Posted by Mick Scannell on July 30, 1998 at 08:42:07:
In Reply to: Re: Poor Reviews and Misunderstandings - A counterview posted by Tim Stretton on July 29, 1998 at 09:43:20:
"Am I alone in thinking that Ports of Call, sparkling with adornments though it is, is some way below Jack's best work?"
Probably not, but you're the first to say so on this BBS. L'audace, tourhours l'audace! Personally, I loved PoC, finding it his best work since Cugel's Saga. The best bits have been pointed out by others before, so I'll skip that and make a minor critique that my enjoyment of this book when it landed on my doorstep was slightly marred by the fact that nowhere on the tome was it mentioned that this was the first in a series. So, as the number of remaining pages edged towards single figures I found myself thinking "only a few to go ... how's he gonna wrap up the unfinished buisness with the lad's frightwig- wearing spinster aunt?". Of course, it never arrived, and only then did it dawn on me that there was more to come, and because of this the pleasure I had from reading this fine work was not as strong as it would've been had I been aware that another book would eventually be hot on the heels of this one.
"Why am I knocking Jack's recent work in this way? Simply this - I don't think we do him any favours if we slavishly say all of his work is equally sublime. Can we compare Throy with The Face? Or Ecce and Old Earth with the under-rated Emphyrio? I don't think so".
I share similiar sentiments when thinking of the over-rated Lyonesse III against the vastly under-rated Grey Prince (according to a poll of Vancians I saw a while ago, this excellent book was sitting on the bottom of a table of V's work). Perhaps when the followup comes out and you've a chance to see how Vance finishes off the sequence you might feel differently about PoC?
Best Regards,
Mick