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The Green Pearl is a novel by Jack Vance published in 1985. It is the second book in the Lyonesse trilogy, which also includes Suldrun's Garden and Madouc.
In a fishing village in South Ulfland, a fisherman catches a flounder and discovers a green pearl inside.
In Lyonesse, King Casmir plots to destabilize South Ulfland by sending two agents, Sir Shalles and Torqual. Torqual plans to conquer all of the Elder Isles for himself and Casmir soon grows exasperated with Torqual's demands for ever increasing amounts of gold. Casmir is also troubled by a prophecy made at Suldrun's birth that her son would rule the Elder Isles; Casmir believes Suldrun gave birth to a girl, the princess Madouc. He applies to the magician Visbhume, who tells him that Suldrun's child, Madouc, is a fairy changeling.
In South Ulfland, Aillas sees a party of Ska approaching Sank on horseback, including the Lady Tatzel. Aillas pursues and captures her, declaring she is now his slave. Tatzel refuses to accept this, but gradually comes to recognize Aillas' intelligence and competence. Aillas discovers that the Tatzel of reality is nothing like the Tatzel of his daydreams, and the infatuation is broken. They eventually develop a wary mutual respect. After a long series of adventures, Aillas and Tatzel arrive at Xounges, to find the dying King Gax beset by a Ska delegation asking King Gax to appoint a Ska successor to his throne. Aillas returns his unsatisfactory slave to her father, and Gax transfers the crown to Aillas, much to the surprise and consternation of the Ska. Aillas leads a long war campaign which ends with the Ska returning to their own territory.
Glyneth is kidnapped by Visbhume and taken to the alternate world Tanjecterly. Aillas and Shimrod are prevented from following Glyneth through the portal into Tanjecterly by Murgen, who understands that this is part of a plot by Casmir and Tamurello to get rid of them. Murgen instead sends an agent named Kul. Kul catches up with Glyneth and rescues her from Visbhume. Glyneth, though frightened of Kul at first, grows to love him. Visbhume vanishes through the dimensional portal.
At the Goblin Fair in the forest of Tantrevalles, Melancthe is entranced by four beautiful flowers she has bought. Shimrod and Melancthe peruse the booths at the fair. The flower seller, in search of more, has dug up the green pearl, causing the flowers to die, to Melancthe's great disappointment. He offers her the pearl, but Shimrod dissuades her. Tamurello sees it and is captivated, but before he can take it, a snake darts out from the forest and swallows it. Tamurello chants a spell and turns into a weasel, pursues the snake into its hole and returns triumphantly with the pearl in his teeth. Murgen, disguised as a peasant, seals the weasel and pearl in a glass jar. The weasel dissolves into a green transparency, like a skeleton in aspic.
Kul follows his orders implanted to return Glyneth to the location of the other portal. When they reach the portal, Glyneth will not leave Kul, but Shimrod explains that while Kul is dying, his love for her came from someone else. Shimrod and Glyneth return to Earth where she is reunited with Aillas, now the undisputed King of Troicinet, Dascinet and Ulfland, who reveals his deep love for her and asks her to be his Queen, which she gladly accepts.
Dave Langford reviewed The Green Pearl for White Dwarf #81, and stated that "grimmer than most Vance tales, but always enjoyable for its sheer style – Vance probably writes elegantly ironic and barbed shopping lists." [1]
Lyonesse is a kingdom which, according to legend, consisted of a long strand of land stretching from Land's End at the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England to what is now the Isles of Scilly in the Celtic Sea portion of the Atlantic Ocean. It was considered lost after being swallowed by the ocean in a single night. The people of Lyonesse allegedly lived in what is described as fair towns, with over 140 churches, and worked in fertile low-lying plains. Lyonesse's most significant attraction was a castle-like cathedral that was presumably built on top of what is now the Seven Stones Reef between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, some 18 miles (29 km) west of Land's End and 8 miles (13 km) north-east of the Isles of Scilly.
Samson is the largest uninhabited island of the Isles of Scilly, off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. It is 38 hectares (0.15 sq mi) in size. The island consists of two hills, North Hill and South Hill, which are connected by an isthmus. Samson was named after Samson of Dol.
The Lyonesse Trilogy is a group of three fantasy novels by Jack Vance, set in the European Dark Ages, in the mythical Elder Isles west of France and southwest of Britain, a generation or two before the birth of King Arthur. The stories contain references to Atlantis and Arthurian mythology, particularly to the mythical country of Lyonesse. They are told in several interlocking plot threads which are not always chronological.
Hawkmistress! is a science fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, part of the Darkover series at the end of Ages of Chaos, in the period of Darkover's history known as the Hundred Kingdoms. Chapters 35 and 46–50 of Zandru's Forge overlap with the story in Hawkmistress!.
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Cycle of the Werewolf is a short horror novel by American writer Stephen King, featuring illustrations by comic-book artist Bernie Wrightson. Each chapter is a short story unto itself. It tells the story of a werewolf haunting a small town as the moon turns full once every month. It was published as a limited-edition hardcover in 1983 by Land of Enchantment, and in 1985 as a mass-market trade paperback by Signet. King also wrote the screenplay for its film adaptation, Silver Bullet (1985). It is King's shortest novel to date at 127 pages, which makes it technically a novella.
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In some versions of Arthurian legend, Lynette is a haughty noble lady who travels to King Arthur's court seeking help for her beautiful sister Lyonesse, whose lands are besieged by the Red Knight. The young Gareth picks up the quest, eventually marrying Lyonesse, while Lynette becomes the lady of his brother Gaheris.
Underwood–Miller Inc. was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house in San Francisco, California, founded in 1976. It was founded by Tim Underwood, a San Francisco book and art dealer, and Chuck Miller, a Pennsylvania used book dealer, after the two had met at a convention.
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Soldier of the Mist is a 1986 historical fantasy novel by American writer Gene Wolfe, published by Gollancz in the UK and then Tor Books in the US. It has two sequels: Soldier of Arete (1989) and Soldier of Sidon (2006). Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete have been collected as Latro in the Mist.
The White Hart is the first novel in the five-volume "The Book of the Isle" series by US fantasy author Nancy Springer. It was first published in the United States by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster in 1979. It is set in a land much like pre-Roman Britain. It tells the story of a young bethrothed couple, Cuin son of Clarric, and Ellid of Caer Eitha. The story has elements of Arthurian and Celtic legend throughout.
The Medusa Frequency is a 1987 novel by Russell Hoban. Written in a lyrical, often magic realist style, it crosses a number of genres including comedy and fantasy without fitting easily into any. Its themes include loss, fidelity, mythology, perception and creativity.
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Lyonesse is a novel by Jack Vance published in 1983.