{"product_id":"ports-of-call","title":"Jack Vance: Ports of Call [1999]","description":"\u003cp\u003eNew galaxy-hopping, picaresque adventure from a master storyteller.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          \u003cp\u003eSf grand master Vance's latest is a tongue-in-cheek swashbuckler about a young man, Myron Tany, who has taken a degree in space studies but has much to learn when he first boards a ship. Myron is in thrall to his zany aunt, who has heard of a faraway fountain of youth and sets off in her space yacht to find it. Her captain flatters her agreeably, and when Myron points out that the man is a swindler, she won't hear of it and maroons poor Myron on an inhospitable planet with barely his passage home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          \u003cp\u003eLuckily, the tramp cargo vessel Glicca is just then in need of a supercargo, and Myron signs on with cool, competent Captain Maloof, Chief Engineer\/gambler\u003cbr\u003eSchwatzendale, and Chief Steward\/photographer Wingo. The four enjoy a string of rare adventures on a spectacular series of planets.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          \u003cp\u003eThey acquire as passengers a group of pilgrims (and their mysterious luggage), or rather, pirates masquerading as religious pilgrims, and engage in to-the-death struggles with the pirates' pursuers; on Terce, Myron narrowly avoids being skinned (there is a flourishing trade in human skins) and eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          \u003cp\u003eFinally, they encounter a Swiftian, legalistic planet on which one may be punished or betrothed for the slightest whimsical offense. Myron is bound to commit one...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vance, Jack","offers":[{"title":"Good","offer_id":53128480489811,"sku":"XG80006482123","price":5.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/vance-jack-ports-of-call-xg80006482123-1224399254.jpg?v=1772233449","url":"https:\/\/chaptersbookstore.pro\/products\/ports-of-call","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}