Throy

So the Cadwal Chronicles comes to a close and it’s pretty much as expected, but this is Vance so it’s the journey that’s been the real source of entertainment. By the start of Throy, the conspiracy threatening Cadwal is pretty much understood. It seems to be driven chiefly by pique – the two sisters Spanchetta and Simonetta Clattuc couldn’t have Glawen Clattuc’s father, so they determined to destroy Cadwal’s society – in other words, the sort of brainless arrogance which seems to have been prevalent in British politics for the last fifteen years. Two factions want to open up Cadwal to exploitation – the LPF faction of the Naturalist Society, which owns Cadwal, wants a feudal society in which they lord it over vast show more estates of Yips, the planet’s servant race/class; while the two Clattuc sisters simply want to destroy the society in revenge. Unfortunately, the society’s ownership of Cadwal was safeguarded in the second book, Ecce and Old Earth. Which means the two groups are forced to use more violent means to achieve their aims. Happily, the forces of good have a good idea of what is about to go down, and even though the novel is mostly a hunt for clues to resolve a couple of minor mysteries, and there’s a humongous atrocity which is pretty much passed over in a couple of paragraphs, everything works out pretty much as expected, and it’s all done very entertainingly. I’ve enjoyed these three books, more than I thought I would, and that’s despite being extremely familiar with Vance’s career. I’d happily recommend these above other better-known works by Vance. show less

The conclusion of the trilogy, and I'm glad it's over. This is very late Vance and, to tell you the truth, it's not among his best. You see examples of his imagination for creating alien worlds, but this story is a bit too conventional and old-fashioned. It's not that old (this book was written in the early 90s) but it could have been written much earlier, and some of the values that the story takes for granted are a bit dubious for modern readers. Also, the bad guys are so dumb and incompetent that it's just too easy. I don't know. It entertained me and I read the whole thing, but I would not recommend this one unless you are a Vance completist. He has written better things.

Sadly, Throy doesn't live up to its predecessors, [b:Araminta Station|1876048|Araminta Station|Jack Vance|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266984907s/1876048.jpg|2705034] and [b:Ecce and Old Earth|40915|Ecce and Old Earth (Cadwal Chronicles, #2)|Jack Vance|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1263177967s/40915.jpg|40500]. It's still Vance, and therefore a fun read. But he doesn't seem to have put much effort into this book, which seems a somewhat half-hearted effort to tie up loose ends. There's not a lot of mystery, and the expected resolution comes about, though with more callous bloodshed than one might anticipate.

All in all, a decent and readable book. Definitely worth reading to finish up the series, but otherwise not interesting enough to be show more one of Vance's best.

CVIE edition show less

Minder dan de voorgaande twee delen. Had het idee dat er snel naar een einde toegewerkt moest worden. Toch wel een leuk verhaal.

Minder dan de voorgaande twee delen. Had het idee dat er snel naar een einde toegewerkt moest worden. Toch wel een leuk verhaal.

A slight improvement on its predecessor in the series - which is to say it's just rally bad.