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Ad-Vances in Science Fiction
Jul. 14th, 2000 11:18 pmFeht, having become quite the connoisseur in the arena of science fiction, has developed a strong affinity for the work of Jack Vance. The name was not unfamiliar to me, although to be frank, I'd be twitched before I could name anything I'd read that he'd written.
Not any more.
I've just finished Star King, billed as "the first of the Demon Princes novels." The following discussion may contain spoilers...don't say you have not been warned.
Talking about spoilers, I am miffed, somewhat, by the spoiler printed on the back cover of the book (Grafton imprint, from the U.K.). There it says, and I quote: "Kirth Gerson had been a peaceful man until the day five Star Kings descended upon the planet and home of this parents and wiped them out in a vicious object-lesson." Admittedly, it's not a major giveaway (not to mention not quite accurate, since Kirth was but a wee lad when the "lesson" was "taught"), but it is something the author develops slowly and reveals a ways into the book, explaining the motivation behind the hero's wanderings in and beyond "the Pale" to hunt down and destroy these nasty folk.
I suppose I should count my blessings. At least the marketing flacks who wrote the cover words didn't give away everything.
The story starts with Gerson making the acquaintance of Lugo Teehalt, a 'locator' who has found a planet so...perfect, that he does not wish to reveal its location to his employer, who happens to be one of the five aforementioned bad guys, who goes by the monicker of Attel Malagate (a.k.a., "the Woe"). Reading through the first few pages, you're not sure whether this meeting has been prearranged, or whether it is a coincidence, for Malagate the Woe is one of five nasties that populate a list that lives in Gerson's pocket. As it turns out, it is a coincidence.
In short order, Teehalt is killed and our hero comes into possession of the 'filament' that would reveal the location of the planet. The rest of the story has Gerson evading the minions of the Woe, in the form of an Earthman assassin named Tristano (who "kills by touches of his hand"), a Sarkoy named Sivij Suthiro (a master poisoner), and a sicko named Hildemar Dasce.
The evasion goes well, with Gerson outwitting (and overpowering, and killing) the opposition, and proceeds to a point where he has narrowed the identity of the Woe down to three university administrators. Along the way, he has made the acquaintance of a university receptionist named Pallis Atwrode (Gerson's love interest, though tame by the standards of today), who is kidnapped by the bad guys, forcing Gerson to play some pretty subtle mind games to get what he wants (the girl, safe; the Woe, dead). In fact, all through the book, from the initial meeting with Teehalt, through to the unmasking of the Woe, Vance has his characters jousting constantly with words.
Along the way, Vance weaves a fine tapestry worthy of someone who not only won both the Hugo and Nebula awards in the course of a long writing career, but the Edgar award for mystery writing as well. Whereas heroes of lesser stature would simply have killed all three university bureaucrats (and let "God sort them out"), Gerson uses a fine stratagem to force unequivocal identification of Malagate, and saves the young lady, to boot. It was a performance that Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot could be proud of. (Then again, if Vance wrote in the style of, say, Mickey Spillane, Malagate would have turned out to have been Pallis Atwrode.)
I enjoyed the book, but wonder what I have to expect in the other tomes of the Demon Princes series? Does Gerson off one baddie per volume? Do we get a two-fer somewhere along the line? Does he stick with Pallis? Only time will tell.
It took me a little while to vector in on this book, actually. There was only one Vance book available at Bookstop (Ports of Call), and Star King was the only book available at the used book place near El Camino. Either the man is not widely published (yeah, right) or people don't let his books remain in bookstore inventory very long.
From another perspective, I note that the trappings of a science fiction story (the rockets, planets, filaments, exotic flora and fauna, etc.) are pretty much superfluous to the basic plot, which could have been cast in the American West with some appropriate substitutions. This is the hallmark, as far as I am concerned, of good science fiction, since any story that depends more on science than on interactions between humans will not be as interesting.
