Posted by Terry on March 12, 1999 at 08:31:27:
In Reply to: Re: What other authors do you like? posted by teaser on March 02, 1999 at 11:33:32:
: 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 love the Sinatra/Little metaphor. But I think this is too harsh on Shea's writing by half. I believe he's written only 1 horror and 4 fantasy novels. Didn't much care for the HP Lovecraft followon _Color Out of Time_, but there are at least 3 fantasy books that should appeal to Vance fans: _Quest for Simbilis_ (the original Cugel sequel which I think is really quite good), _In Yana the Touch of the Undying_ (probably the most original of his work and a conflicted hero who grows and changes quite unlike any Vance), and _Nifft the Lean_ which is a series of linked stories and also well worth finding in a used bookstore. World Fantasy Award for the last book, I believe.
That said, Shea is not Vance. However, one needs to read something other than JV occasionally because most of us can read faster than he can write. Especially lately. Book every 2 years or so. Shea does not possess the lightness and aptness of phrase and word that Vance does, but some of Shea's written description is excellent. His protagonists always wind up in very bizarre settings worthy of Vance. For me as well as the nice plotting make him worth a look. I've always wondered why his heroes wind up in caverns, underground setting and the like? Probably Freudian.