Thank you for the adventures Jack. You are incredibly talented and will be remembered as a master dream-smith.

The first Jack Vance novella I ever read was The Pnume from the Planet of Adventure Series. I was captivated by the reading The Pnume. May your spirit and books last for all time.

Whenever I read your stories, the way you describe the world is poetic and the same is true of your characters. They feel "alive" and fully realized, even when we only spend a few pages with them or they're inscrutable to us as, say, the Gomaz are. I read your Dying Earth stories first; from there I began to read both your science fiction-- The Languages of Pao particularly was a fun read-- and another author who I've come to love as well, Gene Wolfe. Thank you very much for all you wrote, for inspiration and entertainment, for writing fiction that's at once fun to read and thought provoking, and for introducing me to Wolfe, who I wouldn't have gotten into if not for Book of the New Sun and Dying Earth being spoken of together. Rest in peace.

If it were not for this tentacle clasping my wrist, I would raise a toast to you Master Vance, and congratulate you both on your loquacity and literary armamentarium. Alas, I lack the funds or courage to beg, and must therefore ask you for a drop of your own good green vintage, so I may celebrate your many successes with you. Oh, you lack an integument, or the means of interacting with the physical realm, I hear you say? No matter, we will celebrate together anonce, two strangers passing as travellers in the night, as you make your way to the halcyon realms beyond the star Archenar. Bon voyage, good sir, and do not forget to avoid tolls through whatever means necessary once you reach your destination.

Thank you again Jack for taking me on all those travels through your universe. I am on Maz now, in The Dogtown Tourist Agency, in the good company of Miro Hetzel having a drink in The Last Chance. Ten years gone, but not forgotten, here's to you Jack!

Jack Vance: The grandest grandmaster of Science fiction, I raise a toast and read yet again one of my tattered and treasured paperbacks! Your genius is missed; rest well and in peace.

I've read the Demon princes and Thoroughly enjoyed it, Rest in Peace, Mr.Vance. Your work has captivated us all.

I am only just starting to read Vance's novels but I am blown away by the creative mind of such a writer. It is hard to imagine such masterful storytelling is now of a bygone era. I wish that your accomplishments continue to inspire.

10 years today since we lost Mr Vance and he is still my favorite writer , I cannot stop going back and re-reading his work again and again. Rest in peace

I have reread for the umpteenth time The Five Star Kings and I regret not being able to read further stories or books masterfully written by the same hand. Your books accompanied me for most of my life and now I miss it. Rest in peace Jack.

In 1973 in, I think, Los Angeles, I bought the Ace Double of Dragon Masters and The Last Castle. I had been an sf addict since my just-finished teens, but I saw at once that these books displayed a style and a world-crafting skill entirely different from those of, say, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, or Isaac Asimov (great sf writers all), and I became a Vance fan. Around 1976 I wrote him a fan letter, to which he actually replied from South Africa. During the 1980s my wife and I lived in the Bay Area and had the pleasure of visiting Jack and Norma twice. Also in 1973, I bought the first "Flashing Swords" anthology, which included Jack's "Morreion," a story that later led me to the Dying Earth cycle. 1973 was indeed my Vance discovery year, because from that year I also remember buying "Trullion: Alastor 2262" (in Portland?) and reading it on Greyhound Buses from Portland to Seattle and back to points east. The only other sf writer to whom I would compare Jack in terms of style or atmosphere is his good friend Poul Anderson. As a fellow-Dane (well, half-Dane in my case) I sought out Poul in Oakland in 1977 and asked him if he would introduce me to Jack. That evening Jack was busy but, as I said, I met him twice in the following decade.

Without hesitation or reservation my absolute favorite writer. Many years ago as I was leaving a grocery store in a mall in a town of 2000 people, I spotted a tattered paperback on a book-exchange carousel: Jack Vance! As I slowly turned the rack I found book after book! I emptied every coin from every pocket into the coin box and stole away with an armful of musty, dog-eared treasure! What fool would ever have given them up? I know I never will! I regularly ask at used bookstores: Do you have any Jack Vance? I'm told: No, people don't bring them in, when they get them they keep them. I have read my copy of Maske: Thaery at least 30 times and I expect that if I leave the book out and my two young sons find it, they too will be hooked. Thank you Mr. Vance

Jack played banjo at our Minicon party suite in the early '80s. His generosity with his time was remarkable, his presence at our party was uplifting and the highlight of a great weekend. Still missing him (and his writing!).

