Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden - Jack Vance Book Review

Enter a review
of your own!

Other books by
author Jack Vance

"Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden"
Message Board

Jack Vance Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR: Isaac Brown

SCHOLARS: Max Russell

Would you like to be a scholar and make five dollars per review? Click here to submit a review!

Click here for free online dating advice!

Review Summary

Lyonesse is a magical group of islands in the Bay of Biscay, inhabited by fairies, wizards, and several warring human nations. Princess Suldrun is the daughter of the King of one of these nations, and her father hopes to marry her off in a politically advantageous way. When Suldrun proves uncooperative, she is locked away in a small garden overlooking the sea.

One day, a young prince of another Lyonesse nation, Aillas, is washed ashore near the garden and is rescued by Suldrun. He was thrown overboard from a ship by his cousin, to prevent him claiming the throne of Troicinet. Aillas and Suldrun fall in love, but the prince is eventually discovered and imprisoned. Suldrun, however, is now pregnant, but when her baby is born it becomes mixed up with a fairy child, and taken off deep into the forest to be raised by fairies, where it grows up at an accelerated rate due to the magical nature of the world the fairies inhabit.

Suldrun, overcome with despair, commits suicide, not knowing that Aillas is not dead and has escaped imprisonment. He attempts to track down his son, who is now twelve years old. On the way he is captured into slavery by a brutal warrior tribe, and also falls in the way of age-old conflicts between various wizards. His son, meanwhile, leaves the fairy world and begins wandering Lyonesse, but the boy's innocence quickly leaves him vulnerable, unless his father can reach him in time.
Max Russell, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden

Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
New movie search (click here) New book search (click here)

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - ruler
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Family relations Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - Prince/Nobleman/King
Age: - a teen
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - mage/magician
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can cast all sorts of spells
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Terrain - Forests
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden
Ascension - Water Trilogy 1 by Kara Dalkey
The Stone Prince - Branion 1 by Fiona Patton
Talking to Dragons - Enchanted Forest Chronicles 4 by Patricia C. Wrede
The Ring by Deborah Chester
The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Movie search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed movie search
(click here) or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion

Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!

Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!

Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game

Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

Charmed: What's wrong with Rose McGowan's chin? 7/5/2008 11:53:33 AM

Charmed: Is Piper really a Halliwell? 7/5/2008 11:48:59 AM

Doctor Who: Who was the best Doctor? 7/5/2008 4:23:13 AM

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 7/5/2008 2:40:59 AM

Doctor Who: Who was the best companion? 6/30/2008 7:37:52 AM

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 6/30/2008 12:55:48 AM

Lost in Space (TV): What kind of a name is Guy for a guy? 6/26/2008 10:21:30 AM

Lost in Space (TV): Wasn't it obvious that Major West was never going to get any? 6/26/2008 10:17:45 AM

Alien Series: Was Vasquez a lesbian? 6/26/2008 6:57:27 AM

Battlestar Galactica: Do Vipers fly past the speed of light? 6/26/2008 1:27:52 AM

Newest slaves:
Counselor Deanna Troi 7:40:51 PM
7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan) 7:34:57 PM
Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) 6:56:22 PM
Shinzon 6:54:50 PM
Lieutenant Commander Data 6:52:28 PM
Space Hippie Squeeze 6:48:44 PM
Number 1 6:47:23 PM
Romulan Miniskirt Commander 6:46:20 PM
Tpol 6:45:50 PM
Enigma the Butt Pirate 6:40:02 PM
All slaves
(click here)

Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)