Jack Vance

John Holbrook Vance (b. August 28, 1916 in San Francisco, California; various alternative birthdates between 1916 and 1920 have been cited in different sources) is generally described as an American fantasy and science fiction author, though it has been reported that Vance himself objects to that label http://www.vie-tracking.com/cosmo/Vol01No03final.htm#VanceSFAuthor. He writes chiefly under his informal name, Jack Vance. In past years he wrote mysteries under his full formal name and also as Ellery Queen, Alan Wade, Peter Held, and John van See. He has won numerous awards and honors: Hugo Awards — in 1963 for The Dragon Masters and in 1967 for The Last Castle; a Nebula Award in 1966, also for The Last Castle; the Jupiter Award in 1975; the World Fantasy Award in 1984 for life achievement and in 1990 for Lyonesse: Madouc; an Edgar (the mystery equivalent of the Hugo) for the best first mystery novel in 1961 for The Man in the Cage; in 1990 he was named a SFWA Grand Master; and in 1992 he was Guest of Honor at the WorldCon in Orlando, Florida. He is generally highly regarded by critics and colleagues, some of whom have suggested that he transcends genre labels and should be regarded as an important writer by mainstream standards. For instance, Poul Anderson once called him the greatest living American writer "in" science fiction (not "of" science fiction). Frank Herbert and Poul Anderson were among Vance's closest friends in the SF community.

As Mystery Writer

The mystery novels of Vance are chiefly valuable today for what they reveal about his evolution as a science-fiction, fantasy and humor writer (he stopped working in the mystery genre in the early 1970s except for science-fiction mysteries--see below). Bad Ronald is especially noteworthy for its portrayal of a trial-run version of what is perhaps Vance's greatest character--Howard Alan Treesong of The Book of Dreams. The Deadly Isles reveals, in its protrayal of Tahiti in the 1960s, some of the secret ingredients of master chef Vance's ability to cook up alien worlds with virtually no effort. The award-winning The Man in the Cage is a taut thriller set in North Africa at about the period of the French-Algerian war. A Room to Die In is a classic 'locked-room' murder mystery (it turns out the room was built around the corpse). In addition, the two Sheriff Joe Bain mysteries--and especially The Pleasant Grove Murders--can still be read with pleasure, although more for the delightful California characters (such as Bain's New Age girl friend Luna) than for the actual crime investigations. Bird Isle, about a hotel on an island off the California coast, is perhaps the nearest thing in his output to outright farce.

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Vance has produced more successful mysteries set within his science-fiction universe. Most notable among these mixed-genre efforts are the "Galactic Effectuator" novelettes featuring Miro Hetzel, a Sam Spade type character, and the recent Night Lamp, which borrows deftly from P.D. James' An Unusual Job for a Woman. An early 1950s short story series features Magnus Ridolph, an interstellar adventurer and amateur detective (based in part on Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar) who encounters challenges not dissimilar to those in Jack London's South Seas tales.

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