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John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. Vance won the
World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in 1984, and he was a Guest of Honor at the 1992 World Science Fiction Convention in Orlando, Florida. The
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...
made him its 15th Grand Master in 1997, and the Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted him in 2001, its sixth class of two deceased and two living writers. His most notable awards included Hugo Awards in 1963 for ''
The Dragon Masters ''The Dragon Masters'' is a science fiction novella by American author Jack Vance. It was first published in ''Galaxy'' magazine, August 1962, and in 1963 in book form, as half of Ace Double F-185 (with '' The Five Gold Bands''). It won the Hugo ...
'', in 1967 for ''
The Last Castle ''The Last Castle'' is a 2001 American action drama film directed by Rod Lurie, starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Delroy Lindo. The film portrays a struggle between inmates and the warden of a military prison, based o ...
'', and in 2010 for his memoir ''
This Is Me, Jack Vance! ''This is Me, Jack Vance!'' is a memoir by science fiction, fantasy, and mystery author Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work ...
''; the Nebula Award in 1966, also for ''The Last Castle''; the Jupiter Award in 1975 and the
World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...
in 1990 for ''Lyonesse: Madouc''. and the Edgar Award in 1961 for the best first mystery novel for ''The Man in the Cage''. His first publications were stories in science fiction magazines. As he became well known, he published novellas and novels, many of which were translated into French, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Italian and German. An Integral Edition of all Vance's works was published in 44 volumes and in 2010 a six-volume ''The Complete Jack Vance'' was released. A 2009 profile in ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...
'' described Vance as "one of American literature's most distinctive and undervalued voices". He died at his home in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
on May 26, 2013, aged 96.


Biography

Vance's great-grandfather is believed to have arrived in California from Michigan a decade before the
Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
and married a San Francisco woman. Early family records were apparently destroyed in the fire following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Vance’s maternal grandfather, L. M. (Ludwig Mathias) Hoefler, was a successful lawyer in San Francisco. Vance grew up in the family's large house in San Francisco on Filbert Street. When Vance's father left the family to live on his ranch in Mexico, the family's house in San Francisco was rented out to the father's sister. With the separation of his parents, and the loss of use of the San Francisco house, Vance's mother moved him and his siblings to their maternal grandfather's California ranch near Oakley in the
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...
of the
Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento ...
. This setting formed Vance's love of the outdoors, and allowed him time to indulge his passion as an avid reader of his mother's large book collection, which included Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ''
Tarzan of the Apes ''Tarzan of the Apes'' is a 1912 story by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the first in the Tarzan series. It was first serialized in the pulp magazine '' The All-Story'' beginning October 1912 before being released as a novel in June ...
'' and his Barsoom novels and Jules Verne's ''
The Mysterious Island ''The Mysterious Island'' (french: L'Île mystérieuse) is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1875. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's f ...
''. When Vance explored the nearby town, he started reading
pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...
magazines at the local drugstore. With the death of his grandfather, who supported the family, which coincided with the economic challenges of Great Depression, the Vance family’s fortune dwindled, and Vance was forced to leave junior college and work to support himself, assisting his mother when able. Vance plied many trades for short stretches: as a bellhop (a "miserable year"), in a
cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although ...
, and on a gold
dredge Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
.Jack Vance, Biographical Sketch (2000) in ''Jack Vance: critical appreciations and a bibliography'', British Library, 2000. Vance described this era as a time of personal change: “Over a span of four or five years, I developed from an impractical little intellectual into a rather reckless young man, competent at many skills and crafts, and determined to try every phase of life.” He subsequently entered the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and over the next six years studied mining engineering, physics, journalism, and English. Vance wrote one of his first science fiction stories for an English class assignment: his professor commented in a scornful tone, "We also have a piece of science fiction"—Vance's first negative review. He worked as an electrician in the naval shipyards at
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
, Hawaii, being paid "56¢ an hour," and worked for a time as part of a
degaussing Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to red ...
crew. The
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
took place about a month after he resigned his employment there. Vance graduated in 1942. Weak eyesight prevented military service. He found a job as a rigger at the
Kaiser Shipyard The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaiser ...
in Richmond, California, and enrolled in an Army Intelligence program to learn Japanese, but washed out. In 1943, he memorized an
eye chart __NOTOC__ An eye chart, or optotype, is a chart used to subjectively measure visual acuity. Eye charts are often used by health care professionals, such as optometrists, physicians or nurses, to screen persons for vision impairment. Ophthalmologi ...
and became an able seaman in the Merchant Marine. In later years, boating remained his favorite recreation; boats and voyages are a frequent motif in his work. He worked as a seaman, a rigger, a surveyor, a ceramicist, and a carpenter before he established himself fully as a writer, which did not occur until the 1970s. From his youth, Vance had been fascinated by Dixieland and traditional
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
. He was an amateur of the cornet and ukulele, often accompanying himself with a kazoo, and was a competent harmonica player. His first published writings were jazz reviews for ''
The Daily Californian ''The Daily Californian'' (''Daily Cal'') is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. It formerly published a print edition four days a week on Monday, Tuesd ...
'' (his college paper), and music is an element in many of his works. In 1946, Vance met and married Norma Genevieve Ingold (died March 25, 2008), another Cal student. Vance continued to live in Oakland, in a house he built and extended with his family over the years, including a hand-carved wooden ceiling from Kashmir. The Vances had extensive travels, including one around-the-world voyage, and often spent several months at a time living in places like Ireland,
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
, South Africa,
Positano Positano (Campanian: ) is a village and ''comune'' on the Amalfi Coast (Province of Salerno), in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast. Climate The climate of Positano is very mild, of the Mediterranean ...
(in Italy) and on a houseboat on Lake Nagin in Kashmir. Vance began trying to become a professional writer in the late 1940s, as part of the
San Francisco Renaissance The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco, which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant-garde in the 1950s. However, others (e.g., Alan Watt ...
, a movement of experimentation in literature and the arts. His first lucrative sale was one of the early Magnus Ridolph stories to
Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, who also hired him as a screenwriter for the ''
Captain Video ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television. The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...
'' television series. The proceeds supported the Vances for a year's travel in Europe. There are various references to the Bay Area Bohemian life in his work. In the 1950s, Vance started a pottery and ceramics hobby, buying a kiln; this interest was an influence on his story "The Potters of Firsk” (1950). Science fiction authors Frank Herbert and
Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
were among Vance's closest friends. In the early 1950s, when Frank Herbert was a reporter, he interviewed Vance, and the men became friends. They moved to Mexico with their families to establish a "writer’s colony" at Lake Chapala, near Guadalajara. In 1962, Vance, Frank Herbert and
Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
jointly built a houseboat which they sailed in the
Sacramento Delta ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
. The Vances and the Herberts lived together near
Lake Chapala Lake Chapala ( es, Lago de Chapala, ) is Mexico's largest freshwater lake. It lies in the municipalities of Ocotlán, Chapala, Jocotepec, Poncitlán, and Jamay, in Jalisco, and in Venustiano Carranza and Cojumatlán de Régules, in Mich ...
, Mexico, for a while. Vance's interest in houseboats led him to depict them in “The Moon Moth” (1961), ''The Palace of Love'' (1967), and in chapter 2 of ''Wyst: Alastor 1716'' (1978). In the early 1980s, Vance became increasingly interested in sailing, and he started building a 36 foot trimaran. Later, he owned ''Venture'' (a 17 foot cutter-rigged boat), ''Columbia'' (a 35 foot ketch-rigged boat), and finally ''Hinano'' (a 45 foot boat). While Vance derived pleasure from his sailing hobby, his increasingly poor eyesight and the high costs of outfitting, berthing, and maintaining the vessel led him to sell the ''Hinano''. Vance's failing eyesight also led him to cease his amateur
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
hobby. Although legally blind since the 1980s, Vance continued to write with the aid of BigEd software, written especially for him by Kim Kokkonen. His final novel was ''
Lurulu ''Lurulu'' is a science fiction adventure novel by Jack Vance. Published in 2004, it was his last novel. It is the follow up to '' Ports of Call'' and continues to follow the character Myron Tany on his picaresque journey through the Gaean Reach ...
''. Although Vance had stated ''Lurulu'' would be his final book, he subsequently completed an autobiography, which was published in July 2009.


Death

Vance died on the morning of May 26, 2013, at the age of 96 in his home in the Oakland Hills. Vance's son John Holbrook Vance II described the cause as the complications of old age, saying (then aged 96) "everything just finally caught up with him". Tributes to Vance were given by various authors, including
George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
,
Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...
, Neil Gaiman, and
Elizabeth Bear Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American author who works primarily in speculative fiction genres, writing under the name Elizabeth Bear. She won the 2005 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the 2008 Hugo ...
. Steven Gould, president of the
Science Fiction Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...
, described Vance as "one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers of the 20th century". A memorial site set up by his family to post tributes received hundreds of messages in the days following his death.


