The Complete Lyonesse (Lyonesse #1-3)

Jack Vance was a prolific author producing a vast body of work which encompassed both Science Fiction and Fantasy. He was very influential and his Dying Earth stories were a major inspiration for Gene Wolfe's Book of The New Sun series, amongst others. Lyonesse is a trilogy of fantasy novels published during the eighties and begins with Suldrun's Garden, set in the mythical Elder Isles, located in the Atlantic, somewhere off the coast of Britain and France. What was once a single kingdom, ruled by a single king, is now several warring kingdoms, with ambitious rulers.

This is High Fantasy featuring a large cast of Kings, Magicians, Fairies, Witches and other mythical creatures. The writing is superbly detailed (indeed, Vance seems to like nothing more than listing every item of food that his characters eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner!), if episodic, and there's a nice line of humour running through it all.

The first book details the doomed romance between Princess Suldrun (daughter of the ambitious King Casmir of Lyonesse, who would like to rule over all of the Elder Isles) and Prince Aillas, second in line to the throne of Troicinet, and the quest to find their son, Dhrun, stolen away and raised by fairies (a good way to bypass the “baby” years, as Dhrun is suddenly about 9 years old when he's returned to the “Real World”, when only a couple of years have passed for Aillas). There's a large dollop of tragedy along the way and the various characters spend a lot of time searching for each other across the many kingdoms. The end of the Suldrun's Garden has a partial resolution of the story, but with a few loose ends left dangling for the sequel.

The second book, The Green Pearl, concerns the fate of the villainous magician Carfilhiot and the adventures of King Aillas as he expands his territories across the Elder Isles and thwarts the ambitions of King Casmir. Lots more intrigue, battles and double dealing in a book that is easily the equal of the first.

Finally we have Madouc, which concerns the adventures of the eponymous Princess of Lyonesse (the baby who was swapped for Dhrun in the first book) as she discovers the truth about her birth and quests to find first her real mother, then her father. The main setting here is Lyonesse town and the court of Casmir. The climax of the trilogy is probably wrapped up a little too neatly, but then this is what you'd call an “adult fairy tale”, so why not celebrate a happy ending? This is probably my favourite of the three with Madouc being shown as a thoroughly well-rounded character struggling to take charge of her own destiny.

Vance has created a fully realised world here, full of intrigue, magic and violence. The history of the Isles is rich and provides a strong background to the story, while never being over-burdened with exposition. Vance manages to link his tale to both Arthurian Legend, Celtic mythology and Norse history. Imagine Game of Thrones with added fairy dust and wrapped up in three books and 1000 pages. It may lack the pseudo-political heft of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, but it has bucket loads of adventure, action and Royal double dealing and should be read by anyone with a love of fantasy literature.