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Book Review: The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

The Dying Earth by Jack VanceOne of Jack Vance’s most influential works and the first in a series, The Dying Earth is comprised of six fantasy adventures that are tangentially connected. They take place in Earth’s far future, during a time when the sun is approaching the end of its life and has become, it seems, a red dwarf. The human population has diminished significantly and most of the planet’s history long forgotten.

Each story involves magic and sorcery with a loose foundation in science. Some level of technology still exists, but it is not always well understood by the characters.

The six thoroughly enjoyable tales include:

“Turjan of Miir” – Although skilled in creating humanoid life, a magician seeks the necessary spells to imbue it with intelligence. To do so, he must travel to another realm and seek the legendary sorcerer known as Pandelume.

“Mazirian the Magician” – The diabolical Mazirian captures Turjan and tortures him into revealing the necessary spells to imbue his creations with intelligence. However, Mazirian is distracted by the appearance of a beautiful young maiden who visits his property each day on horseback but flees whenever he confronts her. Eventually, Mazirian decides to set off in pursuit.

“T’sais” – An artificial woman created by the wizard Pandelume, T’sais once despised all living beings, including herself. This personality flaw made her combative, unreasonable, and violent. After speaking with her “twin sister” T’sain—created by Turjin to be gentle and kind—T’sais is persuaded to end her treacherous ways. She journeys to Earth to find love and encounters a benevolent man named Etarr who once made the mistake of falling in love with an evil witch. The witch exchanged his face for that of a demon, forcing Etarr to wear a mask. Together with T’sais, Etarr sets out to confront the witch and reverse the spell.

“Liane the Wayfarer” – In order to win the heart of a beautiful but reclusive young witch, an arrogant, callow adventurer undertakes a quest to retrieve the other half of a tapestry that hangs in the witch’s home. To do this, he must steal it from the castle of the dreaded creature known as Chun the Unavoidable.

“Ulan Dhor Ends a Dream” – An apprentice wizard arrives in the city of Ampridatvir on a quest to recover a pair of ancient tablets that, according to myth, provide access to ancient and powerful magic. Ulan is immediately mistaken for a raider due the color of his clothing and soon learns that color has meaning in this strange land. He meets the lovely Elai, who instructs him on the ways of her people and accompanies him on his quest. After a series of mishaps, the pair awaken the high priest of the region who is perturbed by the population’s lack of intellectual progress and decides to do something about it.

“Guyal of Sfere” – Rather than continuing to vex his father and the other elders of Sfere with his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, young Guyal sets out in search of the legendary Museum of Man and its omniscient curator. During his journey, Guyal encounters several dangers, including a hovering ghost on his way into the village of Saponce, where he inadvertently breaks a law and is sentenced to a strange punishment—he must choose the fairest maiden in the village during a pageant. He chooses Shierl, the daughter of a high-ranking Saponce official. In doing so, Guyal unwittingly dooms Shierl as a sacrifice to the demon that resides in the Museum of Man.

 

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Book Review: The Dragon Masters by Jack Vance

The Dragon Masters by Jack VancePerhaps the last remnants of the human race eke out a meager existence on the unforgiving world of Aerlith, on which much of the terrain is little more than a craggy, mountainous wasteland. The two major and opposing settlements on Aerlith are concentrated in two valleys, each containing the only fertile soil on the planet. These forces are led by the cunning and logical Joaz Banbeck and capricious, volatile Ervis Carcolo, respectively. Carcolo, ruler of Happy Valley, is intent on destroying Banbeck and laying claim to his territory, known as Banbeck Vale.

Banbeck, however, is hardly concerned about the bumbling Carcolo. Rather, he fears that an aggressive reptilian race known as the Grephs will soon return to attack them and offers a truce to Carcolo. Although Carcolo agrees to unite with Banbeck against their common enemy, he soon decides to invade Banbeck Vale, but is effectively thwarted.

In years past, the Grephs occasionally invaded Aerlith in a large ship, abducting a number of humans and laying waste to the villages in order to keep mankind in its place and prevent them from advancing. An ancestor of Banbeck’s managed to capture several Grephs and began experimenting on them, breeding them into various species of fighting dragons known as “Juggers,” “Termagants,” “Murderers,” and more.

Among the inhabitants of both valleys lives an enigmatic and reclusive cult known simply as the “Sacerdotes.” Their members live and travel completely nude and live in the caverns and passages between the valleys. The passive Sacerdotes remain aloof from the affairs of mankind, awaiting the day when all barbaric, warmongering humans are annihilated so that they might rise and spread their message throughout the galaxy.

