Scan barcode
thecesspit's review
4.0
The series starts off with a murder mystery and political thriller elements, set on a foreign planet that's meant to be a nature conservancy. The lead character, Glawen Clattuc is probably just about going to be allowed to stay as one of the top 20 ranked people in his family, but it's touch and go as old enmities in his family conspire to keep him out of the Araminta Station. The story covers, initially, the plant of Cadwal, it's various life forms and quirky settlements... the colonial styles of Araminta, the sea shanty island of Yiptown and the Scandanavian cliff dwellings of Stroma. We also get tours of Old Earth, hardly recognizable from the earth we know, but with another wide variety of carefully created, odd cultures.
And that's where Jack Vance excels. Creating interesting cultures and settings for his lead characters to chase through and find. They bounce along through them, making some better, some worse, and leaving hearts and bodies broken. Often without much regard for what they leave behind. Justice is served though, and the stories come full circle with a neat happy ending. At least most of the endings are happy for someone.
Those neat closures are a little too neat, and little too rushed in places, but overall, this is a good read.
And that's where Jack Vance excels. Creating interesting cultures and settings for his lead characters to chase through and find. They bounce along through them, making some better, some worse, and leaving hearts and bodies broken. Often without much regard for what they leave behind. Justice is served though, and the stories come full circle with a neat happy ending. At least most of the endings are happy for someone.
Those neat closures are a little too neat, and little too rushed in places, but overall, this is a good read.
More...