Jack Vance 1916-2013

http://foreverness.jackvance.com/

One of the greatest storytellers of our time, who survived most of his generation. Rest in peace, Jack.

A great writer, with a strong legacy.

Nearly 97 years old - must have been amazed at the world continuing to change so much decade after decade.

Very sad news indeed. He is one of my very favorite authors, and is sadly underappreciated.

I've been thinking a lot about Vance's Dying Earth as I've been reading Harrison's Viriconium this week.

I just discovered him within the past few years. I have really enjoyed The Demon Princes books and the Dying Earth stories that I have read so far. I look forward to reading as much of his work as possible.

Big Planet, The Star King, and The Dragon Masters became wired into my brain when I was quite young.

I'm really sad to hear this, though he certainly had a good innings. Some rereading is in order ...

:(

:(

The Lyonesse trilogy was (still is) among my most enduring favorite books ever.

I see that Vance's website sells ebooks of his work; no DRM. For those of us who don't have absolutely everything.

Well, Mrs. Anglemark was one of the volunteers for the Vance Integral Edition. But the rest of you should get the books you don't already have! ;)

I still have the Cadwal Chronicles on the TBR, but I purged my collection of a lot of his stuff a few years ago. I kept the Demon Princes and Alastor Cluster series, plus the masterworks editions of Emphryio, Dying Earth and Lyonesse. But all the rest went.

Lyonesse is what I've chosen for my desktop server name since I first read it. For me, the first half of the first book is what sticks, and has always struck me as very different from anything else he wrote. For quintessential Vance, I'd pick The Moon Moth.

I first discovered Vance years ago, reading an original paperback publication of The Dying Earth. Which I got signed at a Marcon when Vance was GoH. I can't say that I liked everything he wrote; but everything he wrote was well-written.

Jack Vance is one of the few authors that I've kept re-reading with great pleasure since I discovered him at age 14. I'm sure his books will be an enduring presence in my life. Goodbye, Mr. Vance!

The only one of my favourite authors still surviving is young Michael Moorcock, and we've long since lost him to the wasteland of Mainstream Fiction. Although Vance's stories became rather hackneyed in later years (but no more so than his contemporaries), still his soaring imagination and quiet humour never faltered; characteristics which came through most strongly, I feel, in his Cugel the Clever stories.

I have lots of favorite authors still around. In SF, Ursula LeGuin and Gene Wolfe come to mind immediately; and in lighter mode, C.J. Cherryh and Elizabeth Moon are both favorites. I'm sure I could think of others easily.

Cherryh on the lighter side? To me she's a challenging rewarding read, at least as much so as much as LeGuin, not at all to take anything away from LeGuin. Especially Cyteen, Downbelow Station, but many others. Elizabeth Moon seems to me in an entirely different category.

>19 rshart3: I must confess to unfamiliarity with Elizabeth Moon and I've never been inspired to follow Ursula LeGuin, despite her many awards. My only experience of C.J. Cherryh has been Downbelow Station. I don't remember anything of it now, but I recall my impression at the time was that it was a fairly undistinguished space opera. Like most people I've read Wolfe's Book of the New Sun cycle, and I enjoyed it greatly at the time although I effectively viewed it as fantasy. I'm not sure I would want to revisit the saga now.

>21 EnsignRamsey: The first pages of Downbelow Station, my first Cherryh novel, gave me the comforting reassurance that I was in the hands of a talented and reliable author. She did not disappoint. It might be worth a reread, but of course ymmv.

I lumped LeGuin & Wolfe together because I think of them both as "literary" SF writers, in the richness & quality of the writing, ideas, & imagery, and in the development of larger themes. LeGuin in particular I think can be called a great, classic writer in speculative fiction. Wolfe is odd: sometimes spectacular (Fifth Head of Cerberus, Book of the New Sun), other times missing the mark (Book of the Long Sun -meh).
I didn't mean to put down the other two by using the term "lighter". I love them both. I've read the Chanur series three times. But I think of them more as space opera, action books. Well-imagined universes/worlds; three-dimensional characters; good action; even some good reflections now & then -- but still, basically entertainment. Very good entertainment. Talented & reliable, yes! Brilliant, no.

>21 EnsignRamsey: EnsignRamsey Do you like hard SF most? LeGuin & Wolfe are both what I'd call "soft SF": humanities-based rather than science-based. One of the interesting things about the Book of the New Sun is that it starts out seeming like fantasy, but increasingly turns out to be SF. I like that kind of transition (the Steerswoman series is another example.) But I wouldn't expect a hard SF fan to much like either author.

>23 rshart3: I would agree with you about Cherryh if we are looking at the Chanur books, and for the most part her last 20 years of the Foreigner series. They're the lighter side of Cherryh

Of course it's just my view, but I think her best work is of a very high quality. I consider Cyteen to be a brilliant novel, replete with original ideas, great characters, and a plot that delights as it emerges.

Yeah, Wolfe is pretty good too ;)

>23 rshart3: Yes, and no. As I get older and understand the concepts more I find myself enjoying hard SF more. On the other hand Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement is often recommended by fans of hard SF, yet I found that he became so wound up in the science that he forgot to tell a story.

I definitely think some soft SF is very valid, for example Philip K. Dick and to a degree Frederik Pohl.

>22 stellarexplorer: I'm definitely open to re-reading Downbelow Station, but realistically my reading "list" is very long, so it might not be anytime soon.

Yes, life is short and there are a lot of books!

In addition to making the push for Cyteen, I realize I haven't actually said spelled out what is important in Cherryh's work, and what I feel is a vital relationship between LeGuin (and others) and Cherryh.

Cherryh's work mines the pervasive theme of the Other, perhaps more than any other SF author. Her books thoroughly explore the isolated person, alone in a world of beings alien to himself. I say himself, because most often it is a male character that is alone and vulnerable, while she develops more potent and self-sufficient female characters. I also feel LeGuin opened doors that Cherryh sailed through, taking up the charge and carrying it forward. Cherryh's focus is not on social justice or sexual politics directly but on worlds and characters built on the ground Le Guin and others more specifically pursued. For this among other reasons, I feel her work merits attention.