The Magnificent Showboats
Copyright 1974, 2012 by Jack Vance
Published by
Spatterlight Press
ISBN 978-1-61947-005-7
2012-05-15
Visit
jackvance.com
for more
Spatterlight Press releases
This title was created from the digital archive of the Vance Integral Edition, a series of 44 books produced under the aegis of the author by a worldwide group of his readers. The VIE project gratefully acknowledges the editorial guidance of Norma Vance, as well as the cooperation of the Department of Special Collections at Boston University, whose John Holbrook Vance collection has been an important source of textual evidence. Special thanks to R.C. Lacovara, Patrick Dusoulier, Koen Vyverman, Paul Rhoads, Chuck King, Gregory Hansen, Suan Yong and Josh Geller for their invaluable assistance preparing final versions of the source files.
Digitize
: Denis Bekaert, Joel Hedlund, Thomas Rydbeck, Peter Strickland,
Diff
: Hans van der Veeke, Suan Hsi Yong,
Tech Proof
: Peter Ikin,
Text Integrity
: Rob Friefeld, Alun Hughes, Tim Stretton,
Implement
: David Reitsema, Hans van der Veeke,
Security
: Paul Rhoads,
Compose
: Andreas Irle,
Comp Review
: Christian J. Corley, Marcel van Genderen, Bob Luckin,
Update Verify
: Bob Luckin, Paul Rhoads,
RTF-Diff
: Deborah Cohen, Bill Schaub,
Proofread
: Erik Arendse, Scott Benenati, Christian J. Corley, Patrick Dusoulier, Marcel van Genderen, Evert Jan de Groot, John Hawes, Jurriaan Kalkman, Chris LaHatte, Gabriel Landon, Richard Linton, Till Noever, Michael Rathbun, Willem TimmerEbook Creation
: Arjen Broeze, Christopher Wood,
Artwork (maps based on original drawings by Jack and Norma Vance)
: Paul Rhoads, Christopher Wood,
Proofing
: Arjen Broeze, Evert Jan de Groot, Gregory Hansen, Koen Vyverman,
Management
: John Vance, Koen Vyverman,
Web
: Menno van der Leden
THE COMPLETE WORKS
of
THE VANCE DIGITAL EDITION
Oakland
2012
Previously published as
Showboat World
Introduction
From
Handbook of the Inhabited Worlds
:
Chapter IBig Planet: the innermost planet of the yellow star Phaedra, a world twenty-five thousand miles in diameter with a mean density slightly less than 2 and a surface gravity slightly in excess of Earth Standard.The core of Big Planet, a glassy coalescence of calcium, silicon, aluminum, carbon, boron and various oxides, seems to have cooled and formed a crust, and later accumulated by accretion from space the present surface layers, which like the core are notably deficient in heavy elements. It may be noted that the three outer planets of the system are all extremely dense.The surface of Big Planet is approximately half land and half water; the climate is generally similar to that of Earth … Deposits of metal ore are almost non-existent; metal of any sort is rare and valuable.Big Planet lies beyond the frontier of terrestrial law, and has been settled by groups impatient with restraint, or determined to live by unorthodox tenets of conduct: non-conformists, anarchists, fugitives, religious dissidents, misanthropes, deviants, freaks. The tremendous expanses of Big Planet indifferently absorb them all.In a few isolated districts something like civilization exists, though always in some more or less unusual variant. Elsewhere, beyond the environs of small communities, law is only as strong as local custom, or, as often, non-existent … The habits of life are infinitely varied, as over the centuries the heterogeneous groups, isolated and inbred, have diversified to florid extremes.The savants of Earth have long pondered and analyzed and argued the circumstances of Big Planet. A hundred zealots have urged the imposition of terrestrial discipline, that law and order be brought to Big Planet, but those who defend the
status quo
have always had the final pronouncement: “Big Planet represents for us that tantalizing vision of the land beyond the frontier where bravery, resource and daring are more important than mastery of urban abstractions. The original settlers made great sacrifices to win freedom for themselves. In the process they willy-nilly determined the destiny of their descendants, so now the new generations share the idiosyncrasies of the old, or indeed extend them to new limits. Who can deem this good or bad? Who can define justice or correctness or truth? If law is brought to Big Planet, if this glorious diversity is stifled, the dissidents are once again disenfranchised; once again they must move on, to havens even more remote. Big Planet is a wild world, and many dark deeds are done, but enforced uniformity only transfers the dilemma elsewhere. Big Planet in essence is a problem to which there exists no general solution.”
Where the river Vissel entered Surmise Bay was Coble, a port for both sea-cogs and river barges, and terminus for the famous showboats of the region, such as
Fironzelle’s Golden Conceit
, the
Pamellissa
, the
Melodious Hour
,
Miraldra’s Enchantment
, the
Fireglass Prism
, the
Two Varminies
, and others of equal repute.
Up and down the Vissel roamed the showboats, as far north as Glassblower’s Point or farther: to Skivaree or even Garken. The proprietors of the showboats, by the very nature of their trade, were a special sort, distinguished by vanity, avarice, and a peculiar sort of crafty resource difficult to define except in terms of deeds. Such qualities aside, these men differed sharply. Lemuriel Boke wore striped garments of black, red and brown, and adorned his head with the triple-tiered bonnet of an Ultimate Pantologist; he blanched his skin stark white and spoke in a cellar-deep voice. Umber Stroon was as effusive as Boke was saturnine. He used terms of grandiloquent vainglory in connection with himself and equally striking figures of disparagement in regard to his competitors. Darik Dankzy carried a rapier and a brace of snapples in his sash and was quick to rebuff all discourtesies, while Garth Ashgale affected an elegant languor. Eleusis Munt wore vests and pantaloons of perfumed silk; his language was rich in sentiment and the fervor of his nature flowed forth in love for man, woman and child alike, sometimes to embarrassing excess. Fring the Fantast was shrewd, patient and frugal; Apollon Zamp swaggered his decks like a hero of legend and spent as fast as he earned; and so it went along the Vissel.
As for the showboats themselves,
Fironzelle’s Golden Conceit
and
Miraldra’s Enchantment
were reckoned the finest, and the rivalry between the shipmasters, Garth Ashgale and Apollon Zamp respectively, was of long standing. Zamp’s entertainments were characterized by brisk pace, flair, sudden shocks and impacts; he emphasized farce, mummery, prestidigitation, eccentric dances and re-enactments of notorious atrocities. Garth Ashgale preferred to present extravaganzas rather more leisurely and elaborate. Zamp, in spite of his casual and swaggering semblance, was an exacting taskmaster who demanded both virtuosity and versatility from his troupe, whereas Ashgale built his spectacles upon the talents of proved specialists. Zamp’s productions were supple and vivacious; Ashgale specialized in tragic drama:
Emphyrio; Lucas and Portmena; The Blue Pomegranate; The Reign of the Iron King.
Ashgale’s costumes were sumptuous; his sets fascinated the eye; his dedication to verisimilitude, notably in scenes of erotic ardor and the imposition of justice, far transcended the efforts of those who sought to satisfy their customers with simulations and off-stage outcries.
Ashgale ranged far and wide, up the Vissel to Lanteen and beyond, out along tributaries such as the Suanol, the Wergence, the Murne. Zamp preferred to play the towns of the Lower Vissel, with an occasional sortie up the Murne, where the prejudices of the people were familiar and their commodities* of known value.