The late, great Jack Vance left us dozens of masterworks. Vance was an unpretentious, brilliant writer. His science fiction, fantasy, and mystery novels possess a style and sensibility unique in those genres. I started reading Jack Vance back in the 1950s. The first Jack Vance novel I read was a Winston juvenile, Vandals of the Void. Later, I read Vance’s work in Astounding and Galaxy. I bought his paperbacks and read them the same day. As the decades passed, it was clear to me that Jack Vance was a genius. If you haven’t read Jack Vance, I urge you to remedy that. I’ve provided a handy list of many of his works to help you in book selection. All of Jack Vance’s works are available as ebooks. Subterranean is reprinting Jack Vance’s short stories, mystery novels, and SF novels. You can check out the new deluxe edition of The Dying Earth here. I envy those of you who haven’t read Vance’s award-winning novels: The Dragon Masters, The Last Castle, and The Man in a Cage. Click on the covers above to check out the artwork.
Next week, I’ll finish up my review of Ed Gorman’s “My Favorite John D. MacDonald Standalone Novels.” This tribute to Jack Vance, one of the great writers of the 20th Century, took precedence.
Series
Dying Earth
1. The Dying Earth (1950)
aka Mazirian the Magician
2. The Eyes of the Overworld (1966)
aka Cugel the Clever
3. Cugel’s Saga (1966)
aka Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight
4. Rhialto the Marvellous (1984)
Morreion (1968)
The Seventeen Virgins (1974)
The Bagful of Dreams (1979)
The Laughing Magician (1997)
The Tales of the Dying Earth (omnibus) (2000)
Big Planet
1. Big Planet (1952)
2. Showboat World (1975)
Demon Princes
1. The Star King (1964)
2. The Killing Machine (1964)
3. The Palace of Love (1967)
4. The Face (1979)
5. The Book of Dreams (1981)
The Demon Princes : Volume 1 (omnibus) (1997)
The Demon Princes: Volume 2 (omnibus) (1997)
The Demon Princes (2005)
Nopalgarth
1. Son of the Tree (1964)
2. The Houses of Iszm (1964)
3. The Brains of Earth (1966)
Magnus Ridolph
The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph (1966)
The Complete Magnus Ridolph (1984)
Magnus Ridolph (2012)
Tschai, Planet of Adventure
1. City of the Chasch (1968)
2. Servants of the Wankh (1969)
3. The Dirdir (1969)
4. The Pnume (1970)
Planet of Adventure (omnibus) (1993)
The Chasch (2011)
Tschai (2012)
Durdane
1. The Anome (1973)
aka The Faceless Man
2. The Brave Free Men (1973)
3. The Asutra (1974)
Durdane (omnibus) (1989)
Alastor
1. Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973)
2. Marune: Alastor 993 (1975)
3. Wyst: Alastor 1716 (1978)
Alastor (omnibus) (1995)
Gaean Reach
1. The Gray Prince (1974)
2. Maske: Thaery (1976)
Lyonesse
1. Suldrun’s Garden (1983)
aka Lyonesse
2. The Green Pearl (1985)
3. Madouc (1989)
Lyonesse II: The Green Pearl and Madouc (omnibus) (2003)
The Complete Lyonesse (omnibus) (2010)
Cadwal Chronicles
1. Araminta Station (1988)
2. Ecce and Old Earth (1991)
3. Throy (1992)
Cadwell Chronicles (omnibus) (1987)
The Cadwal Chronicles (2012)
Ports of Call
1. Ports of Call (1998)
2. Lurulu (2004)
Miro Hetzel
The Dogtown Tourist Agency (2012)
Freitzke’s Turn (2012)
Miro Hetzel (2012)
Novels
Vandals of the Void (1953)
The Five Gold Bands (1953)
aka The Space Pirate
To Live Forever (1956)
The Languages of Pao (1958)
Slaves of the Klau (1958)
aka Gold and Iron
The Man in the Cage (1960)
The Dragon Masters (1963)
Monsters in Orbit (1965)
Space Opera (1965)
The Blue World (1966)
The Last Castle (1966)
Emphyrio (1969)
Bad Ronald (1973)
Galactic Effectuator (1980)
The Grey Prince (1990)
Night Lamp (1996)
Clarges (2011)
The Domains of Koryphon (2011)
The Magnificent Showboats (2011)
The Wannek (2011)
The Rapparee (2011)
The Deadly Isles (2012)
Bird Isle (2012)
The Dark Ocean (2012)
The Flesh Mask (2012)
The Fox Valley Murders (2012)
The House on Lily Street (2012)
The Pleasant Grove Murders (2012)
Strange People, Queer Notions (2012)
The View from Chickweed’s Window (2012)
The Miracle Workers (2012)
Collections
Future Tense (1964)
aka Dust of the Far Suns
Eight Fantasms and Magics: A Science Fiction Adventure (1969)
