Customer Reviews (3)

Fun science fiction adventure novel
I like Jack Vance, but I don't like everything he's written. This one was a stand-out for me. It is an adventure story about a very capable hero stranded on a planet inhabited by humans and a bunch of alien races. For me, Vance is the best at creating strange human habits/cultures and believable aliens. I couldn't put this down, just because of its sheer entertainment value. It's not going to change your life, but it does provide a lot of entertainment for your money. For a while after reading this book, everyone dressed all in black made me look twice...

Enticing and fully entertaining
Although I read this title originally in Dutch, the translator excellently captured the sheer drama and suspense, and the typical 'Vancian' wit and humor. Vance has the ability to depict the world of Tschai so vividly youare taking the journey yourself. He knows his strengths - building onoriginal (and amazingly funny) dialogue, while describing the world and itsculture in so much detail. I loved reading it, and would recommend it toanyone who likes space opera. To the ones enjoying this book I recommendreading Tad Williams' epic saga "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn", andJack's other books - the demon princes series, "the voyage of thespace beagle", the Lyonesse series, and "big planet".Jackis my all-time favorite!!

One of the best sci-fi adventures I've ever read
Jack Vance at his best. This serie of four books encompasses the great lyrical skills Vance is best known for, along with some of the most breathtaking descriptions of alien cultures. Adam Reith, the hero of the novel, shipwrecks on planet Tschai and is forced to learn entire new styles of life if he is to survive. Notable are the DirDir, a feline-like race of very evolved predators that codify The Hunt as their way of life. To reveal anything of the plot would be to spoil the sci-fi reader of the pleasure of reading this masterpiece. I reccomend it to anybody even mildly interested in adventurous science fiction ... Read more

Download Description
The World Fantasy Award-winning third volume of the Lyonesse trilogy brings attention to the faerie changeling Madouc. Where princess Suldrun once meekly endured the proprieties of Castle Haidion, Madouc defends herself with mischief. Vexed, King Casmir and Queen Sollace arrange a contest to marry her off. However, Madouc has other ideas, and leaves with the stableboy "Sir Pom-pom" on a quest to learn the identity of her father, encountering swindlers, faeries, trolls, ogres, a knight in search of his youth, and a relatively pedestrian item known as the Holy Grail. As the sorcerers Shimrod and Murgen investigate dire portents in the world of magic, Casmir schemes to murder prince Dhrun of Troicinet and bring all the lands under his iron rule; however, his ambitions will be complicated by one small but important oversight -- he's failed to allow for Madouc! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

superb
the superb end of and outstanding triologie... if you look at the reviews of the first book of the triologie you'll get a glue that this is a must read. I don't want tell too much only that in my opinion this is the bestof the three books. so follow my instructions to read this books and in theend you'll don't know if you are shimrod the mage or a reader in the 20thcentury. search for your best chair, take a bottle of your finest alcohol,put in your favorite music and start reading, you won't stop until itsfinished...

(any critics to my english welcome as long as they arewritten in german ;)) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Oceans and Spaceyards.
This is the second volume in The Planet of Adventure series, and finds Adam Reith, Traz and Anacho accompanying Ylin Ylan, the lovely Flower of Cath, on her journey home.There, despite a deteriorating relationship with the young woman, Reith hopes to convince her father to help him acquire or build a space ship.They proceed almost haphazardly across Tschai's continents drawing closer to Cath, but not without incident.

A faltering floater carries them on to where they can seek sea voyage.And then, with the irritating addition of Dordolio, one of Ylin Ylan's countrymen, they set sail across the Draschade Ocean.The voyage contains both discoveries and tragedies, leaving a wiser Adam Reith to navigate the complexities of Cath society.Since this is only the second volume, I think it does no harm to admit that getting passage off planet remains out of reach.

