The Languages of Pao - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0879975415 ISBN 13: 9780879975418

Synopsis

The young heir to the Pao throne, Beran Panasper, flees his usurping uncle Bustamonte when his father, the Panarch of Pao, is killed. His refuge is the austere world Breakness, under one of the planet's ruler-academics - the elderly but immensely powerful Lord Palafox.

Palafox and his peers are obsessed with prestige and dominance, augmenting their bodies technologically, and breeding legions of sons upon indentured women brought from scores of worlds. As years pass, Beran's suspicion grows that the aging Palafox has his own plans for tranquil Pao; returning at last, he finds the planet ravaged by war and upheaval, its placid culture fractured by viral languages designed by Palafox, introduced by Bustamonte.

Beran is determined to restore peace, but if Bustamonte finds him, he is dead. And should he win back the Panarch's throne, he will inevitably face Palafox - who, if senile - is physically more powerful than ever.

Grandmaster Jack Vance turns an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of the human mind into a classic SF tale of intrigue, revenge, and madness.

- Matt Hughes

"The Languages of Pao" is Volume 11 of the Spatterlight Press Signature Series. Released in the centenary of the author's birth, this handsome new collection is based upon the prestigious Vance Integral Edition. Select volumes enjoy up-to-date maps, and many are graced with freshly-written forewords contributed by a distinguished group of authors. Each book bears a facsimile of the author's signature and a previously-unpublished photograph, chosen from family archives for the period the book was written. These unique features will be appreciated by all, from seasoned Vance collector to new reader sampling the spectrum of this author's influential work for the first time.

- John Vance II

About this title

Review

"One of the finest writers the science fiction field has ever known."

About the Author

Jack Vance, born John Holbrook Vance in 1916, was one of the greatest masters of fantasy and science fiction. He was the winner of many awards for his work and career: the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. Among his awards for particular works were the Hugo award in 1963 for "The Dragon Masters", in 1967 for "The Last Castle", and in 2010 for his memoir "This is Me, Jack Vance!" He won a Nebula Award in 1966 for "The Last Castle". He won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1990 for "Lyonesse: Madouc". He also won an Edgar for the best first mystery novel in 1961 for "The Man in the Cage." Vance published more than 60 books in his career, sometimes under pseudonyms. Among them were 11 mystery novels, three of them as Ellery Queen. He wrote some of the first, and perhaps best, examples of "planetary adventures," including a novel called" Big Planet". His Dying Earth series were among the most influential fantasy novels ever written, inspiring both generations of writers, and the creators of Dungeons and Dragons.
Vance s series from Tor include "The Demon Princes", "The Cadwal Chronicles", "The Dying Earth", "The Planet of Adventure", and "Alastor". Vance s last novels were a series of two: "Ports of Call" and "Lurulu."
Jack Vance was a sailor, a writer, an adventurer, a music critic, and a raconteur. He died in May 2013.

Born in Los Angeles in 1950, Dana Gioia attended Stanford University and did graduate work at Harvard, where he studied with Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Fitzgerald. He left Harvard to attend Stanford Business School. For fifteen years he worked in New York for general Foods (eventually becoming a Vice President) while writing nights and weekends, In 1992 he became a full-time writer. Currently he lives in California. Gioia has published three books of poems, Daily Horoscope (1986), The Gods of Winter (1991), and Interrogations at Noon (2001), which won the American Book Award. He is also the author of Can Poetry Matter? (1992; reprinted 2002). He has edited a dozen anthologies of poetry and fiction. A prolific critic and reviewer, he is also a frequent commentator on American culture for BBC Radio. He recently completed Nosferatu (2001), an opera libretto for composer Alva Henderson.

Edition details

• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0879975415
• ISBN 13: 9780879975418
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback