Jack Vance Books In Order
Jack Vance (John Holbrook Vance) was an American author who wrote several science-fiction, fantasy and mystery books. He is probably best known for his Demon Princes series about Kirth Gersen who makes his mission in life to hunt down the so-called “demon princes” who once killed his family.
The author was born in 1916 in San Francisco where he spent his early years. After his parents separated, his mother took him and his siblings to his grandfather’s ranch in California near Oakley in the delta of the Sacramento River. This time spent outdoors gave the young Vance the time to love nature and indulge in his love for reading.
When his grandfather died, he was force to leave junior college to work for a living, in order to support himself and his family. During this time he had several short term jobs until he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to study physics, mining engineering, journalism and English over a period of 6 years.
His first writing, a short story which he handed in to his teacher earned him his first negative review.
While studying he also worked as an electrician in the naval shipyards at Pearl Harbor, where he left just one month before the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Graduating in 1942 he didn’t get drafted to military due to weak eyesight. Over the next year he found jobs that kept him near the water, one of his most favorite places, which would also appear quite frequently in his books.
In 1946 he met and married Norma Genevieve Ingold (who died in 2008). The family lived in a house designed by himself.
His first official writing was The World-Thinker, a short story published in 1945. During his life the author has written over sixty books.
Jack Vance died May 26, 2013 at the ripe age of 96 in his home in the Oakland Hills.
Here are all the Jack Vance books in the various series and standalone novels in order of publication.
The Dying Earth Series
Fantasy series
1. The Dying Earth (The Dying Earth #1), 1950
2. The Eyes of the Overworld (The Dying Earth #2), 1966
3. A Quest for Simbilis (The Dying Earth #2.5), 1974
4. Cugel’s Saga (The Dying Earth #3), 1986
5. Rhialto the Marvellous (The Dying Earth #4), 1984
Lyonesse Trilogy
Fantasy series
1. Lyonesse: Suldrun’s Garden (Lyonesse #1), 1983
2. Lyonesse: The Green Pearl (Lyonesse #2), 1985
3. Lyonesse: Madouc (Lyonesse #3), 1989
The Demon Princes Series
Science Fiction/mystery series
1. The Star King (Demon Princes #1), 1964
2. The Killing Machine (Demon Princes #2), 1964
3. The Palace of Love (Demon Princes #3), 1967
4. The Face (Demon Princes #4), 1979
5. The Book of Dreams (Demon Princes #5), 1981
The Cadwal Chronicles Series
Science Fiction series
1. Araminta Station (Cadwal Chronicles #1), 1987
2. Ecce and Old Earth (Cadwal Chronicles #2), 1991
3. Throy (Cadwal Chronicles #3), 1992
Alastor Trilogy
Science Fiction series
1. Trullion: Alastor 2262 (Alastor #1), 1973
2. Marune: Alastor 933 (Alastor #2), 1975
3. Wyst: Alastor 1716 (Alastor #3), 1978
Durdane Trilogy
Science Fiction series
1. The Anome (Durdane #1), 1973
2. The Brave Free Men (Durdane #2), 1973
3. The Asutra (Durdane #3), 1974
Tschai Series
Science Fiction series
1. City of the Chasch (Tschai #1), 1968
2. Servants of the Wankh (Tschai #2), 1969
3. The Dirdir (Tschai #3), 1969
4.The Pnume (Tschai #4), 1970
Standalone Novels By Jack Vance
The Five Gold Bands (sci-fi novel), 1953
Vandals of the Void (young adult sci-fi novel), 1953
To Live Forever (sci-fi novel), 1956
Big Planet (sci-fi novel), 1957
Take My Face, written as Peter Held (mystery novel), 1957
Isle of Peril, written as Alan Wade (mystery novel), 1957
The Languages of Pao (sci-fi novel), 1958
Slaves of the Klau (sci-fi novel), 1958
The Man In the Cage (mystery novel), 1960
The Four Johns, written as Ellery Queen (mystery novel), 1964
Space Opera (sci-fi novel), 1965
A Room to Die In, written as Ellery Queen (mystery novel), 1965
The Blue World (sci-fi novel), 1966
The Fox Valley Murders (mystery novel), 1966
The Madman Theory, written as Ellery Queen (mystery novel), 1966
The Pleasant Grove Murders (mystery novel), 1967
Emphyrio (sci-fi novel), 1969
The Deadly Isles (mystery novel), 1969
Bad Ronald (mystery novel), 1973
The Gray Prince (sci-fi novel), 1974
Showboat World (sci-fi novel), 1975
Maske: Thaery (sci-fi novel), 1976
The View from Chickweed’s Window (mystery novel), 1979
The House on Lily Street (mystery novel), 1979
Galactic Effectuator (sci-fi novel), 1980
Night Lamp (sci-fi novel), 1996
Ports of Call (sci-fi novel), 1998
Lurulu – sequel to Ports of Call, completing a short multi-part novel (sci-fi novel), 2004
Novellas, Collections And Other Books
Son of the Tree, 1951
Abercrombie Station and Cholwell’s Chickens (two linked novellas), 1952
Telek, 1952
Three-Legged Joe (short story), 1953
The Houses of Iszm, 1954
The Moon Moth, 1961
Gateway to Strangeness, 1962
The Dragon Masters, 1963
Future Tense, 1964
The World Between and Other Stories, 1965
The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph, 1966
The Brains of Earth, 1966
The Last Castle, 1966
Eight Fantasms and Magics, 1969
The Worlds of Jack Vance, 1973
Lost Moons, 1982
The Narrow Land, 1982
The Augmented Agent and Other Stories, 1986
The Dark Side of the Moon, 1986
Chateau D’If and Other Stories, 1990
When the Five Moons Rise, 1992
Tales of the Dying Earth, 1999
The Jack Vance Treasury, 2007
Wild Thyme, Green Magic, 2009
Hard-Luck Diggings: The Early Jack Vance, 2010
This Is Me, Jack Vance! (autobiography), 2010
To order, you can check out all the Jack Vance books on Amazon