Conference noted::sf

    Never mind, I read it. It is an interesting premise that never seemed
    to get going for me.  And the dialog!!!  so formal and stylized
    as to be a parody of human interaction....but I suppose barely
    allowable in the inbred, roleplaying society of araminta station.
    The most interesting questions raised by the author, how have the
    derivitive race the "yips" evolved from the base human stock, how
    are they different, why are they different, and does the esthetic
    desire for an unpolluted ecology justify the virtual disfranchisement
    and exile of a growing population.  oh yeah there's a built in hook
    for a sequel as well.
     
    Do yourselves a favor and skip this turkey.
    

	< Note 773.1 by CSCOA3::CONWAY_J "Marietta Cuisenart" >
                                 -< blaahhh! >-

    Re the previous note, Hi JJ, I didn't know you could read...

    I quite liked it but then I became used to the style of 
    writing in 'Planet Of Adventure' which is a collection
    of four books about T'chai, much better.

	Nigel.

    I haven't read it, but I thought I'd comment on the Planet of Adventure
    foursome (CITY OF THE CHASCH, SERVANTS OF THE WANKH, THE DIRDIR,
    THE PNUME).  This was light reading (Vance-style); I got a bigger
    kick out of the 5 Demon Princes books, espicially the last--THE
    BOOK OF DREAMS.  Out of the 16-or-so "Vance"s I've read I liked
    BOOK and THE KILLING MACHINE (the 1st Demon Princes novel), with
    a thumbs up for THE BLUE WORLD and the other Demon Princes books.
    So if his newer ones don't make it, try one of his older ones.
    
    						Don

    re.2
    
    Hi Nigel!  Yes I can, but my lips get REAL tired.
    
    P.S.   T'chai is russian for tea, ge aholt of yersel, mon

    Re: previous
    
    The planet's name was Tschai...
    
    I'll basically read _anything_ by Jack Vance. His prose style is so
    great that it basically doesn't matter to me what he's writing about...
    
    I like the Demon Princes stuff (particularly THE BOOK OF DREAMS), 
    CUGEL'S SAGA, TO LIVE FOREVER, THE LANGUAGES OF PAO and he's written
    some fairly brilliant short stories: "The Last Castle", "Sail 25",
    "Ullward's Retreat" and "The Moon Moth" come to mind...
    				- hbm

    While I have no dearth of praise for Vance, I find that I've
    never been able to understand why his short novels "The Dragon
    Masters" and "The Last Castle" have proved to be so popular.
    I found them both exceedingly dull, especially the former.
    
    --- jerry

    See...; it's just a matter of taste.  "Castle" lived up to its praise
    but I didn't get too far into "Masters". 
    
    (I, too, enjoyed TO LIVE FOREVER.)
     
    						Don

    
    	I finished 'Araminta Station' a couple of days ago,
    	and thoroughly enjoyed it, not the best I'll ever
    	read but pretty good. Good plot, excellent fauna/
    	flora, first book in a while I've read in 1 day.
    
    	re sequel
    
    	As it's the 'First in the Cadwal Trilogy' I certainly
    	hope there will be more!, lots of unanswered questions,
    	anybody have details of when the other books are due
    	for release??
    
    	Doug.  

    I finally read "Araminta Station", too, and I loved it.
    
    By the way, I'm almost certain that Cadwal is the same planet where the
    Demon Princes series ends ("The Book of Dreams") but I can't find my
    copy... 
    				- hbm
    

    
    	re .8 (I got it wrong)

        It's not a trilogy, but a chronicle, so who knows how
    	many books there could be!!

    	Doug.

    I recently finished Araminta Station, having decided to read it
    (having a weakness for Vance's elegant style) despite some negative
    reviews, and rather enjoyed it.  In fact, I was surprised how different
    my impression was from the expectations the reviews had set.
    
    Anyway, if you're a Vance fan, this is definitely worth it, especially
    now that it's out in paperback.
    
    BTW, Vance's "Big Planet" has been reissued in paperback.  It dates
    from the 50s or so, and Vance's unique style, while recognizable,
    is nowhere near fully developed.
    
    len.
    

    I read the Cadwal Chronicles over the last week. I really liked
    Artaminta Station, quite liked Ecce and Old Earth, but Throy seemed a
    bit rushed.
    
    Peter