The Oikumene, from a Greek word meaning 'the civilized world,' is that part of the Galaxy settled by humanity and under organized civil government. Outside of the Oikumene is the "The Beyond," the lawless frontier worlds which ever beckon the adventurous and unscrupulous. The Oikumene forms the background for Jack Vance's five volume Demon Princes series and is the precursor of the later Gaean Reach, the setting for a later set of novels including the Cadwal and Alastor series as well as several non-series books.

Against the immense background of the Oikumene, Vance places his hero, Kirth Gersen, a young man from Beyond whose mission is life is to avenge the destruction of his home community by a consortium of master criminals and slavers, the five Demon Princes. In each of the five novels of the series, Gersen tracks down and expunges one of the Demon Princes. The fascination of these novels lies not so much in the action, exciting as it is, but in the depth and surety of Vance's depiction of the various human societies that have evolved since humanity left the earth for the stars. While aliens, intelligent and otherwise abound, the focus is always on the infinite diversity of human personalities and social relations. This concern for exotic anthropology (xenology?) is a recurrent theme in nearly all of Vance's mature writing, and coupled with his lush descriptions and his spare, ironic, and courtly dialog, gives him a unique voice. Vance is easily the best stylist in SF and fantasy.

The action in this series takes place over a period of perhaps five years at an time roughly 1500 hundred years in the future. The technology is both advanced and ordinary; interstellar flight has been made commonplace by the Jarnell Intersplit, but local human cultures have greatly differentiated with technological levels from quasi-medieval to advanced industrial. There is no overall interworld governmental body, no Galactic Empire, rather there is a congeries of local governments following various philosophies, though the majority appear to be more or less democratic and benevolent.

There are, however, three major supra-planetary agencies, the secretive "Institute," which engages in both historical research and political action, and the Interworld Police Coordination Company (IPCC), a semi-private police agency with official representatives on all the planets of the Oikumene. In the more recently settled and generally lawless frontier worlds of "The Beyond," the only interworld organization is the "Deweaseling Brigade," a group devoted to exposing and neutralizing IPCC agents. The Institute, or its successor the Historical Institute, and the IPCC also appear in the Gaean Reach novels whose period is much farther in the future. Thus it is evident that many of Vance's novels occur in the same created universe, but at different times.

The first three books were written in the late 60's, the last two some years later and there are some stylistic differences as well as seeming minor inconsistencies apparent in the last two books of the series.

THE STAR KING, New York, A Berkley Medallion Book, April, 1964, 158 p., pb.

In this first volume, we are introduced to Kirth Gersen, learn of his background, and get a feeling for the Oikumene, the IPCC, and the Institute. The Star Kings of the title are bactrachoid aliens masquerading as humans. However, in general they are not truly hostile, but rather hyper- competitive and secretive. The action takes place both Beyond and inside the Pale of the Oikumene and involves some memorable characters such as Hildemar Dasce and some exotic locales such as Smade's Tavern and the planets of the Rigel Concourse. Also prominent are the wonderful footnotes and chapter introductions characteristic of much of Vance's best writing.

In this book, Gersen discovers that a nursery rhyme encodes the location of a lost human world with an archaic civilization. He also acquires, by the typical Vancian technique of swindling criminals, the immense wealth which is crucial to the later books in the series as well as beautiful companion.

Arguably the best of the three, the action here follows directly after TKM. Much of the story takes place on the future earth (in Holland or Flemish Belgium?) and introduces a mad poet, Navarth, to whose poetry and songs references appear in other series as well. The Palace of Love would be a great place to spend one's vacation... However, I would avoid Sarkovy, the home world of the venefices, an exotic human society of poisoners or the slave-labor tapestry factories of Sabra. TPOL is a wonderfully rich book.

This book was first published in Dutch translation in Amsterdam by Meulenhoff in October, 1979 under the title LENS LARQUE, the name of the fourth Demon Prince.

After a hiatus of 12 years, this volume finally appeared, and not only is it longer than any of the preceeding, but the locale has shifted from the Rigel Concourse to the Vega system. The temporal relation to TPOL is somewhat vague (the events of the first three books took place roughly a year apart), but definitely later, though perhaps in the same year. The villain of this book is less appealing than the previous ones, though his society is carefully limned and the typical Vancian ironic humor is apparent throughout. Hadaul sounds like a great game to watch, if not to play, but the Darsh whip-dances are a truly nasty invention.

This final book takes place sometime after The Face and brings the series to a close, though one wishes to know how Gersen adapts to life now that his "enemies have abandonned" him (probably quite well as he has immense wealth, a new girlfriend, and a career as a journalist, if he wants it). The fifth Demon Prince, Howard Alan Treesong, is the most interesting of the five and is nearly as appealing as Viole Falushe of TPOL, though his character appears to be somewhat different from the "chaoticist" described in the earlier volumes. While the ending is telegraphed from the beginning, only a churl would want Gersen to fail.

None known.

THE WORK OF JACK VANCE, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE, Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke. Published by R. Reginald, The Borgo Press, San Bernardino, CA and Underwood-Miller, Penn Valley, CA and Lancaster, PA. 1994. cloth. ISSN 0749-470X, Bibliographies of Modern Authors, No. 29. (The publication data above on the five books of the pentalogy was taken from this book, which is an indispensable resource for Vance scholars and fans.)

JACK VANCE, in Writers of the 20th Century Series, edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, general series editors Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander., Taplinger Publishing Company, New York, 1980. This is a collection of essays on Vance's fiction, style, sources, etc. Highly recommended, though some dated as Vance has published more novels since these essays were written.

THE JACK VANCE LEXICON "From Ahulph to Zipangote, the coined words of Jack Vance," by Dan Temianka, Underwood-Miller, Novato, CA and Lancaster PA, 1992, cloth,136 p., ISBN 0-88733-112-1. A fascinating compendium for the Vance fan, this book includes nearly all of Vance's non-proper names with plausible etymologies, sources and references.

Mike Berro manages a "Jack Vance Info" WebSite at http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/jvm/ with links to other sites with Vance materials.

For information about Jack Vance's Grand Master Award, visit http://www.scifiweekly.com/current/site.html.

I am unaware of any news groups or mailing lists devoted to Jack Vance though a review by Till Noever of his latest book, NIGHTLAMP, appeared in the alt.books.reviews, rec.arts.books, rec.arts.sf.written, and misc.writing newsgroups last year.

FAQ owner: John Chalmers non12@deltanet.com
Last Updated: November 22, 1997.
All errors of fact and fiction in this document are my own.
Comments and suggestions cheerfully solicited

The Dying Earth takes place several billion years in the future when the sun wanes and "humanity festers rich as rotting fruit..." Science has secayed to sorcery, the mountains have been worn down, and strange creatures prowl the woods, air, and deserts as the sun flickers and threatens to go out like a guttering candle.

In actuality, the sun will not gracefully age and gradually dim, rather it will expand and heat up, burning, then engulfing, whatever remains of the Earth, but no matter, Vance's is a poetic vision, not a scientific one.

THE DYING EARTH, New York: Hillman Periodicals, 1950, 175 p. pb. Reprinted 1962, 1969, and 1972 by Lancer Books and Pocket Books, 1979, New York.

This book is not really a novel, but a collection of loosely connected stories sharing a common setting, plot and a few continuing characters. Most protagonists are on quests for knowledge, revenge, beauty, or love and meet with an extraordinarily imaginative set of circumstances, fates, and adventures.

Although THE DYING EARTH is a collection of some of Vance's earliest writing, his evocative power and descriptive ability are fully developed. Vance's marvelously appropriate names have an especially weird beauty. Similarly, the courtly and ironic dialog that characterizes much of his later writing is already apparent.

The events of this circular novel take place in other parts other than those described in the Dying Earth and the mood is much lighter. Cugel The Clever (from German, kluge, meaning clever?) an engagingly unscrupulous scamp is caught burgling the manse of Iucounu, the Laughing Magician. Rather than be immured in a pore 45 miles below the surface of the Earth, Cugel allows himself to be sent on lengthy quest to obtain the magic lensesby which Iucounu can view The Overworld. At the end, by an ironic combination of overconfidence and incompetence, Cugel finds himself back at the beginning of his quest.

This sequel to TEOTO finds Cugel back at the starting point of the quest detailed in the earlier novel. Forced by his (mis)deeds and the devastation he caused in the previous book to return by another route, his adventures are at least as baroque and intriguing in this one. At the end, he even becomes a genuinely sympathetic character when he triumphs over Iucounu, now assimilated to the demiurge Sadlark, and restores the body parts stolen from his friend Bazzard's four (sic) fathers.

This book is a collection of three stories related by continuing characters and a common setting. The first details an attack on the sorcerers of the 21st Aeon by an immensely powerful witch, the Murthe, who had been exiled to the star Sadal Suud in the18th Aeon. Rhialto and Ildefonse evoke the champion Calanctus, the Calm, who defeats her The second and longest tale concerns the personal rivalries of the various sorcerers and the eventual triumph of Rhialto, the Marvelous after lengthy adventures back in time in the 16th Aeon, when the Sun was still bright. The final episode, named after its main character, Morreion, takes place at a time subsequent to the 21th Aeon, perhaps the 22nd or even the 23rd, though with the same cast of characters. The sorcerer Morreion was sent forth to learn the secret of the IOUN stones but was betrayed by the "archveults" and forgotten by his associates. When eventually rescued by the other sorcerers, he plots revenge, but is thwarted by Rhialto and Ildefonse.

None known.

THE WORK OF JACK VANCE, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE, Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke. Published by R. Reginald, The Borgo Press, San Bernardino, CA and Underwood-Miller, Penn Valley, CA and Lancaster, PA. 1994. cloth. ISSN 0749-470X, Bibliographies of Modern Authors, No. 29. (The publication data above on the five books of the pentalogy was taken from this book, which is an indispensable resource for Vance scholars and fans.)

JACK VANCE, in Writers of the 20th Century Series, edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, general series editors Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander., Taplinger Publishing Company, New York, 1980. This is a collection of essays on Vance's fiction, style, sources, etc. Highly recommended, though some dated as Vance has published more novels since these essays were written.

THE JACK VANCE LEXICON "From Ahulph to Zipangote, the coined words of Jack Vance," by Dan Temianka, Underwood-Miller, Novato, CA and Lancaster PA, 1992, cloth,136 p., ISBN 0-88733-112-1. A fascinating compendium for the Vance fan, this book includes nearly all of Vance's non-proper names with plausible etymologies, sources and references.

Mike Berro manages a "Jack Vance Info" WebSite at http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/jvm/ with links to other sites with Vance materials.

For information about Jack Vance's Grand Master Award, visit http://www.scifiweekly.com/current/site.html.

I am unaware of any news groups or mailing lists devoted to Jack Vance though a review by Till Noever of his latest book, NIGHTLAMP, appeared in the alt.books.reviews, rec.arts.books, rec.arts.sf.written, and misc.writing newsgroups last year.

FAQ owner: John Chalmers non12@deltanet.com
Last Updated: November 22, 1997.
All errors of fact and fiction in this document are my own.
Comments and suggestions cheerfully solicited

Vance's LYONESSE trilogy consists of three sequential volumes, SULDREN'S GARDEN, THE GREEN PEARL, and MADOUC. Lyonesse is one of the kingdoms of the Elder Isles, a now submerged group of islands south of the British Isles and west of France. The time is early medieval, before the events of the Arthurian Cycle, but after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Technology is medieval, but magic abounds.

The Elder Isles were split into several kingdoms following dynastic disorders and invasion by Celts and the Ska, a Scandinavian race known in Irish myth as the Nemedians. These three books chronicle the reunification of the Isles under King Aillas of Troicinet, who also forges a treaty with the Ska limiting their depredations. The magician Murgen and his scion Shimrod struggle against supernatural agencies and evil magicians to protect the Elder Isles from its ultimate destruction by the sea.

LYONESSE: VOL 1, SULDREN'S GARDEN

Young Prince Aillas of Dascinet, Troicinet, and Scola is cast overboard by his cousin Trewan and washes up on the shore of a garden inhabited the beautiful and lonely Suldren, daughter of the cruel and ambitious King Casmir of Lyonesse. Casmir owns a Magic Mirror, Persilian, which prophesied that not he, but Suldren's son will unify the Islands. Aillas and Suldren fall in love and she soon becomes pregnant. Through the treachery Father Umphred, an unctuous Christian priest, Aillas is discovered and imprisoned and Suldren is driven to suicide after giving birth to the boy Dhrun. Dhrun is hidden away and exchanged by the fairies for the girl changeling Madouc.

