The Demon Princes, Vol. 2: The Face * the Book of Dreams

'The Demon Princes' was once published as five separate books, but in 1997 was reissued into only two volumes, the first volume covering the first three princes and the second volume covering the forth and fifth. Kirth Gerson is just a boy when his village and planet are ransacked in a joint venture by the five most evil, most powerful criminals ever. They called themselves The Demon Princes. Kirth survives, along with his grandfather, who then raises the boy to become the ultimate revenge maker on the ruthless princes. After the death of his grandfather, Kirth finishes his training and is ready to take on the five demon princes. Volume Two covers the last two princes, Lens Larque (The Face) and Howard Alan Treesong (The Book Of Dreams). The Face has to be my favorite story of the five tales. Gerson hears rumor of Lens Larque, and begins to suspect that Lens is Darsh, from the planet Dar Sai under the Coranne sun. The Darsh are unattractive, heavy boned and often corpulent, and have a foul odor from the unpalatable food they prefer. Kirth begins his hunt on Aloysius, where he begins to suspect Lens is the owner of a worthless company called Kotzash. Gerson begins to secretively purchase stocks of Kotzash, trying to gain controlling shares. His interests soon take him to Dar Sai, a searingly hot planet where the Darsh live underneath huge umbrellas. Here, he meets a girl from Dar Sai's neighboring planet, Methel. The Methlen are a cliquish folk, arrogant and refined. Kirth falls in love with Jeridan Chanseth, and follows her to Methel while still attempting to uncover Lens Larque. The Face, spanning these three planets, is filled with gripping adventures, close calls, and an ending that will leave you rolling on the floor laughing your hinder off. The second tale in Volume Two is The Book Of Dreams, and Gerson's pursuit of Howard Alan Treesong. Using trickery and ostentatious foppery, Gerson attempts to lure Treesong out of hiding by circulating a possible photo of Treesong in a contest through his magazine. Treesong is not only heartless and ruthless but completely insane, and proves to be quite slippery. Gerson uses a pretty girl named Alice to establish communication with the elusive Treesong and bring him out of hiding. Treesong has a strange illusion of several Paladins as part of his personality, and often speaks in different tones and styles. You will love the ending to The Book Of Dreams almost as much as The Face, where we meet Otho and Tuty Cleadhoe, an older couple with a personal vendetta against Treesong that rivals Gerson's motives. 'The Demon Princes', both Volume One and Two, are the best of Jack Vance's works that I have read to date. If you love vividly strange worlds as much as I do, then you can't go wrong with Vance. SciFi with a touch of humor, and some of the most imaginative worlds and societies in writing, Vance books always seem to satisfy me. Enjoy!

I remember waiting, after discovering the first three Demon Princes books in the early 70s (Star King, Palace of Love, and The Killing Machine... all from the 60s) for Vance to complete the series... which he finally did in 1979-1981. Both The Face and The Book of Dreams are a little more elaborate than the three prior books. Vance's wonderful way with atmospheres and strange quirks of culture had grown even more baroque... he'd written the nowadays little known masterpiece Maske: Thaery in the meantime, as well as the Alastor books. Both these books are vintage Vance of the highest order, especially The Face.

This has to be one of the greatest sci-fi series ever. Shall I name the reasons, let me try to count 'em off:1- Language: Vance's use of language is stilted, strange, peculiar, old-fashioned, even bizarre, surely a cause to complain. No! It is because of this very usage that the language is melodic, the names whimsical, charming, the characters robust, bold, hopping a' skither-and-tither with quirks and mannerisms.2- Hero: in contrast Vance's 'hero' seems a very cold fish indeed in comparison to his outlandish foes, acquaintances and romantic partners. Yet you are slowly drawn into understanding him, liking him and hoping he succeeds in both his quest and his hope of living a normal life, not that of a hunter-killer. You also end up ever so slightly hating his grandfather, who knowingly cut off his grandson from hope of a normal human existence in his desire to exact revenge from beyond the grave.3- Redemption: These last two volumes allow the redemption of Kirth Gersen - read 'em and see what I mean. Vance also saves the best villain for last with Howard Alan Treesong, truly a character who gives a new meaning to schizophrenia.4- Invention: No-one, not one other sci-fi or supposed fantasy author can beat Vance for sheer scope of invention. He creates cultures from sketches and schemes, draws you in, tumbles you about and casts you back out. Yet they have an inherent life to them that makes you suspect they carry on ticking after our attention has moved on.5- A good 'ol cop with an attitude story - the outsider, the loner, the cop-turned-near criminal - all these are wrapped up in here. It's almost too much but Gersen's character and motivations remain coherent and clear throughout.Look these books are so good that it's they're almost worth buying for the inter-chapter tales of Marmaduke and his companions alone - little skits that make other, more 'serious' sci-fi series scene setters as found in the likes of Dune and Foundation look pompous.Let Vance light up your world, put a smile on your face and thank the Lord that someone else has to deal with Demon Princes.

If you are a Vance fan and don't have a copy of the Demon Princes series, rush out and get this while you can. The last two volumes of the series were written some 10 or 12 years or so after the first three, and these last volumes represent some of Vance's best work. Vol. 2 details the culmination of Kirth Gersen's revenge on the Demon Princes who wiped out his family.In "The Face" (my favorite of the 5), Kirth finally confronts Lens Larque. Larque is a person who enjoys seeking revenge on anyone who stands in his way. He evades Gersen's attempts at bringing him to justice while simultaneously tricking Gersen out of milllions of SVU ($). Gersen eventually tracks down Larque, who is busy with an ingenious scheme for getting revenge against an entire planet. In one of Vance's most satisfying endings, Gersen denies Larque his revenge, while paying back Larque (in the usual way) and everyone else who wronged him."The Book Dreams" is possibly one of Vance's most violent works. As Gersen relentlessly tracks down the insane Howard Alan Treesong, he uncovers a diabolical plot in which Treesong is methodically attempting to become the ruler of the entire known universe. In several confrontations, Gersen repeatedly guns down Treesong and dozens of his minions, only to have Treesong escape at the last possible second with minor injuries. Eventually, however, Gersen lures Treesong to a place where he can confront him alone. The ending is somewhat amusing, in that Gersen runs into people who are even more fanatical about killing Treesong than he. Nevertheless, Treesong is brought to justice in typical Vancian style.

No matter how many miles in empty space you go, if humans (or humanoid) creatures are found, Jack Vance can create a new world so real you'd swear he had been there. This series, of which this work is but a fragment, chronicles the growth of young Kirth Gerson and his quest for justice after losing all his family to the fabled monsters, the 'Demon Princes'--are they real? And is there life after revenge? An incredible journey into the human condition, by a true master of fantasy and science fiction, Mr. Jack Vance.