Hard-Luck Diggings: The Early Jack Vance

The Early Jack Vance #1

by Jack Vance

The first of three volumes. A legend has to start somewhere... As so many writers have said, it's in the shorter and mid-length work that the storytelling craft is best learned. Hard-Luck Diggings brings together fourteen such pieces from the first twelve years of Grand Master Jack Vance's genre-defining career, from back when he first worked to pay the mortgage, buy the groceries, travel the world, eventually building his own private 'dream castle' and starting a family.

Like any writer serious about staying in the game, we see him targeting the markets of the day, doing what was needed to meet the tastes of editors and their readerships while at the same time perfecting his own special way of doing things so that his name, his distinctive voice, stood a chance (in modern marketing parlance) of becoming a viable 'brand.'

Hard-Luck Diggings brings that fascinating process to life in fine style. As well as serving up vintage entertainment from one of the field's genuine masters, it provides an illuminating armchair tour of how the Jack Vance enterprise came to be, full of zest and life, the thrill of the upward climb and of so much more to be done. This is a book to be savoured with a twinkle in the eye, a knowing smile, but most of all, with a love of adventure and high romance firmly in place.
Contents:
Introduction-essay by Jonathan Strahan and Terry Dowling;
-afterword-essay following each story, by Jack Vance;

Hard-Luck Diggings [Magnus Ridolph] (1948); --
The Temple of Han (1951); --
The Masquerade on Dicantropus (1951); --
Abercrombie Station (1952); --
Three-Legged Joe (1953); --
DP! (1953); --
Shape-Up (1953); --
Sjambak (1953); --
The Absent-Minded Professor (1954); --
When the Five Moons Rise (1954); --
The Devil on Salvation Bluff (1955); --
Where Hesperus Falls (1956); --
The Phantom Milkman (1956); --
Dodkin’s Job (1959).

Cover illustration by Tom Kidd.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Short Story Collection, Collections

294 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2010

About the author

Aka John Holbrook 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 great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.

Reviews

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A legend has to somewhere and thats why i read this collection. The quality of the stories wasnt really what i was interested in. I wanted to see the young Vance experimenting,learning his craft. Thats what you could see in every story of this collection. The first "Hard-Luck Diggings" from 1948 had his Sherlock Holmes in space character Magnus Ridolph. Not the best of that short story series but still fun,enjoyable. The two stories after that was weak and him trying to sell the straight forward pulp sf of the 50s. The fourth story "Abercrombie Station" started to show his famous, weird style coming forth. The rest of the stories was good to very good quality.

My fav stories were:

"Abercrombie Station" (1952) A fun sf caper with strong female lead.

"The Absent-Minded Professor" (1954)- a contemporary mystery that pyschological and very interesting. I enjoyed Dodkin's Job only more.

"The Devil on Salvation Bluff" (1955)- Imaginative sf of humans trying to change aliens in weird planet.

"Where Hesperus Falls" (1956)- An story about Immortal who tries to kill himself but future evolved humans see him as a freak and doesnt want to let him die.

"Dodkin's Job" (1959) - Scating social commentary,satire on bureaucracy. It might have been about far future city but it could have been the same story with any real world goverment,company.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

I adore Subterranean Press because they’re regularly publishing the kind of classic and new speculative fiction that you might have a hard time finding otherwise. They ignore teen trends and market demands and focus on producing high quality volumes of excellent fiction complete with beautiful covers and interior art.

Hard-Luck Diggings is a collection of 14 of Jack Vance’s unconnected short stories that were written early in his career, when he was perfecting his style and writing the kind of tales that were currently popular and likely to be purchased by publishers.

In each of these tales the prose is sparse, the characters are quickly sketched, and the plot is fast, tight, and weird. Many take place in the far future but, even though they were written 60 years ago, they somehow don’t seem dated (except that only men occupy positions of authority and the characters are still using audiotape, videotape, and typewriters, and are powering their spaceships with steam).

The stories are presented in order of publication so, perhaps not surprisingly, the later ones are better (though they only span 11 years). I didn’t much care for the first three stories — “Hard-Luck Diggings” (1948), “Temple of Han” (1951), and “The Masquerade on Dicantropus” (1951) — and that’s probably because they are missing that wry ironic flavor of bizarreness that has developed into the Vance “brand.” That starts to show up in the fourth story — “Abercrombie Station” (1952) — which takes place on a space station where zero gravity makes it fashionable to be fat. Two stories — “When the Five Moons Rise” (1954) and “The Phantom Milkman” (1956) — border on horror so, though they are intense and exciting, they aren’t my favorites.

The stories that I most enjoyed were:

* “Three-Legged Joe” (1953) — a planet-sized lesson in electrical circuitry.
* “DP!” (1953) — the actions of world governments dealing with the eruption of millions of strange creatures from the bowels of the earth serve as a metaphor for global social and political ills.
* “Shape-Up” (1953) — a clever protagonist applies for a dangerous job.
* “Sjambak” (1953) — a reporter is sent to bust a myth about strange sightings on another planet.
* “The Absent-Minded Professor” (1954) — an ambitious junior astronomy professor needs his senior out of the way.
* “The Devil on Salvation Bluff” (1955) — shows what happens when we let the clock rule our lives.
* “Where Hesperus Falls” (1956) — an immortal man tries to kill himself. (This was my favorite story.)
* “Dodkin’s Job” (1959) — a nonconformist gets to the bottom of the bureaucracy.

Each story in Hard-Luck Diggings is followed by a short autobiographical afterword extracted from sources such as the biography This is Me, Jack Vance! (Subterranean Press 2009). Some of these give background about the story, Vance’s early career, his writing practices, or his travels. I learned a lot about my favorite author through these little glimpses into his life and thought this was a nice touch.

Hard-Luck Diggings is a nice collection of stories for any lover of excellent speculative fiction, and a necessary one for any true Vance fan.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard-Luck Diggings: The Early Works of Jack Vance, volume 1, 2010, hardcover and e-book
This is a very good collection of fourteen shorter works by Vance, including eleven short stories, three novelettes, and one novella. A brief description of each story is listed alphabetically below.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...

Abercrombie Station
"Abercrombie Station" is a 62 page novella was initially published in 1952 in Thrilling Wonder Stories. The main character, a woman named Jean, obtains a job as a housekeeper at the home of a wealthy man, Earl Abercrombie, on a private satellite which he owns, Abercrombie Station. He is unmarried and has some terminal medical condition. The plan is for Jean to marry him and then, after he dies, to obtain two million dollars from the mysterious coconspirator who recruited her to do this. She is a "gravity girl" from Earth, however, and the place she goes to has no gravity and a much different concept of beauty. On this strange satellite the larger the person is the more attractive they are considered, so most are as wide as they are tall and float around in the air while hired help wear magnetic shoes to keep them on the floor. So there is a problem with attracting this billionaire because Jean is considered malnourished, unhealthy and scrawny by their standards and is thought to be extremely unattractive even though she is very pretty by Earth standards. Her billionaire employer also has a large collection of bizarre alien creatures that he keeps in his natural history museum and seems to find more attractive than any women. No challenge is too much for Jean, however. Rating 3.

The Absent-Minded Professor
"The Absent-Minded Professor" is a seventeen page short story first published in Malcom's Mystery Magazine in 1954 under the pseudonym of John Van See. It is also known as "First Star I See Tonight." Vance mentioned in the Introduction to The Dark Side of the Moon that he was rather fond of this story. It is quite entertaining. The story involves the rivalry between astronomy professors who compete to gain more access time to the observatory telescope so they can explore their pet projects and personal interests. Written in the first person singular, this is more of a mystery story than science fiction. I thought it was fairly interesting and rated it a 3.

Devil on Salvation Bluff
"The Devil on Salvation Bluff," a short story of 21 pages was published initially in 1955. Two missionaries, a married couple, live outside the main city on a planet called "Glory" where their ancestors from Earth crash landed 500 years ago. They maintain a huge clock (which is very symbolic) and adhere to Earth time (and customs) even though it does not apply to this planet which has a number of suns that seem to rise unpredictably. The two missionaries are responsible for "civilizing" the local natives, who live in the wild, by teaching them about manners, social behavior, adherence to schedules, and the importance of time and clocks. The locals raise goats, run around half naked, live in filthy conditions, refuse to live in the houses that the missionaries built for them, copulate in public and destroy the canals the missionaries make. The chief of the tribe is the only one who speaks their language, but he won't cooperate and calls the giant clock the devil, threatening to roll boulders down on it. The couple are concerned how an upcoming inspection will reflect on them and think the chief must be mentally ill to be so uncivilized, so they decide to take him to one of their hospitals for mental health treatment. Things do not work out as they expect, however. This is very easy to read, rather fun and fairly interesting. I rated it a 3.5: "Liked it +"

Dodkin's Job
"Dodkin's Job" is a 40 page novelette that was first published in 1959 in the magazine Amazing Science Fiction. This is not really science fiction, fantasy or mystery but more of an ironic dystopian story with hints of Kafka and even Monty Python. I loved this story and thought it was hilarious. If you have ever worked in a big bureaucracy or have had to deal with one, you will probably identify with the main character who lives in a "big brother" like society where, "The population ordered their lives by schedule, classification and precedent." Luke Grogatch is too rational for such a society so he keeps losing jobs and has now been demoted to the rating of "Flunky/ClassD/Unskilled." If he gets demoted again he could end up being sent to the "Disorganized House" where he would be nonclassified and isolated with "criminals, idiots, children and proved Nonconformists." He decides to "submit slavishly to witless regulations" and begins his new job shoveling debris in a sewage system by hand using a shovel. All of his suggestions for improving the job are rejected, and the work seems meaningless. One day a new directive is announced ordering all employees to turn in their tools at a central warehouse at the end of the day and pick them up again each morning. This applies to Luke's shovel. He asks if he can purchase his own shovel and not have to turn it in each day but is told that the directive says "all tools" so that even a self purchased tool would not be exempt. Luke complies at first. But after the lengthy trip to turn in the shovel, he has to wait in a long line with the whole process taking an hour and a half. This means he will have to spend three hours each day dropping off and picking up his shovel. Luke decides to object by appealing to those who issued the directive but each supervisor claims he was simply following orders from above. Luke continues appealing to those higher up in administration, assuming that he will finally encounter the person who is responsible for the directive. His encounters with ineffective, irresponsible, uncaring bureaucratic officials develop into one of the funniest stories I've read in a long time. Dodkin, by the way, is a person Luke meets later who has what Luke considers to be the ideal job. I rated this one a 5.

DP!
"DP!" is a twenty page short story that sometimes does not have an exclamation point after the title. It was first released in 1953 in the Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader. Vance wrote this story while vacationing in a village in the Austrian Tyrol and uses this location as the setting for the story. White humanoid troglodytes begin coming up out of the fissures in the earth after a lava flow forces them to the surface. The "Trogs" are initially killed by fearful humans until they are recognized as also being human. The harmless and helpless Trogs are blind and have no food or shelter. Prolonged exposure to the sun kills them. They are refugees, totally dependent on others. Eventually millions of Trogs climb up out of the earth and are stranded in a small area in Austria called Trog City. The United Nations becomes involved and some countries offer to take some of the Trogs as immigrants. Some citizens find this threatening and campaign against it. One country wonders if the Trogs could be used for cheap or free labor. It is a classic refugee ethical dilemma done Vancian style. I rated it a 4.

Hard Luck Diggings
Hard Luck Diggings is an eight page short story that was first published in 1948 in the magazine Startling Stories. It features the main character Magnus Ridolph, a private investigator who accepts contracts on other worlds to solve crimes and mysteries. He is hired for a job investigating an off planet mining company where two to three men are being mysteriously strangled every day. This happens in only at "Diggings B" one of two mining operations. Three hundred minors are assigned to this digging, but they are being killed faster than they can be replaced. Murders have happened in locked rooms, showers, toilets and other places, always when a man is by himself with no witnesses. The only creatures on the planet are panthers, four armed apes and rodents, none of which would be able to enter a locked room to kill. The leopards and apes use to kill men at Diggings B until they installed an electric fence to keep them out. They do not need an electric fence at Diggings A because it is surrounded by extensive underbrush full of thorns. Ridolph is not only a private investigator but "an eminent mathematician" and uses math and logic to analyze all of the clues. He proceeds with solving the mystery by setting up an experiment that makes no sense to the mining superintendent. This is an interesting science fiction mystery that I rated a 4.

The Masquerade on Dicantropus
"The Masquerade on Dicantropus" is a 15 page short story that is an early work, originally published in 1951 in Startling Stories magazine. A couple named Jim and Barbara Root live on the planet Dicantropus where he is studying the planet's archeology and she is deeply bored and unhappy. Jim agrees to return to Earth in three months when the next supply ship arrives and suggests that they might engage in more swimming and badminton in the until then. There is an unusual pyramid on the planet that intrigues Jim but is afraid to explore it because he thinks it is guarded by the alien creatures who live on the planet. One day one of the resident creatures, a Dicantropus, swims up to them wearing a diamond necklace. They converse with the Dicantropus but it will only say that it found the necklace but not where. The Roots suspect it came from the pyramid and Barbara wants Jim to explore the pyramid in case there are more jewels there. Jim refuses because of the dangers involved but when another man crash lands on the planet, Barbara convinces the new visitor to explore the pyramid. They will soon find out what the pyramid is and who the Dicantropus are. The story is enjoyable and I rated it a 3 "Liked it"

The Phantom Milkman
"The Phantom Milkman" is a twelve page short story that was published initially in Other Worlds Science Stories in 1956. The main character, Isabel Durbrow, moves alone into a rural cabin where she hopes her estranged husband cannot find her. She places an outgoing letter in her mailbox addressed to the local dairy requesting milk delivery. But she notices that the letter disappeared from the mailbox before the mailman even arrived. Isabel does begin to receive milk even though her letter seemed to have been intercepted, but the milk delivery is from a different dairy, one that none of the local people have ever heard of. Her cats do not like this milk but do like milk she buys at the store from a different dairy. So Isabel leaves a note stating that her cats do not like the milk and asking for deliver to be cancelled. She receives a return note from the company, however, refusing to cease delivery but offering to purchase additional items for her. Isabel cannot locate the address of the dairy or even a phone number and is also unable to catch the person as the milk is delivered. Vance informs us in the Introduction that the idea for this story came when he was visiting friends at an old farm house and a quart of milk mysteriously appeared on the doorstep on morning. The story is easy to read and rather interesting and unpredictable. I rated it a 4.

Shape-Up
"Shape-Up" is an 11 page short story published first in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine in 1953. Our protagonist, Jarvis, reads a classified ad about four high paying positions available as space travelers and decides to apply. When he arrives at the place of interview he notes that many other men are also interested in the jobs. He finds his interview to be especially strange because they seem mostly interested in weight and blood type of the applicants and want to narrow the group down to eight. Jarvis soon finds himself to be under suspicion for past misdeeds in what turns out to be much more than a job interview. Vance uses only 11 pages to present us with another suspenseful, action story with odd characters but it is only mildly interesting. I rated it a 3.

Sjambak
Sjambak is a 25 page novelette that was originally published in 1953 in If Worlds of Science Fiction. Wilbur Murphy is a reporter from a TV series on Earth called "Know Your Universe!" It has two hundred million viewers, but its ratings have been down, and his boss wants a story that is very sensational. They hear about a planet called Sirgamesk where there is a rumor about horseman who flies through space without a space suit and so Murphy is sent there to film a story. Murphy's interest for something exciting to write about contrasts with the wishes of the sultan who rules the planet. He wants a very conservative report that reflects positively on their society. "We are quiet Mohammedans and indulge in very little festivity." Murphy's boss, in contrast, is insisting on a show that is full of "Sex! Excitement! Mystery!" The Sultan wants his Minister of Propaganda to provide an educational program, "stressing our progressive social attitude, our prosperity and financial prospects." Murphy is more interested in bands of roving bandits, prisoners who are publicly displayed naked in cages, a prince who might be planning jihad, ancient ruins, gamelan players, exotic dancers, and anything else that might increase his show's ratings. I rated it a 3: "Liked it."

Temple of Han, The
'The Temple of Han" is a short story, fifteen pages long, first printed in the magazine Planet Stories in 1951. Briar Kelly, an Earth man, disguises himself as a Han, an alien species that outnumber humans on Earth, and goes to one of their temples where he steals a religious jewel called the Seven-year Eye that he hopes to sell. While fleeing, however, the sky suddenly changes and a new sun appears in place of the old one. The Han have somehow moved Earth to a different location, and that is merely the first step in the drastic measures they will take to regain the jewel. In the Introduction Vance explains how this story was originally part of an epic novel that was rejected for publication. This story, originally called "The God and the Temple Robber," was one episode that he salvaged from the novel. It is engaging and worth reading. I rated it a 3.

Three Legged Joe
"Three Legged Joe" is a 16 page short story that was published initially in 1953 in Startling Stories. This is a story that is pure fun and I can imagine Vance chuckling as he wrote it. Two recent graduates of the Highland Technical Institute plan to go to the planet Odfars to mine heavy metal. When they attempt to hire a highly experienced assistant to accompany them on their prospect trip, nobody will come and they are told to hire Three Legged Joe who lives on Odfars and will find them soon after their arrival. After arrival at Odfars, however, they find out that Joe is a giant humanoid like creature who lives by eating acid and is interested in destroying all of their equipment and perhaps even them. They now realize why nobody would hire on with them and why no mining claims have ever been filed on the planet. Three Legged Joe is a creature who is terribly intrusive, immensely powerful and virtually indestructible. It is all very light hearted and fun in a style unique to Vance. I rated it a 4.

When the Five Moons Rise
"When the Five Moons Rise" was first published in 1954 in Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine. It is a 14 page short story. The setting is a lighthouse where two persons work. One of them tells the other not to believe anything when five moons rise at once. Strange things happen when the moons do rise, including the disappearance of one of the men. Some readers seem to like this one but I thought the story was of minimal interest and a rather weak work and rated it a 2.5.

Where Hesperus Falls
"Where Hesperus Falls" is the third work, a short eight page short story that was published first in 1956 in Fantastic Universe magazine. Henry Revere is a man who lives in a very technologically advanced society where he is told, "you are not your own property. You are a ward of the race." Henry, you see, is over 96,000 years old and is kept living even though, "life long ago lost that freshness and anticipation which makes it enjoyable." Bored with life, Henry keeps trying to kill himself but is thwarted each time by the intense surveillance and advanced medical skills of those who watch over him as his "servants." He is not really a prisoner, but he is not allowed to die. Thousands of years ago Henry had been a bio-chemist and offered himself as the subject of an experiment. But this resulted in "an incalculable error had distorted the experiment, with my immortality as the perverse result." He now finds himself being, "a living fossil, a curio among curious, a public ward, a creature denied the option of life or death." Henry's only interest other than suicide is writing his great "History of Man." What Henry does about his dilemma and how he does it are the basis of the story. I rated it a 3 "Liked it."

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a projected series of five or six books that collect some of the best and most representative of Jack Vance's early short fiction. This volume takes stories from between 1948 and 1959. I suspect tha tthe subsequent voluems will cover a similarly broad time period. Possibly the intent is to enable seeing his development as a writer over a period of time in each volume, rather than providing a single snapshot of a much shorter time. Perhaps it also allows for a broader spectrum of work in each volume.
The stories in this volume range from the fairly ordinary, particularly the earlier tales, and curiously the title story through to some far greater depth. All use Vance's delightful and readable prose and the standard never falls below at least interesting. Although some of the stories, as admitted in the introduction, could be set more or less anywhere, and the SF setting is more or less window dressing. In particular again, the title story.
Some favourites are:
Abercrombie Station - in which a strong willed young woman takes a job on a space station with the intent to defraud the owners, a family with a different world view and perspective on beauty born of living in a gravity-free environment. An exercise in what and who you think you know is far from what you really know.
DP! - An inexplicable and sudden mass migration of troglodytes is covered by reports from their initial appearance through the stages of concern and pity to hatred and resentment to the final heartbreaking moment of the crisis. It highlights the inadequacy of any response to mas migration by those on the outside that can never understand what it is like to be caught up in such a migration.
The Phantom Milkman - A deeply disturbing investigation into the impact of an abusive relationship told as an almost Jamesian tale of unwanted milk deliveries.
The final story, Dodkin's Job, is almost Kafkaesque in a world where the way that job is done should not be questioned and edicts from on high, coming with no explanation should adhered to. Regardless of the impact on people.
I look forward to the remaining volumes in the series.