Aillas escapes Casmir's prison and searches for Dhrun, who in a single year among the Fairies has aged eight and has been cast out, carrying a malicious curse of bad luck. Unfortunately, Aillas is captured and enslaved by the Ska, but manages to escape, only to be captured again and sent to the fortress Poelitetz, on the border between South Ulfland and Dahaut. Aillas escapes with the aid of several companions and hastens to Troicinet to claim his rightful throne from his murderous and usurping cousin.

In the meantime, the precocious Dhrun rescues a somewhat older girl Glyneth from a carnivorous troll, but is blinded by dryads whom he accidentally glimpsed at their baths. Both children are befriended by Shimrod, who is on a mission to avenge the death of his friend Grofinet, a lank, furry creature whose life he had once saved.

The children are taken hostage by Faude Carfilhiot, the masculine half of the sorceress Desmei who earlier had magically transformed herself into Melancthe, the world's most beautiful woman, Faude Carfilhiot, the most handsome of men, and a monstrous residuum, Denking, to revenge herself on Tamurello, an evil sorcerer by whom she had been amatorily rejected. Tamurello instead is attracted to Carfilhiot and uses Melancthe to attack Shimrod to weaken Murgen, whose scion he is. Melancthe inveigles Shimrod into the mysterious world Irerly where he nearly perishes.

With the help of Shimrod and Murgen, the children are rescued, Faude Carfilhiot is captured and executed, and South Ulfland is pacified under Aillas, who has inherited the kingship. Glyneth is made a princess of Troicinet, but Aillas is still haunted by the memory of Suldren and by fantasies of a Ska maiden, Tatzel, in whose father's house he was a slave.

Volume II: THE GREEN PEARL

When Faude Carfilhiot's corpse was burnt, a greenish vapor was emitted which condensed out over the ocean into a greenish pearl-like object. The first portion of the book deals with the effect this node of evil has on all who come into contact with it.

The rest of the novel continues with Aillas's attempts to thwart Casmir's ambition to rule all of the Elder Isles and with Tamurello's machinations against Aillas, Murgen and Shimrod. Aillas inherits the throne of South Ulfland which he must pacify, unify, and free from the depredations of the Ska and from the atrocities of Faude Carfilhiot.

In a raid against the Ska, Aillas captures Tatzel but treats her chivalrously when he realizes that he has been infatuated with a figment of his imagination, not the real Tatzel. After a number of adventures, they arrive in North Ulfland where the aged and childless King Gax holds out against the Ska. Aillas generously relinquishes Tatzel to her father and is appointed Gax's heir, thus unifying North and South Ulfland under Aillas's rule.

The girl Glyneth has grown up to be a charming and beautiful maiden, beguiling all who know her, including Aillas. At Tamurello's behest, the apprentice sorcerer Visbhume kidnaps and takes her into the terrifying world Tanjecterly. With Murgen's magic and Aillas's blood, Kul, a monstrous and savage warrior, is constructed and sent to aid Glyneth. She is eventually rescued and upon her return marries Aillas, whom she has long loved.

Tamurello turns Visbhume into a serpent because not only knows too much, but is importunate, and Visbhume as a snake grabs the Green Pearl in his mouth before Tamurello can possess it. Tamurello pursues him in the form of a weasel and in turn is captured by Murgen and imprisoned in a glass vessel. The Green Pearl dissolves Tamurello into a skeleton surrounded by a heavy greenish vapor.

Volume III: MADOUC

Princess Madouc, the changeling, grows into a beautiful and strong-willed red-headed girl. She rejects all suitors, and having discovered that she is not the child of Casmir and Sollace, his queen, leaves Casmir's palace to find her true father, but with scant success, though with harrowing adventures including the discovery of the Holy Grail by her squire. At a conclave of all the royal families in Dahaut, she discovers that Casmir intends to kill Dhrun to void the prophecy spoken by the Magic Mirror, Persilian, as he has found out that he is Suldren's son from the priest Umphred. In a dramatic scene, Madouc exposes Casmir's plans and thus saves Dhrun's life. Casmir has her seized and bound, but she is rescued by Aillas and finds refuge in Troicinet.

Desmei working through the Ska renegade Torqual sacrifices Melancthe to attack Murgen and releases Tamurello to obtain the green plasm in which he is immersed. Torqual out of madness or Desmei's malice partially frees Joad, a gigantic subterranean creature whose struggles threaten to submerge all of the Elder Isles. Murgen, with Shimrod's timely assistance manages to expunge both Desmei and Tamurello before they can destroy the Elder Isles, though the city Ys is inundated by a tidal wave.

