Throy: Cadwal #03

I've always been a Jack Vance fan sice I was a teenager. His mannered SF novels such as this one, even seem like a Jane Austen type of understated language which gets to the heart of the human condition even though it may be set on a world far removed from the English counties of Austen. I had volume one of the Cadwell Chronicles, which I read long ago. As he had died, I thought there were no more. Even though this one is not exactly up to his work in volume 1, it is still great. RMS

Although there is truth in what other reviewers have commented, i.e., that this book is too short, and has the usual qualities of a somewhat hastily wrapped up ending that is rather typical of Jack Vance, still, it is Vintage Vance, the writing of the mature master when he was at his best. There are wonderful scenes, witty dialogue, and evocative descriptions to match his other mature work. If you care for Vance (I love his work above all so-called science or speculative fiction), you simply cannot miss this conclusion to the excellent Cadwal Chronicles. Nothing more to be said. Except maybe that it's not nearly as hard to find as implied. Used copies are readily available, if a wee bit premium priced for rarity.

In the Cadwal Chronicles, as in all his work, Jack Vance's sparse and succinct but wonderfully idiosyncratic mode of expression allows the reader to flesh out specific imagery on the bones of his narrative. While the Demon Princes pentology may be his masterpiece, the Cadwal Chronicles set is definitely worth a read. Glawen Clattuc continues Vance's tradition of strong but vulnerable (if not damaged) protagonists who find their destiny through adversity. I wish I could lay hands on 'Throy' for a second read!!

Well, the biggest disadvantage of this book is that I cannot buy it anywhere, not even in a 2-hand store. What I can remember when reading the story a long time ago, was a thrilling plot in a way only Jack Vance can write it.