You will always be missed Jack, thank you for your wonderful stories.

Just another tribute to one of my favorite world creators. I am 71 and still reading Jack's work. Only Michael Shea and Rodger Zelazny ever gave Jack Vance's work competition for my reading delight. A brilliant light was lost when we lost Jack Vance.

After some 55 years reading books, I can safely state that Jack Vance is the best book writer ever. Some others come close (even in SF some others are also extremely good) but no other fully matches Jack Vance.

The worlds of Jack Vance have been an inspiration to me since I first discovered them in the late 1960's. I'm glad I'm not a fiction writer, because it would be so hard to break free of accidentally imitating him! The cool tone of Vance's humor is a necessary tonic against the loud, broad har-har style of too many writers. I think I have all of Vance's F&SF, but I'll have to check jackvance.com to be sure. I re-read a few of his books every year. Thanks so much to everyone involved in keeping his work available and providing the best editions of it! Favorites: * Trullion: Alastor 2262 * Mazirian the Magician * Lyonesse series

Un de mes amis m'a fait découvrir Jack Vance en me suggérant de lire Cugel l'astucieux. Ce fût l'illumination. J'ai fait parmi les plus beaux voyages grâce aux mondes et civilisations baroques dont regorgent ses œuvres. Emphyrio, un monde magique, les maisons d'Iszm et les langages de Pao sont mes romans préférés de cet auteur polyvalent. Un grand auteur de science-Fiction vous fûtes. Merci de tout cœur Jack. Mes hommages.

I first came upon Jack Vance in used bookstores whilst in college in the mid-late '70s ;he came to be - and always will be - a big part of my life. RIP, Jack ...

I finished reading all of Jack Vance's novels a few years ago. I continued to re-read them time and time again. I asked on internet forms for recommendations for similar authors which I got and read. None of them came close to matching Vance's prose and world building. Rest in peace.

I only discovered Vance's work recently, and while I know I'm late to this web page, I wanted to say that I am forever grateful for the worlds and characters that Jack created. His writing inspires me, makes me chuckle, it makes me pause and think about the world around me, and I think in that way, as well as in many others, he will live forever. I even wrote a short story in my science fiction & fantasy class the other day that tossed the character of Cugel into Tolkien's world of The Hobbit (with great disasters ensuing). I am very thankful to be able to read the work of such an incredible and creative individual.

Some years on, I write to thank Bob Lacovara, and all the contributors, for the six volume hardcover edition. I didn't hesitate to subscribe at the time, and these books remain a source of great pleasure and wonder. Thank you Bob, and everyone who made these definitive volumes.

I'm an American of Iranian descent. I discovered Maestro Jack Vance somewhere between 2006-2009 whilst in Portland, OR. As my library borrowed the ornate hardcover collection of books from the U of WA in Seattle, I drove up there just to peruse the whole collection in all its glory on the library shelves. Be that as it may, I found Maestro Vance's works to be full of wonder, imagination, and piquant badinage. Not only was he underrated and underappreciated, but he was a writer so very different from his coevals. Maestro Vance had flair and a great control of words, both colorful and pungent. His literary gymnastics reminds me of an august, contrapuntal Baroque piece with a naughty twinkle of the eye. Nearly a decade and a half after having discovered his "Tschai" novels, his concept of "Foreverness" still haunts me. To purloin his reference to Brewmasters from "Lurulu", may this humble and nugatory lapsed Muslim raise a rich and heady imperial stout to his memory, as he travels down the unknown paths of Foreverness!

It was in 1973 when I first read ‚the asutra‘ and I was amazed by the fantastic world described by Jack Vance. Shortly after this book was followed by the demon princes and then by the alastor novels. Many followed in the coming year and up until now I have Jack‘s complete work and read and re-read the books at least a dozen times. In my opinion one of the greatest fantasy ever written.

