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Wild Thyme, Green Magic
When Jack Vance decided to become a writer, a million-word-a-year man as he put it so pragmatically at the time, he also gave fantastic literature one of its most cherished and distinctive voices. Though primarily a novelist throughout his long and distinguished career, this Hugo, Nebula, Edgar and World Fantasy Award-winning Grand Master also produced many short and mid-length works.
Wild Thyme, Green Magic collects an alien s handful of these wondrous tales, among them the author s first-ever sale, The World-Thinker, the unforgettable Chateau D If, the stylish Green Magic, the macabre, gothic Seven Exits from Bocz, and The Seventeen Virgins, a rousing adventure with Cugel the Clever set in the author s acclaimed far-future Dying Earth.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan
Assault on a City
Rumfuddle
The Augmented Agent
Green Magic
Ullward's Retreat
Coup de Grace
Chateau d'If
The Potters of Firsk
The World-Thinker
Seven Exits from Bocz
Wild Thyme and Violets
Wild Thyme, Green Magic collects an alien s handful of these wondrous tales, among them the author s first-ever sale, The World-Thinker, the unforgettable Chateau D If, the stylish Green Magic, the macabre, gothic Seven Exits from Bocz, and The Seventeen Virgins, a rousing adventure with Cugel the Clever set in the author s acclaimed far-future Dying Earth.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan
Assault on a City
Rumfuddle
The Augmented Agent
Green Magic
Ullward's Retreat
Coup de Grace
Chateau d'If
The Potters of Firsk
The World-Thinker
Seven Exits from Bocz
Wild Thyme and Violets
354 pages, Hardcover
First published June 30, 2009
9 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Jack Vance
778 books1,598 followersAka John Holbrook Vance, Peter Held, Ellery Queen, Alan Wade.
John Holbrook Vance was an American writer widely celebrated for his imaginative contributions to science fiction, fantasy, and mystery literature. Over a career that spanned more than six decades, he became known for richly detailed worlds, inventive language, and stories that combined adventure with sharp social observation. His work influenced generations of speculative fiction writers and helped expand the literary possibilities of the genre. Vance wrote more than sixty books and numerous short stories, many first appearing in science fiction magazines before later being expanded into novels and collections. His fiction was widely translated and developed an international readership.
Vance grew up in California and spent part of his youth on a ranch near the Sacramento River delta, where he developed a love of the outdoors and an appetite for reading. The family experienced financial hardship during the Great Depression, prompting him to take a variety of jobs before completing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley. During these years he worked in several trades and cultivated interests in music, travel, and sailing, experiences that later informed many of the settings and themes in his fiction. Before becoming a full-time writer he held numerous occupations, including shipyard worker, merchant seaman, carpenter, and surveyor.
His earliest published story appeared in the mid 1940s in a science fiction magazine, marking the beginning of a long writing career. Throughout the following decades he produced stories across multiple genres, though he became best known for science fiction and fantasy cycles that combined imaginative settings with elaborate cultures and social systems. Among his most famous works are The Dragon Masters and The Last Castle, both of which received Hugo Awards. The Last Castle also earned the Nebula Award, confirming Vance's reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in speculative fiction. His fantasy trilogy Lyonesse later received the World Fantasy Award, while his memoir This Is Me, Jack Vance! earned another Hugo decades later.
In addition to speculative fiction, Vance wrote several mystery novels, some under pseudonyms including Ellery Queen. These works often blended crime elements with psychological or social themes and sometimes anticipated ideas that later appeared in his science fiction. His storytelling frequently emphasized cultural conflict, moral ambiguity, and intricate social customs rather than large-scale warfare, setting him apart from many contemporaries in the genre.
Vance maintained close friendships with other science fiction writers and participated in literary communities that shaped postwar American speculative fiction. He traveled widely with his family and spent extended periods abroad, experiences that influenced the exotic settings and cosmopolitan tone found in many of his books. Music also played a role in his life and writing, reflecting his long-standing enthusiasm for traditional jazz.
Despite gradually losing his eyesight later in life, Vance continued writing with the aid of specialized software and completed both fiction and autobiography in his later years. Over time his reputation grew steadily, and he received numerous honors, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and recognition as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Critics and fellow writers often praised his distinctive style, wit, and imagination, and his stories remain widely read within the science fiction and fantasy community.
