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metallicait's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
smkingsland's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
zachtheiler's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
metaphorosis's review against another edition
4.0
CVIE vol III
Most Vance novels include a travelogue in one form or another, as cool but perceptive characters wander through weird and beautiful landscapes. Big Planet takes that approach to its extreme as we follow Earthman Claude Glystra, who, having crashed on the planet due to sabotage, must survive a dangerous journey back to the safety of Earth Enclave.
The standard Vance tropes are in place here - strange fashions, bizarre habits, mysterious strangers. There's less of the clever language that Vance loves, and that makes his books so much fun. On the other hand, the lead characters are more approachable and less aloof than they often are. The ending won't surprise you much if you've read a lot of Vance, and could have been stronger. In particular, the emotional resolution of [b:Gold and Iron|16058318|Gold and Iron (Slaves of the Klau)|Jack Vance|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349098069s/16058318.jpg|1903956]/ Slaves of the Klau, written a few years later, is much more convincing.
Nonetheless, an engaging adventure, and fun for both Vance fans and newcomers. Recommended.
Most Vance novels include a travelogue in one form or another, as cool but perceptive characters wander through weird and beautiful landscapes. Big Planet takes that approach to its extreme as we follow Earthman Claude Glystra, who, having crashed on the planet due to sabotage, must survive a dangerous journey back to the safety of Earth Enclave.
The standard Vance tropes are in place here - strange fashions, bizarre habits, mysterious strangers. There's less of the clever language that Vance loves, and that makes his books so much fun. On the other hand, the lead characters are more approachable and less aloof than they often are. The ending won't surprise you much if you've read a lot of Vance, and could have been stronger. In particular, the emotional resolution of [b:Gold and Iron|16058318|Gold and Iron (Slaves of the Klau)|Jack Vance|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349098069s/16058318.jpg|1903956]/ Slaves of the Klau, written a few years later, is much more convincing.
Nonetheless, an engaging adventure, and fun for both Vance fans and newcomers. Recommended.
jayshay's review against another edition
1.0
At first I just wanted to write a quick dismissal of Big Planet. Even setting aside a casual and complete disregard for women, "built for pleasure", as weak willed dimwits, the entire surprise plot is glaringly apparent from about chapter two. In fact, you have to believe women are morons for the plot to work.
These fatal flaws obscure a wittily curlicued prose and some interesting ideas. As the shipwreck investigators flee across Big Planet they come across a number of societies. In one the high and low positions are rotated continously. A waiter at one party might easily be a lord at the next. The planet may be really big but lacks any significant mineral deposits so as a result the big bad guy has to trade in the only available resource, enslaving women and children. Vance takes this reality and spins out all number of intriguing consequences.
Reportedly (no historian of science-fiction am I) Big Planet is the start or near the start of the constructed societies genre, world building. From Big Planet to The Left Hand of Darkness? My mind boggles.
Published in 1952, before the welcome revolution of feminism, I'm probably falling into historical relativism by jumping up on down on Big Planet. Odd how, at least for myself, I can read Victorian fiction and the way women are treated and portrayed, and while it is reprehensible, it doesn't spoil much of the fiction for me, while when I read stuff, such as Big Planet from the fifties and I just want to crawl under a rock and die it is sooooo damn bad. Victorian England is another world to me, fifties America is uncomfortably close to now. Yet other early authors of science fiction, Asimov and Heinlein for example, while not paragons of proto-women's lib, don't depress me as the female characters in this work do.
These fatal flaws obscure a wittily curlicued prose and some interesting ideas. As the shipwreck investigators flee across Big Planet they come across a number of societies. In one the high and low positions are rotated continously. A waiter at one party might easily be a lord at the next. The planet may be really big but lacks any significant mineral deposits so as a result the big bad guy has to trade in the only available resource, enslaving women and children. Vance takes this reality and spins out all number of intriguing consequences.
Reportedly (no historian of science-fiction am I) Big Planet is the start or near the start of the constructed societies genre, world building. From Big Planet to The Left Hand of Darkness? My mind boggles.
Published in 1952, before the welcome revolution of feminism, I'm probably falling into historical relativism by jumping up on down on Big Planet. Odd how, at least for myself, I can read Victorian fiction and the way women are treated and portrayed, and while it is reprehensible, it doesn't spoil much of the fiction for me, while when I read stuff, such as Big Planet from the fifties and I just want to crawl under a rock and die it is sooooo damn bad. Victorian England is another world to me, fifties America is uncomfortably close to now. Yet other early authors of science fiction, Asimov and Heinlein for example, while not paragons of proto-women's lib, don't depress me as the female characters in this work do.
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