I discovered Jack Vance and Philip K Dick in the 60s, when Woolworth in the Edgware Road, London, was selling brand new Ace doubles and singles mistakenly shipped from the USA as remainders. Pristine Vance, Dick, Le-Guin, Delany, Leinster etc books for peanuts. Heaven. Vance and Dick were a revelation and I began to collect them - and I enjoy re=reading their work to this day. Vance's prose is like the finest Sauterne wine, and Dick is the only sf author capable of creating fickle characters which can take you by surprise. Ad astra JV and PKD. Leif.

Veo tu rostro maestro y me lleno de paz, tus historias me acompañan por siempre, espero que tu vida en el otro lado sea maravillosa.

Funniest writer by far in the field of genre fiction, with so many winning qualities, as a writer and a human, to go along with his masterful sense of humor. Thank you Jack Vance, for living your life exactly the way you did!

There never was a science fiction author so skilled at world-building as Jack Vance, to say nothing of his inimitable prose. They broke the mold when they made Jack Vance and his contributions to literature are inestimable.

Vance mi ha aperto a un mondo meraviglioso ed è stato il compagno delle mie giornate dall'adolescenza in poi. Anche ora che vado per i 62 anni, mi dà sempre piacere rileggerlo anche se, per mia sfortuna, una ottima memoria fà si che alla prima pagina ricordi immediatamente tutte le scene e le situazioni. Ma come un buon vino che acquista valore con l'età, mi piace rileggere sorseggiando le pagine.Ho appreso da Vance il piacere di viaggiare e conoscere e ho viaggiato e conosciuto. Che Dio lo benedica.

After > 4 decades still my favorite writer and the absolute grand master of space opera. 40 odd years later I still immensely enjoy those stories. It brings me great joy to read on these pages that his art can still enchant young people. There is hope for humanity still. Time to break out some of those books... Thank you Jack for a 1000 wonderful voyages.

I discovered Vance in 2013; the prose of my college essays subsequently became what might be described as ‘interesting’. There are still some Vance novels and short stories I haven’t yet read, but these are my current favourites of those I have: 'The Blue World'; 'Emphyrio'; 'Showboat World'; the 'Dying Earth' series; ‘The Moon Moth’; ‘The New Prime’; ‘When The Five Moons Rise' (a brilliant and underrated horror story). 'Emphyrio' at least should be considered and taught as literature, for the profundity of its themes and characterization as well as the beauty of Vance's style. In particular, Grand Lord Dugald’s declaration of self-awareness is one of the most moving passages I have ever read. For me this almost Shakespearean breadth of understanding is one of the best aspects of reading Vance, whether apparent in a deposed and isolated young world-ruler, a cannibalistic gangster with an inferiority complex, or a homunculus attached to a subterranean demon’s tongue. In the fantasy genre, only a handful of writers - Ernest Bramah, James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith, Barry Hughart - really compare. ‘So now, be off! Or I visit upon you the Spell of the Macroid Toe, whereupon the signalized member swells to the proportions of a house!’

Un verre pour le grand Jack. Qui m'a appris à être un voyageur, un curieux, un explorateur, un bricoleur, un érotomane et finalement un homme. Merci Jack. Santé !

When I started reading Tschai somewhere in the seventies, I didn't stop reading for days, I was no longer on planet Earth... I was immediately taken away onto Tschai, enchanted by Jack Vance's Masterly style... Opening a book written by Jack Vance is like opening a gate to the Multiversum ! Thank you forever Jack, for giving us the keys to access and wander into those wonderful worlds you created...

I return to Jack Vance books again and again. One of my everlasting favorites. Thank you for all the joy.

Ho riletto per l'ennesima volta The Five Star Kings e rimpiango di non poter leggere ulteriori racconti o libri scritti magistralmente dalla medesima mano. I tuoi libri mi hanno accompagnato per gran parte della mia vita ed adesso ne sento la mancanza. Riposa in pace Jack!

