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  • The Green Pearl

  • Lyonesse, Book 2
  • By: Jack Vance
  • Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
  • Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (44 ratings)
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The Green Pearl cover art

The Green Pearl

By: Jack Vance
Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
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Summary

In The Green Pearl, King Aillas of Troicinet defends the peace of the Elder Isles against both the Ska marauders who once enslaved him and the wicked King Casmir. While organizing the unruly barons in the frontiers of his land, Aillas goes out of his way to capture the lovely Ska noblewoman who once stung him with her disregard. When he gets separated from his men, his dream of forcing the lady's recognition becomes the toil of dragging a defiant captive across lands governed by Casmir's henchmen. Meanwhile, the world of magic has gone on the move. The concentrated malice of the witch Desmëi has manifested as a green pearl, breeding lust and envy and death; and a sorcerer in Casmir's employ abducts the princess Glyneth, in a bid to draw Aillas and friends on a hopeless rescue mission across a bizarre and deadly alternate world.

A masterpiece of romantic, picaresque adventure, The Green Pearl extends the epic founded with Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden and concluded in the World Fantasy Award-winning Madouc

©1986 Jack Vance (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“(Vance) gives you glimpses of entire worlds with just perfectly turned language. If he’d been born south of the border, he’d be up for a Nobel Prize.” (Dan Simmons)
“Vance has the narrative force, the willingness to look very coldly at violence and cruelty, to not shy away…. He has an amazing ear and writes a beautiful sentence.” (Michael Chabon)

What listeners say about The Green Pearl

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful fantasy but dire narration

Excellent story, ruined by appalling narration. The narrator routinely mispronounces words , puts on distractingly bad accents and misreads sentences so that the sense is lost. It's an insult to the classic fantasy of Jack Vance.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Progresses the story brilliantly

The story telling is much more smooth and moves forward at a good pace. The narrator does a marvellous job especially with the characters and creatures brought to play. Highly recommended, but read book 1 first.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Kevin T. Collins does true justice to a fantasy masterpiece.

This is a brilliant production. Jack Vance is (or sadly was) a truly singular author and the Lyonesse Trilogy is a gloriously baroque and utterly unique work of fantasy that I absolutely adore. But with his witty and sensitive narration Kevin T. Collins has given it a whole new lease of life. Truly one of the best audio adaption I have ever enjoyed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Epic!

I don't want this tale to end! Just one more book to go :(. Jack Vance at his fantastical best... again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A fantastical delight !

Thoroughly enjoyed this further foray into the lands of the Elder Isles. Vance moves effortlessly between world building, politicking, accounts of military campaigns and battles, forays into the capricious world of faerie, alternate worlds, sorcerous rivalries and strange quests - its world populated by people (and other races) of all too human foibles and their many virtues and failings are all recounted with Vance’s facility with, and delight in, the English language.

As for criticisms voiced here about the narrator - I am somewhat baffled. As a Scotsman living on the island of Ireland, I am more than attuned to what constitutes as plausible attempts at these and other accents. Regardless - it’s a moot issue. This is a fantastical realm that never existed (or perhaps has faded from memory by magical means ?) so against the issue of ‘veracity’ must be set the benefit that is brought in bringing the world alive. I found the characterisations - in particular of one of the main ‘villains’ to be superb and overall the narrator further added to my enjoyment of this great work of fantasy. Onwards now to ‘Madouc’ !

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best fantasy books

Fabulous story,wasn't sure about the narrator but he is actually pretty great along with the whole production.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

my opinions

initially I struggled somewhat with the narrator's American accent but the range of fantastic voices he used for all of the different characters turned struggle into upmost enjoyment. words like 'dais', 'blackguard', 'zenith' and 'shone' were mis-pronounced, though this could have been due to the use of American pronunciation which I am afraid does not suit Jack Vance's work or any narrative based on medieval style living.
having said all this I enjoyed the audiobook tremendously and have already highly recommended it to many. thank you

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