F/SF

Zo jammer dat Jack Vance's verhalen zo heel erg wisselend van kwaliteit zijn. Heb me echt door dit verhaal moeten worstelen.

Ik geef 2 sterren. ( )

The exploits of riverboat impresarios, travellng along the River Vissel on the Big Planet, to compete in a grand theatrical contest and win a large prize. Vance has written a previous non- related novel about the metal poor Big Planet.
I confess -stories about bloviating swindlers and con artists, are not my favorite kind of Vance reading, but this has a fun, satisfying ending. ( )

Romanzo che sebbene ricco di invenzioni, idee, personaggi ed avventure non riesce ad avvincere come dovrebbe.
Lo scenario creato da Vance è come al solito affascinate per la sua incredibile originalità e varietà ma la storia ed i personaggi principali non riescono a suscitare il solito "feeling" tipico dei suoi romanzi. ( )

Apollon Zamp, master of the Showboat Miraldra's Enchantment has just been informed of a contest held by King Waldemar for the best entertainment. He almost misses the preliminary competition because of the machinations of rival Garth Ashdale, which rivalry continues throughout the the journey undertaken toward the final tournament, staging exhibitions at various and multifarious hamlets along the way. Comic tragedy befalls at times, at others no small profit. This is Big Planet, of course, and if you're not familiar it was colonized by refugees from assorted marginalized groups, religious cults, and barbarians of Earth. These settlements and civilizations have remained apart and retained their flavor. Each has interesting laws and prejudices that the showmaster has to contend with in staging his productions, sometimes with unfortunate results. Vance's strengths lie in describing these denizens and Zamp's productions. His weakness is creating sympathetic characters. It may be that he intends the reader to not mind as much when tragedy befalls his characters if we don't really like them. I suppose I was compelled to continue reading, and I do feel that I enjoyed the book, so Vance largely succeeded. I also think that Vance intended to set more books on Big Planet, and it's unfortunate that he hasn't because it's a very interesting place. ( )