneyland-theme park. Something much like cloning turns up here. Now for a break before three and four. I'll have to renew this library book! Vance's writing continues to be a major plus...
Now started on #4: "The Face" and the baddie named Lens Larque. This one was written more than ten years after the first three. I guess JV needed a break. I've taken a break too and renewed the book and will now finish it.
And finished last night. This one's the longest of the series and the most detailed so far in its cultural creations. The author took a long break between this one and installment #3 and it was a great idea to do so. The desert world of Dar Sai reminds of "Dune" and I'll bet Vance read that before writing this. The Darsh are an amusingly scuzzy branch of the human race. The ending is a fine surprise too. Now on to the last one...
I'm all done now after staying up a bit late last night to finish "The Book of Dreams" - another great story. This episode has a bit more to do with the "Institute". Not surprising as the author has danced around that topic in the first four. Jack Vance is my new favorite sci-fi writer. The best prose-stylist in the genre so far though I have to admit I need to read more of some others like Dick, Farmer, Bradbury, Atwood and Le Guin. Will do... Lots of humor in this one: one of the key scenes takes place at a rural high school reunion from hell on a planet far, far away. Notes:
- Kirth Gersen has a bit of James Bond in him. Without the extravagance...
- There's also a link here to comic books. Howard seems kind of similar to Lex Luthor for instance.
- Howard and Viole had a similar backstory. Nerds... Howard's story is more fleshed out than Viole's.
- Point Kittery! My family lived right next to Kittery Point in Maine for years.
June 11, 2019
The Demon Princes (#1-5 omnibus)
This edition contains all 5 of the Jack Vance's The Demon Princes series: The Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face , and The Book of Dreams. Star kings are nonhuman, asexual, alien beings who have changed their appearances to look like men. When our main character, Kirth Gersen, was a 9 years old, five of the star kings organized an attack one of the colonies on a planet where all of the people, including his parents, were killed or enslaved except for Kirth and his grandfather. This attack was subsequently referred to as the Mount Pleasant Massacre. After escaping the planet Kirth Gersen's grandfather raised him and had him trained for many years in hand to hand combat and the skillful use of weapons and poison so that Kirth when an adult would be able to track down and kill all five of the star kings. Kirth became a highly trained killer with one life ambition. For Gersen, however, revenge is more of a mission of justice than an act of anger. In each of the five novels Gersen focuses on one of the star kings. Each is a novel in itself but for best appreciation I recommend reading them in order.
The Star King
The Star King is the first of five easy to read, fast paced, entertaining, well written novels that comprise the Jack Vance series called The Demon Princes. The Star King was first released in 1963 and 1964 as a serial in Galaxy magazine. Originally the name of the first star king encountered was Grendel the Monster but in the novel released in April 1964 he was renamed Attel Malagate or Malagate the Woe.
The story begins in the far future with Kirth Gersen's visit at Smade's Tavern, a colorful tavern and hotel on Smade's Planet that is near the border of the civilized world called The Oikumene and the wild ungoverned planets of The Beyond. (Vance fans will probably note some similarities between The Oikumene and Vance's later Gaean Reach.) While sitting at the tavern Gersen meets an explorer Lugo Teehalt who claims he has discovered a rare, amazingly beautiful new planet with exotic life forms on it. Teehalt is hesitant to report his discovery to his employer, Attel Malagate, who owns the spaceship because Malagate is a known criminal and Teehalt is fearful of what Malagate might do with the newly discovered virgin planet. But Malagate's agents are already on Smade's Planet and after dealing with Teehalt they take what they think is the spaceship Malagate loaned to Teehalt. But it turns out to be Gersen's spaceship and Gersen ends up with the ship Teehalt had been using. Gersen, however, has concerns beyond getting his own ship back. He is now on the trail of Malagate, one of the five star kings who killed his parents and destroyed the colony he lived in. Having Malagate's ship is his bait for finding Malagate.
Although The Star King is not quite as interesting as the last two books in The Demon Princes (The Face and The Book of Dreams), it is a very good novel and provides all of the background information so that The Demon Princes series makes sense. (It needs to be read first.) It does have a few flaws, however. There is a romance between Gersen and a woman named Pallis Atwrode but it is not well developed and the woman seems like a mere token figure rather than a fleshed out character. The novel might not seem as deep or complex as some of Vance's really great novels. A few readers might have some difficulty emphasizing with Kirth Gersen because he is so obsessed with killing star kings. But subsequent novels in the series provide more development to his character, and The Star King is more than simply a straight forward, easy to read revenge novel. I loved reading about the strange places and planets that were described in detail along with the unusual and interesting alien creatures. The 140 pages are entertaining and filled with action. I also thought the dialog was engaging and lively. After my first reading of The Star King several years ago I rated it a 4 and upon rereading I liked it even slightly better.
The Killing Machine
The Killing Machine is the second novel in the five book series by Jack Vance called The Demon Princes. It was first published as a novel in 1964 and is still in print. My copy is 136 pages long, making it the shortest book in the series. I read it several years ago and rated it a 4 but after reading it a second time I am rating it a 5. It remains my favorite of the first three books of the series.
This time Kirth Gersen is looking for the star king named Kokor Hekkus, one of the five star kings who killed his parents and destroyed his childhood home. Kokor Hekkus means "killing machine" in the language on Hekkus's home planet of Thamber. This is a reference to the horrific giant combat machines Hekkus commissions to be made, the latest one resembling a highly aggressive, giant alien creature. While this war machine is being created Hekkus kidnaps some children of wealthy parents in order to raise more revenue. He takes them to the Interchange, a planet in the Beyond, where the hostages are confined until a ransom is collected. It is something of a prison and banking intermediary that collects a commission for the hostages held there who are ransomed, leaving the kidnappers free to deal with other activities and concerns. In order to get closer to Hekkus, Gersen takes on a commission from the parents of the children who were kidnapped in order to track down and try to rescue them. He visits the Interchange under the guise of a slave purchaser.
This is a very colorful, fast paced, entertaining novel with an intriguing, convoluted plot that includes many fascinating characters, tribes, and planets. After Gersen visits the Interchange and bids on hostages, he becomes a partner in an engineering company and assists to make a more effective mobile combat machine that people ride in and operate. This one has been commissioned by Kokor Hekkus and resembles a highly aggressive, giant, alien animal called a dnazd. At one point there is a colorful fight between the robot dnazd and a real dnazd. Gersen himself is kidnapped and while being confined he learns to make counterfeit money. Later he joins up with a tribe of primitive creatures who are at war with Hekkus and ends up challenging the leader of the tribe in order to rescue a woman in distress. Every page seems to bring some new encounter, often laced with irony or humor and always done with flair and imagination. Almost every wild adventure and activity is an attempt by Gersen to get closer to Kokor Hekkus so he can kill him for revenge. But this is very challenging because Hekkus is not only difficult to locate; he is difficult to even identify.
Most of the background material about Kirth Gersen is in the first book, The Star King, so this needs to be read prior to The Killing Machine. Highly recommended.
The Palace of Love
The Palace of Love was first published in 1966 in Galaxy Magazine. It was released as a novel in 1968. This is the third book in Jack Vance's The Demon Princes. My copy is 154 pages long, making it slightly longer than the first two novels in the series. The first novel of the series, The Star King, provided essential background material so should be read first. In The Killing Machine, the second novel, there is further development of the main character, Kirth Gersen, so that ideally should also be read prior to reading The Palace of Love. This is the second time I've read The Palace of Love and I liked it better the second time, changing my earlier rating of a 3 now to a 4. For me it is still the least fascinating of the five book series, but it is still well worth reading.
Kirth Gersen continues his obsession with tracking down and killing the five demon princes who killed his parents and destroyed the colony where he lived when he was a child. So far he has succeeded in doing so with two of them. This time he is after Viole Falushe. At one time when still a teenager Falushe kidnapped an entire choir of girls and sold them all into slavery. Now he is very wealthy slave owner and is the absolute dictator on his own planet where all residents must give him their first born child to enslave or use as he likes. He spends much of his time on his planet at a place called The Palace of Love where visitors are sometimes invited as guests.
Gersen visits the planet Sarkovy with a woman friend named Alusz Ilphigenia Eperje-Tokay in order to track down a lead that might help him find Falushe. Sarkovy is a planet known for its many natural botanical poisons and its populace of highly skilled poison masters who offer their services for hire and readily sell very lethal poisons at a price set by the poisoners' guild. One Sarkovy resident is about to be executed by the guild for having sold poison to Falushe at a discount price. Gersen hopes to interview him for leads to track Falushe down. Gersen's obsession with tracking down and killing Falushe and his involvement with poisons, death and shady characters creates difficulties with his new romantic relationship with Alusz.
Gersen's pursuit takes him to Old Earth where he meets the mad poet Navarth who use to be Falushe's mentor and a mysterious young woman named Drusilla Wayles or “Zan Zu from Eridu,” who was given to Navarth as a child by Falushe to be cared for. There is a bizarre wild costume party hosted by Navarth where Gersen finds out what Falushe looks like. Gersen then decides to purchase a reputable but failing Cosmopolis Magazine so he can hire himself as a writer and then use this as an angle to try to arrange an interview with Falushe. He offers to write a more complementary and sympathetic article about Falushe than the article that was already submitted to Cosmopolis Magazine which they are about to publish. Of course Gersen also wrote this initial, highly critical article that he shares with Falushe. He does not admit to writing the article but says the magazine will refrain from publishing it if he can write a substitute article based on an interview with Falushe. Will Falushe take the bait and agree to a person to person interview? If he does agree, how can Gersen work around the extensive security measures that protect Falushe?