John Holbrook Vance was an American writer widely celebrated for his imaginative contributions to science fiction, fantasy, and mystery literature. Over a career that spanned more than six decades, he became known for richly detailed worlds, inventive language, and stories that combined adventure with sharp social observation. His work influenced generations of speculative fiction writers and helped expand the literary possibilities of the genre. Vance wrote more than sixty books and numerous short stories, many first appearing in science fiction magazines before later being expanded into novels and collections. His fiction was widely translated and developed an international readership.
Vance grew up in California and spent part of his youth on a ranch near the Sacramento River delta, where he developed a love of the outdoors and an appetite for reading. The family experienced financial hardship during the Great Depression, prompting him to take a variety of jobs before completing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley. During these years he worked in several trades and cultivated interests in music, travel, and sailing, experiences that later informed many of the settings and themes in his fiction. Before becoming a full-time writer he held numerous occupations, including shipyard worker, merchant seaman, carpenter, and surveyor.
His earliest published story appeared in the mid 1940s in a science fiction magazine, marking the beginning of a long writing career. Throughout the following decades he produced stories across multiple genres, though he became best known for science fiction and fantasy cycles that combined imaginative settings with elaborate cultures and social systems. Among his most famous works are The Dragon Masters and The Last Castle, both of which received Hugo Awards. The Last Castle also earned the Nebula Award, confirming Vance's reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in speculative fiction. His fantasy trilogy Lyonesse later received the World Fantasy Award, while his memoir This Is Me, Jack Vance! earned another Hugo decades later.
In addition to speculative fiction, Vance wrote several mystery novels, some under pseudonyms including Ellery Queen. These works often blended crime elements with psychological or social themes and sometimes anticipated ideas that later appeared in his science fiction. His storytelling frequently emphasized cultural conflict, moral ambiguity, and intricate social customs rather than large-scale warfare, setting him apart from many contemporaries in the genre.
Vance maintained close friendships with other science fiction writers and participated in literary communities that shaped postwar American speculative fiction. He traveled widely with his family and spent extended periods abroad, experiences that influenced the exotic settings and cosmopolitan tone found in many of his books. Music also played a role in his life and writing, reflecting his long-standing enthusiasm for traditional jazz.
Despite gradually losing his eyesight later in life, Vance continued writing with the aid of specialized software and completed both fiction and autobiography in his later years. Over time his reputation grew steadily, and he received numerous honors, including the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and recognition as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Critics and fellow writers often praised his distinctive style, wit, and imagination, and his stories remain widely read within the science fiction and fantasy community.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 5, 2009
4.5 stars
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
I'm a big fan of Jack Vance's wild imagination and his "high-end" (his description) writing style. So, I was happy to get a copy of Wild Thyme, Green Magic, an assortment of his fantasy and science fiction tales which have previously been published in several SFF magazines and have now been compiled and edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan and published by Subterranean Press. Wild Thyme, Green Magic also includes several informative excerpts of a 1986 interview with Mr. Vance and a couple of short bios written by Norma Vance, Jack's wife.
Of the 12 stories (one is really just a glorified outline), I was completely tickled, enraptured, beguiled, or otherwise delighted by 8 of them. (None of them are bad — all have their entertaining moments.) Most of the tales star one of Jack Vance's intelligent and capable heroes, which is one of the reasons I like his stories so well: his heroes don't whine, do stupid things without cause, or get out-smarted by bad guys. Many of them have bad morals and ethics, but they are not witless, lazy, or incompetent. (And they usually have cool names like "Magnus Ridolph.")
However, some of them are so self-righteous and snooty as to become obnoxious, and I found this to be the case with Alice, heroine of the first short, "Assault on a City," a story about the dangers of "subjectivity" and "over-civilization." While I appreciate, and even agree with, Mr. Vance's position, I felt that in this story he abandoned his usually subtle social satire in favor of a heavy-handed harangue.
The second story, "Green Magic" is a fantasy about boredom, knowledge, and the possibility that ignorance is bliss. I particularly liked this one for its imaginative elements. Next is "The World-Thinker," Vance's first published story. It's quintessential Vance — exotic locales, strange creatures, bizarre ideas — and better than the first two stories. "The Augmented Agent" and "Coup De Grace" are amusing sci-fi adventures with very clever heroes.
