Before King Arthur

[dotinthesky]

Lyonesse by Jack Vance

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read Lyonesse as a teenager and immediately fell in love with it. Sure, there were some minor plot holes - especially as the story moved through the trilogy of the same name - but its overall charm won in the end. Then, a few years later in university, I tried reading it again and thought it was a terrible misogynistic creation - to the point where I took the whole trilogy to a nearby charity shop and gave it away.

Seventeen years later and I was tempted to revisit the series again and find out why I'd loved it in the first place, and if the misogyny was really so bad. What I discovered was a world firmly in the mold of Angela Carter's fairy tales - the bite and sting from fairies and trolls casually sitting beside the evil committed by kings and queens. Not only that but some of Chaucer's ribaldry too. Stories definitely not meant for children. It's been a reminder for me of how important it is to revisit loved books: the stories never remain the same - we see them through different eyes as we grow older.

G.R.R. Martin took, no doubt, a lot of inspiration from Lyonesse for his A Song of Ice and Fire series - the geography of both worlds is similar as well as its intrigues, horrors, tragic love stories and magic. Lyonesse, however, is an expansion on the Arthurian legend which gives Vance more scope to play with motifs such as early Christianity (one of the biggest horrors in the book is the building of a chapel in a beautiful and remote garden.) G.R.R. Martin must have also taken note of the major plot twist in this novel that takes all readers by surprise which raises the novel above others in the fantasy genre.

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Comments

[sparklielizard.livejournal.com]

My parents had this book, they loved Jack Vance. I never read it myself, I wonder if I should? (being a big fan of fantasy/sci-fi!) Because my parents were a fan, it never occurred to me to read anything by Jack Vance or indeed any of the authors they read - some sort of "that's for parents, not me" subconscious thought I guess. Seeing the cover posted here gave me some flashbacks (in a good way) to my old home, back when my parents were together, and the book by the side of their bed!

Did you find the misogyny as bad on your latest reading then?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Oh, you must read it then - I think the high fantasy aspect will hook you, plus Vance's style is very sardonic at points, and always witty.

It's not so much misogyny I see now but some uncomfortable scenes involving an ogre and children, in particular pre-pubescent girls. But, to be honest, it's not as bad as G.R.R. Martin can get, and because the context is fairy tales I found it easier to handle. Looking around at some reviews, that's really the worse side that has made some readers give up on the book (including my younger self.)

[sparklielizard.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Mr. Martin does wind me up a little at times.. not so much for the alleged "accuracy" of the world he's presenting (which I guess could be justified) but for the seeming joy he seems to take in his descriptions of some of the scenes!

If I ever find time to read again.. ;-)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Ah, and of course there's the Cornwall connection which I think you'll enjoy too!

[steer.livejournal.com]

I love Jack Vance (though he has written some tripe in his time).

Have you read the "Cugel the Clever" stories -- they're really strange and unusual.

What did you think in the end about misogyny or otherwise. I think I tend to be quite forgiving of books which are (a) set in a period where that would be real and (b) written a long time ago anyway.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

These are the only books by Jack Vance I've read. Which ones should I stir clear of? I was thinking of checking out his Dying Earth series.

In the end, I thought the misogyny had the context you mentioned - especially when considering it was based on fairy tales. In a way I think Vance is poking fun on the fantasy and fairy tale genres - making them more "adult" in the same manner as Angela Carter.

[steer.livejournal.com]

The Dying Earth ones I am a fan of and the Cugel the Clever stories are in this setting. There's also a tribute collection of Dying Earth stories written by other people and edited by George R R Martin.

Tales of the Dying Earth collects 4 collections of Dying Earth stories by Jack Vance and should be easily available.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Dying-Earth-Fantasy-Masterworks/dp/1857989945/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342357520&sr=8-1

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Cheers, will check them out!