Posted by teaser on March 02, 1999 at 11:33:32:
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.
In one sense, I hate to chime in when all I can do is agree; on the other hand, I would like to support and reinforce some of what has been posted.
The description of Gene Wolfe above is perfectly apt; I could have written those words myself.
Dunsany, Eddison, and Clark Ashton Smith are fine and fascinating authors, and rewarding in their own right. I can believe that each served to inspire Vance's style. Mervyn Peake is another, somewhat similar, writer.
James Branch Cabell experienced a sort of rediscovery in the 70s, and both reprints of his works and new volumes of criticism appeared. Jurgen is perhaps the best, and I believe it is in print.
The chap who mentioned the name of Larry Niven has a point; Niven has more of a hard science approach, but his cultures and characters can be interesting. He shares with Vance a curiously detached sociological concern that I find very humane.
I like Zelazny, and I'll buy the connection, but I'm not sure I would have made it myself.
Micheal Shea is worth trying, but, as I believe someone has mentioned, this is more a direct emulation of Vance than a happy similarity in style. Reading Nifft the Lean, say, is rather like watching Rich Little imitate Frank Sinatra - you can recognise what he's doing, but it just isn't the same. He knows the song, but he can't sing.
I haven't read much R.A. Lafferty, but his sense of humor seems akin to Vance, although the style may not be similar.
John Varley's trilogy, Titan, Wizard, Demon, seems to me to have Vancean elements. Sadly, the similarities don't extend to his prose style, which isn't necessarily bad, but is not comparable to Vance. More of a sense of wonder and - what's a good word - outrageousness?
I might mention Lloyd Alexander. His Prydain books are admittedly juvenile, but the sense of discovery and setting reminds me a bit of the Lyonesse books. A tenuous association, to be sure. It may be all in my mind, but, when you get right down to it, isn't everything?
Finally, as has been mentioned before, there's a weird stylistic correlation between Vance and Vladimir Nabokov; a certain verbal density, a felicity of expression, a Continental outlook.
Thanks for listening.
teaser
"Here is a silver half-florin, with an extra two pennies because the mustard was good."