"Chateau d' If" was the longest story in the collection and, fortunately, the best. It was about a group of bored young men who decide to pay a lot of money to have an unknown adventure. I would have enjoyed reading an entire novel based on this short. It was quirky, creepy, intense, humorous, wonderful. The next story, "The Potters of Firsk," was particularly entertaining because, as explained in Dowling and Strahan's introduction, it concerned Jack and Norma Vance's love of the art and science of ceramics.
"The Seventeen Virgins" was another favorite of mine and stars the familiar Cugel the Clever, an immoral and rascally rogue. He gets up to some pretty hilarious tricks in this adventure which begins and ends with him evading pursuit. Cugel reminds me that Jack Vance doesn't just tell us that his heroes are clever — he shows us their clever (and usually amusing) deeds.
"Ullward's Retreat" was another social satire that was just too heavy-handed for me. "Seven Exits from Bocz" was a very short, uncharacteristically disturbing, and fascinating piece about revenge.
"Wild Thyme and Violets" is an outline of a story that, to me, didn't feel like Jack Vance. Perhaps that's because it wasn't fleshed out in his usual style, or perhaps it's because it didn't have an identifiable Vance-type hero (except for maybe Mersile the mountebank who makes only a brief appearance), or perhaps because it ended so darkly. But this piece is included as an example of how Vance went about the logistics of writing, so it's interesting for that reason alone.
I had a hard time getting into the last story — "Rumfuddle" — because it was so angsty, but once the premise was explained at the end, I thought it was clever. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that way until the end.
I recommend Wild Thyme, Green Magic to any Jack Vance fan — you'll enjoy this collection of typical Vance stories: cagey heroes (some of them already familiar), exotic locales (again, some familiar), high adventure, grand and sometimes bewildering ideas, sarcasm, irony, and occasional ten-dollar words. If you're not yet a Jack Vance fan, here's a good collection to get you on your way. I suggest starting with "Chateau d' If," "The Seventeen Virgins," and "The World-Thinker." If you don't find those stories highly entertaining, there's probably no hope for you.
Read my other Jack Vance book reviews.
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
I'm a big fan of Jack Vance's wild imagination and his "high-end" (his description) writing style. So, I was happy to get a copy of Wild Thyme, Green Magic, an assortment of his fantasy and science fiction tales which have previously been published in several SFF magazines and have now been compiled and edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan and published by Subterranean Press. Wild Thyme, Green Magic also includes several informative excerpts of a 1986 interview with Mr. Vance and a couple of short bios written by Norma Vance, Jack's wife.
Of the 12 stories (one is really just a glorified outline), I was completely tickled, enraptured, beguiled, or otherwise delighted by 8 of them. (None of them are bad — all have their entertaining moments.) Most of the tales star one of Jack Vance's intelligent and capable heroes, which is one of the reasons I like his stories so well: his heroes don't whine, do stupid things without cause, or get out-smarted by bad guys. Many of them have bad morals and ethics, but they are not witless, lazy, or incompetent. (And they usually have cool names like "Magnus Ridolph.")
However, some of them are so self-righteous and snooty as to become obnoxious, and I found this to be the case with Alice, heroine of the first short, "Assault on a City," a story about the dangers of "subjectivity" and "over-civilization." While I appreciate, and even agree with, Mr. Vance's position, I felt that in this story he abandoned his usually subtle social satire in favor of a heavy-handed harangue.
The second story, "Green Magic" is a fantasy about boredom, knowledge, and the possibility that ignorance is bliss. I particularly liked this one for its imaginative elements. Next is "The World-Thinker," Vance's first published story. It's quintessential Vance — exotic locales, strange creatures, bizarre ideas — and better than the first two stories. "The Augmented Agent" and "Coup De Grace" are amusing sci-fi adventures with very clever heroes.
"Chateau d' If" was the longest story in the collection and, fortunately, the best. It was about a group of bored young men who decide to pay a lot of money to have an unknown adventure. I would have enjoyed reading an entire novel based on this short. It was quirky, creepy, intense, humorous, wonderful. The next story, "The Potters of Firsk," was particularly entertaining because, as explained in Dowling and Strahan's introduction, it concerned Jack and Norma Vance's love of the art and science of ceramics.
"The Seventeen Virgins" was another favorite of mine and stars the familiar Cugel the Clever, an immoral and rascally rogue. He gets up to some pretty hilarious tricks in this adventure which begins and ends with him evading pursuit. Cugel reminds me that Jack Vance doesn't just tell us that his heroes are clever — he shows us their clever (and usually amusing) deeds.