Work

Vance made his debut in print with "The World-Thinker", a 16-page story published by
Sam Merwin Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...
in ''
Thrilling Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...
'', Summer 1945. His lifetime output totals more than 60 books—perhaps almost 90. His work has been published in three categories: science fiction, fantasy and mystery. Among Vance's earliest published work was a set of fantasy stories written while he served in the merchant marine during the war. They appeared in 1950, several years after Vance had started publishing science fiction in the pulp magazines, under the title ''
The Dying Earth ''The Dying Earth'' is a collection of fantasy short fiction by American writer Jack Vance, published by Hillman in 1950. Vance returned to the setting in 1965 and thereafter, making it the first book in the ''Dying Earth'' series. It is retitled ...
''. Vance wrote many science fiction short stories in the late 1940s and through the 1950s, which were published in magazines. Of his novels written during this period, a few were science fiction, but most were mysteries. Few were published at the time, but Vance continued to write mysteries into the early 1970s. In total, he wrote 15 novels outside of science fiction and fantasy, including the extended outline, ''The Telephone was Ringing in the Dark'', published only by the VIE ( Vance Integral Edition), and three books published under the
Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...
pseudonym. Some of these are not mysteries, such as ''Bird Isle'', and many fit uneasily in the category. These stories are set in and around his native San Francisco, except for one set in Italy and another in Africa. Two begin in San Francisco but take to the sea. Many themes important to his more famous science fiction novels appeared first in the mysteries. The most obvious is the "book of dreams", which appears in ''
Bad Ronald ''Bad Ronald'' is a 1974 American made-for-television horror thriller film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott, John Larch, Dabney Coleman and Kim Hunter. It is based on the novel of the same title by Jack Vance. P ...
'' and ''The View from Chickweed's Window'', prior to being featured in '' The Book of Dreams''. The revenge theme is also more prominent in certain mysteries than in the science fiction (''The View from Chickweed's Window'' in particular). ''Bad Ronald'' was adapted to a TV film of the same name aired on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
in 1974, as well as a French production (''Méchant garçon'') in 1992; this and ''Man in the Cage'' are the only works by Vance to be made into film to date. Certain of the science fiction stories are also mysteries, penned using his full name John Holbrook Vance, three under the house
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...
, and one each using the pseudonyms Alan Wade, Peter Held, John van See, and Jay Kavanse. Some editions of his published works give his year of birth as 1920.In addition to the comic Magnus Ridolph stories, two major stories feature the effectuator Miro Hetzel, a futuristic detective, and ''Araminta Station'' is largely concerned with solving various murders. Vance returned to the "dying Earth" setting (a far distant future in which the sun is slowly going out, and magic and technology coexist) to write the
picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...
adventures of the ne'er-do-well scoundrel Cugel the Clever, and those of the magician Rhialto the Marvellous. These books were written in 1963, 1978 and 1981. His other major fantasy work, ''Lyonesse'' (a trilogy comprising ''Suldrun's Garden'', ''
The Green Pearl ''The Green Pearl'' is a novel by Jack Vance published in 1985. It is the second book in the ''Lyonesse'' trilogy, which also includes ''Suldrun's Garden'' and ''Madouc''. Plot summary In a fishing village in South Ulfland, a fisherman catches a f ...
'', and ''Madouc''), was completed in 1989 and set on a mythological archipelago off the coast of France in the early
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. Vance's stories written for pulps in the 1940s and 1950s covered many
science fiction themes The following is a list of articles about recurring themes in science fiction. Overarching themes * First contact with aliens *Artificial intelligence ** Machine rule/Cybernetic revolt/ AI takeover *Extraterrestrials in fiction *End of humanit ...
, with a tendency to emphasize mysterious and biological themes (ESP, genetics, brain parasites, body switching, other dimensions, cultures) rather than technical ones. Robots, for example, are almost entirely absent, though the short story "The Uninhibited Robot" features a computer gone awry. Many of the early stories are comic. By the 1960s, Vance had developed a futuristic setting that he came to call the Gaean Reach, a fictional region of space settled by humans. Thereafter, all his science fiction was, more or less explicitly, set therein. The Gaean Reach per se is loose and expanding, old Earth (Gaia), being the center. Each planet has its own history, state of development and culture. Within the Reach conditions tend to be peaceable and commerce tends to dominate. At the edges of the Reach, out in the lawless Beyond, conditions are usually less secure. Vance influenced many writers in the genre. Most notably, Michael Shea wrote a sequel to ''Eyes of the Overworld'', featuring Cugel the Clever, before Vance did one himself (called ''Cugel's Saga''). Vance gave permission, and the book by Shea went into print before Vance's. Shea's book, ''
A Quest For Simbilis ''A Quest for Simbilis'' is a novel by Michael Shea published in 1974. Plot summary ''A Quest for Simbilis'' is a novel in which the plot is a sequel to Jack Vance's '' The Eyes of the Overworld'' (a.k.a. ''Cugel the Clever''). Reception Dave L ...
'', is entirely in keeping with the vision of Vance. Cugel is a complete rogue, who is nevertheless worthy of sympathy in always failing to achieve his goals.