I got my first Jack Vance book handed over to me as a teenager by my father, who said "I have found the greatest living Science-Fiction author ever, read this". I never stopped reading him over the next decades. From time to time, I pick one of his books I have read, like, 5 or 6 times. I thought there was something wrong with me until I discovered plenty of Vance's fans do exactly the same. Many thanks for the sheer beauty, the wit, the sense of wonder you created, old bard, wherever you are up there.

My Dad introduced me to Jack’s work with a second hand copy of Cugel’s saga. I was ten years old. I have loved his work ever since RIP

Well Jack, you are the reason I became a writer. Your books are absolutely amazing, I still pick them up after many years. I miss you, enjoy heaven, R

It took me 47 years to learn about Jack Vance... what a shame! I am an avid reader of the obscure, mythical, weird horror and fantasy literature. Science fiction was not my first choice before. By going through the pages of Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestials I stumbled over the Dirdir and the Pnume! In my hands I am holding now The Tschai Tetralogy, just started to read, oh what a joy...

I am a highschool student, aged 18, and have just recently discovered Jack Vance. It has re-awoken a love for reading I'd thought lost in middleschool. Thank you, Jack! You seem a very interesting and kind individual, I look forward to reading your memoir/autobiography and learning more about you 🙂

I first became aware of Vance in the very early 1970s. Somehow missed the appearance of the Anome and Domains of Koryphon ( read them later, of course), but starting with Maske: Thaery, I believe I read every one of his novels shortly after it came out, and I met him three times, at book signings. I'm sure he'd never have remembered me, although he did express surprise when I asked him to sign the commercial edition of Araminta Station immediately after its release, when I told him I'd already read it (in the UM edition). There's just something unique about Vance's authorial voice, that's always resonated with me, and I will always be grateful to him for the many hours of pleasure and even joy that he has given me, and countless others. Shout out to Matthew Hughes, one of the tiny few of Vance's imitators (or rather, authors inspired by Vance!) who can actually hold a candle to the older master!

I now sit re reading ecce and old earth. I have filled a tea cup with white wine and pretend it is green zoquil, a clattuc vintage. When my eyes need a break I look out the window and thank the trees for showing their autum colors. A perfect day. Thank you Jack.

I am french, excuse my poor english.... I red Le prince des étoiles when I was 17 I am now 56 and all the writings of Jack Vance are always next to me. What an author !Beautiful style and endless inventive spirit ! I can't help reading and reading Alain all Jack Vance,s books they give me a lot of energy and hope. Thank you again master Vance ! S lagorce

Master, thanks for everything: adventure, sense of wonder,romance, noir, humour,Your works are masterworks of.. Vance-fiction, a nonpareil blend of genres. Still now, after so many years, to read your books is a pleasure, and a way to live other, so many other lives and realities. Grazie di tutto , Maestro.

I have read very few writers who come close to the skill that Mr. Vance had. The way he set a scene and told a story is absolutely captivating. I love the Dying Earth and the Demon Princes series and can't wait to read more of his work. I've been collecting them when I can find them. No book has absorbed me like Tales of a Dying Earth. Mr. Vance clearly had a vibrant inner life; it showed through in the vast imagination of his writing and the depth and complexities of the cultures, creatures and people of his stories. Thank you Mr. Vance. You are an inspiration to this aspiring author. If I can tell a story of my own with half the aptitude you had, I will be well pleased with myself.

Hi, I just want to said that after 25 years I discovered it, Jack Vance's world is still offering me the magic that we all need. Thank you M. Vance

hilarious and inventive from droll witticisms and amusing situations to wondrous worlds and fantastic societies thanks for some of the best worlds ever escaped to

When I first read Jack Vance's works as a teenager, I enjoyed them. When I reread them many years later, after my reading had ranged far and wide, I appreciated them all the more -- for only then did I realize how utterly unlike anything else they are. Rare gems, of unique cut; with their own sparkle and fire.

