Araminta Station, by Jack Vance

[essentialsaltes]

Araminta Station is pretty solid SF that I think must have had a bit of a retro vibe even when it was fresh from the printers in 1987. It might easily have hopped out of the pages of Astounding in the 1940s. Nevertheless, it's solidly put together and has some interesting themes and details here and there. However, the worst thing about the book is clearly the Boris Vallejo cover:



PS Jack Vance is still alive and kicking, at 96.

Comments

[zorker.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favorite books!! I'm a Vance fan in general, but of all his books - and he is prolific - I like this one the most. It has two sequels if you're interested. It is a daydream of mine to own a complete set of the VIE, but whenever I've had an opportunity, it's always been out of my price range. I've heard they're working on a complete set as ebooks though.

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could tell there were a few unresolved issues that called for sequels, and then I saw that they existed. Neat to hear you're a big fan.

[zorker.livejournal.com]

I recently started reading The Islanders by Christopher Priest. It has a bit of a Vance world flavor, though the language is a bit different. So far, it's well worth the time.

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

I liked Priest's The Prestige.

[zorker.livejournal.com]

I liked The Prestige too, although The Islanders is quite different.

Today, Cort surprised me with a belated birthday present. He managed to acquire a complete set of the VIE. I'm just sort of stunned. I never really thought I'd get a set. But the Vance fan inside me is jumping up and down with excitement. I've already informed Cort that he will need to move out onto the couch - there won't be any room in the bed after I curl up on top of the books like a dragon on its hoard.

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Holy cow! That's magnificent!