Preview
  • The Killing Machine

  • The Demon Princes Series, Book 2
  • By: Jack Vance
  • Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
  • Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (63 ratings)

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The Killing Machine

By: Jack Vance
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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Publisher's summary

Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter—and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance’s classic series of hardboiled space opera.

Someone is stealing the children of the galaxy’s elite, and Kirth Gersen suspects that the kidnapper is Kokor Hekkus—second of the Demon Princes. Deciphering a complex pattern of clues and coincidences, Gersen tracks his quarry to a barbaric world, where Hekkus is protected by an invincible war machine. To confront Hekkus, Gersen must resort to a desperate plan.

©1966, 2005 by Jack Vance (P)2022 by Blackstone Publishing and Skyboat Media
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What listeners say about The Killing Machine

Average customer ratings
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Great Author

Have hoped for along time you would pick up some moreofJack Vance.s work. Aramanta Station soon? Vance.s writing of conversations are unique and wonderful. The

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Got tingles at the end

Jack Vance rarely disappoints me.

The voice talent is good. The story is thoroughly entertaining.

These are stories that leave me with a bittersweet feeling when they are over. I simultaneously am at the edge of my seat for their conclusion but then at the end I'm sad that it's over.

But there's always more Jack Vance. His works are definitely replayable.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Best of the Demon Princes books

The Killing Machine crams more invention and plot twists than the other books, and has wonderfully witty Vancian excerpts from books and articles to introduce chapters. The Oikumene is an astonishing imaginative coup, so detailed, varied, and compelling that the reader wholly accepts it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Weakest of the Demon Princes

While the performance was outstanding, the plot is probably the weakest of the Demon Princes books. When enough is finally revealed to get a good idea of what’s happening, the book is simply over. Worth reading because it gets you to the next book which is a real gem.

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