Banbeck learns that the Sacerdotes are constructing something in their caverns that will not only help them achieve their goal but might also be useful in defeating the Grephs—who arrive shortly after Carcolo mounts a second and more vicious offensive against Banbeck Vale!

Jack Vance excels at building his worlds methodically as the story progresses, revealing new details with every chapter. The Dragon Masters presents a milieu rich in culture, history, and action with characters that are developed adequately enough to convey a rousing story of treachery, survival, and triumph.

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Book Review: Jack Vance’s The Miracle Workers

The Miracle Workers by Jack VanceWhat began as a human refugee camp on the Earth-like world of Pangborn 1,600 years ago has long since evolved into a global colony. Most of the planet is ruled by Lord Faide. His only remaining opponent is Lord Ballant. On the eve of war, Faide and his troops march to invade Ballant’s kingdom. However, their way is obstructed by a forest, recently planted by the First Folk, Pangborn’s indigenous people.

The First Folk were all but slaughtered by the original human settlers and they continue to harbor a grudge against mankind. Their forest is replete with traps, but Faide and his telepathic mystics known as “Jinxmen” negotiate with the First Folk for safe passage, explaining that they have no qualms with anyone but Lord Ballant.

The First Folk guide them through safely and Faide invades Ballant-keep using a combination of weaponry and the voodoo practiced by his Jinxmen. After soundly defeating Ballant, Faide turns his attention to the First Folk who, he soon learns, are plotting against him in an attempt to take back Pangborn from the humans.

Faide and his Jinxmen soon learn that the First Folk are all but invulnerable to telepathy and voodoo. Their minds do not function as do those of men. They are also far more resourceful than anticipated.

The Miracle Workers is a brief but engaging exploration into imperialism and colonialism with an interesting twist. While Faide and his contemporaries are, in some ways, more advanced than their ancestors, they have lost the scientific and engineering prowess of the early colonists, until an apprentice Jinxman—viewed as an incompetent fool by his elders—begins experimenting with various solutions to aid Faide in his war against the First Folk.

The only disappointing aspect of the story is a lack of exposure to the First Folks’ plight. In the beginning of the story, they are merely an obstacle between Faide and Ballant. Later, they become Faide’s enemy, but are themselves never fully developed as characters. As such, it is difficult to sympathize with them. There are no individuals, only the horde. They have few lines and are mostly referred to in the third person by Faide and his men. Yes, the First Folks’ motives for destroying the humans are clear enough, but they are depicted as little more than two-dimensional creatures with bizarre physical abilities and exceptional cunning.

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Book Review: The Pnume by Jack Vance

The Pnume by Jack VanceIn this fourth and final installment of Jack Vance’s Planet of Adventure series, astronaut Adam Reith is nearly finished construction on a spaceship that will allow him to escape the dangerous world of Tschai and return to Earth. It has been at least a year since Reith crash landed on the planet when his scout ship was shot down while attempting to land.

Since then, Reith has made both allies and enemies through his various escapades across the planet. Two of his closest companions, Traz Onmale and Anacho the Dirdirman—both outcasts from their respective societies—decided long ago to assist Reith in his efforts, as long as he takes them with him when he leaves Tschai.

After Reith obtains materials and warehouse space from the wealthy Aila Woudiver, the cunning crime lord betrays Reith and his companions to the Dirdir, who are seeking them on the charge of murder. However, Reith manages to thwart Woudiver and shackle him in the warehouse while the technicians finish building the ship.

Woudiver is not so easily defeated. He manages to signal members of the Pnume, the oldest native race on Tschai. The Pnume abduct Reith in the middle of the night and transport him to their underground lair to become a permanent addition to their Museum of Foreverness. Reith promptly escapes with the reluctant assistance of a young woman with no name. Rather, she is designated as a member of the Zith group in the Athan area of the Pagaz zone, with a rank of 210. As such, Reith names her ZAP210.

Reith and ZAP210 narrowly escape the Pnume underground and, despite various obstacles and shocking spectacles, attempt to make their way back to the city of Sivishe, where Reith’s spaceship was nearly completed before he was captured. The question is… what will he find when he arrives?

