THE AUGMENTED AGENT And Other Stories

by Jack Vance ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1986

Eight previously uncollected yarns, somewhat variable in quality, the oldest dating from 1951, featuring a wide range of themes and treatments. The best of the bunch show the typical Vance wit, casual intricacy, and sure narrative grasp. Interstellar effectuator Milton Hack, obliged to enforce a contract foisted on him by an idiotic superior, tangles with rival barbarian tribes intent on mayhem and loot. An Earth technician with an eye for profit plunges into an adventure where an interstellar transporter machine, gone haywire, slaughters its alien builders--and anyone else unfortunate enough to blunder along. The title piece involves a cyborg-enhanced CIA agent who, to preserve an African democracy against stiff Russian and Chinese opposition, kills and replaces a key politician--eventually to find that he's not just acting but being his role. A well-handled long story about a slave rebellion on a distant world foreshadows such novels as Slaves of the Klau and the Demon Princes series. A beautiful alien woman, stranded on Earth with no prospect of rescue, and surrounded by what to her are revolting savages, kills herself (cf. The Man Who Fell to Earth). And there's a waggish piece about a pair of rookie miners prospecting on a frigid planet where they're inexplicably harrassed by a wacky three-legged alien. Not top-drawer Vance--the normally sparkling prose style is subdued here, and the ideas, particularly in the older, pulp-ish pieces, aren't always fully developed or entirely convincing. Still, these are rarities, long out of print, and Vance fans will pounce.

Pub Date: May 1, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Underwood-Miller

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION