The
Jack Vance
Information Page

The presentation of information here does not
necessarily constitute an endorsement of any product or service.
Additional cool stuff can be found at
GreatSFandF, the
French Jack Vance
website, this
Dutch
website, and
Chun's Corner.
Visit the Jack Vance Message Board.
- 15 May 2006
- You can pre-order The Jack Vance Treasury from
Subterranean Press. It is
available in trade, limited and lettered editions.
- 12 May 2006
- Matthew Hughes reports that
he's found a posting on the Asimov's Magazine discussion board by Jonathan Strahan,
an Australian editor and Vancephile. He's asking Vance fans to say what should,
and shouldn't, be in a 175,000-word definitive collection of JV's short works
that he and Terry Dowling are putting together. You can read about it on
Strahan's blog.
- 07 May 2006
- Started the redesign of this website.
- 10 Mar 2006
- Andreas Irle has
received sufficient orders to publish the Lyonesse
trilogy. This will be a limited printing, so order soon.
- 30 Jan 2006
- Andreas Irle has
started a project to publish all of the out-of-print Vance works as
print-on-demand (POD) books, starting with the Lyonesse
trilogy in March.
- 14 May 2005
- Todd Treichel reports that "Washington Post literary critic Michael
Dirda hosts a weekly on-line chat, and this week a poster asked who Jack
Vance is and what he writes. Dirda, who is more of a supporter of genre
fiction than many mainstream critics, had this to say: 'Science
fiction and fantasy. In these fields he is revered, quite properly, as a
god. Vance possesses a wonderfully ironic style--reserved, august,
tongue-in-cheek, recherche--and those who love his work read everything
he writes. I suggest trying The Dying Earth or The Eyes of the Overworld,
or a collection like The Best of Jack Vance. For more details, you might
look for the long piece on Vance that I wrote for a Scribner reference
volume devoted to fantasy writers edited by E.F. Bleiler.'
Link to transcript.
- 12 Mar 2005
- Official Vance Integral
Edition signed bookplates are now available to VIE subscribers of
full sets for a nominal charge. Click
here
for info.
- 30 Jan 2005
- 27 Dec 2004
- The latest Locus Magazine
(Dec) has a favorable review of Lurulu by Faren Miller.
"The resulting concoction may not seem quite as fresh-made as the latest
in 21st-century space opera, but its heart is rich, and descriptive
icing à la Vance will always be divine."
- In the same issue Nick Gevers reviews Black Brillion by
Matthew Hughes; "If you're an
admirer of the science-fantasies of Jack Vance ...", "... a flair for
reified metaphysics surpassing anything conceived by Vance."
- 01 Dec 2004
- Hans van der Veeke reports: "According to Warp, a Dutch magazine
from the publisher Meulenhoff, Jack Vance is working on a new novel.
Warp had a 2 page story about his new book and himself in the latest
issue."
- 23 Nov 2004
- Many have reported that Lurulu is now generally
available in the US. Fokke de haan reports that De wilde vaart
(Ports of Call) has been reprinted in The Netherlands for
the fourth time, at the same time "De lokkende verte" was
published there. Scans of the Dutch editions are available at
Fokke's website.
- 15 Nov 2004
- Margriet Schuurman reports: "I'm a big Jack Vance fan from the
Netherlands, and yesterday I've bought "De lokkende verte",
as the Dutch translation of Lurulu is called. You can see
details in my
Live Journal."
- 08 Nov 2004
- You can view an edited version of the SciFi Buzz TV program from
1987 that featured a story on Jack Vance
here. You
can also read the
transcript.
- 29 Sep 2004
- It's getting close to the deadline for ordering books from the
Vance Integral Edition,
including the two stand-alone preliminary volumes. Don't miss out! Tell
all your friends.
- 07 Sep 2004
- Fokke de Haan reports "just wanted you to know that the first
edition of Lurulu has already been published by
Andreas Irle in Germany.
The book has been out a few weeks now! So the real first edition is, for
the first time, a German one! Andreas translated the manuscript in a
record time, I think, and had the book printed. It's a hardback edition,
with no dustjacket."
