Posted by MikeE on June 30, 1999 at 06:33:36:
There is one aspect of Vance's stories that I don't think has been examined in these posts yet. I have been struck over the years by the repeated extermination or hard use of children and young love interests. Just off the top of my head, I can think of being captivated right off the bat in Lyonesse by the wistful young girl in the cold surroundings of her life. Whoops Dead. Then later we find children being eaten and raped by a Giant. In various places in the Alastor Cluster, we find a 10 or 11 year old girl being dragged off by people to turn her into bonter, children being dragged under water by native amphibians, etc. In the Demon Princes, we have children being rendered down to create waxy nodules for longevity. Let's see, in Araminta Station, we have a captivating young girl being shipped off world in a wine cask. In the Planet of Adventure we have two sweet children being savaged and killed by an odious thug, and in the Demon Princes again, we have children kidnapped and sold into slavery every which way. Then there was a foot note in Night Lamp (I think) about a notorious villian who kipnapped a number or beautiful girls and bred them and then bred his children by them and then their children. I seem to recall others, and it might be interesting to develop a complete list.
This has been an effective slap in the face for me each time I read about one of these atrocities. Is this a literary device to shock, or is Vance trying to tell us something about the cruelty of existence?