Vance's description of Sarkovy and its people is fascinating, but the far future Earth is given very little description despite the time spent there and many activities that happened there. The most interesting portrait is of Falushes's planet and The Palace of Love which is treated with Vance's usual talent for world building as he describes the architecture, people, customs, laws, and culture. Although the plot is rather choppy and somewhat thin, we do have some interesting characters and there is plenty of action. As with all of The Demon Prince novels, I found it engaging, entertaining and easy to read even though they are not quite as detailed or thought provoking as some of Vance's other great novels. And as with all of Vance's writings I find that repeated readings yield new rewards for this reader.
The Face
The Face was first published in 1979 by DAW Books. It is a 194 page novel that is the fourth in the five novel series by Jack Vance called The Demon Princes and was published twelve years after the third novel in the series. Kirth Gersen continues his tracking and killing of the five demon princes who killed his parents and destroyed his colony where he lived when he was a child. Kirth and his grandfather were the only survivors, and his grandfather had Keith trained for many years in hand to hand and weapons combat so that he could avenge the family. This is my second reading of all five novels, having read them previously several years ago. My appreciation for each of them has increased, and my rating for The Face has increased from a 4 to a 5. I continue to find it and the sequel, The Book of Dreams, to be the most fascinating and best written in the series although all five are very readable, highly entertaining and heartily recommended.
In this novel Kirth Gersen attempts to track down Lens Larque also known as The Face. Larque is an ugly looking outcast (rachepol) from the Darsh people who had his ear cut off by his clan for committing a "repulsive" crime. He is now an infamous criminal who is noted for his cruel jests often done for revenge or one-upmanship. He is very intelligent so Gersen must apply all of his skills to outmaneuver him. Although Larque is given rather minimal development, his people, the Darsh from the planet Dar Sai, are described in fascinating detail. They are a harsh, crude, violent, odorous, people enjoy whipping and a brutal combat sport called hadaul. Their food is vile and inedible to outsiders. They are contrasted with their planetary neighbors with whom they have much contact. These are the Methlens who live on the nearby planet of Methel. The Methlens reside in an exclusive community called Llarlarkno where only other Methlen may live. They are extremely ostentatious and proud, considering themselves superior to all other beings, especially the coarse Darsh.
Gersen meets and falls in love with a Methlen woman, Jerdian Chanseth, whose family and society forbid her to have a friendship or romance with him. Gersen even entertains the idea of abandoning his quest to track down demon princes by considering getting married and settling down. He also tries to take control over a mining company that Larque uses as a front. This leads him to interactions with Darsh people as he tries to purchase stock in the company. It also involves stealing a spaceship, impersonating a judge, and fighting in a violent hand to hand combat sport the Darsh call hadaul.
The novel is full of irony, humor, twists and colorful but scathing portraits of two societies that were very different but recognizable. Vance describes their histories, cultures, sexual behaviors, governments, laws, traditions and social conventions in more world building detail than one would expect in a 194 page novel. The people on the planet Dar Sai although very different from the inhabitants of the planet Methel, but both are equally unlikable. The unexpected ending of the novel is humorous, clever and inspired, one of the finest endings to any Vance novel. I will continue to reread The Face and the other novels in The Demon Prince every few years
The Book of Dreams
The Book of Dreams was published in 1981 by DAW Books and is the fifth and final novel in Vance's The Demon Prince series. My copy is 190 pages, making it the second longest novel of the group. The Book of Dreams is my favorite of the five novels, and I rated it a five both times I read it. But the whole series is highly recommended as being highly readable, entertaining and interesting. Although some of the novels in The Demon Prince can be read alone, I have found, after reading the series twice, that enjoyment can be greatly enhanced by reading them in order and by repeated readings. I look forward to reading the series again in a few years.
We learned in the first novel of the series that when Gersen was a child the colony where he lived was attacked by five demon princes who killed everyone, including his family members, and destroyed the colony. Kirth and his grandfather were able to flee and were the only survivors. His grandfather arranged that Kirth be trained for many years in hand to hand and weapons combat so that he could avenge his family. No romance or other attraction has yet turned Gersen away from his monomania, and his stealthily acquired wealth only further enabled him in his pursuits of the demon princes.
Here in the final novel Kirth Gersen continues his quest to track down and kill the five demon princes. The final one Gersen seeks is the elusive and grandiose Howard Alan Treesong, Lord of the Overmen. Several years ago, in his attempt to consolidate power and perhaps become the first ruler of the Gaean worlds, Treesong almost succeeded in having himself appointed as Chief of the Interworld Police Coordination Company (IPCC). The IPCC has not heard anything about him lately, though, and a major problem with tracking him down is that nobody knows what he looks like and there are no known photos of him in existence.
Gersen obtains a photo of a group of seven men that was sent anonymously to his Cosmopolis Magazine company. A note was written on it says "HA Treesong is here". They do not know who sent it, who else is in the photo or where it was taken. Gersen decides to publish the photo in a free inaugural periodical called Extant that he creates. He includes it as part of a contest that offers a reward to the person who can identify the most people in the photograph. He hopes to at least narrow down which man in the photo might be Treesong.
One of the people who eventually responds to the photo is Treesong's father so Gersen visits his planet to learn more about Treesong. He learns that there is an upcoming 25 year high school reunion that Treesong might be attending. In order to be part of the reunion ceremony Gersen hires a band for the reunion on the condition that he be allowed to be one of the members. He cannot play any musical instrument so takes intensive flute lessons, enough to be able to barely play. The reunion turns out to be much more than expected when Treesong turns up with hired thugs, takes control of everything and begins to take acts of revenge against former bullies, teachers, would be girl friends and others who humiliated him when he went to high school there. Treesong, a trained musician, notices that Gersen can't really play the flute so asks his hired men to take Gersen to the river and toss him in. When they arrive at the river Gersen overpowers the two men, takes their weapons and stalks back to the reunion with the intent of killing Treesong But Treesong is only wounded, and Gersen is only barely able to escape the planet alive.
Gersen learns from Treesong's estranged family that Treesong murdered his own best friend, Nymphotis Cleadhoe, when in high school because he thought his friend had stolen his fantasy world writings he titled The Book of Dreams. Treesong's brother, though, was the one who hid the book, and this book is still where he tossed it. Gersen realizes how important this book is to Treesong so he buys it from Treesong's brother. Next Gersen devises an elaborate scheme to allow Treesong to learn about the existence of the book to try to lure him to retrieve it. He contacts Nymphotis Cleadhoe's parents who now reside on a jungle planet where they are caretakers on the Bethune Preserve. (Note the similarities to the later Cadwal Chronicles.) The Cleadhoe couple know that Treesong murdered their child many years ago so gladly cooperate with Gersen in attempting to kill Treesong. Gersen cleverly sets up the trap.
The novel is suspenseful, unpredictable, and elaborately plotted with vivid portraits of odd places and inhabitants such as the religious fanatics in the Maundish area on the planet Mouderveldt, the residents on the planet Pontefract who are obsessed with hats and have developed elaborate customs regarding the wearing of hats, and the Bethune Preserve with its very strange creatures. The novel is so descriptive and detailed that I was even more enthralled the second time I read it. I look forward to reading The Book of Dreams and the entire series again in the near future. Very highly recommended!
This edition contains all 5 of the Jack Vance's The Demon Princes series: The Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face , and The Book of Dreams. Star kings are nonhuman, asexual, alien beings who have changed their appearances to look like men. When our main character, Kirth Gersen, was a 9 years old, five of the star kings organized an attack one of the colonies on a planet where all of the people, including his parents, were killed or enslaved except for Kirth and his grandfather. This attack was subsequently referred to as the Mount Pleasant Massacre. After escaping the planet Kirth Gersen's grandfather raised him and had him trained for many years in hand to hand combat and the skillful use of weapons and poison so that Kirth when an adult would be able to track down and kill all five of the star kings. Kirth became a highly trained killer with one life ambition. For Gersen, however, revenge is more of a mission of justice than an act of anger. In each of the five novels Gersen focuses on one of the star kings. Each is a novel in itself but for best appreciation I recommend reading them in order.
The Star King
The Star King is the first of five easy to read, fast paced, entertaining, well written novels that comprise the Jack Vance series called The Demon Princes. The Star King was first released in 1963 and 1964 as a serial in Galaxy magazine. Originally the name of the first star king encountered was Grendel the Monster but in the novel released in April 1964 he was renamed Attel Malagate or Malagate the Woe.
The story begins in the far future with Kirth Gersen's visit at Smade's Tavern, a colorful tavern and hotel on Smade's Planet that is near the border of the civilized world called The Oikumene and the wild ungoverned planets of The Beyond. (Vance fans will probably note some similarities between The Oikumene and Vance's later Gaean Reach.) While sitting at the tavern Gersen meets an explorer Lugo Teehalt who claims he has discovered a rare, amazingly beautiful new planet with exotic life forms on it. Teehalt is hesitant to report his discovery to his employer, Attel Malagate, who owns the spaceship because Malagate is a known criminal and Teehalt is fearful of what Malagate might do with the newly discovered virgin planet. But Malagate's agents are already on Smade's Planet and after dealing with Teehalt they take what they think is the spaceship Malagate loaned to Teehalt. But it turns out to be Gersen's spaceship and Gersen ends up with the ship Teehalt had been using. Gersen, however, has concerns beyond getting his own ship back. He is now on the trail of Malagate, one of the five star kings who killed his parents and destroyed the colony he lived in. Having Malagate's ship is his bait for finding Malagate.
