The Dying Earth Omnibus includes some of Vance's most influential work, including "Mazirian the Magician" (originally published as "The Dying Earth", a collection of six short stories "Turjan of Miir", "Mazirian the Magician", "T'sais", "Liane the Wayfarer", "Ulan Dhor Ends a Dream", and "Guyal of Sfere"), "Cugel the Clever" ("Eyes of the Overworld"), "Rhialto the Marvellous" (containing three short stories "The Murthe", "Fader's Waft", and "Morreion"), and "Cugel: the Skybreak Spatterligh...

The four Planet of Adventure volumes chronicle Adam Reith's saga on the planet Tschai, under the amber glow of the star Carina 4269. Reith is a Terran first-in scout stranded on a planet which he learns is now occupied, after an ancient struggle which has come to a standstill, by three technically advanced cultures who now guardedly share the surface while the original inhabitants- the mysterious Pnume- dwell in subterranean depths. On Tschai, Reith discovers to his surprise (and disgust) ...

For centuries the breathtakingly beautiful planet Cadwal has been held in trust by a centuries-old Charter of Conservancy, created by the now-defunct Naturalist Society on Old Earth.Over time, restrictions on population expansion written into the Charter have become irksome to some who live on Cadwal—those who would take the unexploited wealth of Cadwal for themselves, also those forced to leave the planet to keep population in check.Glawen Clattuc grows to manhood within t...

In a far-off future, criminals have the freedom to pursue their most violent passions among the civilized worlds of the Oikumene, assured that justice cannot follow when they escape into the lawless Beyond—a vast playground where the most elusive and monomaniacal murderers, thieves, and slavers can conquer a world of their own, play out complex fantasies of bloodlust, pursue revenge and immortality over generations, give themselves to a psychotic world of self-absorption, and devalue their...

Time and technology will change the role of the modern literary private investigator. Rather than don a trench coat, engage in snooping, interrogation, prying, and producing disheartening snapshots, detectives of the future will by necessity command stealth and a variety of arcane techniques to satisfy their stingy and demanding clients, who seek results over interstellar distances.Miro Hetzel is a special breed of investigator—an Effectuator, one who goes beyond mere fact-finding ...

A society matron underwrites the interstellar tour of an Earth opera company, performing Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini for bewildered human and alien audiences on a kaleidoscopic range of planets. But intrigue and secret agendas complicate what was already a doubtful enterprise, and the matrons feckless nephew finds that the simple country girl he plans to marry is far more mysterious than she seems.This is Jack Vance at his funniest, rolling out a rollicking picaresque tale where t...

Wicked King Casmir cannot control Madouc, the wild and willful changeling secretly switched at birth with Prince Dhrun, rightful heir to the throne. So Casmir ordains a quest: whosoever brings him the Holy Grail will have Madouc for his bride. But the fairy-born princess chooses to decide her own fate, and sets out with a stable boy to find the grail herself. Meanwhile, a spiteful wizard seeks to undo the spell that prevents the war-torn Elder Isles from sinking into the sea.The third volu...

Where the Anomes once ruled stands young Gastel Etzwane, facing a mortal threat to his homeland. Hoards of red Roguskhoi, armed by an unknown enemy, have swarmed out of the southern bogs to slaughter men, despoil women, and spread waves of terror. Through the peace imposed by the tyranny of the Anomes, men of Shant have lost the art of weaponry and war. Now Gastel must revive those skills to forge Shants citizens into an army- an army of the free.The Brave Free Men is part 2 of 3 of Durdan...

From Handbook of the Inhabited Worlds: "Big Planet lies beyond the frontier of terrestrial law, and has been settled by groups impatient with restraint: non-conformists, anarchists, fugitives, religious dissidents, misanthropes, deviants, freaks. Big Planet represents for us that tantalizing vision of the land beyond the frontier where bravery, resource and daring are more important than the mastery of urban abstractions. Who can deem this good or bad? Who can define justice, or correctnes...

Lost Sci-Fi Books 461–480 brings together 20 classic science fiction stories from some of the genre’s greatest writers, alongside forgotten authors whose imaginative tales deserve to be heard again.Travel from the hidden dangers of Arthur C. Clarke’s Hide and Seek to the unsettling future of Jack Vance’s The Men Return. Encounter a world where kindness has taken an unexpected turn in Arthur Sellings’ The Age of Kindness, journey to Mars with The Hermi...

Each major advance in the technology of communication or transportation has brought profound transformations and dislocations to human society. Three of science fiction's greatest authors--Larry Niven, Jack Vance, John Brunner--explore what would happen if teleportation were invented.Suppose it were possible, technologically and economically, to transport oneself to any point on the earth's surface in virtually instantaneous travel? Let us have trips in time as well as in space... ...

Jack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents to ever grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. One of his enduring classics is his 1964 novel, The Dying Earth, and its sequels--a fascinating, baroque tale set on a far-future Earth, under a giant red sun that is soon to go out forever.This omnibus volume comprised all four books in the seriesThe Dying EarthThe Eyes of the ...