Casmir makes war upon Dahaut and the smaller states with such success that he puts his son Cassander in charge of his armies for the final battle. King Audry and his sons are killed and the Daut army is trapped. The Dauts, however, escape to Poelitetz and are reinforced by Troice troops who destroy the Lyonesse forces. Cassander is killed, Casmir captured and executed, and at long last, the Elder Isles are reunited under Aillas. Father Umphred is captured while trying to escape to the continent and drowned and Sollace is exiled to Aquitaine with the Holy Grail.

Glyneth gives birth to a daughter, Princess Serle. At Aillas's victory celebration, Dhrun and Madouc discover that they love each other. Madouc decides to invite her mother, the fairy Twisk, and she reveals that Madouc's mysterious father is none other than Shimrod, much to everyone's amazement and pleasure.

This rather bald summary fails to do justice to the rich texture and beautiful language of these books. Many subplots and side- episodes have been omitted in this brief synopsis.

None known.

THE WORK OF JACK VANCE, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE, Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke. Published by R. Reginald, The Borgo Press, San Bernardino, CA and Underwood- Miller, Penn Valley, CA and Lancaster, PA. 1994. cloth. ISSN 0749-470X, Bibliographies of Modern Authors, No. 29. (The above first publication data on the trilogy was taken from this book, which is an indispensable resource for Vance scholars and fans.)

JACK VANCE, in Writers of the 20th Century Series, edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, general series editors Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander, Taplinger Publishing Company, New York, 1980. This is a collection of essays on Vance's fiction, style, sources, etc. Highly recommended, though some dated as Vance has published more novels since these essays were written.

THE JACK VANCE LEXICON, From Ahulph to Zipangote, the coined words of Jack Vance, by Dan Temianka, Underwood-Miller, Novato, CA and Lancaster PA, 1992, cloth,136 p., ISBN 0-88733-112-1. A fascinating compendium for the Vance fan, this book includes nearly all of Vance's non-proper names with plausible etymologies, sources and references.

Mike Berro manages a "Jack Vance Info" WebSite at http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/jvm/ with links to other sites with Vance materials.

For information about Jack Vance's Grand Master Award, visit http://www.scifiweekly.com/current/site.html.

The Xenite.Org Domain Bookstore has an Vance page http://www.xenite.org/bookstore.htm There are over 50 titles listed there (some are repeats for different editions). There is a link on the main page to a search engine that can be used to look for hard-to-find titles in several used book stores' databases.

I am unaware of any news groups or mailing lists devoted to Jack Vance though a review by Till Noever of his latest book, NIGHTLAMP, appeared in the alt.books.reviews, rec.arts.books, rec.arts.sf.written, and misc.writing newsgroups last year.

FAQ owner: John Chalmers non12@deltanet.com
Last Updated: December 8, 1997.
All errors of fact and fiction in this document are my own.
Comments and suggestions cheerfully solicited

Tschai (pronounced "Shay" according to Dan Temianka, who asked Vance), is an earth-like planet orbiting a dim and aging K2 star in the constellation Carina (part of Argo Navis) 212 light-years from Earth. Having received a mysterious radio message, the Explorator IV journeys to Tschai only to be destroyed by a missile from the surface. Three alien races (the Dirdir, Wankh, and three varieties of Chasch) have colonized Tschai and each of the three, along with the indigenous Pnume, has selectively bred humans to approximate themselves psychologically and physically. Free humans also exist in innumerable racial types and mixtures. Into this world Vance introduces Adam Reith, a "scout" specially trained for contact, by having him crash land after the unprovoked missile attack destroys the main expedition's spaceship. Reith has first to survive and then to contrive a means to return to Earth. It takes him four books to succeed.

"Tschai is a world of anguish," and "Evil?" "The word has no meaning, events exist -- or they do not exist," exclaim two of its inhabitants and that largely characterizes Tschai and its myriad races, hybrids, and cultures. In addition to the indigenous and subterranean Pnume, three space-faring alien species, the Chasch, the Dirdir, and the Wankh, have colonized parts of Tschai and have selectively bred humans into physical and psychological analogs as servants, aides, etc. (1). The Dirdirmen and Chaschmen in turn have evolved complex mythologies to account for their origin and relationship to their respective superior races, though it appears that humans were captured by Dirdir visits to the Earth in the distant past and taken to Tschai. The other species arrived at various times because of wars and rivalries between them and the Dirdir.