In my humble opinion, The Pnume was the weakest of the books in the series, with a thin plot that consisted mostly of Reith and ZAP210 trekking across Tschai to get back to the warehouse where Reith hopes to find a finished spaceship awaiting him. Vance uses the bulk of the story to continue building this complex and treacherous world of Tschai by introducing the reader to an entirely new spate of races and cultures that were unexplored in the first three books. He does a fair job of presenting a coming of age story for ZAP210 as she unwillingly transforms from a sheltered, frail waif into a courageous voyager in her own right.

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Dirdir by Jack Vance

The Dirdir by Jack VanceAmerican astronaut Adam Reith, stranded on the alien planet Tschai for at least a year and desperate to return to Earth, has no choice but to find a way to build a new spaceship from scratch. The scout ship in which he and his late colleague, Paul Waunder, crashed on Tschai was long ago confiscated by one of the alien races and stripped for its technology. Reith’s previous two attempts to acquire a ship failed (as chronicled in City of the Chasch and Servants of the Wankh).

After acclimating as much as possible to Tschai’s motley cultures and customs, Reith sets off through treacherous Dirdir territory with friends Traz Onmale and the fugitive Anacho in order to raise enough funds (called sequins) to construct a vessel.

After killing a group of Dirdir hunters who tracked them, Reith, Traz, and Anacho take their attackers’ sequins, bury a percentage of them in a secret location, and venture to the shipyards of Shivishe where they strike a deal with an unsavory and obese opportunist named Woudiver. The investor rents them space in his warehouse and assists in acquiring the parts to build their vessel—at the highest prices, of course. Woudiver threatens to turn the trio over to the Dirdir authorities unless they concede to his demands.

Will Reith finally be successful in constructing a vessel to take him home or will he, Traz, and the Dirdir traitor, Anacho, be executed for murder?

The Dirdir is the third book in Jack Vance’s Planet of Adventure series, which has the feel of John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This time, much of the story sees Adam Reith negotiating and haggling over costs of travel, lodging, and information with various strange and eccentric beings as he makes his way to Shivishe, where his skills of negotiation are put to the test against the repulsive and dangerous Woudiver.

As with the previous two installments in the series, Vance masterfully builds the world as the story unfolds, often through dialogue between Reith and Anacho or another indigenous creature who instructs Reith on the ways and philosophies of the four major races who rule the planet Tschai.

Blog, Book Reviews

Book Review: Jack Vance’s City of the Chasch

In response to a signal from a planet over 200 light years from Earth, a ship is sent to investigate. Upon reaching the planet, two astronauts named Adam Reith and Paul Waunder are dispatched in a small scout ship. Soon Jack Vance - City of Chaschafter, missiles fired from the planet destroy the mothership and damage the scout ship, forcing it to crash land.

Injured, Reith and Waunder are soon captured by a band of primitive warriors. Waunder is immediately beheaded by one of the soldiers. Their teenage leader, later introduced as Traz Onmale, rages against the man and strips him of his rank and status by removing the man’s Emblem.

The scout ship’s crash also attracts the attention of rival clans known as the Blue Chasch and the Dirdir. Each newly arriving group drives away the next until Onmale’s soldiers finally chase the Dirdir away before transporting the injured Reith back to their village. Unfortunately, during the chaos, the Blue Chasch manage to depart with the wreckage of Reith’s scout ship.

Once healed, Reith manages to do exactly what you would expect in any “fish out of water” story—he violates the customs, and questions the beliefs, of Onmale’s people, resulting in a series of misunderstandings, some of which spark violent confrontations.

Eventually, Reith convinces Traz to join him on a quest to recover his scout ship from the Blue Chasch and together, they embark on a daring expedition across the planet. Along the way, they befriend a Dirdirman named Anacho, engage in battle against an insane beast known as the Phung, join a traveling clan of traders and rescue a young woman from a misandrist clan of sadistic priestesses, encounter a clan of sadistic pranksters known as the Green Chasch, overthrow the corrupt chief of a ruined town, and much more…

City of the Chasch is evocative of the Mars novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs with Adam Reith and Chasch taking the place of John Carter and Barsoom (as Mars is known to its inhabitants). Jack Vance does an exemplary job of revealing the complex cultures, conflicts, and characteristics of his world as the story unfolds. There are no significant infodumps here, allowing for a reasonably fast-paced tale. While there is nothing spectacular about the story, City of the Chasch holds up as a sturdy SF yarn and is the first in a tetralogy in Vance’s Planet of Adventure series.