The Demon Princes, Vol. 2: The Face * the Book of Dreams [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

1- Language: Vance's use of language is stilted, strange, peculiar, old-fashioned, even bizarre, surely a cause to complain. No! It is because of this very usage that the language is melodic, the names whimsical, charming, the characters robust, bold, hopping a' skither-and-tither with quirks and mannerisms.

2- Hero: in contrast Vance's 'hero' seems a very cold fish indeed in comparison to his outlandish foes, acquaintances and romantic partners. Yet you are slowly drawn into understanding him, liking him and hoping he succeeds in both his quest and his hope of living a normal life, not that of a hunter-killer. You also end up ever so slightly hating his grandfather, who knowingly cut off his grandson from hope of a normal human existence in his desire to exact revenge from beyond the grave.

3- Redemption: These last two volumes allow the redemption of Kirth Gersen - read 'em and see what I mean. Vance also saves the best villain for last with Howard Alan Treesong, truly a character who gives a new meaning to schizophrenia.

4- Invention: No-one, not one other sci-fi or supposed fantasy author can beat Vance for sheer scope of invention. He creates cultures from sketches and schemes, draws you in, tumbles you about and casts you back out. Yet they have an inherent life to them that makes you suspect they carry on ticking after our attention has moved on.

5- A good 'ol cop with an attitude story - the outsider, the loner, the cop-turned-near criminal - all these are wrapped up in here. It's almost too much but Gersen's character and motivations remain coherent and clear throughout.

Look these books are so good that it's they're almost worth buying for the inter-chapter tales of Marmaduke and his companions alone - little skits that make other, more 'serious' sci-fi series scene setters as found in the likes of Dune and Foundation look pompous.

Let Vance light up your world, put a smile on your face and thank the Lord that someone else has to deal with Demon Princes.

In "The Face" (my favorite of the 5), Kirth finally confronts Lens Larque. Larque is a person who enjoys seeking revenge on anyone who stands in his way. He evades Gersen's attempts at bringing him to justice while simultaneously tricking Gersen out of milllions of SVU ($). Gersen eventually tracks down Larque, who is busy with an ingenious scheme for getting revenge against an entire planet. In one of Vance's most satisfying endings, Gersen denies Larque his revenge, while paying back Larque (in the usual way) and everyone else who wronged him.

"The Book Dreams" is possibly one of Vance's most violent works. As Gersen relentlessly tracks down the insane Howard Alan Treesong, he uncovers a diabolical plot in which Treesong is methodically attempting to become the ruler of the entire known universe. In several confrontations, Gersen repeatedly guns down Treesong and dozens of his minions, only to have Treesong escape at the last possible second with minor injuries. Eventually, however, Gersen lures Treesong to a place where he can confront him alone. The ending is somewhat amusing, in that Gersen runs into people who are even more fanatical about killing Treesong than he. Nevertheless, Treesong is brought to justice in typical Vancian style.