Although The Star King is not quite as interesting as the last two books in The Demon Princes (The Face and The Book of Dreams), it is a very good novel and provides all of the background information so that The Demon Princes series makes sense. (It needs to be read first.) It does have a few flaws, however. There is a romance between Gersen and a woman named Pallis Atwrode but it is not well developed and the woman seems like a mere token figure rather than a fleshed out character. The novel might not seem as deep or complex as some of Vance's really great novels. A few readers might have some difficulty emphasizing with Kirth Gersen because he is so obsessed with killing star kings. But subsequent novels in the series provide more development to his character, and The Star King is more than simply a straight forward, easy to read revenge novel. I loved reading about the strange places and planets that were described in detail along with the unusual and interesting alien creatures. The 140 pages are entertaining and filled with action. I also thought the dialog was engaging and lively. After my first reading of The Star King several years ago I rated it a 4 and upon rereading I liked it even slightly better.
The Killing Machine
The Killing Machine is the second novel in the five book series by Jack Vance called The Demon Princes. It was first published as a novel in 1964 and is still in print. My copy is 136 pages long, making it the shortest book in the series. I read it several years ago and rated it a 4 but after reading it a second time I am rating it a 5. It remains my favorite of the first three books of the series.
This time Kirth Gersen is looking for the star king named Kokor Hekkus, one of the five star kings who killed his parents and destroyed his childhood home. Kokor Hekkus means "killing machine" in the language on Hekkus's home planet of Thamber. This is a reference to the horrific giant combat machines Hekkus commissions to be made, the latest one resembling a highly aggressive, giant alien creature. While this war machine is being created Hekkus kidnaps some children of wealthy parents in order to raise more revenue. He takes them to the Interchange, a planet in the Beyond, where the hostages are confined until a ransom is collected. It is something of a prison and banking intermediary that collects a commission for the hostages held there who are ransomed, leaving the kidnappers free to deal with other activities and concerns. In order to get closer to Hekkus, Gersen takes on a commission from the parents of the children who were kidnapped in order to track down and try to rescue them. He visits the Interchange under the guise of a slave purchaser.
This is a very colorful, fast paced, entertaining novel with an intriguing, convoluted plot that includes many fascinating characters, tribes, and planets. After Gersen visits the Interchange and bids on hostages, he becomes a partner in an engineering company and assists to make a more effective mobile combat machine that people ride in and operate. This one has been commissioned by Kokor Hekkus and resembles a highly aggressive, giant, alien animal called a dnazd. At one point there is a colorful fight between the robot dnazd and a real dnazd. Gersen himself is kidnapped and while being confined he learns to make counterfeit money. Later he joins up with a tribe of primitive creatures who are at war with Hekkus and ends up challenging the leader of the tribe in order to rescue a woman in distress. Every page seems to bring some new encounter, often laced with irony or humor and always done with flair and imagination. Almost every wild adventure and activity is an attempt by Gersen to get closer to Kokor Hekkus so he can kill him for revenge. But this is very challenging because Hekkus is not only difficult to locate; he is difficult to even identify.
Most of the background material about Kirth Gersen is in the first book, The Star King, so this needs to be read prior to The Killing Machine. Highly recommended.
The Palace of Love
The Palace of Love was first published in 1966 in Galaxy Magazine. It was released as a novel in 1968. This is the third book in Jack Vance's The Demon Princes. My copy is 154 pages long, making it slightly longer than the first two novels in the series. The first novel of the series, The Star King, provided essential background material so should be read first. In The Killing Machine, the second novel, there is further development of the main character, Kirth Gersen, so that ideally should also be read prior to reading The Palace of Love. This is the second time I've read The Palace of Love and I liked it better the second time, changing my earlier rating of a 3 now to a 4. For me it is still the least fascinating of the five book series, but it is still well worth reading.
Kirth Gersen continues his obsession with tracking down and killing the five demon princes who killed his parents and destroyed the colony where he lived when he was a child. So far he has succeeded in doing so with two of them. This time he is after Viole Falushe. At one time when still a teenager Falushe kidnapped an entire choir of girls and sold them all into slavery. Now he is very wealthy slave owner and is the absolute dictator on his own planet where all residents must give him their first born child to enslave or use as he likes. He spends much of his time on his planet at a place called The Palace of Love where visitors are sometimes invited as guests.
Gersen visits the planet Sarkovy with a woman friend named Alusz Ilphigenia Eperje-Tokay in order to track down a lead that might help him find Falushe. Sarkovy is a planet known for its many natural botanical poisons and its populace of highly skilled poison masters who offer their services for hire and readily sell very lethal poisons at a price set by the poisoners' guild. One Sarkovy resident is about to be executed by the guild for having sold poison to Falushe at a discount price. Gersen hopes to interview him for leads to track Falushe down. Gersen's obsession with tracking down and killing Falushe and his involvement with poisons, death and shady characters creates difficulties with his new romantic relationship with Alusz.
Gersen's pursuit takes him to Old Earth where he meets the mad poet Navarth who use to be Falushe's mentor and a mysterious young woman named Drusilla Wayles or “Zan Zu from Eridu,” who was given to Navarth as a child by Falushe to be cared for. There is a bizarre wild costume party hosted by Navarth where Gersen finds out what Falushe looks like. Gersen then decides to purchase a reputable but failing Cosmopolis Magazine so he can hire himself as a writer and then use this as an angle to try to arrange an interview with Falushe. He offers to write a more complementary and sympathetic article about Falushe than the article that was already submitted to Cosmopolis Magazine which they are about to publish. Of course Gersen also wrote this initial, highly critical article that he shares with Falushe. He does not admit to writing the article but says the magazine will refrain from publishing it if he can write a substitute article based on an interview with Falushe. Will Falushe take the bait and agree to a person to person interview? If he does agree, how can Gersen work around the extensive security measures that protect Falushe?
Vance's description of Sarkovy and its people is fascinating, but the far future Earth is given very little description despite the time spent there and many activities that happened there. The most interesting portrait is of Falushes's planet and The Palace of Love which is treated with Vance's usual talent for world building as he describes the architecture, people, customs, laws, and culture. Although the plot is rather choppy and somewhat thin, we do have some interesting characters and there is plenty of action. As with all of The Demon Prince novels, I found it engaging, entertaining and easy to read even though they are not quite as detailed or thought provoking as some of Vance's other great novels. And as with all of Vance's writings I find that repeated readings yield new rewards for this reader.
The Face
The Face was first published in 1979 by DAW Books. It is a 194 page novel that is the fourth in the five novel series by Jack Vance called The Demon Princes and was published twelve years after the third novel in the series. Kirth Gersen continues his tracking and killing of the five demon princes who killed his parents and destroyed his colony where he lived when he was a child. Kirth and his grandfather were the only survivors, and his grandfather had Keith trained for many years in hand to hand and weapons combat so that he could avenge the family. This is my second reading of all five novels, having read them previously several years ago. My appreciation for each of them has increased, and my rating for The Face has increased from a 4 to a 5. I continue to find it and the sequel, The Book of Dreams, to be the most fascinating and best written in the series although all five are very readable, highly entertaining and heartily recommended.
In this novel Kirth Gersen attempts to track down Lens Larque also known as The Face. Larque is an ugly looking outcast (rachepol) from the Darsh people who had his ear cut off by his clan for committing a "repulsive" crime. He is now an infamous criminal who is noted for his cruel jests often done for revenge or one-upmanship. He is very intelligent so Gersen must apply all of his skills to outmaneuver him. Although Larque is given rather minimal development, his people, the Darsh from the planet Dar Sai, are described in fascinating detail. They are a harsh, crude, violent, odorous, people enjoy whipping and a brutal combat sport called hadaul. Their food is vile and inedible to outsiders. They are contrasted with their planetary neighbors with whom they have much contact. These are the Methlens who live on the nearby planet of Methel. The Methlens reside in an exclusive community called Llarlarkno where only other Methlen may live. They are extremely ostentatious and proud, considering themselves superior to all other beings, especially the coarse Darsh.
Gersen meets and falls in love with a Methlen woman, Jerdian Chanseth, whose family and society forbid her to have a friendship or romance with him. Gersen even entertains the idea of abandoning his quest to track down demon princes by considering getting married and settling down. He also tries to take control over a mining company that Larque uses as a front. This leads him to interactions with Darsh people as he tries to purchase stock in the company. It also involves stealing a spaceship, impersonating a judge, and fighting in a violent hand to hand combat sport the Darsh call hadaul.
The novel is full of irony, humor, twists and colorful but scathing portraits of two societies that were very different but recognizable. Vance describes their histories, cultures, sexual behaviors, governments, laws, traditions and social conventions in more world building detail than one would expect in a 194 page novel. The people on the planet Dar Sai although very different from the inhabitants of the planet Methel, but both are equally unlikable. The unexpected ending of the novel is humorous, clever and inspired, one of the finest endings to any Vance novel. I will continue to reread The Face and the other novels in The Demon Prince every few years
The Book of Dreams
The Book of Dreams was published in 1981 by DAW Books and is the fifth and final novel in Vance's The Demon Prince series. My copy is 190 pages, making it the second longest novel of the group. The Book of Dreams is my favorite of the five novels, and I rated it a five both times I read it. But the whole series is highly recommended as being highly readable, entertaining and interesting. Although some of the novels in The Demon Prince can be read alone, I have found, after reading the series twice, that enjoyment can be greatly enhanced by reading them in order and by repeated readings. I look forward to reading the series again in a few years.
