# Jack Vance / Dying Earth bestiary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437 "2009-12-16T02:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/21 "2009-12-17T19:25:26Z")
Note: it’s _Rhialto the **Marvellous** _. To expand a bit from the link posted, the first book, _Dying Earth_, is a bunch of short stories, some of which are connected and some are standalone. _The Eyes of the Overworld_ is a single continuous story, and _Cugel’s Saga_ is its sequel. _Rhialto the Marvellous_ is not connected. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/22 "2009-12-17T21:03:07Z")
He also wrote a number of wry science fiction novels: **Big Planet** and **Showboat World** , **Space Opera** ; and a number of sci-fi adventure series: the _Demon Princes_ series and the _Planet of Adventure_ series. All great good fun. I tried reading **Lyonesse** , but it just didn’t have the magic for me, which was disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/23 "2009-12-17T21:14:16Z")
I’ve got to put in another plug for the \*Demon Princes \*novels. Five science fiction mysteries of majestic proportion. You can read them in order, or out of sequence; doesn’t make much difference. They get better every time I read them…TRM ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/24 "2009-12-18T01:43:31Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Note: it’s _Rhialto the **Marvellous** _. That’ll teach me to copy and paste from amazon. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/25 "2009-12-18T03:28:52Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > _The Eyes of the Overworld_ is a single continuous story, and _Cugel’s Saga_ is its sequel. _Rhialto the Marvellous_ is not connected. However, A Quest for Simbilis by author Michael Shea is the other sequel to _The Eyes of the Overworld_. Authorized and everything. Shea got Vance’s style and world down pat, imho. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/26 "2009-12-18T03:36:53Z")
Quoting from the article I linked to above: There is also “Songs of the Dying Earth,” > [@](#): > > a collection of stories by other writers set in the far-future milieu that Vance introduced in some of his first published stories, which he wrote on a clipboard on the deck of a freighter in the South Pacific while serving in the merchant marine during World War II. The roster of contributors to the collection includes genre stars and best-selling brand names, among them Simmons, Neil Gaiman, Terry Dowling, Tanith Lee, George R. R. Martin and Dean Koontz. It’s a literary tribute album, in effect, on which reliable earners acknowledge the influence of a respectably semiobscure national treasure by covering his songs. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/27 "2009-12-18T12:36:18Z")
I would also like to suggest his sc-fi mystery story “The Moon Moth.” His gift for creating soceities is on full force, as an investigator from Earth needs to find a dangerous escaped criminal on a planet where everyone wears a mask. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/28 "2009-12-18T12:43:40Z")
Jack Vance is one of my favorites too. The \*Araminta Station \*trilogy is how I started reading him. I need a new set and that’s what I’ll treat myself to for Christmas. I haven’t re-read the series in a couple of years and I have no idea if someone borrowed them, but I can’t it. I love _Dying Earth_. I like _Big Planet_. I’ll read any Vance I find. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/29 "2009-12-18T15:29:56Z")
As I recall, **Showboat World** is set on Big Planet. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/30 "2009-12-18T19:44:11Z")
The John Varley thing is a great shout - I recognise this guy’s name intimately through looking at the Vance titles, him and Vernor Vinge space out two SF giants, Vance and Wolfe. Wolfe and Vance are often linked via the Dying Earth theme, despite being very different writers. A writing trait they do share, though, is one **madmonk28** has described - the ability to let their creations live and breathe in the reader’s imagination. They have a fantastically deft touch in providing just enough vision and imagery to power their creations - love this style of writing. Not great for a bestiary I guess. As much as I love the dying earth, I don’t think I’ve read much else from Vance. Is lyonesse really in the same league? It don’t seem possible. _Gookin, why do you lie among the cheeses?_ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/31 "2009-12-18T20:06:33Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > As much as I love the dying earth, I don’t think I’ve read much else from Vance. Is lyonesse really in the same league? It don’t seem possible. _Lyonesse_ and its sequels have a very different feel than the _Dying Earth_ books. They’re about Faerie, and Vance actually does a wonderful job of conveying that sense of nothing being quite what it looks like (or acts like). That said, they’re not as compelling as the _Dying Earth_ books…I got halfway through _Madouc_ and just kind of gave up. I don’t even remember why, or remember much of the plot, main or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/32 "2009-12-21T18:23:41Z")
