Jack Vance: Rhialto the Marvellous (1984)

Edition: Gollancz, 2000
Review number: 768
This part of the Tales of the Dying Earth consists of three stories about a group of sorcerers, concentrating on one of their number, who calls himself "Rhialto the Marvellous". As his name indicates, he is not particularly modest, but he is intelligent and devious. Two of the stories are quite short; the middle one, about his rivalry with another magician who frames him for a variety of crimes and practical jokes on his colleagues, dominates the book.

The third story is perhaps the most interesting. In this, the magicians go in search of the sorceror Morrein, once of their number but now vanished. They track him down to the last planet left at the very end of the universe, and it is Vance's vision of the end which is the most compelling aspect of the book.

Rhialto's intelligence makes him a more sympathetic hero than
Cugel, but Cugel's Saga remains the most entertaining of the series.

Jack Vance: Cugel's Saga (1983)

Edition: Gollancz, 2000
Review number: 764

The end of Eyes of the Overworld saw Cugel, tricked once more by magician Iuconnu, returned to the spot on the other side of the world from which he had spent virtually the whole of that novel travelling. Cugel's Saga takes up the story where the earlier tale ands, and he spends this novel making exactly the same journey, from Shanglestone Strand to Pergolo, for the same reason: to gain his revenge on Iuconnu.

Thus, Cugel's Saga has basically the same plot as Eyes of the Overworld, even if the episodes along the journey are different. There are other changes which are more important, and which make Cugel's Saga the most accessible and satisfying of Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth.

The whimsicality of the earlier tales rarely becomes humorous. In The Dying Earth, the story is too diffuse, while the character of Cugel portrayed in Eyes of the Overworld is too unpleasant. Now, Cugel is shown in a mellower light, and humour is more apparent. This instantly makes Cugel's Saga more enjoyable.

Jack Vance: The Eyes of the Overworld

Edition: Gollancz, 2000

Review number: 758

Although The Eyes of the Overworld is considered to be set in the same background as The Dying Earth, it is quite different from Vance's debut. To start with, it is a proper novel, with one plot running all the way through it. This means that there is less space for background, as the central character becomes more important.

The plot of The Eyes of the Overworld is simple. Cugel attempts to rob the mansion of magician Iuconnu, only to be trapped inside until the absent owner returns. As punishment, he is sent on a quest to the ends of the earth to retrieve the lenses of the title which show the spiritual world.

As a central character, Cugel is unsympathetic, being unscrupulous, vain and charmless. Although this is commendably unusual, it does make the novel difficult to get into and not terribly rewarding to read.

Jack Vance: The Dying Earth (1950)

Edition: Gollancz, 2000
Review number: 754

Jack Vance's debut is something of a fantasy classic, and was a big influence on writers like Michael Moorcock. Although described as a novel in the list of Vance's works at the front of his books, it is really a collection of linked short stories.

The links are more to do with setting and characters than shared plot elements, and some even contradict others (as dead characters live again, for example). The setting is most important; like Moorcock, Vance gives atmospheric background a high priority. This setting is nominally the earth of the far future, a world full of decadent magic (many of the secrets of the past being lost or poorly comprehended) and many dangers, including creatures who have taken shape from the many centuries of humankind's nightmares.

Each story takes the form of a short quest, and are successful enough to leave the reader regretting the introduction of a new protagonist with the next story; we want to know what happens next. The major failing is, paradoxically, that there is too much invention; it is hard to get our bearings in the world Vance portrays. Still, this ensures that the stories will repay re-reading.