We learned in the first novel of the series that when Gersen was a child the colony where he lived was attacked by five demon princes who killed everyone, including his family members, and destroyed the colony. Kirth and his grandfather were able to flee and were the only survivors. His grandfather arranged that Kirth be trained for many years in hand to hand and weapons combat so that he could avenge his family. No romance or other attraction has yet turned Gersen away from his monomania, and his stealthily acquired wealth only further enabled him in his pursuits of the demon princes.
Here in the final novel Kirth Gersen continues his quest to track down and kill the five demon princes. The final one Gersen seeks is the elusive and grandiose Howard Alan Treesong, Lord of the Overmen. Several years ago, in his attempt to consolidate power and perhaps become the first ruler of the Gaean worlds, Treesong almost succeeded in having himself appointed as Chief of the Interworld Police Coordination Company (IPCC). The IPCC has not heard anything about him lately, though, and a major problem with tracking him down is that nobody knows what he looks like and there are no known photos of him in existence.
Gersen obtains a photo of a group of seven men that was sent anonymously to his Cosmopolis Magazine company. A note was written on it says "HA Treesong is here". They do not know who sent it, who else is in the photo or where it was taken. Gersen decides to publish the photo in a free inaugural periodical called Extant that he creates. He includes it as part of a contest that offers a reward to the person who can identify the most people in the photograph. He hopes to at least narrow down which man in the photo might be Treesong.
One of the people who eventually responds to the photo is Treesong's father so Gersen visits his planet to learn more about Treesong. He learns that there is an upcoming 25 year high school reunion that Treesong might be attending. In order to be part of the reunion ceremony Gersen hires a band for the reunion on the condition that he be allowed to be one of the members. He cannot play any musical instrument so takes intensive flute lessons, enough to be able to barely play. The reunion turns out to be much more than expected when Treesong turns up with hired thugs, takes control of everything and begins to take acts of revenge against former bullies, teachers, would be girl friends and others who humiliated him when he went to high school there. Treesong, a trained musician, notices that Gersen can't really play the flute so asks his hired men to take Gersen to the river and toss him in. When they arrive at the river Gersen overpowers the two men, takes their weapons and stalks back to the reunion with the intent of killing Treesong But Treesong is only wounded, and Gersen is only barely able to escape the planet alive.
Gersen learns from Treesong's estranged family that Treesong murdered his own best friend, Nymphotis Cleadhoe, when in high school because he thought his friend had stolen his fantasy world writings he titled The Book of Dreams. Treesong's brother, though, was the one who hid the book, and this book is still where he tossed it. Gersen realizes how important this book is to Treesong so he buys it from Treesong's brother. Next Gersen devises an elaborate scheme to allow Treesong to learn about the existence of the book to try to lure him to retrieve it. He contacts Nymphotis Cleadhoe's parents who now reside on a jungle planet where they are caretakers on the Bethune Preserve. (Note the similarities to the later Cadwal Chronicles.) The Cleadhoe couple know that Treesong murdered their child many years ago so gladly cooperate with Gersen in attempting to kill Treesong. Gersen cleverly sets up the trap.
The novel is suspenseful, unpredictable, and elaborately plotted with vivid portraits of odd places and inhabitants such as the religious fanatics in the Maundish area on the planet Mouderveldt, the residents on the planet Pontefract who are obsessed with hats and have developed elaborate customs regarding the wearing of hats, and the Bethune Preserve with its very strange creatures. The novel is so descriptive and detailed that I was even more enthralled the second time I read it. I look forward to reading The Book of Dreams and the entire series again in the near future. Very highly recommended!
October 30, 2023
Libro sicuramente consigliato. Essendo della collana Urania pensavo di trovare più fantascienza, ma non è così. Vance crea un universo tutto suo e il protagonista si muove tra soli con navi spaziali. Ma più di questo non troviamo per quanto riguarda la fantascienza. Il libro a volte assume sfumature di un giallo, Gersen (il protagonista) deve rincorrere i 5 principi demoni attraverso indizi esplorando luoghi e personaggi che sono stati a contatto con loro alla ricerca di qualche soluzione. Le storie sono tutte autoconclusive e hanno in comune solo questa ricerca costante del protagonista. Ogni libro è dedicato ad un principe. La cosa buona è che troviamo 5 storie diverse (Vance poteva cadere nell'errore di scrivere 5 storie simili). Ad ogni storia cambiano i personaggi che ruotano intorno alle vicende, l'unico filo conduttore sono appunto i principi. È scritto in maniera fluida e con molte idee originali.
La pecca forte che ho trovato è nei finali. Non mi soni assolutamente piaciuti. In mezz'ora Vance riesce a chiudere tutta la storia, sappiamo quale sarà il destino del principe in questione e di tutti i personaggi che sono stati presenti nella storia. Nel quinto finale, che chiude l'intera serie, speravo di trovare qualcosa di più ma, per assurdo, è quello più corto. Non dico che un finale debba essere troppo lungo (anche perché stancherebbe) ma neanche così breve. Certo mi rendo conto anche che é un tipo di narrazione diversa da quelle di oggi. Sono libri più vecchi e quindi abbastanza differenti da quelli che siamo abituati a leggere. Tranne questa pecca non ho trovato altre cose negative. Lo consiglio.
La pecca forte che ho trovato è nei finali. Non mi soni assolutamente piaciuti. In mezz'ora Vance riesce a chiudere tutta la storia, sappiamo quale sarà il destino del principe in questione e di tutti i personaggi che sono stati presenti nella storia. Nel quinto finale, che chiude l'intera serie, speravo di trovare qualcosa di più ma, per assurdo, è quello più corto. Non dico che un finale debba essere troppo lungo (anche perché stancherebbe) ma neanche così breve. Certo mi rendo conto anche che é un tipo di narrazione diversa da quelle di oggi. Sono libri più vecchi e quindi abbastanza differenti da quelli che siamo abituati a leggere. Tranne questa pecca non ho trovato altre cose negative. Lo consiglio.
January 30, 2024
Jack Vance is my favorite writer, and my number one biggest creative influence. It's hard to name a favorite character of his that stands out. There's a bunch of characters of his that are absolutely wonderful to me. There are types of characters that he created that influenced almost everything I write.
After his truly great magicians from The Dying Earth and Lyonesse, my next favorite character types of his that Vance was really good at creating were his villains, the best of which were featured in this masterful revenge saga starring the badass Kirth Gersen. Over the course of five books, Gersen tracked down five interplanetary villains Vance called Demon Princes... "Demon Prince" corresponding to "Super Villain" not dissimilar to how my own "First King" relates to "Elder God."
The Five Demon Princes were in ways similar to the magicians; they inhabited a science fiction, space faring landscape in which mankind had colonized planets across the galaxy, so the tech they had access to (whether legally or illegally) was often the functional equivalent of magic. In addition to being maniacally evil, they were also tragic figures, being compared by other reviewers to the "failed artist" archetype. Each of them also had an eccentric, ego-based singular obsession of some type, making them all come across like they wouldn't be out of place within Batman's rogue's gallery.
1.) Mattel Allagate the Woe - featured in the first novel of the series "Star King," the titular character was the Demon Prince himself... an alien creature pretending to be human that had infiltrated our society to prove he could be more human than us. The story was set up as a mystery with Gersen trying to figure out which of his suspects was the diabolical fiend.
2.) Kokkor Hekkus - While all of the Demon Princes were extremely secretive, the so-called "Killing Machine" was unusually so, with rumors floating that he was actually some kind of ghoul. Descriptions of what he actually looked like varied so wide and completely to make authorities wonder if he wasn't just a phantasm.
3.) Viole Falushe - While most prudently refused even to speculate, the fascination around the reason behind why the notorious villain Viole Falushe built The Palace of Love would never die. But the over-the-top hedonistic resort was a mere side effect to Viole's obsession over a long ago teen girl who dared scorn the advances of the proto-Demon Prince. Now he will use every horrifying resource at his command to make her love him unless Kirth Gersen can stop him first!
4.) Lens Larque - The savage Lens Larque's penchant for sadist violence can only be matched by his over developed sense of revenge over a minor slight. But can Gersen stop the fiend from unleashing unholy hell upon the populous of an entire planet before the massive Demon Prince can make him overly familiar with Panek, Lens Larque's infamous whip?
5.) Howard Alan Treesong - At once the most imaginative, most ambitious, and most dangerous of the Demon Princes, Treesong is the one that made the authorities sweat the most. Recognized across the galaxy as the king of criminals, the interplanetary police organization just barely managed to prevent the Demon Prince from also making himself the head director of their organization. Wielding his schizophrenic Book of Dreams, Treesong's next scheme just might make even that effort look like chump change. Pressed for time, the authorities ask the highly competent Kirth Gersen for his assistance, but even though this is his dream assignment, the master of vengeance just might have met his match!
