7 /10 1 Votes
Cover artist Vladimir Nenov Language English Publication date April 1998 Publisher Tom Doherty | 3.5/5 Goodreads Country United States Series Gaean Reach Originally published April 1998 Followed by Lurulu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Genres Novel, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction Nominations Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel Similar Jack Vance books, Gaean Reach books, Science Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ports of Call is a science fiction adventure novel by Jack Vance. It is followed by the novel Lurulu. It follows a young man named Myron Tany on a picaresque journey through the Gaean Reach.
Contents
Plot summary
Myron's family intended for Myron to follow a staid and respectable career in economics; however, when his wealthy and eccentric great-aunt Dame Hester came into possession of a space yacht, Myron suddenly found his long suppressed dreams of adventure within reach. Serving as Dame Hester's nominal captain on her journey to find a clinic reputed to restore lost youth to wealthy clients, Myron soon finds that his aunt is capricious as she is flamboyant, and after an argument, finds himself castaway on a remote planet. With no resources to return home, he obtains the position of supercargo on a tramp freighter, which enables him to travel further across the Gaean Reach to exotic lands.
Reception
F&SF reviewer Elizabeth Hand praised Ports of Call as "delightful," declaring that "one enjoys Ports of Call as one does a Restoration comedy, for the sheer outrageous of its characters and the precision of Vance's often lunatic descriptive powers."