Literary influences

When asked about literary influences, Vance most often cited
Jeffery Farnol Jeffery Farnol (10 February 1878 – 9 August 1952) was a British writer from 1907 until his death in 1952, known for writing more than 40 romance novels, often set in the Georgian Era or English Regency period, and swashbucklers. He, with Geor ...
, a writer of adventure books, whose style of "high" language he mentions (the Farnol title ''Guyfford of Weare'' being a typical instance);
P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...
, an influence apparent in Vance's taste for overbearing aunts; and
L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
, whose fantasy elements were directly borrowed by Vance (see ''The Emerald City of Oz''). In the introduction to Dowling and Strahan's ''The Jack Vance Treasury'', Vance mentions that his childhood reading including Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne,
Robert W. Chambers Robert William Chambers (May 26, 1865 – December 16, 1933) was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories titled '' The King in Yellow'', published in 1895. Life Chambers was born in Brooklyn, New York, t ...
, science fiction published by
Edward Stratemeyer Edward L. Stratemeyer (; October 4, 1862 – May 10, 1930) was an American publisher, writer of children's fiction, and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He was one of the most prolific writers in the world, producing in excess of 1,300 ...
, the magazines ''
Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...
'' and ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...
'', and Lord Dunsany. According to pulp editor Sam Merwin, Vance's earliest magazine submissions in the 1940s were heavily influenced by the style of
James Branch Cabell James Branch Cabell (; April 14, 1879  – May 5, 1958) was an American author of fantasy fiction and ''belles-lettres''. Cabell was well-regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken, Edmund Wilson, and Sinclair Lewis. His work ...
. Fantasy historian Lin Carter notes several probable lasting influences of Cabell on Vance's work, and suggests that the early "pseudo-Cabell" experiments bore fruit in ''The Dying Earth'' (1950). SF critic Don Herron cites Clark Ashton Smith as an influence on Vance's style and characters' names.


