- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; paperback / softback edition (14 Mar 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575073748
- ISBN-13: 978-0575073746
- Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 13 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 493,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of ten contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him. Casmir coldly confines her to the overgrown garden that she loves to frequent, and it is here that meets her love and her tragedy unfolds. Political intrigue, magic, war, adventure and romance are interwoven in a rich and sweeping tale set in a brilliantly realized fabled land.
About the Author
Jack Vance (1916 - ) Jack Vance was born in 1916 and studied mining, engineering and journalism at the University of California. During the Second World War he served in the merchant navy and was torpedoed twice. He started contributing stories to the pulp magazines in the mid 1940s and published his first book, The Dying Earth, in 1950. Among his many books are The Dragon Masters, for which he won his first Hugo Award, Big Planet, The Anome, and the Lyonesse sequence. He has won the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, amongst others, and in 1997 was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
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First Sentence
ON A DREARY WINTER'S DAY, with rain sweeping across Lyonesse Town, Queen Sollace went into labor. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
ON A DREARY WINTER'S DAY, with rain sweeping across Lyonesse Town, Queen Sollace went into labor. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy kicks off with this epic volume crammed with characters, magical happenings, weird creatures, bizarre realities (I particularly liked the angry talking mountains of custard), plots, subplots, and so many vendettas that keeping track of everything requires a lot of reader concentration and perhaps a notepad. Doubtless second and third readings of this rich work will reveal things I didn't pick up on the first time around but then that's one of the marks of a good fantasy novel. Various sources have claimed that this is Vance's attempt at telling a King Arthur - inspired epic but there's so much here that's original that any Arthurian overtones come across as incidental. If you enjoyed the Dying Earth collection then you'll like this, and if you've not ready any Vance before then this is a good place to start. A word of warning, though. As I mentioned above, this is the first book of a trilogy. Apart from the subtitle on the cover there's little to suggest to the uninformed that this book forms the starting point of an ongoing series. While this volume is fairly self-contained storywise, it also has an epilogue which tells you what you can look forward to "in the next exciting episode". The other two volumes are called The Green Pearl and Madouc...
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed, this book (indeed all three in the set) and I'm glad to see it has returned to print, since I personally believe it is one of Vance's greatest accomplishments.
It makes for a really refreshing change to see a book which is supposedly to be based on medieval European roots of myth and legend, to actually maintain the spirit and story of the ancient folklore. So often these days, I feel like I'm reading about medieval worlds which were based on series of other bestselling novels. Elves seem so often based on Tolkien's inventions rather than Germanic myth, little people are based on Victorian fairy tales and Enid Blyton rather than faerie tales, which were believed in, in times long past. So often, even when myth and folklore really are used as a source, there is no imagination in the utilisation of the spirit of those stories.
In Lyonesse we have so many interesting characters and places and despite the fact that most really are only lightly touched upon, you get the feeling each one has a story of their own to tell. The central plot is elegant in its simplicity, in the same way that such classic tales as Snow White or Cinderella are, yet it doesn't sacrifice creativity or fall into a cliche to do this.
I heartily recommend this as a book for all lovers of the fantasy genre.
It makes for a really refreshing change to see a book which is supposedly to be based on medieval European roots of myth and legend, to actually maintain the spirit and story of the ancient folklore. So often these days, I feel like I'm reading about medieval worlds which were based on series of other bestselling novels. Elves seem so often based on Tolkien's inventions rather than Germanic myth, little people are based on Victorian fairy tales and Enid Blyton rather than faerie tales, which were believed in, in times long past. So often, even when myth and folklore really are used as a source, there is no imagination in the utilisation of the spirit of those stories.
In Lyonesse we have so many interesting characters and places and despite the fact that most really are only lightly touched upon, you get the feeling each one has a story of their own to tell. The central plot is elegant in its simplicity, in the same way that such classic tales as Snow White or Cinderella are, yet it doesn't sacrifice creativity or fall into a cliche to do this.
I heartily recommend this as a book for all lovers of the fantasy genre.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A brilliant beginning to an inspired trilogy. I read this a long time ago when it first came out and still recall that first reading. A life-affirming experience.
This story stands on its own despite being the first in a trilogy, and I can't think of a better introduction to the multi-faceted universe of Jack Vance, surely one of the authors of the 20th Century. Certainly the fantasy author, in my opinion.
The story starts fairly slowly with the author exploring numerous narrative strands that seem unconnected to the reader, but you are rewarded with a buildup of pace and a drawing together of the threads into a dazzling final hundred pages that I had to read several times to make sure I'd got everything (and I'm sure that I've still missed stuff). what a pleasure that was.
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