But, amid the intrigue of Cath, Reith encounters Zarfo Detwiler, a man who finds the challenges of getting the party to the shipyards of the Wankh just his cup of tea.The Wankh are the latest invaders of Tschai, and have minimal contact with the world about them other than through their servitors, the Wankhmen.Once again, Reith's problem solving approach creates the maximum disturbance in what were previously orderly societies.One has to wonder if Tschai will survive Reith's return home.

My raving about Vance's write is probably becoming tedious to the reader's of my recent reviews.Suffice it to say, he was one of the truly great writers of science fiction and had far reaching influence is surprising corners.These stories are as fresh as they were 30 years ago and will no doubt remain popular when we return to the Stone Age and have to chisel them into walls.Please take the trouble to try a volume; you will no doubt be a fan forever. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Extrapolation, published by Extrapolation on June 22, 2002. The length of the article is 593 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: An Encyclopedia of Jack Vance, 20th-Century Science Fiction. (Reviews of Books).
Author: Donald M. Hassler
Publication: Extrapolation (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2002
Publisher: Extrapolation
Volume: 43Issue: 2Page: 241(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Each Man's True Nature Dominated by an Unnatural Entity
Like the other reviewer says, this story has an element of self-discovery... is a man's behavior and motivation truly his own, or is it swayed by something that is not truly him?The conclusion to the story is weak, but I gave it five stars for the fascinating beginning and premise.Not as outright entertaining as Vance's Dying Earth stories, but the philosophical/psychological investigation in Brains Of Earth is something I have not seen in any other Jack Vance stories. The story is also available as a Tor-double, I found it for about TWO BUCKS.

Nopalgarthaka The Brains of Earth
This is a fairly early Vance book, published in 1966. However it has a feeling of having been written in the same period as 'To live forever' ['56] and 'The languages of Pao' ['58] in being a darker world-view than'The Blue World' ['65] and the demon princes series ['64-'81].

But hey -it is still Jack Vance, out of print and worth finding. Note -two titles- but the same book

Not your ordinary J. Vance book.
The book is probably an early work, with no bickering about hotel checks or bills, and the plot makes me think of scientology teachings, with parasitical entities attached to human minds. ... Read more

Book Description
Far in the future, the craftsmen of the distant planet Halma create goods which are the wonder of the galaxy.But they know little of this.Their society is harshly regimented, its religion austere and unforgiving, and primitive -- to maintain standards, even the most basic use of automation is punishable by death.

When Amiante, a wood-carver, is executed for processing old documents with a camera, his son Ghyl rebels, and decides to bring down the system.To do so, he must first interpret the story of Emphyrio, an ancient hero of Halman legend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Perhaps Vance's best "standalone" novel
This is one of Vance's best novels, and in many ways a good introduction to this author. On display are many of the hallmarks of his mature style: his elegant writing, his wonderful depiction of local colour, his unusual social systems. Emphyrio lacks only the humour that is so often present in Vance: this is one of his more melancholy books. It's also better plotted than many of his novels, and it's a stand-alone.

The story concerns a young man in the city of Ambroy (on the planet Halma) named Ghyl Tarvoke. Ghyl is the son of Amiante Tarvoke, a rather unconventional inhabitant of Ambroy. Amiante is a master carver of wooden screens, one of the handmade products that Ambroy exports to the rest of the Galaxy, but he is rather solitary, and does not produce especially many screens, and does not participate in the religious rituals of Ambroy, which involve intricate leaping (saltation).

Ghyl's childhood is wonderfully presented. It's rather lonely, but happy, as Amiante's rearing of Ghyl bids fair to make him as unconventional as his father. Ghyl explores much of his city, which is ruled by a very few "Lords" or "Remedials," who control the utilities and services of the city, and provide a guaranteed minimum support lifestyle to the common people who co-operate, in exchange for control of the market for Ambroy's artwork. Various regulations are enforced, most notably an absolute rule against duplication of any kind, ostensibly to ensure the maintenance of Ambroy's reputation for completely original handmade art.

Ghyl makes a few friends, some who end up "noncups," or people living outside the welfare system. He also learns eventually that his father's unconventionality extends to illegal duplication: his father has a collection of historical documents, which he duplicates. He also teaches Ghyl the writing systems used in these old documents. One old document is an unfinished version of the legend of Emphyrio, a hero of the past on the planet Aume who helped humans throw off the domination of aliens from the mood Sigil. As Ghyl grows older, he remains isolated from most of his fellows, an isolation only enhanced by his brief affair with a Lord's daughter, and further exacerbated by his father's eventual punishment and death for his duplicating.

Finally Ghyl is pushed to a desperate act, kidnapping a Lord's spaceship. This leads to a journey offworld, where he eventually learns much about the true story of Emphyrio and the true nature of his own planet, of the Lords who rule it and the mysterious puppet makers of the moon Damar. The resolution is satisfying if a bit odd, with a nice twist. However, although the plot of this novel is satisfactory, the real pleasures, as with all Vance, lie elsewhere.

This book features, for one thing, a very satisfying depiction of an odd, lonely but happy, childhood. For a second thing, there is the culture of Ambroy, which is perhaps not so odd as some of Vance's social structures, but still fascinating, with its welfare system, prohibition of duplication, mysterious Lords, and unusual and mordantly amusing punishments. Thirdly there is Vance's always elegant prose, with his glorious touch for names of people (Amiante Tarvoke), alien races (the Garrion), and places (Daillie); and his knack for coining words (noncups, skeel, Remedials). And finally, his plots, even when unsatisfactorily resolved, often seem to be following conventional paths before suddenly taking unusual but believable turns. Vance's main weakness, besides his occasional trouble with endings, is his cavalier approach towards scientific realism. In some moods this bothers me, but I think it's best with Vance simply to ignore this. So what if his spaceships seem but cars that can be driven at FTL? That's not the point with Vance.

Haunting, yes, and vintage Vance.
I have little to add to those who've commented that this little Classic of Vance's Gaean Reach novels is haunting, and Vance in the top of his form. This little passage always stays with me as an example of writing that could ONLY be Vance:

(It's a backward world, far from Earth, a thousand years in the future... where artists and artisans are exploited by a commercial cartel. This is a conversation between the protagonist as a little boy who's just seen a puppet show, and the peripatetic puppeteer Holkerwoyd):

"I was born beside a star so far that you'll never see its light, not in the sky of Halma."

"Then why are you here?"

"I often ask myself the same. The answer always comes: because I'm not somewhere else. Which is a statement more sensible than it sounds. And isn't it a marvel? Here am I and here are you; think of it! When you ponder the breadth of the galaxy, you must recognize a coincidence of great singularity!"

"I don't understand."

"Simple enough! Suppose you were here and I elsewhere, or I were here and you elsewhere, or both of us were elsewhere: three cases vastly more probable than the fourth, which is in fact our mutual presence within ten feet of each other. I repeat, a miraculous concatenation! And to think that some hold the Age of Wonders to be past and gone!"

Splendid parable
The one flaw I find in this engrossing book is that Vance seems to have decided, at that stage of his career, that it needed a little more structural emphasis than his previous books had displayed. This led him to the calamitous device of an opening, "framing," chapter. If this opening chapter should be torn bodily from the book -- and would we might see Vance's own explicit authorization for such a deed! -- it would then be perfect, in all respects.

Different--but still Excellent--Vance
As most of the other critics have noted, this is a vastly different book than most of Vance's other novels or stories. While it shares the some of the same trappings and atmosphere of Vance classics such as "Night Lamp" or the Durdane trilogy, its view is rather depressing. In my opinion, "Emphyrio" most resembles the Durdane trilogy, with its ignorant protelariat and non-existent civil society controlled by a mysterious entity.

