A SHORT STORY BY JACK VANCE⠀•⠀LINOCUTS BY KAROL POMYKAŁA⠀•⠀A NEW INTRODUCTION BY JOHN VANCE

The Men Return is sui generis – nearly impossible to define. Science fiction of the absurd? Psychedelica? Metaphysical horror? Existentialist monograph... with monsters? 

When Jack Vance wrote The Men Return in 1957, science fiction had not yet delved into the truly experimental. While it had toyed with time, space, spaceships and timetravel, the laws of reality remained firmly unbroken. Vance pushed the envelope – and far. The Men Return tells the story of a place where the connection between cause and effect has been severed. Imagine that! Vance did, and in his wild imaginations a novel form of fiction was born.

Karol Pomykała is a celebrated linocut artist, whose pieces, collectively entitled "Mirage," are an exhilarating match for Vance's up-is-down storytelling. Painstakingly cut by hand, Karol's artwork is intricately detailed. The depth of such detail can really only be captured with relief printing, so we are thrilled to present his work letterpress.  

The edition features five such linocuts. On hardbound copies, the artwork is overprinted with striking splashes of color as shapes float through and among a disorienting terrain. 

John Vance is the author's son, who has generously penned an introduction for the first private press edition of his father's work. He contextualizes the story in the history of science fiction, and provides a summary judgement on its importance. 

THE SCIENCE FICTION TRILOGY

The Men Return is the third in No Reply's SCIENCE FICTION TRILOGY, three editions showcasing three of the genre's greatest short stories:

•⠀The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, with the woodcuts of Rockwell Kent

•⠀The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, with collages by Clive Knights

•⠀The Men Return by Jack Vance, introduced by the author's son and with linocuts by Karol Pomykała

These three stories pushed the frontiers of the genre. They strikingly demonstrate that Science Fiction is not actually the realm of spaceships and aliens, so much as the realm of metaphysics and our place in the universe. No Reply is proud to present them together, alongside an extraordinary cast of contributors.