Rating: 
Summary: Not Vance's best work, but...
Review: Vance does with the book what he does best. He creates vivid imagery, great and quirky characters, charming situations, and new and unusual cultural perspectives. On the negative side, the book lacks a cohesive story and has very little plot. Is is almost just a series of vignettes. It is very likely meant to be the first book in a series as it has no real conclusion.For all of that, a true Jack Vance fan will enjoy it, because it gives healthy dose of the Vance experience. The fragments the story divides itself into are interesting enough and done with sufficient mastery to make the book well worth reading. For those drab souless people with no grandness of vision who do not like Jack Vance, there probably will be little appeal to the book.
Rating:
Summary: Not Vance's best work, but...
Review: Vance does with the book what he does best. He creates vivid imagery, great and quirky characters, charming situations, and new and unusual cultural perspectives. On the negative side, the book lacks a cohesive story and has very little plot. Is is almost just a series of vignettes. It is very likely meant to be the first book in a series as it has no real conclusion. For all of that, a true Jack Vance fan will enjoy it, because it gives healthy dose of the Vance experience. The fragments the story divides itself into are interesting enough and done with sufficient mastery to make the book well worth reading. For those drab souless people with no grandness of vision who do not like Jack Vance, there probably will be little appeal to the book.
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