After his truly great magicians from The Dying Earth and Lyonesse, my next favorite character types of his that Vance was really good at creating were his villains, the best of which were featured in this masterful revenge saga starring the badass Kirth Gersen. Over the course of five books, Gersen tracked down five interplanetary villains Vance called Demon Princes... "Demon Prince" corresponding to "Super Villain" not dissimilar to how my own "First King" relates to "Elder God."
The Five Demon Princes were in ways similar to the magicians; they inhabited a science fiction, space faring landscape in which mankind had colonized planets across the galaxy, so the tech they had access to (whether legally or illegally) was often the functional equivalent of magic. In addition to being maniacally evil, they were also tragic figures, being compared by other reviewers to the "failed artist" archetype. Each of them also had an eccentric, ego-based singular obsession of some type, making them all come across like they wouldn't be out of place within Batman's rogue's gallery.
1.) Mattel Allagate the Woe - featured in the first novel of the series "Star King," the titular character was the Demon Prince himself... an alien creature pretending to be human that had infiltrated our society to prove he could be more human than us. The story was set up as a mystery with Gersen trying to figure out which of his suspects was the diabolical fiend.
2.) Kokkor Hekkus - While all of the Demon Princes were extremely secretive, the so-called "Killing Machine" was unusually so, with rumors floating that he was actually some kind of ghoul. Descriptions of what he actually looked like varied so wide and completely to make authorities wonder if he wasn't just a phantasm.
3.) Viole Falushe - While most prudently refused even to speculate, the fascination around the reason behind why the notorious villain Viole Falushe built The Palace of Love would never die. But the over-the-top hedonistic resort was a mere side effect to Viole's obsession over a long ago teen girl who dared scorn the advances of the proto-Demon Prince. Now he will use every horrifying resource at his command to make her love him unless Kirth Gersen can stop him first!
4.) Lens Larque - The savage Lens Larque's penchant for sadist violence can only be matched by his over developed sense of revenge over a minor slight. But can Gersen stop the fiend from unleashing unholy hell upon the populous of an entire planet before the massive Demon Prince can make him overly familiar with Panek, Lens Larque's infamous whip?
5.) Howard Alan Treesong - At once the most imaginative, most ambitious, and most dangerous of the Demon Princes, Treesong is the one that made the authorities sweat the most. Recognized across the galaxy as the king of criminals, the interplanetary police organization just barely managed to prevent the Demon Prince from also making himself the head director of their organization. Wielding his schizophrenic Book of Dreams, Treesong's next scheme just might make even that effort look like chump change. Pressed for time, the authorities ask the highly competent Kirth Gersen for his assistance, but even though this is his dream assignment, the master of vengeance just might have met his match!
September 10, 2014
Can't remember the last time it took over a month to finish a work of fiction-of course collected all together this saga is about 1000 pages.
Vance's best work after his two Cugel novellas.
An interesting dynamic is at play with these stories. The protagonist is nothing but a cypher, a type of everyman version of a badass. He investigates intergalactic criminals who once wronged him and ends them in fitting ways. But the real stars of these novels are the villains he must learn the weaknesses of in the first place. The secondary characters are the locations and cultures encountered along the way.
In many ways the rogue's gallery of Kirth Gersen reminds me of a Venture Brothers precursor regarding the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Most of these guys, despite their power and success, are humongous losers who largely use their ill-gotten gains to fund petty pet projects of frustrated artists. Viole Falushe is basically what in modern parlance might be termed a neckbeard. But the real villain-star Vance fortunately saved for the end, Treesong is perfect, and the fact that Vance's wife said he was the character who most resembled his creator there was a certain added joy there in reading his nutty dialogue.
Naturally, the fake opening quotes were great too. I wish there really was a book called 'Life' from Unspiek, Baron Bodissey and of course, the poems of Navarth.
Vance's best work after his two Cugel novellas.
An interesting dynamic is at play with these stories. The protagonist is nothing but a cypher, a type of everyman version of a badass. He investigates intergalactic criminals who once wronged him and ends them in fitting ways. But the real stars of these novels are the villains he must learn the weaknesses of in the first place. The secondary characters are the locations and cultures encountered along the way.
In many ways the rogue's gallery of Kirth Gersen reminds me of a Venture Brothers precursor regarding the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Most of these guys, despite their power and success, are humongous losers who largely use their ill-gotten gains to fund petty pet projects of frustrated artists. Viole Falushe is basically what in modern parlance might be termed a neckbeard. But the real villain-star Vance fortunately saved for the end, Treesong is perfect, and the fact that Vance's wife said he was the character who most resembled his creator there was a certain added joy there in reading his nutty dialogue.
Naturally, the fake opening quotes were great too. I wish there really was a book called 'Life' from Unspiek, Baron Bodissey and of course, the poems of Navarth.
January 27, 2008
Things to help you read Vance:
His characters are beside the point -- they are not bourgeois exercises multi-dimensional, versimilitudinous(sic) character. Rather think of what it would be like if Henri Mattisse and Gustav Klimt got together one day to do some cut-outs for their backyard kabuki theater.His protagonists are cardboard by design, pure functionality to drive you through his world.
His plots are quite another -- he didn't win a nebula and an edgar for nothing!
underlying all of this is an admittedly orientalist aesthetic, vaguely collaged from his distant past in the merchant marine, washed over with fey and baroque coloration and a faux misogyny reminiscent of Burrough's remix of Witchcraft through the ages.
I think the "Killing Machine" was one of my favorites in this series.
His characters are beside the point -- they are not bourgeois exercises multi-dimensional, versimilitudinous(sic) character. Rather think of what it would be like if Henri Mattisse and Gustav Klimt got together one day to do some cut-outs for their backyard kabuki theater.His protagonists are cardboard by design, pure functionality to drive you through his world.
His plots are quite another -- he didn't win a nebula and an edgar for nothing!
underlying all of this is an admittedly orientalist aesthetic, vaguely collaged from his distant past in the merchant marine, washed over with fey and baroque coloration and a faux misogyny reminiscent of Burrough's remix of Witchcraft through the ages.
I think the "Killing Machine" was one of my favorites in this series.
June 13, 2013
There was some imaginative world-building and fascinating inter-planetary societies in these interrelated stories, but I found that the pacing of the narratives wavered. Many of the stories tried to draw suspense from narrative twists that were too predictable and at times, I found the endings anti-climatic, too "pat" for the kind of morally grey world that the Oikumene seems to be. The treatment of the female characters also annoyed me - for the most part, they felt like flat characters there to serve as escapist love interests for the hero rather than as significant players in their own right. This might have been par for the course in the space operas of the '60s, but as a modern reader, I find that the lack of female agency really bothered me and distracted from my enjoyment of the stories, especially because I didn't particularly like or identify with Kirth Gersen.
January 3, 2012
One of the collections that established Jack Vance among the all-time greats of science fiction. This Omnibus of five novels follows Kirth Gerson as he gains his revenge against the five villains who massacred his planet. Vance's greatest achievements for me are the ways he invokes so many different human cultures with telling detail that ties directly into the plots. Characters speak using terms that Vance gives wonderful twists that heighten the feeling of 'being there.'
This collection is 'must read' for anyone who appreciates science fiction at the highest level.
This collection is 'must read' for anyone who appreciates science fiction at the highest level.
August 24, 2013
My favorite series by Vance. Works great as action, science fiction, mystery, and psychological thriller. And I love the double meaning of the "demons" that torture the hero.
October 12, 2013
Five stars are not enough.
October 21, 2022
Een SF-roman waarvan je denkt: had dat niet wat meer pagina's mogen hebben? Bijvoorbeeld: nog eens duizend of zo?
July 24, 2017
Jack Vance is extremely underrated, as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy author, and as a writer in general; indeed, his command of the English language ranks him among the most eloquent English language authors of all time.
The Demon Princes is a story of revenge. Kirth Gersen (yep, this series is packed with Vance’s patented weird and awesome names) hunts down the 5 Demon Princes (i.e. notorious criminals) to exact revenge for the massacre and enslavement of his family and entire town. Only Gersen and his grandfather survived; Gersen’s grandfather essentially trained him to be a super assassin in order to exact revenge.
Vance’s creativity is remarkable -- consider his vivid world building and the detailed portrayal of humanity’s future (36th century A.D.) in the Oikumene and Beyond, including many unique organizations, companies, people and cultures. Vance’s excellence as a storyteller shines through in his ability to convey so much information in so few words; Vance’s writing is the epitome of succinct, and he builds a stunning universe without swamping the reader with unnecessary details.
One of the main themes in the series is the inevitable prominence of crime in a human society spread throughout the stars. Criminals can escape, faster than the speed of light, to the farthest reaches of the universe, past the grasp of human civilization and, thus, beyond any legal jurisdiction.
On a side note, an interesting fact is that each of the Demon Princes is a failed artist, on a grand scale, in their own twisted way; indeed, Vance crafted some strange but fascinating dudes.
Following are some brief thoughts on each book:
The Star King
Gersen stumbles on to the trail of Attel Malagate and, after some excellent detective work and ass-kicking, lures him to a beautiful paradise planet, the location of which is known only to Gersen. Throughout the story, Gersen outsmarts many people and quickly proves that his capabilities could arguably be ranked with those of James Bond. An intriguing beginning to the Demon Princes, which actually proved to be one of my favourites in the series.