I, too, agree with the critic who mentioned the discord between the two halves of the book. The first (better) half focuses on the societal injustices and the rights of Man. The latter part IS rushed; it seems that Vance had to change tack after the hijacking of the Lords. It reminds me of Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," (yes, I'm serious) in that regard--Twain faced the same dilemma 2/3rds of the way through that book (while Jim and Huck are on the raft). Does anyone else agree with this observation?

I highly recommend this book. Find a copy, and grab any copy of ANY Jack Vance book that you come across.

I recommend
This book haunts me. That is, from time to time I realize I'm thinking about it, and how many books can you say that about?I won't presume to go over the plot, but there are truly beautiful passages in this short novel.Since reading it I have always taken a second look at carved wooden screens searching for perfection that will never be found.

Good luck finding a copy though.Used bookstores are your best bet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Classic Science Fiction
I bought this book, titled Dust of Far Suns (originally titled Future Tense), about 20 years ago and it has sat on my shelf until recently when I had a sudden urge to read it.I do not read a lot of science fiction but it is still one of my favorite genres in fiction.This is my first Jack Vance book; I have not even read one of his novels.I was truly impressed and surprised by the range and quality of the four stories in this volume.They are:

(1) Dust of Far Suns (originally, Sail 25) (1962) - space cadets on a training trip into the Solar System get tested by an old master
(2) Dodkin's Job (1959) - a humorous look at a future bureaucracy with the protagonist discovering a surprising truth and turning a few tables on others and the system
(3) Ullward's Retreat (1958) - an incredibly crowded future earth where the natural environment is decimated, and replaced by images and preserved indoor specimens
(4) The Gift of Gab (1955) - a business venture on an alien planet's ocean results in an unsuspected response from one of the undersea life forms

All stories are excellent, but I particularly enjoyed the first and forth.Even though these stories are half a century old, this is (to me) what science fiction is all about.Good characterizations, great and readable plots, and believable scientific and technological extrapolation into the distant (or not-too-distant) future.(I believe that Vance worked in, or was educated in, geological or mining engineering and thus has a technological background, one which is very evident in the stories.)In only minor ways do these stories seem "dated"; they are a great read even in the 21st century.What I also liked is that the stories are not overdone or over-the-top in plot and action, and the small details of plot or character ring true.

If this is the quality of other short stories or novelettes that Mr. Vance has written, I cannot believe there is not a current Jack Vance collection of all his best stories.On the basis of this collection alone his name should be as revered and recognized for his S.F. short stories as are other classic-era S.F. authors; in fact, I like these stories better than any short stories I remember reading by Isaac Asimov (and I like Isaac Asimov for the most part).Very entertaining and highly recommended!By it used or hope for a reprint in the (not-too-distant) future.

Too bad it's out of print
Jack Vance is one of the great science fiction authors, a writer who has focused on adventure rather than science and has produced more than his share of entertaining works.His stories may not be deep but they are always fun.

In this collection, Vance shows he is as adept with short stories as he is with novels.The first story deals with space travel cadets on a mission with their ofttimes cruel instructor.The second story is a humorous story of one man taking on a vast government bureaucracy; this is followed by a tale of an overpopulated Earth where a hundred square feet may be a vast estate and a man who acquires a whole alien continent on which to live.The final tale deals with aquatic miners contending with a dangerous sea creature.

All four stories are typical Vance, which is to say, great stuff.If you have the opportunity to pick this one up somewhere, you will have a nice treat. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

In Search of a Ride Home
Jack Vance is truly an American treasure.A prolific writer of science fiction, fantasy and mystery stories which are consistently readable and often remarkable.My own experience with Vance started with two of his most influential series, 'The Demon Princes' and 'Planet of Adventure,' of which this book is the first.In them, the author demonstrates a fine talent for the building of worlds and the peoples that inhabit them, never quite venturing into the improbable, and often making the unlikely more real than this world of our own.