- Annemarie van Ewyck reports "I have been the
Vance translator for The Netherlands for some time now, and am currently
working on Lurulu. I am supposed to turn it in september
15 for publication later this year."
- 02 Sep 2004
- 18 Aug 2004
- Rich Thomas reports that "TOR have finally updated their scheduled
publication list and, as previously suggested, Lurulu is listed for a
Dec 04 hardcover release:
http://www.tor.com/schedule.html.
Furthermore, Amazon lists it as having 208 pages and an ISBN of
0312867271."
- 06 Jul 2004
- James Wilson reports that "George
R.R. Martin addresses fans' disquiet over the delays in his
finishing his A Feast of Crows novel. He cites Vance's
Demon Prince series as an extreme example of delay."
- 08 Jun 2004
- Author David Weinstein was kind enough to send me a copy of his
book, The Forgotten Network: Dumont and the Birth of American
Television; I had sent him copies of the Jack Vance Captain
Video scripts. There's a short section about the SF authors who
wrote episodes, including this: "No kinescopes ... by these talented
authors remain, but a set of scripts written by Jack Vance
exemplify the way Vance provided riveting outer space action while
incorporating current psychology, sociology, and a dash of Cold War
politics."
- 04 May 2004
- Matt Hughes reports that "Jack Vance" is used as a teaser on the
Locus website for
the May issue. It's also mentioned in the table of contents, "with news
in this issue about Jack Vance, George R.R. Martin, ..." The news is a
single line of text in "Books Delivered": "Jack Vance finished
Lurulu for Beth Meacham at
Tor." (Ed note: I'm not
complaining; he got top billing!)
- In the same issue, Matthew Hughes' novelette "A Little
Learning" got a nice mention by Nick Gevers: "Matthew Hughes Archonate
novelette, "A Little Learning", is the essence of fanciful extravagance,
the tale of a resourceful apprentice magician tracing some of the more
dangerous routes through the human noosphere; this amorphous terrain ...
all drawn by Hughes with an orotund gusto reminiscent of - who else? -
Jack Vance."
- 07 Apr 2004
- A new Pelgrane book, The Primer of Practical Magic has been
released. It is an adaptation of Dying Earth material for use
with Dungeons and Dragons. More information is available from the
Pelgrane Press
website.
- 02 Apr 2004
- Ian Thomas reports "I received the following information from St.
Martin's press when I inquired about the publishing date for
Lurulu: "LURULU is scheduled for an 11/15/04
release and a December 04 pub date. Thank you for your inquiry."
- 13 Feb 2004
- Pelgrane Press has released two new supplements for the Dying Earth
RPG, Turjan's Tome and Demons of the Dying Earth. They
reflect the darker tone of Vance's earlier tales. Articles and a free
chapter are available from the
Pelgrane Press
website.
- 17 Jan 2004
- I have posted a scan of a review of The Dying Earth in
the December 1976 issue of Delap's F&SF Review magazine. You can
view
part one and
part
two. Part one is a huge file to make it readable.
- 05 Jan 2004
- It has been reported that
Thom Hartmann
dedicated his book Unequal Protection to "Jack and Norma Vance."
- The second draft of Lurulu is finished.
- 17 Oct 2003
- Rafaël reports "The French version of the Dying Earth RPG edited by
ORIFLAM is about to be released," and has sent me some pictures and
text. The original is in
French, and I have provided a primitive Google
English translation.
- 14 Oct 2003
- Gregg Parmentier reports "I was Fan GoH to David Drake's author GoH
at Icon in Iowa City, IA this past weekend. When I mentioned on a panel
that Jack Vance was my favorite author, Drake immediately agreed."
