The Dragon Masters and The Last Castle are Jack Vance’s most famous novellas. Falling short by just a hair, The Miracle Workers is also a well
thought out piece of short fiction from the grandmaster of sci-fi, fantasy, and
everything between. So similar in
quality in fact, the editors of the Vance Integral Edition (VIE) thought fit to
group this story with Vance’s two award winning novellas in a single edition—a
shout in support of its quality.
The
Miracle Workers is the story of Keep Faide, its wars,
its attacks to establish position, and sometimes its need to just plain survive on the
strange planet they inhabit. The other Keeps
attacking in overt fashion, Keep Faide also faces inroads from the devious First Fols, a group native to the planet who seek to obstruct all of
mankind’s efforts at domination. Beyond
their foam billowing, wasp spitting ways, the Fols erect forests filled with
traps and snares where none exited before, and if not careful, may just be
plotting to take back over the world they once called their own. Lord Faide and the men under his control must
go to wits’ end defending what they believe is their own. Lord Faide’s problem is, his wits have a
short road.