The Killing Machine
While running an errand for the IPCC, Gersen runs into Kokor Hekkus, next on his list of walking dead men. He blows the opportunity, however, and after a few more failed attempts to come face to face with him, Gersen is kidnapped and forced to await the payment of his ransom. He has other plans, however, and ends up swindling billions of dollars, getting a perfect-10 girlfriend, and discerning Hekkus’ ploys. He also kicks the shit out of a super jacked dude. This is probably my favourite story in the series, because Gersen is way too badass.
The Palace of Love
Gersen weasels his way into an invitation to Viole Falushe’s Palace of Love, in order to kill him of course, but not without embarrassing the f**k out of him first. Falushe has a freakish fixation on a single girl who embarrassed him when he was in high school. There are a lot of funny scenes in this book, many to do with the mad poet. I didn’t find this story quite as good as the first two, but it was still very satisfying.
The Face
Gersen tracks Lens Larque, a disgusting fat sadist, across three different planets. Gersen buys up all the shares of a seemingly worthless company that Larque is using to some obscure end, forcing a meeting with the fat slob in order to serve him his just deserts. The ending to this one took me by surprise, because its so utterly ironic; but upon consideration it makes perfect sense that Gersen thought Larque’s greatest prank shouldn’t go to waste, as he was slighted by the same people that Larque sought to enrage.
The Book of Dreams
Gersen uses Cosmopolitan to identify Howard Alan Treesong in a dinner party photo and eventually discerns Treesong's master plans. Gersen tracks Treesong from planet to planet, coming very close to killing him on two occasions. Gersen uses some pretty smooth detective work to find Treesong, and there were a lot of satisfying elements to this story, but I felt that the ending was the weakest of all 5 books and not the best way to end the series.
To conclude, this is the second Jack Vance series I’ve read, the Dying Earth being the first. As awesome as the Demon Princes is, at this point, I still rank the Dying Earth series as Vance’s best. Next up: Lyonesse.
The Demon Princes is a story of revenge. Kirth Gersen (yep, this series is packed with Vance’s patented weird and awesome names) hunts down the 5 Demon Princes (i.e. notorious criminals) to exact revenge for the massacre and enslavement of his family and entire town. Only Gersen and his grandfather survived; Gersen’s grandfather essentially trained him to be a super assassin in order to exact revenge.
Vance’s creativity is remarkable -- consider his vivid world building and the detailed portrayal of humanity’s future (36th century A.D.) in the Oikumene and Beyond, including many unique organizations, companies, people and cultures. Vance’s excellence as a storyteller shines through in his ability to convey so much information in so few words; Vance’s writing is the epitome of succinct, and he builds a stunning universe without swamping the reader with unnecessary details.
One of the main themes in the series is the inevitable prominence of crime in a human society spread throughout the stars. Criminals can escape, faster than the speed of light, to the farthest reaches of the universe, past the grasp of human civilization and, thus, beyond any legal jurisdiction.
On a side note, an interesting fact is that each of the Demon Princes is a failed artist, on a grand scale, in their own twisted way; indeed, Vance crafted some strange but fascinating dudes.
Following are some brief thoughts on each book:
The Star King
Gersen stumbles on to the trail of Attel Malagate and, after some excellent detective work and ass-kicking, lures him to a beautiful paradise planet, the location of which is known only to Gersen. Throughout the story, Gersen outsmarts many people and quickly proves that his capabilities could arguably be ranked with those of James Bond. An intriguing beginning to the Demon Princes, which actually proved to be one of my favourites in the series.
The Killing Machine
While running an errand for the IPCC, Gersen runs into Kokor Hekkus, next on his list of walking dead men. He blows the opportunity, however, and after a few more failed attempts to come face to face with him, Gersen is kidnapped and forced to await the payment of his ransom. He has other plans, however, and ends up swindling billions of dollars, getting a perfect-10 girlfriend, and discerning Hekkus’ ploys. He also kicks the shit out of a super jacked dude. This is probably my favourite story in the series, because Gersen is way too badass.
The Palace of Love
Gersen weasels his way into an invitation to Viole Falushe’s Palace of Love, in order to kill him of course, but not without embarrassing the f**k out of him first. Falushe has a freakish fixation on a single girl who embarrassed him when he was in high school. There are a lot of funny scenes in this book, many to do with the mad poet. I didn’t find this story quite as good as the first two, but it was still very satisfying.
The Face
Gersen tracks Lens Larque, a disgusting fat sadist, across three different planets. Gersen buys up all the shares of a seemingly worthless company that Larque is using to some obscure end, forcing a meeting with the fat slob in order to serve him his just deserts. The ending to this one took me by surprise, because its so utterly ironic; but upon consideration it makes perfect sense that Gersen thought Larque’s greatest prank shouldn’t go to waste, as he was slighted by the same people that Larque sought to enrage.
The Book of Dreams
Gersen uses Cosmopolitan to identify Howard Alan Treesong in a dinner party photo and eventually discerns Treesong's master plans. Gersen tracks Treesong from planet to planet, coming very close to killing him on two occasions. Gersen uses some pretty smooth detective work to find Treesong, and there were a lot of satisfying elements to this story, but I felt that the ending was the weakest of all 5 books and not the best way to end the series.
To conclude, this is the second Jack Vance series I’ve read, the Dying Earth being the first. As awesome as the Demon Princes is, at this point, I still rank the Dying Earth series as Vance’s best. Next up: Lyonesse.
December 26, 2018
This is Jack Vance's attempt at doing what Fleming did with James Bond. There are lots of references to exotic locations; the protagonist regularly indulges in luxury hotels, the finest clothes, bizarre foreign delicacies etc. There is a different villain for each novel, each with his own seductive blend of vices and charms, and at least one - sometimes several - intoxicating women who are invariably attracted to our stoical protagonist.
If I compare it to the other Vance sagas I've read; it's nowhere near as inventive as The Dying Earth; it doesn't have a satisfying long-form narrative like Lyonesse: and similarly it doesn't have much of a sense of continuity between books as Planet of Adventure (sort of) had, although i think the quality consistency of this series is probably a bit higher.
I liked all the usual stuff that I like about Vance's writing; the wry humour, the profligate vocabulary, the staggeringly imaginative settings, creatures, characters, outfits, devices etc. which he seems to conjure spontaneously, as if his head were swarming with silly but shimmering ideas. There's also plenty of tense and thrilling action sequences, chase-sequences, fights etc. The novels work on a low-brow, pulp level what with the attractive women and the cheesy SF locales and the frequent action sequences but there's also this tone of erudition and immense imagination which makes you feel like you're reading "the thinking man's Ian Fleming", or something of the sort.
Book 1 was probably the least interesting. I guess it was more a case of setting the scene and Vance getting the feel for the scenario. I think this one contained my favourite Bond Girl (or Gersen Girl) from the series, the delightfully vivacious Pallis Atwrode.
Book 2 was more interesting, there were some cool plot ideas featuring Vance's ever prevalent theme of the inescapable life-sentence.
Book 3 had probably the single most interesting premise, which was a dream-like, Gatsbyesque revenge opera. It also contained the most entertaining character in the series in the form of sybaritic latter-day poet Navarth.
Book 4 didn't make much impression on me although it contained one very amusing allusion to a spigot being placed somewhere amazing.
Book 5 didn't have such a strong plot but it did have the most interesting and 3-dimensional villain of the series.
If I have one significant dissatisfaction with the series it's that the books do have a tendency to end rather abruptly. Pretty much as soon as the villain of the piece is defeated there's usually only a page or two left in which to wrap things up. This is most striking with the conclusion of the series. The protagonist has devoted his entire life to ridding the universe of these five villains, "The Demon Princes". Throughout the series he periodically wonders who he really is once you subtract his life's work of exterminating this quintet - what sort of life will remain once it is finished? The final book ends like this:
“You’re so quiet and subdued! You worry me. Are you well?”
“Quite well. Deflated, perhaps. I have been deserted by my enemies. The affair is over. I am done.”
Maybe the most laconic conclusion I've ever read.
All in all this was a very enjoyable reading experience but probably not quite as compelling as his best books, which are still the two Cugel novels and the Lyonesse trilogy.
If I compare it to the other Vance sagas I've read; it's nowhere near as inventive as The Dying Earth; it doesn't have a satisfying long-form narrative like Lyonesse: and similarly it doesn't have much of a sense of continuity between books as Planet of Adventure (sort of) had, although i think the quality consistency of this series is probably a bit higher.
I liked all the usual stuff that I like about Vance's writing; the wry humour, the profligate vocabulary, the staggeringly imaginative settings, creatures, characters, outfits, devices etc. which he seems to conjure spontaneously, as if his head were swarming with silly but shimmering ideas. There's also plenty of tense and thrilling action sequences, chase-sequences, fights etc. The novels work on a low-brow, pulp level what with the attractive women and the cheesy SF locales and the frequent action sequences but there's also this tone of erudition and immense imagination which makes you feel like you're reading "the thinking man's Ian Fleming", or something of the sort.
Book 1 was probably the least interesting. I guess it was more a case of setting the scene and Vance getting the feel for the scenario. I think this one contained my favourite Bond Girl (or Gersen Girl) from the series, the delightfully vivacious Pallis Atwrode.
Book 2 was more interesting, there were some cool plot ideas featuring Vance's ever prevalent theme of the inescapable life-sentence.
Book 3 had probably the single most interesting premise, which was a dream-like, Gatsbyesque revenge opera. It also contained the most entertaining character in the series in the form of sybaritic latter-day poet Navarth.