- 10 Oct 2003
- 05 Oct 2003
- Jacques Garin of the
French Jack
Vance website has the following news to report: French editor
Le Bélial published two Vancean
anthologies. The first is Croisades with 4 stories; La
grande bamboche (Rumfuddle, 1973), Les oeuvres de Dodkin
(Dodkin's Job, 1959), Les faiseurs de miracles (The
Miracle Workers, 1958), and Les seigneurs de Maxus (Crusade
to Maxus, 1951.) The second is a Bifrost Special (Bifrost
is a French SF magazine) Les Univers de Jack Vance
(Vance's Universes) with 5 short stories (never before translated into
French, the original text is from the
V.I.E.) and several books
reviews; Point de chute (Where Hesperus Falls), La
gaffe monumentale de Dover Spargill (Dover Spargill's Ghastly
Floater), Le syndrome de l'homme augmenté (The Augmented
Agent), Rassemblement (Shape-Up), and Maîtres de
maison (The House Lords.) Also, on September 19th, Delcourt,
the French comics editor, published the 5th episode of Tschaï :
Dirdir 1.
- 03 Oct 2003
- John Vance had this to say about Robert Palmer: "Robert Palmer
visited us on two or three occasions, for the first time back during the
'Addicted to Love' tour. After that he telephoned every now and then,
typically in the middle of the night, with his companion Mary Ambrose,
full of cheer and appreciation for some turn of Vancian phrase (he loved
Cugel). Dad of course was compelled to critique Robert's musical tastes,
and always encouraged him to turn to jazz; who knows, maybe he had an
influence. Robert will be missed."
- 26 Sep 2003
- Mick Scannell reports that singer Robert Palmer has died. Mr. Palmer
has been quoted that he desired to produce a movie version of Eyes of
the Overworld, and in the novel Night Lamp, the sun is called
"Robert Palmer's Star."
- 14 Jul 2003
- Simon Rogers reports that "a new map of the Scaum Valley is now
available from Pelgrane
Press, and we are offering all three maps of the Dying Earth
as a collection.
- David Williams reports that the July issue of
Locus says "Jack Vance resold
The Gray Prince, The Dragon Masters, and
Maske: Thaery to ibooks via Chris Lotts of the Ralph
Vicinanza Agency." The same issue has Vancean references on page 23.
- 26 Jun 2003
- Stefano Masserdotti reports that Mondadori Urania published a new
book containing the novels Space Opera and Dacre,
as well as 6 short stories. He also has provided a
picture of the cover.
- 12 May 2003
- Stacy Phillips has contributed a
poem, one that I can easily relate to.
- Klaas de Vries from The Netherlands has a new comprehensive
Vance site.
- 18 Apr 2003
- Simon Rogers reports that "the latest Excellent Prismatic Spray
has been released: Ascolais and the Land of the Falling Wall, The
Excellent Prismatic Spray Double Issue 4/5. A double issue of the XPS,
cunningly disguised as an adventure supplement, this fine collection of
adventure material includes the long-awaited speculative map of the
Dying Earth. With contributors such as Robin D Laws and Ed Greenwood,
and articles on vat creatures, mermelants and religion, it is the best
XPS yet."
- 11 Feb 2003
- Gregg Best reports that "Jack Vance is the scheduled Guest of Honor
at Marcon this
year. This is a convention in Columbus, Ohio, taking place Memorial Day
weekend."
- 7 Feb 2003
- George Pendleton has received an email from Patrick Nielsen Hayden
regarding Lurulu: "Jack Vance is very old, blind, and
infirm, and we were beginning to believe this book would never be
finished. However, Beth Meacham, his editor, heard from him a couple of
weeks ago that the book is actually done and now it simply has to be
read by his wife and given a final polish. So we eagerly expect it in a
month or three, and we'll publish it sometime in 2004." [Note: "infirm"
is probably overstating the case --MB]
- 27 Jan 2003
- Rafaël 'Fianosther' Verbiese reports that "there are Dying
Earth and Jack Vance related pages in my French website 'les
arpenteurs de rêves.'"
- 09 Jan 2003
- Jacques Garin (www.jackvance-fr.com)
reports that "French editor Nestiveqnen has just published
Sur les traces
de Cugel l'Astucieux (On Cugel's path), an anthology with 12
shorts stories written by 12 French SF writers. Vance gave his
authorization to use the Dying Earth as background to these stories."
- Jacques also reports that "Delcourt, the French comics editor,
published the 4th episode of
Tschaï :Wankh 2"
More ...
Website contents
copyright © 1995 - 2006 by Mike Berro. All rights reserved.