Posted by Henri Gooren on April 15, 1998 at 00:02:08:
In Reply to: Re: (spoiler!): About Ports of Call posted by Willem on April 09, 1998 at 14:10:52:
: : Vance was going through all his usual motions (cliches, Willem rightly said) CORRECTION that were Menno's words ------
: : Henri
: In general I agree except on the statement that Vance gets progressively weaker in part 3 or 4 in series.
: Tschai #3 was the best of the 4 IMO
: Durdane: #3 was not that bad at all
: Cadwal was a serie with a lot of comments. Sales of part 3 were so low in Holland that it was only printed once compared to 3 printings of the other 2 volumes. I liked part 3 (need to reread it to be able to give specifics)
: Devil princes: # 4 was the best?, well at least very good, difficult to choose between 1,2,and 4 .
: Anyhow, Henri, I cannot support the theory that Vance is getting progressively weaker in a series. Maybe more arguments would be needed to demonstrate the theory?
: Willem
First, Willem is absolutely right that it was Menno who used the words `Vance cliches': my apologies to him and Menno (I misread my own notes :-).
Second, I said that Vance often gets weaker in parts three *or* four of his science fiction series. I agree that Dirdir (part 3) was the best of Planet of Adventure. However, I thought Pnume (part 4) was very weak and took away much of the mystery in the first three parts.
I had a similar feeling with the Demon Princes: 1 and 2 were very good; 3 was much weaker. The Face (part 4, but written 13 years later!) was excellent, while the concluding part was weaker and took away much of the mystery of the Institute.
Concerning Durdane: part 3 introduced new aliens out of the blue and had strange plot changes. I agree it is a nice read, but not strong on plot IMHO.
The Alastor trilogy: I thought Trullion quite strong, Marune very strong and entertaining (though somewhat lacking in originality), and Wyst (part 3) against the weakest of the lot.
Most people seem to agree that Throy (Cadwal 3) was a hurried and therefore disappointing conclusion to the trilogy. I have bad memories of the book, but you're right: we should reread it to see how it holds up six years later.
After briefly reviewing three trilogies, one tetralogy and one pentalogy I think a point can be made that Vance often seems to tire of his science fiction series towards the end. The Face is not even an exception to this point, because he could start it refreshed after a 12 year interval. I actually remember Vance saying in an interview with a Dutch SF magazine (Holland SF) in the seventies that he wrote Planet of Adventure and several mysteries in a big contract for Ace Books and had to work very hard to get it all done in time.
I rest my case (:-).
Henri