"Unstinting generosity excites approval." Has there ever been a writer who was so generous with his imagination? So willing to take us to places we could have never found for ourselves? So glad to introduce us to the finest, and foulest, that humanity and its various offshoots has to offer? So anxious to show us what beautifully unlikely phrases could be constructed with the English language? I will ever pour libations to Jack Vance.

Absolutely hopeless plots -- and I read them again and again and again! He really makes a story move, and invents the weirdest societies -- and unfortunately the world is catching up with him. The concept of 'awaile' in 'Servants of the Wankh' anticipated Columbine by decades. Of course not all science-fiction writers can think of everything: it is amusing, after humanity has colonized the galaxy, to find Kirth Gersen still having to find a phone booth! And he was a realist: his dystopian anarchy in 'Wyst' provides a refreshing antidote to Ursula K. Leguin's (also RIP) rather idealized version in 'The Dispossessed'.

Just a small salute to Mister Vance and his family to tell them how much his work has been and still his important in my library. I'm nearly 60 now and I have been reading and reading all over again The Tschai cycle and the Cugel cycle since I was a teenager (French edition). It has its place with the Asimmov's Foundation cycle and Van Vogt Non-A cycle side by side in my library. You have the right to be very proud of your late father and grand-father for what it has achieved and all the happiness he has brought to million of fans throughout the world. Forever thank you so much dear Mister Vance! Gilles (pardon my poor English and correct it as needed)

I believe I now have a copy of every book written by Jack Vance, certainly of all those ever sold here in England. Something I have never tried to do for any other author. Here's to Jack Vance, greatest and most imaginative of all science fiction writers. Rest in peace Jack, in the knowledge of a job well done

I have a bookshelf in my little library devoted to Jack Vance. I tried to pass on the enthusiasm to my 35 year old son but he declined the baton. Most of his stories are here, some duplicated, some in French, picked up for a few centimes in brocantes. 20 years ago I had a sales lunch with some Dutch policemen in Rotterdam. It started out quite frosty and polite until, and I forget how, Jack Vance was mentioned. Lunch became extended, beer was raised and not many of us went back to work that afternoon. Tim R Mortiss disgurgled me.

Was there ever a better author, in any genre, than Jack Vance? Not in my humble opinion. His visionary ideas, deadpan humor, memorable characters both likeable and detestable (nearly all endowed with masterful oratory skills), panoramic vistas, complex societies, unearthly flora and fauna, fascinating worlds, satisfying plots, engaging storytelling - effortlessly regaled in the most truly delightful prose. He is greatly missed. I first encountered his work in 1987, when a friend lent me the Tchsai/Planet of Adventure series; I was hooked from that moment on. I have read - and reread - his stories countless times since. Why Hollywood hasn't seen fit to bring the Demon Princes series to the big screen, I'll never know. Perhaps it's just as well, as they could never do his work justice... How I wish I could live in one of Vance's worlds, instead of this mundane, unsophisticated society run by a President with "all the best words" (clearly, he has never read Jack's work). I can't believe it's nearly 5 years since his passing. Thank you, Jack!

I've been spellbound by every Jack Vance book I've read. The Demon Prince novels are my favorite, and I am on Book of Dreams, trying to stretch it out, knowing there will never be another after I finish this one. My heart aches when I think about it.

La saga de Tschai fue una de las primeras sagas de ciencia ficción que llegó a mis manos de joven, y sigo releyendo esos cuatro desgastados libros cada pocos meses aún más de veinte años después. Un abrazo maestro bajo la luz de Carina 4269.

Thanks to Jack Vance I traveled all over the universe and knew wonderful worlds and peoples. His books and stories helped me to forget the hardships of everyday life and to endure the monotony of modern life

My current shot of malt whisky is indeed a toast to Jack Vance, magician of fabulous words and worlds - thank you for countless hours of reading transport & pleasure, for over 40 years!

"'A farting horse will never tire, A farting man's the man to hire.' "Where is the like today?" Where indeed? Rest well, most picaresque of poets.

My first Vance book was The Dragon Masters, a brilliant tale of war and adaptation, and his work has only gotten better since then. His settings, characters, and amazing prose have kept me entranced for decades. Rest In Peace, Jack. You have earned your place in our memories.