"Ullward's Retreat" was another social satire that was just too heavy-handed for me. "Seven Exits from Bocz" was a very short, uncharacteristically disturbing, and fascinating piece about revenge.
"Wild Thyme and Violets" is an outline of a story that, to me, didn't feel like Jack Vance. Perhaps that's because it wasn't fleshed out in his usual style, or perhaps it's because it didn't have an identifiable Vance-type hero (except for maybe Mersile the mountebank who makes only a brief appearance), or perhaps because it ended so darkly. But this piece is included as an example of how Vance went about the logistics of writing, so it's interesting for that reason alone.
I had a hard time getting into the last story — "Rumfuddle" — because it was so angsty, but once the premise was explained at the end, I thought it was clever. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that way until the end.
I recommend Wild Thyme, Green Magic to any Jack Vance fan — you'll enjoy this collection of typical Vance stories: cagey heroes (some of them already familiar), exotic locales (again, some familiar), high adventure, grand and sometimes bewildering ideas, sarcasm, irony, and occasional ten-dollar words. If you're not yet a Jack Vance fan, here's a good collection to get you on your way. I suggest starting with "Chateau d' If," "The Seventeen Virgins," and "The World-Thinker." If you don't find those stories highly entertaining, there's probably no hope for you.
Read my other Jack Vance book reviews.
October 31, 2009
The stories in this collection range from great to good and at worst a decent story.
I was completely tickled, enraptured and delighted by of them. Mostly by the elegant descriptive prose,world building,different characters,the themes,ideas that was varied.
A great collection of stories and a must for Vance fans who don't have the stories collected before they went out of print decades ago.
Best stories: Chateau d'If,Green Magic,The World Thinker,Seventeen Virgins,The Potters if Firsk,The Augmented Agent,Coup De Grace,Ullward's Retreat.
I was completely tickled, enraptured and delighted by of them. Mostly by the elegant descriptive prose,world building,different characters,the themes,ideas that was varied.
A great collection of stories and a must for Vance fans who don't have the stories collected before they went out of print decades ago.
Best stories: Chateau d'If,Green Magic,The World Thinker,Seventeen Virgins,The Potters if Firsk,The Augmented Agent,Coup De Grace,Ullward's Retreat.
May 30, 2013
4.5 stars
I'm a big fan of Jack Vance's wild imagination and his "high-end" writing style (his description, as I learned in this book). So, I was happy to get a copy of Wild Thyme, Green Magic, an assortment of his fantasy and science fiction tales which have previously been published in several SFF magazines and have now been compiled and edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan and published by Subterranean Press. Wild Thyme, Green Magic also includes several informative excerpts of a 1986 interview with Mr. Vance and a couple of short bios written by Norma Vance, Jack's wife.
Of the 12 stories (one is really just a glorified outline), I was completely tickled, enraptured... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
I'm a big fan of Jack Vance's wild imagination and his "high-end" writing style (his description, as I learned in this book). So, I was happy to get a copy of Wild Thyme, Green Magic, an assortment of his fantasy and science fiction tales which have previously been published in several SFF magazines and have now been compiled and edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan and published by Subterranean Press. Wild Thyme, Green Magic also includes several informative excerpts of a 1986 interview with Mr. Vance and a couple of short bios written by Norma Vance, Jack's wife.
Of the 12 stories (one is really just a glorified outline), I was completely tickled, enraptured... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
June 10, 2013
A little anachronistic, but that is to be expected from stories written half a century ago. A few outdated notions on gender and race but not enough to be too concerned about. What was most striking was the very formal language, even the rough PI talks in what seems to modern ears as Victorian. All the stories were interesting, most were in the form of a Twilight Zone type twist. Some were resolved in ways that I am not sure I understood. When it came to the culminating bit of action things got confusing sometimes. The last story, Rumfuddle, was probably my favorite, about the problems and shenanigans that can happen in a world with the power of moving between dimensions.
September 29, 2015
A collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories by Jack Vance. This book was my introduction to Jack Vance's writing, and I am now a fan. Most of these tales were very enjoyable with amusing personalities and imaginative situations. A few weak entries prevent me from giving this a five-star rating, but even the less impressive stories featured wonderful prose and great characterizations. I will definitely read more by this author.
June 23, 2014
First journey back into the worlds of Jack Vance in years. Quite enjoyable.
March 31, 2014
The introduction to this collection was very enlightening. The stories were a great cross section of Jack's work.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews