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Posts: 1403
Jun 6 13 6:33 AM
AdministratorThe Treacherous Trencherman
Knygathin wrote:To ask for a complete list may be presumptuous, but it would be fun to hear of things you spontaneously come to think of. The VIE project lately restored as much as possible of the originals. Unfortunately I don't have the VIE, to compare with my old books.
“Perhaps I’ve changed too.”
“But you’re still a Lekthwan and I’m an Earther.”
“You seem a great deal more conscious of the fact than I.”
Barch started to protest, then caught himself up short. Perhaps he had not changed so much in five years as he had thought. “Human minds are just too damn complex,” he said inconsequentially.
Komeitk Lelianr shrugged; she seemed to have lost interest in the conversation.
Barch asked stiffly, “How long do you stay on Earth?”
“Only a day or so. I came for my father’s belongings.”
“And then?”
“And then—I will go back to Lekthwa.” She spoke listlessly. “It is not the home I remembered...Somewhere I have caught a strange uneasiness.” She looked thoughtfully up into his face.
He turned away. “I’ll pick up my gear and be off.”
She said nothing. He took a step away. “Good-by.”
“Good-by, Roy.”
He walked swiftly to the little room he had shared with Claude Darran. It was quite empty. Nothing I wanted anyway," thought Barch.
He returned to the terrace. Komeitk Lelianr still stood leaning back with her elbows on the balustrade. He took a short step forward, halted. She looked at him with a curious expression neither inviting nor forbidding. Barch took a deep breath.
“Good-by, Ellen.”
“Good-by.”
“Let’s go,” said Barch shortly.
The pilot looked down the terrace. “That young lady is coming down this way.”
Barch slowly stepped out of the cab. He saw that she was breathing very hard. Her mouth was firm, pale, tight. “Well?”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
“But—”
“Roy—it’s taking a chance. I’m willing if you are.”
He made no pretense of misunderstanding. “A big chance. You’ll be cut off from your people.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not...Are you afraid?”
Barch looked at her long seconds. Something warm broke inside him. “No. I’m not afraid.”"
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Posts: 18
Jun 6 13 6:58 AM
Jun 6 13 8:10 AM
Girth Person wrote:Yes, with Jack, "something warm broke inside him" could only apply to a Firx-like implanted vexation.
Posts: 1704
Jun 7 13 6:47 AM
Nobody tosses me!
axolotl wrote:Girth Person wrote:Yes, with Jack, "something warm broke inside him" could only apply to a Firx-like implanted vexation.Yes, internal bleeding seems the obvious answer.
Posts: 477
Jun 17 13 10:17 PM
Registered User
Posts: 509
Jun 6 13 10:25 AM
axolotl wrote:...Jack did not remember at all where it actually ended. All he knew was that never in a million universes would Barch and Komeitk Lelianr get married and live happily everafter...A small TI group then discussed with Norma where to end the novel in this way. I'm pleased to say that my second proposal was accepted (with a minor difference, as I recall) So, for those of you who don't own the VIE text, here's how it all really ends, in what must be considered a much more vancean vein (we know of several wistful, nostalgic, bittersweet endings, don't we?) :
Jun 6 13 12:20 PM
Knygathin wrote:axolotl wrote:...Jack did not remember at all where it actually ended. All he knew was that never in a million universes would Barch and Komeitk Lelianr get married and live happily everafter...A small TI group then discussed with Norma where to end the novel in this way. I'm pleased to say that my second proposal was accepted (with a minor difference, as I recall) So, for those of you who don't own the VIE text, here's how it all really ends, in what must be considered a much more vancean vein (we know of several wistful, nostalgic, bittersweet endings, don't we?) :Not sure if I got that correctly. Axolotl, the original ending was lost, and you coauthored the ending for the VIE version, so those last sentences of the story are written by you?
Jun 26 13 5:17 PM
Jun 27 13 10:51 AM
Posts: 3870
Jun 27 13 11:09 AM
Burned in effigy by the French on Bastille Day
Knygathin wrote:It is perhaps impolite to criticize others's work negatively. And better to remain quiet. Overflowing positive criticism is always ok, even if it is objectively incorrect.
Jun 27 13 10:19 PM
Posts: 635
Jun 28 13 2:48 AM
Rachepol with a new pair of earrings
Posts: 928
Jun 28 13 7:56 AM
Posts: 1385
Jun 28 13 9:03 AM
Also available in trade paper
Jun 28 13 2:58 AM
David B Williams wrote:I thought it was long understood: Any SF written by Jack Vance before 1956 is of secondary quality, ...
Jun 29 13 11:10 AM
Jun 30 13 11:24 PM
Jul 1 13 10:49 AM
Steve Sherman wrote:I think it's just a bit more complex than that. After all, he was capable of Mazirian before he had published a word. 1) had to learn to write what the pulps wanted to publish (the rejection letters at the Mugar are fascinating in this regard), then2) had to learn to write that sort of stuff ("Gadget stories") in his own voice (as David says, the improvement in the Ridolphs is instructive).What I'm not sure of is when the publishers began to realize that they had something special on their hands, if indeed they ever did. By the early 50s it's clear from the correspondence that they have come to regard him as highly reliable, but I suspect they didn't grasp just how original he was for perhaps another decade.
Posts: 260
Jul 23 13 6:30 PM
Jul 24 13 10:56 AM
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