Great interview! I have a question, which goes out either to George or to anyone who reads this blog.
I just finished Jack Vance's Dying Earth collections. It was stunning, written with such rich imagination, with characters who are written who are deceptively rich. And the prose! He has such a beautiful, even hypnotic cadence. It's like listening to Coltrane, where the rhythms are hidden for a while, but once you learn to hear them, they just make such sense. There are a lot of people who write what today is considered serious fiction who can't do what he can with language or with characters.
After the Dying Earth, where does one turn with Vance? I've actually found it tough to acquire other books, never mind knowing which to read in which order. Any hints? Or even a reliable website for Vance-related information?
(And yes, I know I will be able to turn to any good online retailer to find the books once I know which ones I need.)
Try "Lyonesse". I seem to remember it not being as rich as "Tales of the Dying Earth", but it's still a damn fine book. I think the Fantasy Masterworks series collects the trilogy in one volume.
I wish I could go to the BWB party now (I've never been to any of the cons). It'd be awesome to have someone to talk to about Jack Vance, since no-one I know has read anything by him. I figure you could use a break from ASOIAF talk, too.
bouncy
grrm
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I just finished Jack Vance's Dying Earth collections. It was stunning, written with such rich imagination, with characters who are written who are deceptively rich. And the prose! He has such a beautiful, even hypnotic cadence. It's like listening to Coltrane, where the rhythms are hidden for a while, but once you learn to hear them, they just make such sense. There are a lot of people who write what today is considered serious fiction who can't do what he can with language or with characters.
After the Dying Earth, where does one turn with Vance? I've actually found it tough to acquire other books, never mind knowing which to read in which order. Any hints? Or even a reliable website for Vance-related information?
(And yes, I know I will be able to turn to any good online retailer to find the books once I know which ones I need.)
(Then maybe sample my own tribute anthology, SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH).
There's so much more, though. Really, you can't go wrong with Vance.
I will pick up your anthology, though. Better be good...
In SF, there is the Demon Prince series... and so much more.
I wish I could go to the BWB party now (I've never been to any of the cons). It'd be awesome to have someone to talk to about Jack Vance, since no-one I know has read anything by him. I figure you could use a break from ASOIAF talk, too.
Maybe next year.