[Ehsan Mohammadzadeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first discovered Jack Vance through his Dying Earth stories, and these short stories were equally intriguing. It was fascinating to see how his career began, and the short notes at the end of each story added a personal, heartfelt touch. Some of the ideas in these stories were truly brilliant. For example, Hard Luck Diggings could have developed into a detective story set on an alien planet, but it shifted course midway. I’m now eager to read the Magnus Ridolph series to explore more of Nathaniel Hawthorn’s character.

Another standout for me was Sjambak, which incorporated Islamic elements, even evoking the Mi’raj. This highlights how deeply Vance delved into cultural and mythological sources for inspiration. I also noticed parallels between When the Five Moons Rise and Lem’s Solaris—both involve alien environments that induce hallucinations or psychological effects on humans.

[mkfs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't go wrong with Vance.

The stories are a mixed bag, being early stuff, but they're all enjoyable. Surprised I hadn't encountered "Dodkin's Job" before.

Vance provides a brief afterword to each story, but these turn out to be just reminiscing and are unrelated to the stories themselves. The final afterword describes his loss of sight, and his use of speech recognition software for a surprising number of novels (as far back as Lyonesse).

[Tony da Napoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are serious about sci-fi you have read the early works of the genre. Vance is one of them. So prolific you could take years to read him all. Wrote his last group of works blind using a word processor. Strange and old-fashion sounding, but clever stuff.

[Scifimoth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some excellent old Vance short stories.

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Subterranean Press because they’re regularly publishing the kind of classic and new speculative fiction that you might have a hard time finding otherwise. They ignore teen trends and market demands and focus on producing high quality volumes of excellent fiction complete with beautiful covers and interior art.

Hard-Luck Diggings is a collection of 14 of Jack Vance’s unconnected short stories that were written early in his career, when he was perfecting his style and writing the kind of tales that were currently popular and likely to be purchased by publishers.

In each of these tales the prose is sparse, the characters are quickly sketched, and the plot is fast, tight, and weird. Many take place in the far future but, even though they were written 60 years ago, th... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack Vance, at his peak, was a remarkably assured writer, setting his science fiction novels in diverse and complex worlds that are wildly imaginative but have convincing depth. These short stories are from much earlier in his career. They show traces of Vance's trademarks, including tight, pulpy plots and strong characters, but they lack the force of his later, longer works. A month after finishing them, I can recall only two. Still, they were pleasant enough. Vance's own bridging introductions for the most part have nothing to do with the stories and their presence is something of a puzzle.

[Jim Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read "The Phantom Milkman" in a short story anthology and liked it. I found this collection which included "The Phantom Milkman". I didn't really enjoy the stories very much so I guess I'm just not a Jack Vance fan. "The Phantom Milkman" was the story I like the most, a clever subtle fantasy. Another, again subtle and clever, fantasy I liked was "When the Five Moons Rise". the only SF story I enjoyed was "Abercrombie Station" with it's interesting and amoral feminine protagonist. I know that Jack Vance is considered a good writer but he's just not my "cup of tea" or in my case, not my "glass of beer".

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories! Love to pick this up when I want to read at the end of the night but don't want to get into anything too involved. I don't love all kinds of mid-century science fiction, but Jack Vance writes more about people than gadgets and technology, and there's some weird sociology in space. I'm current on a story about a space station where the beauty ideal is huge and round, and everyone is as smooth as a ball due to lack of gravity. Never a dull moment!

[Zachary Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing bad and a good look at some of Vance's early stuff. I like that most of the afterwords have nothing to do with the individual stories. If you are a Vance completest, read it, otherwise find something else.

[Kevin Connery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice, if dated, collection of Vance’s early work. The style he became known for later is showing glimpses, and even the weaker ones were pretty good.

[Sydney More · Rating 4 out of 5]

'DP!' was probably my favourite - a great collection for summertime reading. While not all of the stories are great, every one is an enjoyable read.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2

[John Paulson]

Love old-fashioned pulp sci-fi-- great collection.

[Tim Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe not four stars on its own, but if you've liked other Vance works you'll understand.
This is his early work, not as polished as his later stuff, but his style and slightly wacky story ideas are clearly visible. A worthwhile read, as long as you remember that the latest of these is from 1959.