Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
52nd out of 100 books
—
3 voters
The Last Castle
by
Jack Vance
The novel is about a group of expatriates who have created a set of castles on an otherwise uninhabited world; they pursue an effete aristocratic lifestyle. Their servants inexplicably revolt; what will gentlemen do? This novel shows Vance's verbal style like no other.
Paperback, 115 pages
Published
January 1st 1986
by Underwood/Miller, Berkley
(first published April 1966)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
557)
- So what is this book about, dwarling?
- Oh, another of those ghastly little science-fiction novels. The decadent aristocrats sit in their beseiged castle, which is being systematically undermined by the nasty, uncouth Meks. As one tower after another collapses in ruins, they try to decide which bottles of priceless old wine most urgently need to be drunk before the inevitable end.
- What a frightfully unsubtle metaphor. I presume it's poorly written and stylistically uninventive?
- Alas, you pre...more
- Oh, another of those ghastly little science-fiction novels. The decadent aristocrats sit in their beseiged castle, which is being systematically undermined by the nasty, uncouth Meks. As one tower after another collapses in ruins, they try to decide which bottles of priceless old wine most urgently need to be drunk before the inevitable end.
- What a frightfully unsubtle metaphor. I presume it's poorly written and stylistically uninventive?
- Alas, you pre...more
While this has all the usual trappings of a Vance story - declining society, strange environment, weird creatures - it's unusual in leaning more toward the macho he-man resolution of its time than toward Vance's usual sardonic onlooker.
Award winner or not, I wouldn't put it in the same category as The Languages of Pao or The Magnificent Showboats Of The Lower Vissel River Lune Xxiii South, Big Planet.
A good introduction to Vance, and a fun story for fans.
CVIE vol IV
Award winner or not, I wouldn't put it in the same category as The Languages of Pao or The Magnificent Showboats Of The Lower Vissel River Lune Xxiii South, Big Planet.
A good introduction to Vance, and a fun story for fans.
CVIE vol IV
Meh. It's the far future, and a few human clans fancy themselves amazingly sophisticated aristocrats. They've reclaimed Earth after some earlier exodus and exploration of space, including the discovery of various alien races, which have become slave species back on the reclaimed Earth. Some humans who never left still exist in the wild as Nomads. Some of the returned have rejected their decadent culture and gone native. Then one of these species rebels and the decadent human culture has a hard t...more
This novella won Vance his second Hugo Award and his first Nebula after it appeared in Galaxy in 1966. Vance’s specialty was a unique blend of science-fantasy riddled with exotic locales, star-faring feudalisms, and rich alien cultures, something that a Hard SF purist might blanch at. But without those motifs we wouldn’t have Jack Vance, and he’s got a sizable fanbase for a reason: what he creates is unique, and Vance is good at what he does.
In the future, part of a super-cultured mankind has re...more
In the future, part of a super-cultured mankind has re...more
bilindik bir konu üzerine, tuhaf bir yaklaşım. fakat konunun derinliği ve gerek karakterlerin, gerek aile ve klanların geçmişinin fazla su üzerinde kalması dokunmadan, hatta içine tam olarak giremeden okunmasına neden oldu. bu deneyi de kendi üzerimde yaptım.
"Fırtınalı bir yaz gününün geç saatlerine doğru, güneş yoğun, siyah yağmur bulutları arasından çıktığında, Janeil Kalesi tamamen zapt edildi ve içindekiler öldürüldü. En son ana doğru, kaledeki klanların içindeki hizipler, Kader'le en uygun...more
"Fırtınalı bir yaz gününün geç saatlerine doğru, güneş yoğun, siyah yağmur bulutları arasından çıktığında, Janeil Kalesi tamamen zapt edildi ve içindekiler öldürüldü. En son ana doğru, kaledeki klanların içindeki hizipler, Kader'le en uygun...more
3700 years after the Six Star War, a revolt takes place. The gentlemen of Altair who resettled the derelict Earth seven centuries ago (and spent their days in erudite contemplation and the whipping of their slaves in the face) are, for no apparent reason, under seige by their alien servitors, the Meks. The castles of the gentlemen are crumbling beneath them, curtailing all the sitting and carousing plans they had on the agenda.
With all the Meks missing, who will they whip into an army against th...more
With all the Meks missing, who will they whip into an army against th...more
Nov 12, 2007
Chazzbot
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
SF fans on a rainy day
This is the first Jack Vance novel that I've read. It is one of those novels in the grand SF tradition, providing a wide view of a particular "historical" moment with all its history and cultural quirks in the midst of an engaging story about the individuals caught up in it.
The story concerns a society living on a future Earth that has "adopted" several alien species for use as workers, servants, and sexual objects. The society is indolent, ignorant, and arrogant (with a few notable exceptions)....more
The story concerns a society living on a future Earth that has "adopted" several alien species for use as workers, servants, and sexual objects. The society is indolent, ignorant, and arrogant (with a few notable exceptions)....more
A story of a slaves' revolt in a decadent civilisation at the end of time. These days it would be outrageous to put genealogical tables and extensive footnotes in the middle of what is after all only a hundred pages of story, but Vance gets away with it.
Thi story was one of the best i have read by Jack Vance short story,novella or novel.
This is a story that deserves its highly rating as vintage Vance. Even by Jack Vance standards i was surprised by the great writing,story.
This is a story that deserves its highly rating as vintage Vance. Even by Jack Vance standards i was surprised by the great writing,story.
The Last Castle is one of Jack Vance's stories about different species of different planets. The description of other worlds are so realistic that it offers an impartial perspective free from human beings'. Vance used to be a sailor and after being a writer he traveled around the world with his wife in most of his life. That I guess strengthened his sense of fairness that probably he had got in his nature.
I was curious about Vance and found a couple of his paperbacks for about ~2 dollars. Easily worth 3 or 4 times that amount, quite a fun read.
a story of interstellar heroism and a stand against darkness and no it doesn't star robert redford.
tired
wanna see my friends
and play
and vote
yeah
got my boxin' shoes on
*GGGGGG*
wanna see my friends
and play
and vote
yeah
got my boxin' shoes on
*GGGGGG*
Decisamente una delusione. Scontatissimo e noioso.
Por ser un premio Hugo, la verdad es algo insípido. Se lee rápido, eso si.
Saw Jack Vance on the Writer's Almanac, but I'm not impressed.
I didn't think I had read Jack Vance, then I saw this story in a book of Jack Vance stories, it was very interesting if memory serves, I think I'll read it again
Viimeinen linna - kok. Ihmisen paluu
Mukiinmenevä tarina, jossa teemana mm. ihmisen ylenkatse ja turhamaisuus.
Mukiinmenevä tarina, jossa teemana mm. ihmisen ylenkatse ja turhamaisuus.
Tale of aristocracy living in castles overthrown by slave/engineer class.
From a master. A must for anyone entering into science fiction.
May 19, 2013
Holly Erickson
marked it as to-read
Apr 27, 2013
Nick Roberts
added it
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Aka John Holbrooke Vance, Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Alan Wade.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, 'The Dying Earth', was published in 1950 to gr...more
More about Jack Vance...
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, 'The Dying Earth', was published in 1950 to gr...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Mar 06, 2013 12:42pm
Mar 06, 2013 01:18pm