Posted by Steven R. Harbin on March 01, 1999 at 17:16:56:
In Reply to: Re: What other authors do you like? posted by Dan Gunter on February 27, 1999 at 17:12:08:
: : Before Vance, I have read a lot of books by various authors. After Vance, I can't get into books written by other authors. I now find other authors too bland and can't read them for more than five chapters. The first Vance book I read was Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden. This book is truly a work of art. I can't give it enough praise. Ever since, I was hooked to the style and descriptive powers of Vance.
: : Since I've exhausted most of Vance's work, I was curious as to what other authors Jack Vance fans enjoy so as to give me a chance to read the works of other authors.
: I've been reading Vance for about 30 years now (starting off with "Big Planet," which sometimes rotated through my elementary school library). Other favorites: Clark Ashton Smith (hard to find except in used bookstores), Lord Dunsany (same comment), E.R. Eddison (same comment; the Mezentian Gate series is rather heavy going), Avram Davidson (especially "The Phoenix and the Mirror" and "Vergil in Averno," which I'm currently rereading), and Patrick O'Brian (non-SF/fantasy, but--like Vance--a great prose stylist and a great describer of different societies). I think that Zelazny's "Jack of Shadows" is a fine, somewhat Vancean work. I agree with the gentleman who said that Gene Wolfe's books are rather Vancean, but I find Wolfe rather grimmer than Vance and somewhat ponderous. Few can rival Vance's elegance. James Branch Cabell and Dunsany are rivals (and Dunsany may be Vance's superior, but it's hard to compare).
: Stanislaw Lem is an outstanding writer of SF, but not Vancean. Still, I recommend him to anyone who likes speculative fiction.
I agree with almost all of the above. As far as I can determine no one else alive today writes with the same blend of poetry and subtle humor that Vance delivers. Could it be that Vance's style is anachronistic in the sense that it's a throwback to the days of Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, and Cabel? I have to believe that he was influenced at least some by these authors (as well as P.G.Wodehouse) but it seems to me that no modern authors approximate his style, even though several(Michael Shea comes to mind) claim that he was an influence. It seems sad to have to tell young readers who are just discovering Vance that their only chance for finding others like him is to haunt the used bookstores. Perhaps a new budding author is out there now reading Ports of Call or Night Lamp and is being influenced to turn out some Vance-like and Vance-caliber work. One can only hope. In the meantime, a question, do any other Vanceophiles like George MacDonald Frasier (creator of Flashman) and or the Svetz time traveler stories of Larry Niven in Flight of the Horse? While these two certainly owe nothing stylistically to Vance, I think a case could be made for similarities in humor and settings. Anybody agree? Rabidly disagree?