Miro Hetzel, Effectuator

Jack Vance (who died last year) was one of the best science fiction and fantasy authors ever. He manages to "marry" science fiction, and detectivegenre's in many of his books. I have read all of his books with the greatest pleasure.

Wonderfully written like everything Jack Vance did. Action and violence, but not gratuitously gory. Romance but no explicitness or obscenity.

Two of the miraculous and flawlessly polished Jack Vance novellas. (The Last Castle also comes to mind.) Even better as an eBook.

These two stories - one novella and one shorter story - were the only two that Vance wrote starring Miro Hetzel. I've often wished that he had written more, although the protagonist is really nothing out of the ordinary for Vance. The plots are enjoyable and the settings and incidental characters provide some classic Vance material. I've found myself re-reading them several times over the years, and pondering what else Miro Hetzel might have gotten up to in the meantime.

CVIEMiro Hetzel is an effectuator - in effect, a private investigator. This book contains two of his cases.Despite the unusual-for-Vance title "Dogtown Tourist Agency", the story is straightforward Vance, with effectuatory Miro Hetzel traveling to the planet Maz to track down a mysterious shipping company. Maz contains the usual mix of weird races and aloof characters, though the fun language and footnotes are toned down a bit from the Vance usual. It's a fun if not outstanding story."Freitzke's Turn" is a more limited but still enjoyable story in which Hetzel searches for a brilliant but twisted old schoolmate. The setup is fairly thin, and we mostly just follow along as Hetzel solves the case. The end, however, is satisfying, and more upbeat (in some ways) than usual.All in all, very enjoyable exemplars of the standard Vance, though with slightly less unusual vocabulary. A must for Vance fans, fun for occasional Vance readers, and a good entry point for new readers.

In my opinion, Planet of Adventure is a much better read if you want a Vance novel.In my opinion, Last Castle is a much better read if you want a Vance short story.In my opinion, both this story and Moon Moth are overrated.Just my opinion, and I'm a Vance fan.

The two tales of the adventures of Miro Hetzel told here are excellent examples of Jack Vance's ability to mix genres with seamless dexterity (science fiction and mystery). The blurb pretty much covers the high points here, but I found Dogtown Tourist Agency the more exotic story with a lot more pitfalls and twists.Freitzke's Turn is much more linear in telling the tale of mysterious medical crimes that lead to the tropical islands of Jamus Amaha and the odd practice of Dr. Faurence Dacre.The pair of Miro Hetzel stories only leaves me wanting more from the author. These stories have more depth and turnings than his Magnus Ridolph gadget stories of his early career.

This book as with all books I have read by Jack Vance is too short. I wish they never ended. A master story teller, with the gift to transport you far away into the realms of immagination. I loved getting to know Miro Hetzel, galactic effectuator. Really two separate stories with the same main character.