Characteristics and commentary

Vance's science fiction runs the gamut from stories written for pulps in the 1940s to multi-volume tales set in the space age. Scott Bradfield states that Vance "wrote about incomprehensibly far-off futures that weren’t driven by the splashy intergalactic military conflicts of his Golden Age predecessors, such as E.E. Doc Smith or Robert A. Heinlein. Instead, Vance’s futures are marked by rich, panoramic socioeconomic systems." While Vance's stories have a wide variety of temporal settings, a majority of them belong to a period long after humanity has colonized other stars, culminating in the development of a fictional region of interstellar space called the Gaean Reach. In its early phase, exhibited by the Oikumene of the Demon Princes series, this expanding, loose and pacific agglomerate has an aura of colonial adventure, commerce and exoticism. Later it becomes peace-loving and stolidly middle class. Vance's stories are seldom concerned directly with war and the conflicts are rarely direct. If there are battles, such as in the slave revolt against the nobility at the end of ''
The Last Castle ''The Last Castle'' is a 2001 American action drama film directed by Rod Lurie, starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Delroy Lindo. The film portrays a struggle between inmates and the warden of a military prison, based o ...
'', they are depicted in an abbreviated length, as Vance is more interested in the social and political context than the clashing of swords. Sometimes at the edges of the Reach or in the lawless areas of Beyond, a planet is menaced or craftily exploited. Some more extensive battles are described in ''The Dragon Masters'', ''The Miracle Workers'', and the ''Lyonesse Trilogy'', in which medieval-style combat abounds. His characters usually become inadvertently enmeshed in low-intensity conflicts between alien cultures; this is the case in ''
Emphyrio ''Emphyrio'' is a science fiction adventure novel by American writer Jack Vance. It tells the story of a young man who overturns the foundations of his world. Plot summary Ghyl Tarvoke grows up on the planet Halma with his father Amiante. Th ...
'', the Tschai series, the Durdane series, or the comic stories in ''Galactic Effectuator'', featuring Miro Hetzel. Personal, cultural, social, or political conflicts are the central concerns. This is most particularly the case in the Cadwal series, though it is equally characteristic of the three Alastor books, '' Maske: Thaery'', and, one way or another, in most of his science fiction novels. Another way in which Vance expands the usually narrow focus of most speculative fiction writers are the extensive details ranging from the culture of language, to food, music, and rituals. In ''
The Languages of Pao ''The Languages of Pao'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in 1958, based on the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which asserts that a language's structure and grammar construct the perception and consciousness o ...
'', after a planet with a passive, lazy and backwards culture is invaded and occupied, the planet's leader orders three new languages developed, to make his people more aggressive, industrious and inventive. In the short story " The Moon Moth", natives must master a number of musical instruments in order to communicate with each other. Spoken words are modulated to acquire different meanings, or may be said to be given full meaning, (respect, derision or sarcasm) by means of the musical sounds. These fascinating details paint a far more detailed and complex picture of life and cultures in his books. The "Joe Bain" stories (''The Fox Valley Murders'', ''The Pleasant Grove Murders'', and an unfinished outline published by the VIE) are set in an imaginary northern California county; these are the nearest to the classical mystery form, with a rural policeman as protagonist. ''Bird Isle'', by contrast, is not a mystery at all, but a Wodehousian idyll (also set near San Francisco), while '' The Flesh Mask'' or ''Strange People ...'' emphasize psychological drama. The theme of both '' The House on Lily Street'' and ''Bad Ronald'' is solipsistic megalomania, taken up again in the Demon Princes cycle of science fiction novels. Three books published under the house name Ellery Queen were written to editorial requirements and heavily revised by the publisher. (Volume 45 of The Vance Integral Edition contains the original text for the three Ellery Queen novels. Vance previously refused to acknowledge them for their degree of rewriting.) Four others reflect Vance's world travels: '' Strange People, Queer Notions'' based on his stay in Positano, Italy; ''The Man in the Cage'', based on a trip to Morocco; '' The Dark Ocean'', set on a merchant marine vessel; and '' The Deadly Isles'', based on a stay in
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
. The mystery novels reveal much about Vance's evolution as a science fiction and fantasy writer. He stopped working in the mystery genre in the early 1970s, except for science-fiction mysteries; see below. ''Bad Ronald'' is especially noteworthy for its portrayal of a trial-run for Howard Alan Treesong of ''The Book of Dreams''. The Edgar-Award-winning ''The Man in the Cage'' is a thriller set in North Africa at around the period of the French-Algerian war. ''A Room to Die In'' is a classic 'locked-room' murder mystery featuring a strong-willed young woman as the amateur detective. ''Bird Isle'', a mystery set at a hotel on an island off the California coast, reflects Vance's taste for farce. Vance's two rural Northern California mysteries featuring
Sheriff Joe Bain John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. ...
were well received by the critics. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said of ''The Fox Valley Murders'': "Mr. Vance has created the county with the same detailed and loving care with which, in the science fiction he writes as Jack Vance, he can create a believable alien planet." And
Dorothy B. Hughes Dorothy B. Hughes (August 10, 1904 May 6, 1993) was an American crime writer, literary critic, and historian. Hughes wrote fourteen crime and detective novels, primarily in the hardboiled and noir styles, and is best known for the novels ''In ...
, in ''
The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', wrote that it was "fat with character and scene". As for the second Bain novel, ''The New York Times'' said: "I like regionalism in American detective stories, and I enjoy reading about the problems of a rural county sheriff ... and I bless John Holbrook Vance for the best job of satisfying these tastes with his wonderful tales of Sheriff Joe Bain ...". Vance has also written mysteries set in his science fiction universes. An early 1950s short story series features Magnus Ridolph, an interstellar adventurer and amateur detective who is elderly and not prone to knocking anyone down, and whose exploits appear to have been inspired, in part, by those of
Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
's South Seas adventurer, Captain David Grief. The "Galactic Effectuator" novelettes feature Miro Hetzel, a figure who resembles Ridolph in his blending of detecting and troubleshooting (the "effectuating" indicated by the title). A number of the other science fiction novels include mystery, spy thriller, or crime-novel elements: ''The Houses of Iszm'', ''Son of the Tree'', the Alastor books ''Trullion'' and ''Marune'', the Cadwal series, and large parts of the Demon Princes series. According to writer
Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...
, "Jack Vance is the most painful case of all the writers I love who I feel don’t get the credit they deserve. If ‘The Last Castle’ or ‘The Dragon Masters’ had the name
Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...
on it, or just a foreign name, it would be received as a profound meditation, but because he's Jack Vance and published in Amazing Whatever, there's this insurmountable barrier." Vance fans developed a website called Totality (pharesm.org), which enables users to do electronic searches of the Vance Integral Edition texts.


