- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: ibooks Inc (15 Mar 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743479696
- ISBN-13: 978-0743479691
- Product Dimensions: 19.5 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 931,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
- "Excellent ... a fast-paced adventure.... Vance is a splendid storyteller!"
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Set on a planet with five very different societies - three human and two alien, this novel sees Schaine Madduc return to this planet, Koryphon, after five years in space. But much has changed in the interim, and Schaine finds her home and family under threat from the Uldras, led by the Grey Prince.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The planet Koryphon is populated by humans, uldras, erjins and morphotes. The delicate balances of society and land tenure are under real scrutiny for the first time in many years, and the outlying land-owners are unhappy with the urban liberals' proposals for redistribution ...
Schaine Madduc returns to this turmoil after five years away from home, desperate to make amends with her father (who has a "wonderful joke" to impart to all ...). Yet Schaine is unsure as to her future in Morningswade, her childhood home.
Jack Vance creates such irregular worlds with patient ease and a real eye for detail. Whether it be in his depiction of land-sailing across the flat lichen of the Palga, or in his determination of the motives behind the main characters, there is a grace and fluidity to his writing.
Although Vance describes quite alien environments, the standard of authorship makes each creature and ethos as familiar as any on Earth.
So, another alien world, another outlandish plot, and another great story. Enjoy.
Format:Paperback
It was a title that I had not heard of by Jack Vance. Although an interesting read, it lacked the power of many of his other works and seemed almost trival in comparison.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not a review as such, but contains a piece of information which none of the other reviewers have covered. Much SF is simply discussion of human history in an alien guise. The issues covered in this book are the old arguments about the merits of 'civilization' vesus 'savagery', and what to do about it (Or, if you like, the idea that one way of life is better than another). The older, imperial idea that colonization was the way to spread 'civilization' is out of favor with many people now, but some of these same people support it in other ways. Such as claiming that 'women are oppressed and every one must save them' from some traditional society, which their own multi-cultural principles say they should leave alone.
'The Gray Prince' is a book which explores these themes, but it is rooted in a specific case, of which I think many of its readers are unaware. It is this: the whole development of the plot is heavily influenced by what happened in the 1970's to the African country of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe).
Learn about Rhodesia (taking care to note *all* the different points of view) and see if you do not agree that this is what Vance is doing.
I give the book four stars because the development of the 'clash of cultures' theme is very good. It misses a fifth star because of a flaw which is endemic to many SF stories; containing actual different races of sentitent beings, which may well have different needs. Therefore, in this type of story, racial thinking actually has an objective basis in fact. On Earth we have only one race, the human race, so stories about real, different races do not apply perfectly.
Still, I have to admit, that did not spoil 'Lord of the Rings' for me.
'The Gray Prince' is a book which explores these themes, but it is rooted in a specific case, of which I think many of its readers are unaware. It is this: the whole development of the plot is heavily influenced by what happened in the 1970's to the African country of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe).
Learn about Rhodesia (taking care to note *all* the different points of view) and see if you do not agree that this is what Vance is doing.
I give the book four stars because the development of the 'clash of cultures' theme is very good. It misses a fifth star because of a flaw which is endemic to many SF stories; containing actual different races of sentitent beings, which may well have different needs. Therefore, in this type of story, racial thinking actually has an objective basis in fact. On Earth we have only one race, the human race, so stories about real, different races do not apply perfectly.
Still, I have to admit, that did not spoil 'Lord of the Rings' for me.
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