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Gaean Reach
The Gaean Reach is a fictional region in space that is a setting for some science fiction by Jack Vance. All of his series and standalone works that are set in a universe evidently including the Gaean Reach, perhaps set inside it or outside it, have been catalogued as the Gaean Reach series or super-series. The Gaean Reach includes all worlds colonized by humans, among which trade and travel flow freely for the most part. Its name apparently means "the range (''reach'') of he people fromEarth ( ''Gaea'')"; it could also be derived from Old English 'rice' (pronounced reech-e), meaning 'realm' (cf. German '' Reich''). Some of these worlds are advanced and cosmopolitan, such as Alphanor; others, like Thamber, are inhabited by shipwrecked and forgotten people, who have reverted to feudalism. Some, like the world of Wyst in the Alastor Cluster, are undeniably strange in their culture and customs. The period of the Gaean Reach spans several centuries, if not millennia, at an indete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ports Of Call (Vance Novel)
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories. Ports are extremely important to the global economy; 70% of global merchandise trade by value passes through a port. For this reason, ports are also often densely populated settlements that provide the labor for processing and handling goods and related services for the ports. Today by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world's largest and busiest ports, such as Singapore and the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction Book Series
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for scientific reasoning is tens of thousands of years old. The earliest written records in the history of science come from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in around 3000 to 1200 BCE. Their contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine entered and shaped Greek natural philosophy of classical antiquity, whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the physical world based on natural causes. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, knowledge of Greek conceptions of the world deteriorated in Western Europe during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of the Middle Ages, but was preserved in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age and later by the efforts of Byzantine Greek scholars who brought Greek m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gray Prince
''The Gray Prince'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in two parts in ''Amazing Science Fiction'' magazine (August and October 1974 issues) with the title ''The Domains of Koryphon''. Given that the novel's setting, the planet Koryphon, is integral to the plot, ''The Gray Prince'' may be said to belong to the science fiction subgenre of the planetary romance. Also significant in this regard is the work's original title, ''The Domains of Koryphon'', which gives prominence to the setting of the conflict narrated in the novel rather than to one of its many characters. Narrative The conflict central to the plot arises from opposing claims to the land of the Alouan on the Uaia continent, with one side (the Uldras) asserting a right derived from original tenancy and the other (the Land Barons or "Outkers") a right based on the strength and determination to defend established property ownership, even if the property in question was originally stol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Lamp
''Night Lamp'' is a science fiction adventure novel by Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. .... It follows an orphan named Jaro Fath on his quest to learn where he came from. Plot summary When the Faths, a childless academic couple, save young Jaro from a near-fatal beating, they discover he suffers from not just physical wounds, but also the crippling memory of his mother's death, which must be erased. Adopted by them, he grows up an outsider in a world of constant striving for social status, his only goal to become a spaceman and discover the truth of his missing memories. His journey takes him to Fader, a planet closed to the rest of the galaxy, whose inhabitants long ago engineered slave races to support their aristocratic lifestyle. Though Fader's Gold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emphyrio
''Emphyrio'' is a science fiction adventure novel by American writer Jack Vance. It tells the story of a young man who overturns the foundations of his world. Plot summary Ghyl Tarvoke grows up on the planet Halma with his father Amiante. Their people are ruled by two hundred lords whose forefathers arrived 1500 years earlier and rebuilt a world devastated by many wars. In return, they were granted a 1% tax. Later, all mass manufacturing was outlawed and the people became artisans, selling their handmade work to a single company controlled by the lords. Amiante is a master woodcarver, and his son follows in his trade. When he is eight, Ghyl attends a puppet show; part of the entertainment is the traditional drama of Emphyrio, a legendary hero. The proprietor points out a young girl in the audience and informs the boy that she is the daughter of a lord. Some time later, he and a friend sneak aboard a space yacht out of curiosity and are caught by the same girl. She has them be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lurulu
''Lurulu'' is a science fiction adventure novel by Jack Vance. Published in 2004, it was his last novel. It is the follow up to '' Ports of Call'' and continues to follow the character Myron Tany on his picaresque journey through the Gaean Reach region of space. Background In ''Ports of Call'', Myron is a young man who turned away from his family's safe middle class lifestyle to seek adventure in space. He joins a wealthy relative, great-aunt Dame Hester, on her space yacht voyage. After an argument, she strands him as a castaway on a remote planet. With no money, he gets passage as crew member on a tramp freighter-spaceship, which enables him to travel further across the Gaean Reach region of space and see exotic planets. Plot In ''Lurulu'', Myron continues in his role as crewman of the space freighter, the Glicca, under Captain Adair Maloof. The Glicca is crewed by an eccentric mix of picaresque rogues, pilgrims and intellectuals. The crew are searching for the mysterious "lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cadwal Chronicles
The Cadwal Chronicles are a trilogy of science fiction novels by American writer Jack Vance set in his ''Gaean Reach'' fictional universe. The three novels are called '' Araminta Station'' (1987), '' Ecce and Old Earth'' (1991) and '' Throy'' (1992). Background Cadwal is a planet discovered by an explorer who is a member of the "Naturalist Society of Earth". The society decides to maintain Cadwal as a nature preserve and sets up a Conservancy based on a Charter. The Charter forbids mining and other exploitation, and permits strictly limited settlement. Only six "Agents", each in charge of a bureau with a staff of 20 men and 20 women, are allowed to reside permanently on the planet to enforce the Charter, although tourists are allowed in specially designed lodges, overlooking sites of natural beauty and interest. From the earliest days, the Agents recruited relatives and close associates for their staffs, but as their numbers eventually exceeded the Charter limits, the excess re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names. Vance won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1984, and he was a Guest of Honor at the 1992 World Science Fiction Convention in Orlando, Florida. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America made him its 15th SFWA Grand Master, Grand Master in 1997, and the EMP Museum#Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted him in 2001, its sixth class of two deceased and two living writers. His most notable awards included Hugo Awards in 1963 for ''The Dragon Masters'', in 1967 for ''The Last Castle (novella), The Last Castle'', and in 2010 for his memoir ''This Is Me, Jack Vance!''; the Nebula Award in 1966, also for ''The Last Castle''; the Jupiter Award (science fiction award), Jupiter Award in 1975 and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demon Princes
Demon Princes is a series of five science fiction novels by Jack Vance, which cumulatively relate the story of an adventurer, Kirth Gersen, as he exacts his revenge on five notorious criminals, collectively known as the Demon Princes, who carried the people of his village off into slavery during his childhood. Each novel deals with his pursuit of one of the five Princes, which extends from Earth to other planets using spaceships. Novels * ''Star King'' (1964). Gersen's first target for his revenge is Attel Malagate, a renegade from a species called the Star Kings. The Star Kings can consciously evolve themselves and are driven to imitate and surpass the most successful species they encounter. With their contact with humanity, they begin making themselves into imitations of human beings. Gersen traps him with an undeveloped and fantastically beautiful planet whose location is known only to Gersen. Malagate covets the planet in order to become the father of a new race that can out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alastor Cluster
The Alastor Cluster is the fictional setting of three of American writer Jack Vance's novels: '' Trullion: Alastor 2262'' (1973), '' Marune: Alastor 933'' (1975), and '' Wyst: Alastor 1716'' (1978), each named after a world in the cluster. Vance planned a fourth novel ''Pharism: Alastor 458'', but it was never written. A globular star cluster Vance describes as "a whorl of thirty thousand live stars in an irregular volume twenty to thirty light-years in diameter," the Alastor Cluster is part of Vance's larger Gaean Reach fictional universe. Three thousand of the star systems in the cluster are inhabited by five trillion humans. Vance describes them as having "little in common except their lack of uniformity." They are ruled by the mostly hands-off, laissez-faire Connatic, Oman Ursht, "the sixteenth of the Idite dynasty". His motto is "when in doubt, do nothing." The Connatic's palace, Lusz, on the planet Numenes, rises "ten thousand feet above the sea on five great pylons", and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
