Posted by Kris Sperry, M. D. on March 31, 1998 at 04:09:25:
I finished the book feeling rather unfulfilled. I have been reading Vance for more than thirty years, besides being a bibliophile and collecting signed firsts of his work--I actually read it! As always, I enjoyed the stylistics and manipulations with language; children should read his books to broaden their vocabularies! However, the piecemeal nature of the plot became more and more evident towards the end of the book--who is doing what, and where is it going? The book obviously is structured for one or more sequels; Vance may well have put "continued in next installment" at the end, for there was essentially no resolution of any of the issues. His great aunt will show up again--in dire distress, no doubt. And, the young female romantic interest will materialize again, I am sure. The richness of writing style is there, but this is not one of Vance's best books, and having read it now, I feel that the hors d'ourves have been served, and the main course is yet to come. I wonder about the publisher--were they so interested in getting a book out there on the market that they took a manuscript, chopped out a large section and called it a book? Well, all I can do is wait for the next installment.