Backstage with Jack Vance, Volume 1: Nightlamp, an Outline

The Vance Integral Edition made extensive use of the personal papers of Jack Vance, in particular his final manuscripts, as these contained Vance's last word regarding the work as he intended it.

However, in the years since the VIE concluded in 2006, initial and intermediate drafts have also been studied, to shed light on Vance's creative style and process. Vance was an unsentimental editor of his own work, and for the dedicated fan or scholar it is fascinating to see what he himself cut and...