The Wankhmen, instead, have gradually come to exploit their masters by insulating them from the outside world. It was they who destroyed the Earth expedition's ship and had earlier annihilated the cities of the Cath, the senders of the original message, lest the knowledge of a world of free Earthmen jeopardize their advantageous position. The Pnumekin live in a more symbiotic relation with the Pnume in vast underground caverns and act as intermediaries between the Pnume and the surface dwellers. The free humans of the surface live in a variety of cultures and societies and have differentiated into numerous specialized races and hybrids. Tschai, to say the least, is a colorful world.

Tschai's technology is a mixture of advanced and primitive, very analogous to our own world in which space-age microelectronic technology coexists with hunter-gatherer and subsistence agriculture in many parts of the world. Dirdir energy cells and sky-cars seem to have diffused to most regions, but fighting with sword and knife is still commonplace. This disparity seems possible because the military stalemate among the three major alien species has prevented any single culture or government from becoming dominant.

Topographically, Tschai is varied with large areas of steppe, inland seas, oceans, islands, and badlands. Indigenous plants and animals abound, including the sinister Nighthounds and the Phung, relatives of the Pnume.

The Pnume, once surface dwellers themselves, have a recorded history of seven million years and regard events on the surface as a vast theatre created solely for their entertainment.

1. The physical malleability of man is a recurring concept in Vance's fiction and is used thematically in such other works as "The Dragon Masters," "The Brave Free Men," and "Night Lamp." The depiction of exotic human societies by their interaction with an outsider or through the maturation of a young member is the principal concern of Vance's later work.

CITY OF THE CHASCH. New York: Ace Books, 1968, 157 p. pb. The series opens with the arrival of an expedition from Earth in response to a radio signal sent 200 years before. Reith and his partner Paul Waunder crash their damaged space boat on the steppes of Tschai after the main space ship is destroyed by a missile. They fall into the hands of nomadic Emblem men and Waunder is killed, but Reith is spared and becomes a barely tolerated member of the tribe after surviving a challenge by a tribesman.

With the about-to-be-deposed, young chieftain, Traz Onmale, Reith escapes the Emblems, encounters Ankhe at Afram Anacho, a fugitive Dirdirman, in a ruined city, and the three join a motorized caravan heading north where he believes the wreckage of his space boat has been taken by Blue Chasch.

Along the way, he rescues an astonishingly beautiful girl, Ylin Ylan, the Flower of Cath, from the Seminary of the Female Mystery, visits an Old Chasch city, and, with the others, survives an attack by Green Chasch nomads. After overthrowing a petty local tyrant in the human city Pera, Reith leads a force to capture the Blue Chasch city of Dadiche and disrupts the exploitation of the Chaschmen by the Chasch. He discovers that the Blue Chasch have dismantled his space boat beyond possibility of repair, so he and his companions set out across the steppes to Cath in hopes that Ylin Ylan's father Lord Cizante will help him obtain a ship from one of the space- faring alien races inhabiting Tschai.

SERVANTS OF THE WANKH. New York: Ace Books, 1969, 158 p. pb.

After some misadventures along the way, the party arrives at a port where they can board a ship to Cath. Here they join up with Dordolio, an arrogant, and foppish nobleman from Cath. Ylin Ylan has by now rejected Reith as a lover, but goes mad and commits suicide (awaile) when he turns his attention to another girl on board the ship. In Cath, they are caught up in political intrigues between the factions loyal to Ylin Ylan's father and Dordolio's family and are marked for death by professional assassins.

They manage to escape with the father's now discredited aide to the Lokhar highlands where the adult men go to work in the Wankh spaceyards for decades to earn enough to return home, marry and retire.

With the help of some Lokhars, Reith attempts to steal a Wankh spaceship but it is an unfamiliar model and the Lokhar crew allows it to crash. The party manages to talk their way out of summary execution by exposing the Wankhmen as exploiters of the Wankh. They also learn that it was the Wankhmen who had destroyed the Cath cities for sending the enigmatic signal to Earth and who shot down the earth vessel to protect their highly advantageous positions.

THE DIRDIR. New York: Ace Books, August 1969, 188 p., pb.

Having escaped from the Wankh and from a Dirdir search and destroy mission, Reith, Traz, and Anacho travel to the human city Hei to try to rebuild a Dirdir space ship from salvaged components. In order to finance this rather large project, they travel to the Dirdir hunting ground, the Carabas, where 'sequins' the common means of exchange are found growing in nodes of 'chrysospine' in uraniferous soil. Unfortunately, the Dirdir hunt, rob, and eat human sequin hunters, so Reith decides to attack returning Dirdir hunting parties, free their captives, and steal their sequins. With funds thus acquired, they contract with a certain Aile Woudiver, an unsavory blackmarketeer in Hei with delusions of be descended from a Dirdirman of high caste. Because of Woudiver's greed, cruelty, and ideology, Anacho is sent to the Glass Box, a miles-long, enclosed Dirdir hunting ground cum amphitheatre in the Dirdir city adjacent to Hei. Reith rescues him, revenges himself on Woudiver and the work proceeds.

THE PNUME. New York: Ace Books, February, 1970, 156 p., pb.

Through Woudiver's machinations, Reith is drugged and captured by the Pnume (or their surface agents, the Gzhindra) and taken underground where he will become a specimen in their museum and historical repository, "Foreverness." Reith escapes by coercing the aid of Zap 210, a young, chemically-desexed Pnumekin woman. Once on the surface and deprived of 'diko,' she undergoes a delayed puberty and develops into an attractive, normal girl. After more adventures, they arrive back at Hei only to discover that the completed space craft is missing. While Reith is being taken to a secret meeting with Anacho, Zap 210 is seized by agents of the Pnume and taken underground to Foreverness. Reith follows and, by threatening to reveal the Pnume's secret exits and adits to the Dirdir, achieves their release and a promise to end the breeding of Pnumekin.

Finally, Reith, Anacho and Zap 210 join Traz on the steppe and depart Tschai for Earth in the rebuilt spaceship.

While each of the books has been reprinted and translated into other languages, all four books were reprinted in an omnibus English language edition under the title PLANET OF ADVENTURE as an Orb Edition by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., New York, 1993. ISBN 0-312-85488-9.

None known.

THE WORK OF JACK VANCE, AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE, Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett, edited by Boden Clarke. Published by R. Reginald, The Borgo Press, San Bernardino, CA and Underwood- Miller, Penn Valley, CA and Lancaster, PA. 1994. cloth. ISSN 0749-470X, Bibliographies of Modern Authors, No. 29. (The above first publication data on the trilogy was taken from this book, which is an indispensable resource for Vance scholars and fans.)

JACK VANCE, in Writers of the 20th Century Series, edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, general series editors Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph D. Olander, Taplinger Publishing Company, New York, 1980. This is a collection of essays on Vance's fiction, style, sources, etc. Highly recommended, though some dated as Vance has published more novels since these essays were written.

THE JACK VANCE LEXICON, From Ahulph to Zipangote, the coined words of Jack Vance, by Dan Temianka, Underwood-Miller, Novato, CA and Lancaster PA, 1992, cloth,136 p., ISBN 0-88733-112-1. A fascinating compendium for the Vance fan, this book includes nearly all of Vance's non-proper names with plausible etymologies, sources and references.

Mike Berro manages a "Jack Vance Info" WebSite at http://www.massmedia.com/~mikeb/jvm/ with links to other sites with Vance materials.

For information about Jack Vance's Grand Master Award, visit http://www.scifiweekly.com/current/site.html.

The Xenite.Org Domain Bookstore has an Vance page http://www.xenite.org/bookstore.htm There are over 50 titles listed there (some are repeats for different editions). There is a link on the main page to a search engine that can be used to look for hard-to-find titles in several used book stores' databases.

Jerry Hewett operates a Vance trading list at jerhewet@ix.netcom.com 30712 Doral Ct. Temecula, CA 92592-5907 USA.

I am unaware of any news groups or mailing lists devoted to Jack Vance though a review by Till Noever of his latest book, NIGHTLAMP, appeared in the alt.books.reviews, rec.arts.books, rec.arts.sf.written, and misc.writing newsgroups last year.

FAQ owner: John Chalmers non12@deltanet.com
Last Updated: December 28, 1997.
All errors of fact and fiction in this document are my own.
Comments and suggestions cheerfully solicited.
Some information was supplied by: Jerry Hewett jerhewet@ix.netcom.com Michael Martinez Michael@xenite.org