Who Do You Think is Greater, Gene Wolfe or Jack Vance?

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BAYLOR

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Jack Vance who gave us the Dying Earth Book , The Demon Prince novels ect ect

or

Gene Wolfe who gave us the book of the Ne sun series , . The Knight and The Wizard duelolgy , The Latro trilogy ect ect


which of the town tower do you think is the beter and greater writer? Which of them do you think had the biggest impact on fantasy and science fiction ?
 
There's little enough to choose between them in my opinion. I'd say they were about equal in most respects with personal preference being the deciding factor. It's like the classic question, Maiden or Priest?
 
I love both writers. Critical comparison might be interesting (I have never considered it) but they are so very different. I really don’t see that there is a competition, or a need to contrive one.
 
hitmouse said:
I love both writers. Critical comparison might be interesting (I have never considered it) but they are so very different. I really don’t see that there is a competition, or a need to contrive one.
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I was trying to get a conversation going on the subject of both writers . A Critical Comparison ? Yes, that might have been a better approach.
 
No, I like pork pie better.

But to answer your question seriously, I think I probably favour Jack Vance. While BOTNS is terrific, I perhaps enjoyed Demon Princes more, for instance. Both have a particular prose style that is unique to themselves. And Vance's style is probably clearer and more enjoyable for me. But who is "greater"? I don't know. BOTNS is a singular achievement which may last the test of time best, so maybe its Wolfe.
 
Bick said:
Or pork pie, or scotch eggs?


(Mmm, pork pie)
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Pork pie, lashings of mustard, pint of bitter.
tenor.gif
 
A well made pork pie is a thing of beauty to behold and then eat with great relish!!!

Have never eaten a Scotch Egg, I like eggs fried, scrambled and omelets but I've never been a great fan of hard boiled apart from crime fiction!

P.S. Next time I have a piggy pie I must try out the beer as well!
 
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Bick said:
No, I like pork pie better.

But to answer your question seriously, I think I probably favour Jack Vance. While BOTNS is terrific, I perhaps enjoyed Demon Princes more, for instance. Both have a particular prose style that is unique to themselves. And Vance's style is probably clearer and more enjoyable for me. But who is "greater"? I don't know. BOTNS is a singular achievement which may last the test of time best, so maybe its Wolfe.
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Nevertheless, I still think this is thread topic which might be worthwhile. I figured that these comparison topics which ive been running would be a new and better way to get discussions going on these various writers.
 
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A bit like a King Tiger tank verses a Greyhound Armored Car, still a Tiger 2 was taken out by a Greyhound during the battle of the bulge!
 
My reading of both authors is limited. I’ve read more of Vance. My impression is that basically he fills up books by improvising strange cultures to be toured by his protagonists. Kind of the Hovhaness thing, endless rolls of exquisite handmade wallpaper. But my impression was that there was rather more than that going on with Wolfe.
 
BAYLOR said:
A Boxer vs a kung fu Master ? an analogy to who is who is greater.. Good grief. :confused:
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I think in this analogy, Vance is Bruce Lee, and Wolfe is Tyson. Vance wrote fast energetic books (e.g. Demon princes) which skipped around, and make you double take with their surprising plot jabs. Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is much denser, slower in progression, but built on strong literary foundations and packs a hell of punch over its difficult 15 round journey. Or something like that.... :)
 
tinkerdan said:
I've read a few Vance novels.
However never any Gene Wolfe.
I'll have you know that this has inspired me to order the first of the Long Sun books--after reading a sample.
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You won't be disappointed . They're great books. :cool:
 
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