When the Explorator IV is dispatched to Carina 4269 to investigate a distress signal, Adam Reith is one of the scouts on the mission.Quiet and competent, he is still unprepared when the Explorator IV is destroyed by a missile from the planet's surface, and his scout ship plummets to the surface.Reith survives (barely) and is found by a dour nomadic people called the Kruthe, or Emblem Men.Reith quickly discovers that Tschai, as the world is called, is like no other.

Four non-human races make up the rulers of Tschai, the Chasch, the Dirdir, the Wankh, and the Pnume (with their close relatives the Phung).In this complicated environment humans seem to have appeared by accident.On Tschai, humanity is an underclass, providing services to the other races, or wandering the planet like Reith's nomads.In this alien world Reith must find a way to return home and report his findings.

This will be far from easy.In this volume, Reith must escape from the Kruthe and make his way to Dadiche, the city where his scout ship was taken.Ruled by the Blue Chasch and their human servants, Dadiche is inhospitable at best, and often deadly dangerous.Reith's adventures along the way are many, as we gradually learn that he is a man of ingenuity and principle, to the woe of those who work against him.He makes loyal friends and challenges social inequities with the same aplomb that he rescues fair maidens like the lovely Ylin Ylan, the flower of Cath.

This slim volume is the beginning of a story that ably demonstrates Vance's fertile imagination and delightful narrative style.Never too wordy, his language is still descriptively rich and his sense of humor wry.Reith, like other Vance heroes, is quietly competent, soft spoken, and peculiarly romantic.The other characters are brought to life with the use of rapid descriptive brush strokes and dialog that often amuses as it reveals.Seek this series out and prepare for much enjoyment and delight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Super Reader
This might be getting to be too much of the same thing, as the Laughing Magician basically hits the reset button on Cugel, and Cugel has to repeat the journey of the previous book, at least in geographical terms. This annoys him, of course, so he has to try and come up with plots and plans to gain some measure of revenge. Plenty of screwups here, etc.

Because of this, I have never gotten around to the last book.

Cugel is my favorite character by Jack Vance
Cugel's Saga begins with "The eyes of the overworld" which is my favorite Jack Vance book, and I've read a lot of them. The title of the first book gave me no clue about what a blast it was. I actually didn't like the title, if it hadn't been Jack Vance, I wouldn't have got the book. Turns out, those eyes are an awesome and hilarious ploy!

"Cugel's Saga" is the second book of Cugel's involuntary travels, and it was no less of a page turner, save for the many moments I had to put the book down, cause I either couldn't stop laughing, or because I needed a moment to consider all the things I had been told between the lines.This is a little like Jack Vance's 1001 nights to me.

It's refreshing that Cugel lacks any morality pressed upon him from the outside, and all his episodes of victories and defeats turn out to be brilliant parables. Jack Vance is not some phony moralist, his stories embody something deeper. He shares his mind with us, but he doesn't seem at all concerned what exactly we will make of it.

These two books are as rich as any I've read. What you take away from reading them is up to you. Jack Vance is well beyond trying to get some sort of agreement for something from his readers. He just poses situations and actions and leaves the rest to you.

A rare fantasy gem
Vance smoothed and decorated a small niche of fantasy / sci-fi where overly-mannered, ceremonius language is put to comedic and adventurous use.Critics confuse Vance tales of lacking in plot.True, his books tend to lack subtle scheming and unforeen forces at work against the protagonist.However, the true plots are the rich settings themselves:Cugle is matching wits (often with negative results) with fantastic settings, creatures and customs that no rational person would conceive, let alone write about in brilliant tones.Cugles travels from episode, to episode, trying to get home.

Vance has thankfully chosen to render his artistry in a genre mocked and ignored by confused critics who dislike unfamiliarity.

I urge you to gather up this book, as well as the entire Dying Earth series, and without question read the "Demon Princes" series.You'll appreciate a true artist working in colors and hues rarely seen in fantasy or sci-fi.

One last recommendation:Michael Shea's "Incompleat Nifft" is a worthy homage to Cugel, with a hefty dose of Lovecraft.I highly recommend that book as well if you enjoyed The Dying Earth series.

Absolutely hilarious!
Set in the world of Vance's Dying Earth series, when the sun has all but sputtered out, this book, continues the story of Vance's anti-hero Cugel, a vain popinjay of a man who finds himself once again stranded half a world away from home by his arch-enemy Iocunnu (better known as the Laughing Magician because of his penchant for playing morbid jokes upon his enemies).

Vance's Dying Earth is a world of Machiavellian sorcery and science, where a person's every deed is viewed with suspicion - and a good deed even more so!Magicians and monsters vie with everyday mortals for power in the form of powerful runes, ancient amulets, otherworldly gems, etc."Trust" and "compassion" are basically forgotten terms, as is "generosity" and "goodwill."How bad is this place?It can best be seen by the conversation between Cugel and the fiendish sorceror Fauculme (whom a suspicious Cugel ties up before even introducing himself):

Fauculme:How then is one to distinguish between enemy
and altruist?

Cugel:It is not an important distinction...

Cugel's adventures are absolutely hilarious, as he schemes and scams his way back home across a world of "dangers and woners abundant."

so funny!
this book is just so funny. i loved it. every page. every sentence. every bizarre character. i loved Cugel, who is not nice, or successfull, but so damn funny. Cugel is swept away far from his home by an evil wizard and tries to get home. and of course he tries to get rich, fool people and other things. i simply can not help finding it so funny. one of the best books i have ever read.
hmm. i know this wasn't a very descriptive review. but i'm counting on that you are reading all the other, long, reviews too. and i know that my english is that of a 12-year old swedish child. ... Read more

Product Description
Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Durdane ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Day Durdane Stood Still
Gastel Etzwane is a little more clueless and weak than the protags of the Planet of Adventure and Demon Princes series.Yet this work has the trademark weirdness of settings--the 50-odd cantons of Shant--that are even better developed than Tschai, and Gastel is only weak because he is clueless.The concept of the faceless man, the inflexible (and because faceless, inhuman) upholder of never-changing "values" agreed upon by the citizens of Shant in some long-ago convention as a way to keep them from destroying their own society, is not far off from the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still.

The Durdane trilogy is the most consistent of Vance's series, strong to the end.He explores the theme of freedom, as always, but also the value of knowledge--it isn't always power, after all!

An alternate and actually more common title for this work is _The Anome_.

the Faceless Man -
The Faceless Man, also known as Anome or Durdane, is like a typical Vance novel in that it features a strapping young adventurer pitting wit and candor against opposing forces in exotic and debaucherous locales.

Vance revels in describing the cultural customs and mores of the characters that people his work. The Faceless Man, the first in the Durdane trilogy, is no exception. While the central chacter Etzwane does not stick out among the protagonists of Vance's many novels, music is a central theme of the book and Vance, a musician, excels in his descriptions of alien musical interludes and compositions.

I work in a library in Florida, and this book was very hard to find. We had to request it from a Library in Omaha Nebraska. Vance's work is elusive and unknown but highly suggested for those that enjoy Science Fiction with a more fantastic element. ... Read more

Book Description
At any moment the sun may expire...

In the unimaginably far future, the swollen orb stutters and blinks. On the Dying Earth, humanity festers, rich as rotted fruit. Half-men haunt the forest from decadent Kaiin to the Land of the Falling Wall.

Science has given way to rich, colorful magic. Magicians in lavish manses struggle to master Earth's last great spells, while supreme Arch-Magicians command the omnipotent but quarelsome sandestins.

Now you can enter this vivid world based on Jack Vance's legendary Tales of the Dying Earth fantasies. Made with the cooperation of Jack Vance, it features easy, fast-playing rules that encourage creativity and interaction. You need not be familiar with Jack Vance's work to play, but fans of the stories will enjoy the comprehensive suimmary of the world's marvels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A different class of game
Jack Vance's unique style permeates this book from cover to cover. Along with Robin D. Laws' innovative approach to game mechanics, this ensures that everything you read in this book is interesting. Whether playing a cadre of rougues like the famous Cugel, powerful and vain arch-magicians such as Rhialto the Marvelous, or the more violent characters, such as Turjin of Mir, of Jack Vance's The Dying Earth, this game delivers.

