The Green Pearl

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful wonderful book
Review: In my opinion, this is the best fantasy book ever written. Vance shows nearly limitless imagination, and this is Vance at his finest.

I must say that it is refreshing to read fantasy that isn't just a copy of The Lord of the Rings. The Green Pearl Draws very loosely on the legends of King Aurthur, but also establishes it's own unique mythology. It is worth reading over and over.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful wonderful book
Review: In my opinion, this is the best fantasy book ever written. Vance shows nearly limitless imagination, and this is Vance at his finest.

I must say that it is refreshing to read fantasy that isn't just a copy of The Lord of the Rings. The Green Pearl Draws very loosely on the legends of King Aurthur, but also establishes it's own unique mythology. It is worth reading over and over.

Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorite books
Review: The Green Pearl is the best of Jack Vance's best trilogy. It has some of the most memorable, funny dialogues that Jack Vance has come up with, and in my opinion they are what you read his books for. His turn of phrase is unique. Don't read it for character development!

Rating:
Summary: A Rare Gem
Review: The Green Pearl is the second book in the Lyonesse Trilogy. While the volume stands on its own, I think you'd be hard pressed to get caught up. If you can, read the first volume, Suldrun's Garden, before starting The Green Pearl.

The book continues the chronicles of the Elder Isles, the lost islands of fantasy between France and Britain. As is the first book, Vance skillfully weaves together seemingly unrelated stories into a coherent whole. Mostly, the book centers around the adventures of Ailias, now a king, and his efforts to solve the personal and royal problems that beset him.

As was the case in Suldrun's Garden, there are long stretches that are almost dreamlike in their tone. A long interlude between Ailias and a barbaric Ska princess is remarkable for its combination of lucidity and dreamlike character; when that particular adventure ends, you very much feel you, with Ailias, have wakened from a dream.

The book does suffer the problem of any second book in a trilogy: it's primarily a bridge between the discoveries in the first book and the denouements in the last. But there are enough new characters and new ideas to keep you fascinated. There are comically sinister magicians, recalcitrant nobles, dying kings and a different view of the barabaric Ska. The book is much less obviously derivative than Suldrun's Garden.

Altogether a most satisfying read. Strongly recommended.