Publication

For most of his career, Vance's work suffered the vicissitudes common to most writers in his chosen field: ephemeral publication of stories in magazine form, short-lived softcover editions, in which stories sometimes were insensitively edited beyond his control. As he became more widely recognized, conditions improved, and his works became internationally renowned among aficionados. Much of his work has been translated into several languages, including Dutch, Esperanto, French, Spanish, Russian, and Italian. Beginning in the 1960s, Jack Vance's work has also been extensively translated into German. In the large German-language market, his books continue to be widely read. Vance was an original member of the
Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America or SAGA was an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the "Sword and Sorcery" kind of heroic fantasy, itself a subgenre of ...
(SAGA), a loose-knit group of
heroic fantasy Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...
authors founded in the 1960s and led by
Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
. Its purpose was to promote the sword and sorcery subgenre (such as Dying Earth stories by Vance), and some new works were published in ''
Flashing Swords! ''Flashing Swords!'' is a series of fantasy anthologies published by Dell Books from 1973 to 1981 under the editorship of Lin Carter. It showcased the heroic fantasy work of the members of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a ...
'' anthologies edited by Carter, in both mass-market paperback and Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club editions. In 1976, the fantasy/sf small press Underwood-Miller released their first publication, the first hardcover edition of ''The Dying Earth'' in a high-quality limited edition of just over 1000 copies. Other titles in the "Dying Earth" cycle also received hardcover treatment from Underwood-Miller shortly thereafter, such as ''The Eyes of the Overworld'' and ''Cugel's Saga''. After these first publications and until the mid-1990s, Underwood-Miller published many of Vance's works, including his mystery fiction, often in limited editions featuring dustjacket artwork by leading fantasy artists. The entire Jack Vance output from Underwood-Miller comes close to a complete collection of Vance's previously published works, many of which had not seen hardcover publication. Also, many of these editions are described as "the author's preferred text", meaning that they have not been drastically edited. In the mid-1990s, Tim Underwood and Charles Miller parted company. However, they have continued to publish Vance titles individually, including such works as ''Emphyrio'' and '' To Live Forever'' by Miller, and a reprint edition of ''The Eyes of the Overworld'' by Underwood. Because of the low print-run on many of these titles, often they could only be found in science fiction bookstores at the time of their release.


The Vance Integral Edition

An Integral Edition of all Vance's works was published in a limited edition of 44 hardback volumes. A special 45th volume contains the three novels Vance wrote as
Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...
. This edition was created from 1999 to 2006 by 300 volunteers working via the internet, under the aegis of the author. The texts and titles used are those preferred by the author. In 2010, Afton House Books presented ''The Complete Jack Vance'' in six large volumes using texts prepared by the Vance Integral Edition. Volume six has a table of contents for the volumes; otherwise there is no
exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...
. Issues of the project's magazine ''Cosmopolis'' describe the production process (of interest to anyone wishing accurate transcription of scanned text) and the detection of some surprising errors such as the scanning of "and" being recognised as "arid" (''Cosmopolis 17'', page 8) yet resulting in a sentence that is both grammatically acceptable and as well, plausibly in context: "It was hot, arid dusty.". Similarly, there is no bibliography of where the stories have previously been published. Cover art may be found via :Jack Vance book cover images o

and many others. In 2012, Spatterlight Press started offering Digital rights management, DRM-free
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
s editions of many of the works of Jack Vance, based on the source texts collected by the Integral Edition project. It is the intent of Spatterlight Press to publish the complete Integral Edition in e-book form, and also as print-on-demand paperbacks. Gollancz use the VIE texts in their "SF Gateway" e-ditions starting in 2012.