Early on in _the Eyes of the Overworld_, Cugel is given an amulet that allows him to make matter palatable and avoid poisons. Eventually it stops being mentioned completely, and he must rely on foraging. Did I miss the part where he loses it? He seems to eventually lose every enchantment through his charlatanry, but I don’t remember a conspicuous mention of this one. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/33 "2009-12-22T17:09:49Z")
I don’t remember him losing that specific item, but there are a couple of times when he pretty much has to run out of town and leave his stuff behind. ---
**Author:** ![Magankan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@Magankan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magankan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/34 "2010-01-04T18:15:41Z")
The thing about _Eyes of the Overworld_, is the stories that comprise it were written over a long period of time – easily several years. Vance was writing them as fast as he could, since he got paid pennies for them. Compared to other authors writing in that period, I think the EotO stories hold their stuff together better than most. But he definitely forgot stuff in the months between writing Cugel stories. _Cugel’s Saga_ holds together much better, because it was written to be a book. Mind you, the chapters can still be read (mostly) by themselves as marvelously entertaining stories, but that’s just the style. For my money, I think \*Cugel’s Saga \*is his best fantasy-comedy work. But you can’t go wrong with any Vance book. If you like his style, everything he wrote’s readable. I recently picked up _The Dark Ocean_ and _Bad Ronald_, very early works that haven’t been reprinted much, and they were every bit as entertaining as I hoped. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/35 "2010-01-04T20:35:03Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’ve got to put in another plug for the \*Demon Princes \*novels. Five science fiction mysteries of majestic proportion. You can read them in order, or out of sequence; doesn’t make much difference. They get better every time I read them…TRM Seconded (or thirded). The Demon Prince novels are my favorite Vance of all for some reason. I won’t claim that it is all great writting but I’ve read them all a dozen times and will read them again. They are my go-to books any time I need to fill up time (plane flights and doctor visits for example.) The description of Smade’s planet alone is worth the price of admission. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/36 "2010-01-04T22:35:14Z")
> [@Magankan](#): > > _Bad Ronald_ Made into an enjoyable (if not incredible) [TV movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071186/#comment) back in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/37 "2010-01-04T22:43:18Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You could do worse than try some Varley, actually. His Titan trilogy (_Titan, Wizard_ and _Demon_) is very good science fiction. I thought otherwise, and I picked them up as a big, big fan of Varley’s short stories. I like the shorts a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/38 "2010-01-04T23:30:53Z")
Another Vance fan checking in. My first exposure to him was only recently when I read collection [Tales of the Dying Earth.](http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Dying-Earth-Jack-Vance/dp/0312874561/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262647622&sr=8-1). I loved it so much, I subsequently read [Songs of the Dying Earth](Songs of the Dying Earth), a collection of short stories written by fantasy/sci-fi authors in tribute of Vance. Unlike a lot of artistic tributes, this one was extremely well-done and contained some beautiful writing. (I should also note that this appears to be out of print on Amazon, with prices starting at $80. I’m glad I ordered mine when I did). I received [The Jack Vance Treasury](http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Vance-Treasury-Terry-Dowling/dp/1596060778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262647803&sr=1-1) for Christmas. I’m eagerly awaiting the moment I dive into that book. Once I do so, I don’t expect to surface again until I finish it, even for air. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/39 "2010-01-05T02:02:31Z")
While the 1st DE novel is pretty subdued, the Rhialto & Cugel books are pretty hilarious in parts. Cugel in particular makes for a pretty good anti-hero who is not quite a bright as he thinks he is. ---
**Author:** ![Aplonis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@Aplonis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aplonis)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2014, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437/40 "2014-10-27T10:32:11Z")
What you seek is this… The Jack Vance Lexicon: from Ahulph to Zipangote compiled by Dan Temianka ISBN 0887331181 I have a copy, signed by the maestro himself. It entails 136 pages of definitions from all of his books over his 50-year writing career. I refer to it often in translating Vance into Esperanto for my website [Eldonejo Mistera Sturno](http://esperanto.us) where I present my authorized translations. The lexicon has no pictures, though. This is something I am thinking to address. I will issue, at some point, a bi-lingual (English and Esperanto) bestiary of only the Dying Earth fauna. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jack-vance-dying-earth-bestiary/521437.md?page=3)