Songs and Whispers

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:19:10 GMT

I'm now about halfway through Songs of the Dying Earth, and it has made for very interesting reading so far. Last week I posted my opinion on the first two Songs, and was asked by Pecooper to do the same with the other Songs. I will not do so, at least not in the coming weeks. Instead, I've hit upon another idea.

Undoubtedly many Wankhers on this board have acquired the volume and have already devoured it or are in the process of doing so. Because of the...

Umber lumber

feeds@yuku.com (Edward Winskill) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:30:58 GMT

While locating the Van Ewyck interview in regard to a thread in the Beyond, I fell into the old Vance Phile, and was reminded of my favorite Vance imitation, the short but pithy Star Sneak. It hasn't been posted here for many years, so here it is again:

http://www.jackvance.com/vance/biblio/parm/2/phile_2.html

Songs of the Dying Earth on Audible

feeds@yuku.com (Mike Berro) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:08:40 GMT

I have to say that the reader for this book is making it difficult for my wife and I to enjoy it. The main problem is that he does not enunciate the words. I could perhaps forgive the lack of inflection, as well as the mis-pronunciation of standard words, if I could but understand what is being said. We could not finish Silverberg's story; it perhaps reads more mellifluously than it sounds; it is certainly chock-full of interesting names. We finished Hughes' story, but it was so good...

Striding bent-kneed lope

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:37:16 GMT

The sun dropped behind the headland; gray-lavender gloom fell across the beach. An arm of that vast forest known as the Great Erm edged down from the north, suggesting a number of eery...

The Hugo Winners

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:44:41 GMT

Last week, by excellent chance, I found a decently yellowed second-hand copy of the first Penguin anthology "The Hugo Winners", edited by Isaac Asimov (originally published by Doubleday 1962). It has most Hugo-awarded novelettes and short stories of the 13th (Cleveland 1955) to 19th (Seattle 1961) Science Fiction Conventions, with a good general introduction and an introduction to each writer. Here's the end of Asimov's general introduction :

"The...

Some BSP: my first PW starred review

feeds@yuku.com (Matt Hughes) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:29:02 GMT

Publishers Weekly has given Hespira: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn a starred review, my first:

Hespira: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn Matthew Hughes.

As delicious as Keats or F. Scott Fitzgerald

feeds@yuku.com (Mike Berro) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:28:16 GMT

Found on ABE:

2. The Eyes of the Overworld,
Vance, Jack
Ace m-149, 1966, Soft cover, , VANCE, EYES OF THE OVERWORLD M149, VG+++Jack Vance, the master baroque prose stylist, his writing as delicious as Keats or F.Scott Fitzgerald's, bright cover, crisp tight text,no chips, no scratches, back cover lower left corner has a bend---definitely a collectible PB
Bookseller: Aesthetic Enjoyment Books and Artifacts, Denver, CO
Price: US$ 17.00

New Lyonesse Omnibus to be published in 2010

feeds@yuku.com (jasonmitchell) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:08:03 GMT

Hardcover: 904 pages
Publisher: Gollancz (21 Jan 2010)
ISBN-10: 0575090243
ISBN-13: 978-0575090248

"Ports Of Call" and "Lurulu" map

feeds@yuku.com (toff) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:49:48 GMT

I made this recently and I thought I would share.
(If you see any mistakes, please ping me!)

Jack Vance - in the New York Times

feeds@yuku.com (emphyrio) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:10:12 GMT

There is a lengthy and well-informed appreciation of Vance in yesterday's New York Times magazine. Is the critical establishment at last coming to call?

a bagful of dreams

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:58:03 GMT

It's amazing how the Seattle Times, or rather its readers, keep producing images that constantly remind me of Jack's oeuvre. There is definitely something Vancean in the air, up there on the western coast. Here's another of these images. When I looked at it I immediately remembered the following quote :

"The process is secret; still I can describe the general procedure. I live beside Lake Lelt in the Land of Dai-Passant....

It's an outrage!

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:06:39 GMT

Dermot Ahern, justice minister of that part of a Celtic island that is commonly described as verdoyant, recently accepted a flagon of moonshine vodka offered to him by a bewitched Pole returning to his native country. Or so I must conclude after having read an article in my yesterday's copy of The Guardian. His Irish Excellency, it says, lately adopted a law, long overdue, against the ancient offence of blasphemy. Contrary to what one might expect, there is no mention...

Pan's Antler

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:22:48 GMT
"He is, so it seems, a kindly man, and offers a hospitality of moderate cost. This is hardly true and you must eat none of his fish! He will serve it in many guises: as roe, and croquettes, and pickles, and pudding, and in soup. Eat only the items whose cost is specified. This is the fourth information."

Battle Axe Times

feeds@yuku.com (Octoff Malhiero) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:58:15 GMT
Just ordered the Richard Morgan book "The Steel Remains".
Anticipation feels so good.
I think he is like young Jack Vance...Using an axe rather than a bullet.
I think Harold Bloom was on to something with his "Invention of the Human" Shakespeare and all.
Read "Matter" by IMB recently...very good stuff...also just read "The Languages of Pao".

Sylgarmo's Proclamation by Lucius Shepard

feeds@yuku.com (Ridolph) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:49:05 GMT

Can't remember this being posted on this board. At Subterranean Press online you can read a Dying Earth story by Lucius Shepard : Sylgarmo's Proclamation

the bird quiz

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:01:03 GMT

Today's Seattle Times features this wonderful picture of a heron :

True Vanceans will know that the heron occupies a not unimportant place in Jack's oeuvre. Here is a miniquiz :...

Shades

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:31:29 GMT
"Using riches gained from duodecimates, the Darsh erected their famous "shades" : enormous parasols as much as five hundred feet high and sheltering twenty or thirty acres. Water from the underground aquifers is pumped to the top surface to flow across to the periphery and trickle down in sheets, veils and cool mists. Under these shades live the Darsh."

Lusz

feeds@yuku.com (Sarnidac the Dwarf) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:07:18 GMT
http://das-ubernerd.blogs...009/02/review-madouc.html

Songs of the Dying Earth

feeds@yuku.com (Matt Hughes) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:14:46 GMT
This is going to be cruel. I apologize for any pain this may cause.

Today I received an email I was expecting. I had to proof my story, Grolion of Almery, that appears in the Vance tribute anthology. But the file that came attached to the email was much larger than I expected and when I popped it open on Adobe, I found I had been sent the entire book. After a long moment, I tightened my slack jaw and dutifully set to proofing my little piece. But then I took a look through the...

THE GALACTIC REVIEW

Songs and Whispers

Umber lumber

Songs of the Dying Earth on Audible

Striding bent-kneed lope

The Hugo Winners

Some BSP: my first PW starred review

As delicious as Keats or F. Scott Fitzgerald

New Lyonesse Omnibus to be published in 2010

"Ports Of Call" and "Lurulu" map

Jack Vance - in the New York Times

a bagful of dreams

It's an outrage!

Pan's Antler

Battle Axe Times

Sylgarmo's Proclamation by Lucius Shepard

the bird quiz

Shades

Lusz

Songs of the Dying Earth