List of works


Works inspired by Vance

* ''
A Quest for Simbilis ''A Quest for Simbilis'' is a novel by Michael Shea published in 1974. Plot summary ''A Quest for Simbilis'' is a novel in which the plot is a sequel to Jack Vance's '' The Eyes of the Overworld'' (a.k.a. ''Cugel the Clever''). Reception Dave L ...
'' by Michael Shea ( DAW, NY, 1974) (authorised sequel of the Cugel novel '' Eyes of the Overworld'' although Vance later wrote his own sequel Cugel the Clever; Shea also wrote ''
Nifft the Lean ''Nifft the Lean'' is a fantasy novel by Michael Shea published in 1982. Plot summary ''Nifft the Lean'' is a collection of four stories involving the master thief Nifft. Reception ''Nifft the Lean'' won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel i ...
'' ( DAW, NY, 1982), and '' The Mines of Behemoth'' (1997) about a Cugel-like character; and '' In Yana, the Touch of Undying'' ( DAW, NY, 1985) which is also Vancian. ''A Quest for Simbilis'' was reprinted in 2020 by Spatterlight Press under the "Paladins of Vance" label.). * The ''Archonate'' series by Matthew Hughes (beginning with ''Fools Errant'' (Aspect Books, 2001)) is set in a Vancean universe which at long intervals changes between running on science and rational cause-and-effect to magic and sympathetic association, with cataclysmic effects for its inhabitants. Stories set before this change, including the Henghis Hapthorn and Luff Imbry series take place in a futuristic space opera setting reminiscent of Vance's Gaean Reach while those set after, including the Raffalon and Baldemar series are in the Dying Earth subgenre. Hughes also published an authorised sequel to the ''Demon Princes'' series with Spatterlight Press under the "Paladins of Vance" label; titled ''Barbarians of the Beyond'', the book was released in summer 2021. * ''Phaedra: Alastor 824'' by Tais Teng (Spatterlight Press, 2019) (authorised
Alastor Cluster The Alastor Cluster is the fictional setting of three of American writer Jack Vance's novels: '' Trullion: Alastor 2262'' (1973), '' Marune: Alastor 933'' (1975), and '' Wyst: Alastor 1716'' (1978), each named after a world in the cluster. Vance pl ...
novel under the "Paladins of Vance" label.) * ''
Dinosaur Park Dinosaur Park is a tourist attraction in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. Dedicated on May 22, 1936, it contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city, created to capitalize on the tourists coming to the Black Hills to s ...
'' by Hayford Peirce (
Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia Sc ...
, NY, 1994). * ''Fane'' by David M. Alexander (longtime Vance friend). (
Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...
, NY, 1981). * ''The Pharaoh Contract'' (Bantam, 1991), ''Emperor of Everything'' (Bantam, 1991), ''Orpheus Machine'' (Bantam, 1992) by Ray Aldridge. *
Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...
has acknowledged that ''The Dying Earth'' influenced his ''
The Book of the New Sun ''The Book of the New Sun'' (1980–1983) is a four volume, science fantasy novel written by the American author Gene Wolfe. It inaugurated the "Solar Cycle" that Wolfe continued by setting other works in the same universe (''The Urth of the Ne ...
''. *
Dan Simmons Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...
's ''
Hyperion Cantos The ''Hyperion Cantos'' is a series of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. The title was originally used for the collection of the first pair of books in the series, '' Hyperion'' and '' The Fall of Hyperion'', and later came to refer to th ...
'' has many echoes of Vance, explicitly acknowledged in one of the later books. * '' The Golden Age'' by John C. Wright has some similarities to Jack Vance's works, including an ornamented language, and a baroque and sterile culture toppled by a lone individualist. * ''The Arbiter Tales'' (1995–1956), three novels by L. Warren Douglas, were strongly influenced by Vance’s
Alastor Cluster The Alastor Cluster is the fictional setting of three of American writer Jack Vance's novels: '' Trullion: Alastor 2262'' (1973), '' Marune: Alastor 933'' (1975), and '' Wyst: Alastor 1716'' (1978), each named after a world in the cluster. Vance pl ...
stories. (Douglas’s first novel, ''A Plague of Change'' (1992), is dedicated to Jack Vance.) * ''The Dog of the North'' (2008), a fantasy by Tim Stretton, is strongly influenced by Vance, as noted in the acknowledgements. He outlines his debt to Vance on his blog. * ''
Songs of the Dying Earth ''Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance'' is a collection of short fiction and shorter essays composed in appreciation of the science fiction and fantasy author Jack Vance, especially his ''Dying Earth'' series. Edited by Georg ...
'' (2009), a tribute anthology to Jack Vance's seminal ''Dying Earth'' series, edited by
George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
and
Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fictio ...
, both avid Vance fans. * The ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' role-playing game and associated literature used a magic system inspired in part by Jack Vance's ''Dying Earth'' series, notably the fact that magic users in the game forget spells they have learned immediately upon casting them, and must re-study them in order to cast them again (Indeed, this whole system of magic is commonly known as 'Vancian Magic'). ''The Dying Earth'' and ''The Eyes of the Overworld'' are featured in the "Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading" section of the 1st edition of the Dungeon Masters Guide and in "Appendix E: Inspirational Reading" the 5th edition of the Player's Handbook. One of the prominent villains in the game,
Vecna Vecna ( ) is a fictional character appearing in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Vecna has been named one of the greatest villains in ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Originally appearing in the '' Greyhawk'' campaign setting, Vecn ...
, is named after Vance, his name being an anagram of the author's surname. * Other role-playing games include: ''Lyonesse'', '' Dying Earth'', and ''
Talislanta ''Talislanta'' is a fantasy role-playing game written by Stephen Michael Sechi and published by Bard Games in 1987. There have been six different English-language editions and several foreign language editions published. All English-language pr ...
'' (originally designed by Stephen Michael Sechi). * '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' by
George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
. In the series, Martin includes a minor character, "Lord Vance of Wayfarer's Rest". In further reference to Jack Vance, the character's daughters are named Liane, Rhialta, and Emphyria for Liane the Wayfarer, Rhialto the Marvellous, and Emphyrio, respectively. * ''Intergalactic Words: Articles for Consideration'' (2011), a series of articles by Joseph Wykel, is strongly influenced by Vance. Particularly the article ''Solo Ball Future'' about the dying sun.


Notes


References


Sources

* Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller ds.(1980) ''Jack Vance'', riters of the 21st Century Series New York, NY: ublisher missing* Jack Rawlins (1986) ''Demon Prince: The Dissonant Worlds of Jack Vance'', ilford Series Popular Writers of Today, vol 40 San Bernardino, CA: ublisher missing* Dan Temianka ed. (1992) ''The Jack Vance Lexicon: From Ahulph to Zipangote'', Novato, CA & Lancaster, PA: ublisher missing* Jerry Hewett and Daryl F. Mallett (1994) ''The Work of Jack Vance: An Annotated Bibliography & Guide'', ibliographies of Modern Authors, nr. 29 San Bernardino, CA, Penn Valley, CA, & Lancaster, PA: Borgo Press * A.E. Cunningham, ed. (2000) ''Jack Vance: Critical appreciations and a bibliography'', Boston Spa, UK: The British Library * Michael Andre-Driussi (1997) ''Vance Space: A Rough Guide to the Planets of Alastor Cluster, the Gaean Reach, the Oikumene, & other exotic sectors from the Science Fiction of Jack Vance'', San Francisco: Sirius Fiction * David G. Mead (2002) ''An Encyclopedia of Jack Vance: 20th Century Science Fiction Writer'' tudies in American Literature, vol 50 Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press * * *


External links

* * ;Bibliography and works by Vance * * * — Vance vocabulary search tool * — Bibliographic information, 11 first chapters from selected books, information about the ''Vance Integral Edition'', archive of ''Cosmopolis'' and ''Extant'', with interviews, accounts of encounters with Vance, and essays * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, John Holbrook 1916 births 2013 deaths American fantasy writers American mystery writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers Hugo Award-winning writers Nebula Award winners SFWA Grand Masters Edgar Award winners Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area University of California, Berkeley alumni American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Weird fiction writers Pulp fiction writers Writers of modern Arthurian fiction United States Merchant Mariners of World War II