Book 4 didn't make much impression on me although it contained one very amusing allusion to a spigot being placed somewhere amazing.
Book 5 didn't have such a strong plot but it did have the most interesting and 3-dimensional villain of the series.
If I have one significant dissatisfaction with the series it's that the books do have a tendency to end rather abruptly. Pretty much as soon as the villain of the piece is defeated there's usually only a page or two left in which to wrap things up. This is most striking with the conclusion of the series. The protagonist has devoted his entire life to ridding the universe of these five villains, "The Demon Princes". Throughout the series he periodically wonders who he really is once you subtract his life's work of exterminating this quintet - what sort of life will remain once it is finished? The final book ends like this:
“You’re so quiet and subdued! You worry me. Are you well?”
“Quite well. Deflated, perhaps. I have been deserted by my enemies. The affair is over. I am done.”
Maybe the most laconic conclusion I've ever read.
All in all this was a very enjoyable reading experience but probably not quite as compelling as his best books, which are still the two Cugel novels and the Lyonesse trilogy.
February 9, 2018
Ah, Jack Vance.
So this is a bunch of short novels in a shared setting, focused as much on the setting as the characters or plot. The setting is, at the surface, generic Golden Age science fictional: a core of relatively civilized worlds with a wide expanse of lawless territory. The tech level is bog-standard Astounding Stories- FTL, anti-gravity and rayguns butting up against punch card computers, though Vance is a bit more prescient on the nature of information networks than his contemporaries. He`s even got a Google analog, except that it`s a number you call to get information read to you.
While the setting is pseudo-generic in it`s broad strokes, the wealth of detail and the way that its woven together is anything but generic. It feels lived in and enormous, with the granularity of details in fashion, culture, language and even cuisine that makes it real and alive. And while Vance`s language and authorial voice are...unusual, by about six pages in, you`ve adjusted and are moved quickly and smoothly through the world he`s set up.
Briefly: Kirth Gersen is the survivor of a slaver raid on his hometown, and has spent his life working on revenge against the kingpins of crime that were responsible. These are the Demon Princes of the title, and they are pieces of work. Each story details how Kirth fights one demon prince as he enacts revenge. Again, this is a bog-standard set up, pretty much Batman in Space, but the flourishes really sell it. Gersen and the Princes are embedded in the setting in such a way that shapes the story symbiotically. Gersen himself is a bit of a cardboard cut out, the kind of bland central character typical of the period, but he`s clever and insightful and his problem solving abilities are entertaining.
The Demon Princes, however, are wonderfully drawn and profoundly unique, each one with a symbolic core to them that makes them excellent foils and occasionally rather disturbing. This, and the setting, really elevate this book and excuses both the weak (ish) main character and the absolutely terrible female characters that dot the book. Vance also wrote the Dying Earth books, where the female characters had some agency (relative to the period) but this is pure, unadulterated 60s female figurines rather than characters. Gersen has many of the hang ups one would expect a 60s man to have as well.
Great read, given those caveats, with a genuinely unique writing style and a great setting.
So this is a bunch of short novels in a shared setting, focused as much on the setting as the characters or plot. The setting is, at the surface, generic Golden Age science fictional: a core of relatively civilized worlds with a wide expanse of lawless territory. The tech level is bog-standard Astounding Stories- FTL, anti-gravity and rayguns butting up against punch card computers, though Vance is a bit more prescient on the nature of information networks than his contemporaries. He`s even got a Google analog, except that it`s a number you call to get information read to you.
While the setting is pseudo-generic in it`s broad strokes, the wealth of detail and the way that its woven together is anything but generic. It feels lived in and enormous, with the granularity of details in fashion, culture, language and even cuisine that makes it real and alive. And while Vance`s language and authorial voice are...unusual, by about six pages in, you`ve adjusted and are moved quickly and smoothly through the world he`s set up.
Briefly: Kirth Gersen is the survivor of a slaver raid on his hometown, and has spent his life working on revenge against the kingpins of crime that were responsible. These are the Demon Princes of the title, and they are pieces of work. Each story details how Kirth fights one demon prince as he enacts revenge. Again, this is a bog-standard set up, pretty much Batman in Space, but the flourishes really sell it. Gersen and the Princes are embedded in the setting in such a way that shapes the story symbiotically. Gersen himself is a bit of a cardboard cut out, the kind of bland central character typical of the period, but he`s clever and insightful and his problem solving abilities are entertaining.
The Demon Princes, however, are wonderfully drawn and profoundly unique, each one with a symbolic core to them that makes them excellent foils and occasionally rather disturbing. This, and the setting, really elevate this book and excuses both the weak (ish) main character and the absolutely terrible female characters that dot the book. Vance also wrote the Dying Earth books, where the female characters had some agency (relative to the period) but this is pure, unadulterated 60s female figurines rather than characters. Gersen has many of the hang ups one would expect a 60s man to have as well.
Great read, given those caveats, with a genuinely unique writing style and a great setting.
June 7, 2019
I cinque re stellari, saga fantascientifica nota anche come dei "Principi Demoni", scritta dal 1961 al 1984 da Jack Vance, definito da Poul Anderson in un'occasione come il più grande scrittore statunitense "in" fantascienza, invece che "di" fantascienza, è composta dai seguenti cinque libri:
Il re stellare: Voto *
La macchina per uccidere: Voto **
Il palazzo dell'amore: Voto *
La faccia: Voto **
Il libro dei sogni: Voto *
Questa è un'opera classica di fantascienza, lo scenario: in un lontano futuro l’umanità ha colonizzato gran parte della galassia. l’Oikumene è la Confederazione dei pianeti abitati, ove regnano la legalità e la giustizia; oltre il Velo, i suoi confini, abbiamo il Dilà, il far-west galattico ove vige la legge del più forte e i criminali hanno le loro roccaforti. Soltanto la CCPI (Compagnia Coordinazione Polizia Intermondi) tenta di agire oltre il Velo tramite degli infiltrati che spesso però sono destinati a una cattiva sorte. L'eroe del ciclo è Kirth Gersen : ancora bambino, ha visto la sua famiglia e i suoi compatrioti uccisi o resi schiavi dai cosiddetti “Principi Demoni”, i cinque più grandi criminali del Dilà. Addestrato dal nonno, Gersen ha dedicato la sua vita ad un solo scopo: la vendetta.
In ciascuno dei cinque romanzi del ciclo, il protagonista identifica, affronta e, dopo mille peripezie in cui entra in scena una donzella da difendere o proteggere uccide uno dei Principi Demoni. La trama è noiosa, povera e non esistono praticamente colpi di scena, i personaggi sono macchiette di se stessi senza nessuna profondità; quello che colpisce e in cui Vance eccelle da sempre è l'abilità di creare società, usi, costumi, mode, stili di vita e nel descriverli passo passo nell’opera.
La lettura non mi ha mai praticamente preso, anzi è stata molto difficoltoso costringermi a portarla a termine, l'unica cosa degna di nota è l'ambientazione, la creazione dei mondi, dei contesti ad essi collegati, ma questo assolutamente non riesce a giustificare questa mole di pagine dove in pratica succede sempre la stessa cosa (ricerca con peripezie varie - fanciulla da salvare - uccisione del cattivo), per non parlare dei personaggi così scialbi da non essere nemmeno credibili.
Non mi capacito dei volti così alti qui su Goodreads, solitamente rispecchiano o si discostano poco dai miei giudizi che lascio alla fine delle mie letture, in questo caso siamo quasi all'antitesi, davvero tanto tempo perso.
Il re stellare: Voto *
La macchina per uccidere: Voto **
Il palazzo dell'amore: Voto *
La faccia: Voto **
Il libro dei sogni: Voto *
Questa è un'opera classica di fantascienza, lo scenario: in un lontano futuro l’umanità ha colonizzato gran parte della galassia. l’Oikumene è la Confederazione dei pianeti abitati, ove regnano la legalità e la giustizia; oltre il Velo, i suoi confini, abbiamo il Dilà, il far-west galattico ove vige la legge del più forte e i criminali hanno le loro roccaforti. Soltanto la CCPI (Compagnia Coordinazione Polizia Intermondi) tenta di agire oltre il Velo tramite degli infiltrati che spesso però sono destinati a una cattiva sorte. L'eroe del ciclo è Kirth Gersen : ancora bambino, ha visto la sua famiglia e i suoi compatrioti uccisi o resi schiavi dai cosiddetti “Principi Demoni”, i cinque più grandi criminali del Dilà. Addestrato dal nonno, Gersen ha dedicato la sua vita ad un solo scopo: la vendetta.
In ciascuno dei cinque romanzi del ciclo, il protagonista identifica, affronta e, dopo mille peripezie in cui entra in scena una donzella da difendere o proteggere uccide uno dei Principi Demoni. La trama è noiosa, povera e non esistono praticamente colpi di scena, i personaggi sono macchiette di se stessi senza nessuna profondità; quello che colpisce e in cui Vance eccelle da sempre è l'abilità di creare società, usi, costumi, mode, stili di vita e nel descriverli passo passo nell’opera.
La lettura non mi ha mai praticamente preso, anzi è stata molto difficoltoso costringermi a portarla a termine, l'unica cosa degna di nota è l'ambientazione, la creazione dei mondi, dei contesti ad essi collegati, ma questo assolutamente non riesce a giustificare questa mole di pagine dove in pratica succede sempre la stessa cosa (ricerca con peripezie varie - fanciulla da salvare - uccisione del cattivo), per non parlare dei personaggi così scialbi da non essere nemmeno credibili.
