This was a fun quick read. But for such a short book that was disproportionately more space devoted to describing battles. I would rather that Vance had spent more text on fleshing out the different cultures in conflict with each other. ( )

My personal favourite of Vance’s novels is “The Dragon Masters”, with its evocation of an isolated, forgotten, parochial fragment of humanity on a distant world, menaced periodically by almost incomprehensible aliens is superb, unforgettable and like most of his work, virtually unique. I love the Vancian vocabulary, the dry wit and florid (almost French!) vocabulary, wonderful dialogue and brilliantly cynical and cruel dissections of alien and not-quite-so-alien-societies.

Perhaps the best thing about him in this age of bloated multi-volume series is his brevity - barring the late Lyonesse fantasies (which to my mind are his weakest and most formulaic books although even they still have their moments) you can finish almost any of his novels in an afternoon.

Ahh the good old days where authors had names like Jack, or Gene as opposed to Ryan, Gwynne, Lawrence, etc., and could actually write decent SF rather than its derivative verbose and totally pretentious unconvincing imitation...

Jack Vance is a fantastic and seemingly underrated (or even heard of to many) author. I have just finished his Demon Princes series for the umpteenth time and still find it entertaining. The dying earth books are wonderful - I used Cugel as my online moniker for quite a while. A lot of his other works (including the Demon Princes) are a lot more based in sf than fantasy but are still enthralling reads. I have been collecting his works over a number of years - probably since the early 80's - and I never tire of reading them. His writing style brings the worlds to life, his characters nearly always offer intellectual conversation and prose, and the wit that runs throughout many of his works always manages to raise a smile or chuckle.



Book Review Jack Vance SF = Speculative Fiction Vance ( )

This sci-fi didn't work for me by any means. First of all, the title of the book was misleading imho. The title and cover art were seemingly promising something more fantasy-oriented, but that's not the case here. The dragons could've been changed for any other creature, humanoid or whatever you like and it wouldn't change anything at all. The novel spends too much time explaining the difference between each dragon, but in the end, it's pointless. Something similar happened with the weapons as well. There was no balance between them. Someone used a sword, another one hammer, and suddenly...energetic alien rifles and cannons.
The plot itself was weak, something happened and the next action went on without any stop or reaction, and the very next page just s**t on it and did the opposite of what happened.
The Sacerdotes were promising for me. The only enjoyable part for me was the strange dialogue with them. But unfortunately, the Sacerdotes didn't have any influence on the story. They were used only as an artificial plot mover, which was disappointing.
The main characters had similar names and even characteristics, so I had a hard time recognizing one from another.
The last thing which was terrible for me, this time due to my edition, was the translation. The names of the dragons were so poorly translated, that it ruined the whole experience of reading the book.
I don't recommend reading this, even it's around 120 pages. Not a good story, world, dialogues, or characters. ( )

Perhaps the last remnants of the human race eke out a meager existence on the unforgiving world of Aerlith, on which much of the terrain is little more than a craggy, mountainous wasteland. The two major and opposing settlements on Aerlith are concentrated in two valleys, each containing the only fertile soil on the planet. These forces are led by the cunning and logical Joaz Banbeck and capricious, volatile Ervis Carcolo, respectively. Carcolo, ruler of Happy Valley, is intent on destroying Banbeck and laying claim to his territory, known as Banbeck Vale.

Banbeck, however, is hardly concerned about the bumbling Carcolo. Rather, he fears that an aggressive reptilian race known as the Grephs will soon return to attack them and offers a truce to Carcolo. Although Carcolo agrees to unite with Banbeck against their common enemy, he soon decides to invade Banbeck Vale, but is effectively thwarted.

In years past, the Grephs occasionally invaded Aerlith in a large ship, abducting a number of humans and laying waste to the villages in order to keep mankind in its place and prevent them from advancing. An ancestor of Banbeck’s managed to capture several Grephs and began experimenting on them, breeding them into various species of fighting dragons known as “Juggers,” “Termagants,” “Murderers,” and more.

Among the inhabitants of both valleys lives an enigmatic and reclusive cult known simply as the “Sacerdotes.” Their members live and travel completely nude and live in the caverns and passages between the valleys. The passive Sacerdotes remain aloof from the affairs of mankind, awaiting the day when all barbaric, warmongering humans are annihilated so that they might rise and spread their message throughout the galaxy.

Banbeck learns that the Sacerdotes are constructing something in their caverns that will not only help them achieve their goal but might also be useful in defeating the Grephs—who arrive shortly after Carcolo mounts a second and more vicious offensive against Banbeck Vale!

Jack Vance excels at building his worlds methodically as the story progresses, revealing new details with every chapter. The Dragon Masters presents a milieu rich in culture, history, and action with characters that are developed adequately enough to convey a rousing story of treachery, survival, and triumph. ( )

The men of Aerlith have bred their reptilian enemies into various types of dragon-like warriors, steeds and weapons, which they use in battles with other valleys. But whenever their star is at its closest point, the reptilian 'Basics' send ships to raid Aerlith and capture slaves, using similarly engineered humans and Joaz Banbeck the ruler of Banbeck Vale knows that another such attack is imminent.

I'm also not a huge fan of military science fiction, but the breeding of the basic humans and reptilians into such varied forms was interesting. However it is very far-fetched that both planets would use this strategy, especially since the humans have a much longer life-cycle than the reptilians so it takes much longer to breed useful variants. ( )