At this point, I must note that this is not a usual fantasy game. Although the characters might well fight half-men to save a village, or enter a cave in search of treasure, their motivations will rarely be described as noble. The influence of Vance extends beyond the unusual phraseologyemployed by certain authors of circumlocutious natures. The game is firmly rooted in the evocative Dying Earth, in which there is little difference between one man and another; all are well-spoken and self-serving. Outside the Turjin level of play, players will quickly learn to avoid fights through the use of cunning strategems. Also, there is no assumption that the players' characters will co-operate - remember, (almost) everybody is self-serving.

As a reassuracne to anyone who is considering buying this game, it is quite easy to run. That the game is written in Vancian style encourages everyone to adopt that style. The game mechanics make witty dialogue as dangerous as a swinging blade, without giving an advantage to naturally witty players. The authors have usefully included a checklist for adventure creation, so the novice Dying Earth game master will ave no difficulty in creating an evenings entertainment resplendant with exotic vistas, casual cruelty, and cunning scams.

So long as you have a group who can step back from their characters to appreciate the terrible situations that they get themselves into, rather than insisting that they ought to succeed at every turn, this is a wonderful game.

I am desperate to play this game . . .
but even if I can't cajole my group into trying it, the rules are well worth reading in their own right. Naturally, no one else is Jack Vance. Yet Robin Laws and his coauthors have captured a great portion of the Vancian rhythms and conceits that make the Dying Earth books such a pleasure to read. Furthermore, the ingenious rules virtually guarantee that anyone playing the game will be forced to adopt the guileful duplicity of Vance's characters, and there are even rules to encourage the linguistic elaboration prevalent in all of Vance's work.

Anyone even mildly interested in this game should check out Pelgrane's website (the publisher). I downloaded and read the "quick start" rules, and went out less than a week later to buy the book.

If you play in one of those rare groups where everyone successfully plays Lawful Good, this may not be the game for you. But if you have a bunch of players who write "Chaotic Good" on their sheets and then play Chaotic Neutral, buy The Dying Earth RPG immediately.

Brilliant idea
Robin Laws and Dean Shomshak are the only two game writers who I think are worth reading purely for pleasure even if you don't play the game they write about.I got this book not because I expect ever to play the game, but because I thought it would be fascinating to find out if Laws, who was able to so perfectly capture the Hong Kong action movie style with his Feng Shui rules, could possibly capture the unique flavor of Jack Vance's brilliant Dying Earth stories.

Well, Laws succeeded.The rules are a marvel of construction, discouraging combat and encouraging the kind of wild schemes and crazy scams that characterize the Dying Earth.I was impressed by their ingenuity, and, as usual, I enjoyed Laws's wit and his clear, succinct writing style.The book also enjoys high production values, and seems sturdy enough to survive sustained use as a reference.

I can only assume this is a labor of love on Laws's part, since the market for an RPG based on a decades-old, moderately obscure fantasy series (which, though overlooked, is a classic work of genius) would not appear to be very big.Also, in reproducing Vance's world, in which characters are often foolish and rarely violent, Laws creates rules that sometimes impinge on the right of the player to control his or her own character.This is necessary to avoid players falling into their regular habits and destroying the atmosphere so important to the Dying Earth stories, but it is so contrary to player expectations that many may never be able to accept it (I myself don't know if I could actually play this game).

Given these drawbacks, I do not know if the Dying Earth RPG will succeed financially.But as an example of how to fit game rules to game setting, and as an homage to Vance's wonderful Dying Earth books, the Dying Earth RPG is a success already. ... Read more