Non mi capacito dei volti così alti qui su Goodreads, solitamente rispecchiano o si discostano poco dai miei giudizi che lascio alla fine delle mie letture, in questo caso siamo quasi all'antitesi, davvero tanto tempo perso.
August 31, 2023
A slightly guilty pleasure, Jack Vance is always a fun read. In the Demon Princes pentalogy, a largely static and one-dimensional protagonist (Kith Gerson) seeks revenge on 5 separate criminals who destroyed his home and killed or enslaved his whole family. He is cunning, physically adept, trained in martial arts, daring, and always appears to be wooing some woman while knowing that he cannot stay with her because of his monomaniacal need for revenge. It's a little much in terms of male wish fulfillment. But these books are not made to explore deep character-driven relationships, they're pulp!
But it's a good fun pulp - there are three places that Vance has particular fun. First, the setting is always varied and well fleshed-out. While there is some of the sci-fi trope "this is the poison planet, the poisoners come from there", there's usually some flourish and complexity to the anthropology such that there are some layers there to the people and the environment that make them more believable or that have some particular fantastical hook that make them unique and memorable. Second, the plot of each story is a sort of "mystery" where we have to figure out who each villian is (for criminals use multiple aliases and don't leave clear tracks to themselves). It's a little rote a couple books in, but each takes different turns and approaches to the whodunit formula. And last, Vance is always inventive with his language and descriptions. I enjoyed his references to, when locating the story around the star Vega, the Vegalight that flooded a room as opposed to "sunlight" because the sun wasn't there; that's Earth's star. The formalistic and often sarcastic or acerbic tones used by almost all characters is also a treat to read. I didn't find the vocabulary as rich as some of the Dying Earth saga, but there's still much to enjoy.
There's not a lot deeper here: this is a set of straightforward mid-century adventure books, catering to a male audience with an engaging setting. High literature this is not, but if you want entertainment, it's here!
But it's a good fun pulp - there are three places that Vance has particular fun. First, the setting is always varied and well fleshed-out. While there is some of the sci-fi trope "this is the poison planet, the poisoners come from there", there's usually some flourish and complexity to the anthropology such that there are some layers there to the people and the environment that make them more believable or that have some particular fantastical hook that make them unique and memorable. Second, the plot of each story is a sort of "mystery" where we have to figure out who each villian is (for criminals use multiple aliases and don't leave clear tracks to themselves). It's a little rote a couple books in, but each takes different turns and approaches to the whodunit formula. And last, Vance is always inventive with his language and descriptions. I enjoyed his references to, when locating the story around the star Vega, the Vegalight that flooded a room as opposed to "sunlight" because the sun wasn't there; that's Earth's star. The formalistic and often sarcastic or acerbic tones used by almost all characters is also a treat to read. I didn't find the vocabulary as rich as some of the Dying Earth saga, but there's still much to enjoy.
There's not a lot deeper here: this is a set of straightforward mid-century adventure books, catering to a male audience with an engaging setting. High literature this is not, but if you want entertainment, it's here!
August 8, 2017
There's a total of five books in this series. Let me sum up every single one in a single review:
Manly Man Hero goes looking for Bad Guy who killed his family. Manly Man Hero meets Love Interest who's being held captive, raped, or threated with rape. Manly Man Hero rescues Love Interest and is then rewarded when she sleeps with him instead, because nothing screams "romance" like being rescued from sexual assault. When he's not being distracted by his exploits, Manly Man Hero is still searching out Bad Guy. Manly Man Hero narrows the search down to several different people who could potentially be Bad Guy. There's a lot of detective work and handwringing while Manly Man Hero figures out which one is the real Bad Guy, but don't worry, he finds the right one in the end and then kills him before Love Interest jumps into his arms only to disappear, often without explanation, by the beginning of the next book so he can move on to the next girl.
This is some of the most cliche, formulaic writing I've ever had the displeasure of reading. The characters are cardboard - so much so that I can't even be bothered to remember their names. The relationships aren't developed - and why should they be, when every book is just one more stop on the rotation wheel of Villain of the Week, Girl of the Week, because heaven forbid the hero should sleep with the same woman - *gasp* - more than once! Women exist solely to be raped, rescued, and slept with. Even the one interesting thing about this series - the setting - was impossible to enjoy because it was so poorly researched as to leave my inner physicist in a constant state of screaming agony.
I made it through three books in this anthology before I realized I was just reading the same story over and over again and tossed it into the donation pile without bothering to finish the rest. What a waste of time and money.
Manly Man Hero goes looking for Bad Guy who killed his family. Manly Man Hero meets Love Interest who's being held captive, raped, or threated with rape. Manly Man Hero rescues Love Interest and is then rewarded when she sleeps with him instead, because nothing screams "romance" like being rescued from sexual assault. When he's not being distracted by his exploits, Manly Man Hero is still searching out Bad Guy. Manly Man Hero narrows the search down to several different people who could potentially be Bad Guy. There's a lot of detective work and handwringing while Manly Man Hero figures out which one is the real Bad Guy, but don't worry, he finds the right one in the end and then kills him before Love Interest jumps into his arms only to disappear, often without explanation, by the beginning of the next book so he can move on to the next girl.
This is some of the most cliche, formulaic writing I've ever had the displeasure of reading. The characters are cardboard - so much so that I can't even be bothered to remember their names. The relationships aren't developed - and why should they be, when every book is just one more stop on the rotation wheel of Villain of the Week, Girl of the Week, because heaven forbid the hero should sleep with the same woman - *gasp* - more than once! Women exist solely to be raped, rescued, and slept with. Even the one interesting thing about this series - the setting - was impossible to enjoy because it was so poorly researched as to leave my inner physicist in a constant state of screaming agony.
I made it through three books in this anthology before I realized I was just reading the same story over and over again and tossed it into the donation pile without bothering to finish the rest. What a waste of time and money.
January 24, 2022
This is a re-reading. I read the first book, The Star King, as a serial in the unfortunately deceased magazine, Galaxy. I read the others more or less as they came out, but I haven’t gone back to them this century. Vance was an anthropologically informed author, of the sort that was popular from the John W Campbell revolution through Campbell’s death, and I find this charming about him, especially in these stories, where the protagonist moves across a kaleidoscope of disparate cultures. Vance also appeared to have learned to write fantasy in large part from Lord Dunsany and possibly James Branch Cabell. Much of their rather erudite styles and quirky views of the human condition show in this set of novels, although they are, in plot outline, mainly space opera mysteries. I feel much younger today, after finishing The Book of Dreams.
December 5, 2020
Vance is on his game here. Should be a TV series maybe 1 season per book? Space pirates kill your family and you train yourself as a pilot and killer and tek and go hunt them down. Whew wee! Awesome space adventure. Not democrat scifi which is why it's so awesome. EAch book is 1 demon prince hunted. Jack Vance is one fo top 4 writers of all time in my opinion: The others being AE Van Vogt, Robert E Howard, and Michael Moorcock (Elric Corum Hawkmoon)
December 12, 2017
Vance might be best author ever.
To me only 3 contend:
AE van vogt
Michael moorcock when hes on
Robert E howard
Demon princes should be 5 movie film masterpiece like lord of the rings.
Its slightly pro capitalism tiny makes education and democrat media hide jack vance or he would be assigned in all the lit class.
To me only 3 contend:
AE van vogt
Michael moorcock when hes on
Robert E howard
Demon princes should be 5 movie film masterpiece like lord of the rings.
Its slightly pro capitalism tiny makes education and democrat media hide jack vance or he would be assigned in all the lit class.
September 24, 2019
I love these books; they're some of my favorite SF. The world-building, the characters, and the insane situations are all pretty great.
Each one is a bit formulaic and it would have been nice to have a little more variety. The last novel struck me as "off" but perhaps it was just Vancian fatigue on my part.
Each one is a bit formulaic and it would have been nice to have a little more variety. The last novel struck me as "off" but perhaps it was just Vancian fatigue on my part.
December 3, 2019
Feels like I read the same story 5 times, the inserts of essays and doodlings before each chapter grew pretty thin as well.
The ending after 6, albeit short books, is also way too abrupt for such an investment of time I felt.
All in all, there are some interesting hijinx and descriptive landscapes but largely it's quite a formulaic series I grew tired of about 2/3 of the way through.
The ending after 6, albeit short books, is also way too abrupt for such an investment of time I felt.
All in all, there are some interesting hijinx and descriptive landscapes but largely it's quite a formulaic series I grew tired of about 2/3 of the way through.
June 29, 2020
my favorites are still the dying earth series, and the planet of adventure series are good too... vance is a great writer if you can overlook some of the less-modern tropes and just enjoy it for what it is.
March 10, 2022
Brilliant concept. Brilliant prose. Brilliant, vibrant and fascinating imagination, worlds and societies. Brilliant dialogue and comedic relief, dark and viscous plot. Literally crushing on all fronts, but cohesion.
February 11, 2024
Vance writes an interesting series of revenge mysteries where the bad guy needs to be discovered and then brought to an end. Each novel differs in ways that surprise and delight. I especially liked the ending of The Face, which I will not spoil.
October 29, 2017
Great read from one of the Masters. It took me a few pages tp get started, but I soon grew accustomed to Jack's style and thoroughly enjoyed this omnibus edition of some of his best books.
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