Engineer Al's Sci-Fi Library: Jack Vance

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Thanks Al!
I have a lot of catching up to do, having never read...any of these. I may have seen one or two on the library shelves growing up, but as with so many of the great sf writers a lot of stuff is just buried unless you know to look for it.

I have a big fancy Lyonesse collection that was accidentally sent to me from an amazon order, I really need to get around to reading it.

He also wrote "Bad Ronald," which was turned into a really great and fairly disturbing TV movie back in the 70s. It has a minor cult following.

@iguanaD- Well, now you know. As you may have noticed my recommendations here are stronger than any previous post. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. I'll look forward to hearing what you read and what you thought about it.

@Gary- YES YOU DO!

@Motorik- Quite true. I have never seen the movie or read the book so I don't have much to say. For whatever reason the book is OOP and hard to find. The prices for a used copy on Amazon are beyond ridiculous. It is available on Kindle, but I like BOOKS!

I guess I should give the movie a shot. . .

Well said. Vane is one of a tiny handful of fantasy authors who've risen beyond the pulp conventions of the genre into something unique, with real literary quality. He should have must-read status yet he languishes in obscurity.

I've never read any of his sci-fi work. I should remedy that.

As a D&D player I'm ashamed I've still not read the Dying Earth. I'll push it up on the queue. Thanks, Al.

Another one who hasn't read any Jack Vance. I'm only aware that his take on magic has influenced many RPGs.

I need to give that Dying Earth series a try. I'll do it this summer. Thanks!

Vance is great. Eyes of the Overworld is one of the three great fantasy narratives and I agree, despite everyone borrowing from him Vance is oft ignored by name. I have Lyonesse, or one of the books from the series but am yet to read it. Good words Al.

It sounds like Vance's work was most likely a significant influence on Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series.

I've read the majority of the books that Gary Gygax recommended in the first edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide, including The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld. Jack Vance is a fantastic writer, with a knack for interesting names and flowery yet witty language. All four of the books in the Dying Earth series are excellent. I've tried some of his other works, but Lyonesse was long-winded, and his science-fiction Demon Princes books were dry and lifeless compared to the Dying Earth stories. The Dying Earth is a great entry point to the setting, because it's a collection of short stories in that setting, while the other three books are novel-length adventures.

Fans of the Dying Earth should also read Tales of the Dying Earth, a modern collection of stories set in the Dying Earth that were written by other writers. Nearly every single one of them manages to nail the concept, delivering a decent approximation of Vance's writing style and stories that generally fit right in with the setting. One of the best stories was written by George R.R. Martin, who also edited this large book. Each story is preceded by the writer describing how Vance influenced their writing, or at least how they first encountered the Dying Earth stories.

Shellhead wrote: I've read the majority of the books that Gary Gygax recommended in the first edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide, including The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld.

Do you have the full list? I would love to see Gygax's recommendations. There's at least one tale in The Dying Earth that is pretty much a D&D adventure, specially in mood (The one in which one guy can't suffer no ill as long as he stays on the path).

I read The Dying Earth a while ago, it was incredibly dry at first and it made my head hurt. But after a while it gets better and you stary enjoying it more and more. I think Vance writes fantasy as one would write science ficition which is odd, but gives the tales a lot of character (I mean, strictly speaking the series IS science-fiction, isn't it?). I think his prose gets much, much better as he ages, I want to check out later books of his for this reason.

www.digital-eel.com/blog/ADnD_reading_list.htm

Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Brackett, Leigh
Brown, Frederic
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: "Pellucidar" series; Mars series; Venus series
Carter, Lin: "World's End" series
de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
Farmer, P. J.: "The World of the Tiers" series; et al
Fox, Gardner: "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO'S JOURNEY
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Lovecraft, H. P.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre
Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manley Wade
Williamson, Jack
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series; et al

www.digital-eel.com/blog/ADnD_reading_list.htm

Some of these books didn't make a lasting impression on me. Some of these writers had a major influence on fantasy and need no further endorsement. But I do want to call attention to The Face in the Frost, by John Bellairs. It was a wonderfully quirky story about wizards, either amusing or spooky at various points.