Shop Categories
- Paul, Susan
- History
- Hawkins, Colin & Jacqui
- Wolf, Leonard
- Objective C
- Quignard, Pascal
- Michel Thomas
- Emerson, Earl
- Eco, Umberto
- Balanced Scorecard
- Van Over, Raymond
- Wittgenstein, Ludwig
- Gordon, Joan
- Sweet Valley University
- JavaScript
- Philosophy
- Jackson, Shirley
- Microbial Ecology
- Scientific Standards
- Homosexuality
- Gilbert, Martin
- Star Trek
- Doctor Who
- Gideon, John
- Adams, Richard
- Howells, Coral Ann
- Ballroom
- Champions League
- General AAS
- Dictionaries
- Some of our other sites:
- Books
- Clothing, Shoes and Accessories
- Baby Clothes and Accessories
- Cosmetics, Beauty Products and Fragrances
- Cellphones, Call Plans and Accessories
- Video Games
- DVDs
- Electronics, Gadgets and Computers
- Health and Personal Care
- Home and Garden
- Home DIY
- Jewelry
- Magazines and Newspapers
- Music Downloads
- Musical Instruments
- Office Equipment and Supplies
- Software and Games
- Sporting Goods
- Toys and Games
- Watches
- UK Books
- UK Video Games
- UK Home and Garden
- UK Electronics, Gadgets and Computers
- UK Baby Clothes and Accessories
- UK Software and Games
- UK Sporting Goods
- UK Toys and Games
Books : Fiction : By Period : 20th Century : Authors, A-Z : V : Vance, Jack
-
-
Somewhere at the end of time, the sun gutters towards final death, science has long ago been replaced by alchemy and demonic invocation and the few inhabitants of the world wander around with a near-psychotic ennui and yearning. The original six stories Vance wrote early in his career are moody and poetic and genially depraved; when he came back to his dying earth, years later, it was in a rather different mood and the two volumes of adventures in which Cugel the Clever proves how little he deserves his sobriquet have much of the poetry, but also a sly wit that was not the early stories' strength. Cugel is incapable of leaving alone anything not nailed down, and much that is; he wanders his world miraculously surviving his own cupidity and treachery--yet is no worse than the smarter, more beautiful people he meets and more often than not better. More recently, he produced the slighter and almost whimsical tales of the magician Rhialto the Marvellous; Vance's poetic and comic strains of invention work effectively in tandem. The Dying Earth collects all of these stories, tragic, comic and charming--they take us to one of the strangest places and attractively affected styles in all fantasy. --Roz Kaveney
-
-
-
Jack Vance began to publish SF in 1945, and his 1950 science- fantasy classic The Dying Earth established him as a master of exotic, ironic style--still the hallmark of his 1990s novels. Emphyrio dates from 1969 and is perhaps his best handling of a favourite theme, a young boy's rebellion against a fossilized and unfair society. Ambroy, on the far world Halma, is a city of fine craft-workers where quiet tyranny wears the smiling face of a welfare state. Social workers with draconian powers enforce strict laws against mechanical duplication (each work of art must be unique), while priests of the absurd state religion go from door to door being loftily officious. Dissatisfied young Ghyl Tarvoke more or less prankishly runs for Mayor of Ambroy under the name of legendary hero Emphyrio--a quixotic act which leads indirectly to his master-craftsman father's tragic punishment and death, to despairing involvement in his wild friends' spaceship hijack plan, and to shocking revelations about Ambroy's real rulers. Legend says that Emphyrio long ago brought peace to Halma by uncovering truth, at the cost of his life. After colourful adventures Ghyl finds himself similarly placed: the truth can redeem the city he loves but means great personal loss. A fine, strangely underrated novel, now reissued as #19 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series. --David Langford
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-