The Worlds of Jack Vance (1973)
The Moon Moth: And Other Stories (1976)
Fantasms and Magics (1978)
The Best of Jack Vance (1978)
Green Magic (1979)
Nopalgarth (1980)
Lost Moons (1982)
The Narrow Land (1982)
Light from a Lone Star (1985)
Demon Prince: The Dissonant Worlds of Jack Vance (1985)
The Augmented Agent: And Other Stories (1986)
The Dark Side of the Moon: Stories of the Future (1986)
Bird Isle and Take My Face (1988)
Chateau D’If: And Other Stories (1990)
When the Five Moons Rise (1992)
The Jack Vance Treasury (2007)
The Jack Vance Reader (2008)
The Men Return (2009)
Wild Thyme, Green Magic (2009)
Hard Luck Diggings (2010)
The Dragon Masters and Other Stories (2011)
The Houses of Iszm and Other Stories (2011)
Son of the Tree and Other Stories (2011)
The Potter of Firsk and Other Stories (2011)
The World-Thinker and Other Stories (2011)
Dream Castles: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Two (2012)
Golden Girl and Other Stories (2012)
Sail 25 and Other Stories (2012)
Wild Thyme and Violets: And Other Unpublished Works (2012)
Desperate Days (2012)
Magic Highways: The Early Jack Vance, Volume Three (2013)
Thanks for all the great info George – I’m reading DYING EARTH as my own personal tribute.
I just re-read Stories of Dying Earth (3 novels) and enjoyed it. I’d forgotten a lot of it, the rich detail and atmosphere he puts into the stories gives them a depth unlike other fantasy of the time.
Sergio, THE DYING EARTH is great, but I think Jack Vance produced his best work in the Sixties and Seventies. Check out EYES OF THE OVERWORLD.
Rick, some critics have called Jack Vance’s style “baroque.” It certainly is unique.
Thank you for this overview of a writer, I’m ashamed to admit, I know very little about. If you were to have to recommend one Vance mystery and one Vance SciFi for a novice, which books would you recommend?
Deb, I’m fond of Jack Vance’s THE FOX VALLEY MURDERS. And, with some mystery elements, Vance’s SF collection,The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph . If you like those books, there are dozens more Jack Vance works for you to enjoy!
I still need to read THE MAN IN THE CAGE and BAD RONALD, but they seem to be the default choices among his cf novels…probably THE TALES OF THE DYING EARTH one-volume for a sense of his fantasy (the contents also spanning his career), THE LANGUAGES OF PAO for his sf. But…and…
Thanks for such an elegant post, George.
Todd, my brief tribute to a giant like Jack Vance hardly seems adequate. I can only hope I spur others to seek out his work for pleasure and enlightenment.
George, thanks for Jack Vance’s list of books. I have never read Vance before, so would it be right to start with the three award-winning novels you mentioned or would you recommend something else?
Prashant, I mentioned the award-winning books because they might be slightly more accessible in print form. All of Vance’s work is available as ebooks so you could jump in anywhere. I suspect you will really enjoy Jack Vance’s work.
I may have read a s/s many decades ago, but I know I’ve never read one of his novels. I’ll see what I can find.
Jack Vance’s novels are well worth reading, Bob.
What does it say about me that I have read them all, many multiple times. Not much, since Vance is my favorite writer. And I agree, George, that Vance produced his best work in the 60s and early 70s
Stan, I still have a few Jack Vance mysteries to read. When I finish them, I’ll be sad that there are no more Jack Vance novels to read for the First Time. I felt the same way when I finished the last 87th Precinct novel.
Nice tribute to one of the greatest. When the Vance Integral Edition was announced, I really wanted to get it but did not have the ready cash to do it. I have seen the set and it is impressive. One of the greatest SF writers of all time.
Scott, I was tempted by the Vance Integral Edition, too. But, Subterranean is reprinting some of the books I didn’t have. And, all Vance’s work is available as ebooks.
Many of the Vance ebooks are the VIE texts. All the mysteries certainly are
Stan, I really like the Subterranean omnibuses!