Heinlein was able to point out some universal truths about human action in his stories; I shall reserve judgment on Vance's work. This was simply a good story. Then again, maybe the universe described in this book makes the telling of the story a bit easier.
Cheers...
Not any more.
I've just finished Star King, billed as "the first of the Demon Princes novels." The following discussion may contain spoilers...don't say you have not been warned.
Talking about spoilers, I am miffed, somewhat, by the spoiler printed on the back cover of the book (Grafton imprint, from the U.K.). There it says, and I quote: "Kirth Gerson had been a peaceful man until the day five Star Kings descended upon the planet and home of this parents and wiped them out in a vicious object-lesson." Admittedly, it's not a major giveaway (not to mention not quite accurate, since Kirth was but a wee lad when the "lesson" was "taught"), but it is something the author develops slowly and reveals a ways into the book, explaining the motivation behind the hero's wanderings in and beyond "the Pale" to hunt down and destroy these nasty folk.
I suppose I should count my blessings. At least the marketing flacks who wrote the cover words didn't give away everything.
The story starts with Gerson making the acquaintance of Lugo Teehalt, a 'locator' who has found a planet so...perfect, that he does not wish to reveal its location to his employer, who happens to be one of the five aforementioned bad guys, who goes by the monicker of Attel Malagate (a.k.a., "the Woe"). Reading through the first few pages, you're not sure whether this meeting has been prearranged, or whether it is a coincidence, for Malagate the Woe is one of five nasties that populate a list that lives in Gerson's pocket. As it turns out, it is a coincidence.
In short order, Teehalt is killed and our hero comes into possession of the 'filament' that would reveal the location of the planet. The rest of the story has Gerson evading the minions of the Woe, in the form of an Earthman assassin named Tristano (who "kills by touches of his hand"), a Sarkoy named Sivij Suthiro (a master poisoner), and a sicko named Hildemar Dasce.
The evasion goes well, with Gerson outwitting (and overpowering, and killing) the opposition, and proceeds to a point where he has narrowed the identity of the Woe down to three university administrators. Along the way, he has made the acquaintance of a university receptionist named Pallis Atwrode (Gerson's love interest, though tame by the standards of today), who is kidnapped by the bad guys, forcing Gerson to play some pretty subtle mind games to get what he wants (the girl, safe; the Woe, dead). In fact, all through the book, from the initial meeting with Teehalt, through to the unmasking of the Woe, Vance has his characters jousting constantly with words.
Along the way, Vance weaves a fine tapestry worthy of someone who not only won both the Hugo and Nebula awards in the course of a long writing career, but the Edgar award for mystery writing as well. Whereas heroes of lesser stature would simply have killed all three university bureaucrats (and let "God sort them out"), Gerson uses a fine stratagem to force unequivocal identification of Malagate, and saves the young lady, to boot. It was a performance that Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot could be proud of. (Then again, if Vance wrote in the style of, say, Mickey Spillane, Malagate would have turned out to have been Pallis Atwrode.)
I enjoyed the book, but wonder what I have to expect in the other tomes of the Demon Princes series? Does Gerson off one baddie per volume? Do we get a two-fer somewhere along the line? Does he stick with Pallis? Only time will tell.
It took me a little while to vector in on this book, actually. There was only one Vance book available at Bookstop (Ports of Call), and Star King was the only book available at the used book place near El Camino. Either the man is not widely published (yeah, right) or people don't let his books remain in bookstore inventory very long.
From another perspective, I note that the trappings of a science fiction story (the rockets, planets, filaments, exotic flora and fauna, etc.) are pretty much superfluous to the basic plot, which could have been cast in the American West with some appropriate substitutions. This is the hallmark, as far as I am concerned, of good science fiction, since any story that depends more on science than on interactions between humans will not be as interesting.
Heinlein was able to point out some universal truths about human action in his stories; I shall reserve judgment on Vance's work. This was simply a good story. Then again, maybe the universe described in this book makes the telling of the story a bit easier.
Cheers...
