New galaxy-hopping, picaresque adventure from a master storyteller. Sf grand master Vance's latest is a tongue-in-cheek swashbuckler about a young man, Myron Tany, who has taken a degree in space studies but has much to learn when he first boards a ship. Myron is in thrall to his zany aunt, who has heard of a faraway fountain of youth and sets off in her space yacht to find it. Her captain flatters her agreeably, and when Myron points out that the man is a swindler, she won't hear of it and maroons poor Myron on an inhospitable planet with barely his passage home. Luckily, the tramp cargo vessel Glicca is just then in need of a supercargo, and Myron signs on with cool, competent Captain Maloof, Chief Engineer/gambler Schwatzendale, and Chief Steward/photographer Wingo. The four enjoy a string of rare adventures on a spectacular series of planets. They acquire as passengers a group of pilgrims (and their mysterious luggage), or rather, pirates masquerading as religious pilgrims, and engage in to-the-death struggles with the pirates' pursuers; on Terce, Myron narrowly avoids being skinned (there is a flourishing trade in human skins) and eaten. Finally, they encounter a Swiftian, legalistic planet on which one may be punished or betrothed for the slightest whimsical offense. Myron is bound to commit one...

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 series, The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rialto the Magnificent. It is a must-read for every sf fan.

The Elder Isles - an ancient land where chivalry and the realm of fairie exist side by side. A land of mystery, strange beauty, high adventure and arcane magic. Kings are at war, opposing magicians devise ever more cunning stratagems. It is a land where princesses and changelings both can become embroiled in political rivalries and the quest for the grail. The Gollancz Black Books have proved to be an immensely successful formula for getting well loved stories into the hands of people who also love well made books. Jack Vance's Complete Lyonesse is a perfect addition to the series and contains Madouc the novel for which Vance won the World Fantasy Award.

One of the most influential science-fantasy worlds ever envisaged, which inspired a generation of writers including George R.R. Martin The fourth in the Fantasy Masterworks series, the Dying Earth saga inspired writers like Michael Moorcock and Gene Wolfe, who freely acknowledges his debt to Vance in his own Book of the New Sun. Here, in one volume, is Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author Jack Vance's classic Dying Earth saga comprising The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rhialto the Marvellous. Travel to a far distant future, when the sun bleeds red in a dark sky, where magic and science is one, and the Earth has but a few short decades to live ... Read what everyone is saying about The Tales of the Dying Earth: 'He was, in a single paragraph, able to sketch the most incredible cultures and societies . . . he'd outline a world as interesting as all of Dune. And he did it again and again and again' Christopher Paolini, New York Times bestselling author of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars 'Absolutely amazing! I've never read anything quite like Vance's Dying Earth stories . . . very witty and full of sarcasm . . . Even if you're not a fantasy fan you should read these stories' Goodreads reviewer, 'This is one of the best series EVER WRITTEN and the world created by Jack Vance is as good as anything I have ever read . . . HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!' Goodreads reviewer, 'Within a few pages, I was completely drawn in, and there was simply no escape for me . . . This omnibus volume is the perfect way to experience everything about the Dying Earth' Goodreads reviewer, 'Almost singlehandedly defined an entire sub-genre of SF and Fantasy . . . the Dying Earth quartet is doubtless a masterpiece' Goodreads reviewer, 'Vance has got to be one of the greatest writers I have ever read, and quite probably the greatest stylist . . . as soon as I started reading each novel in the book, I couldn't stop' Goodreads reviewer, 'Awesome . . . a surreal fantasy setting on our own world, surrounded by crumbled civilisations and overlooked by a sun that could blink out at any moment' Goodreads reviewer, 'Jack Vance's masterwork of fantasy novellas and novelettes. Read once, read twice, read again. A powerful imagination in top form. This book is one of the main reasons that I love the fantasy genre' Goodreads reviewer,

Myron Tany, rebellious scion of a wealthy family, tours the Galaxy on a very questionable interstellar freighter, in search of his lurulu. Against the backdrop of the Gaean Reach, first the story of Jaro Fath unfolds: from wildling orphan to spaceship captain, a tale of adventure and discovery wittily told. A boy haunted by memories of his dead mother's terror, Jaro's life is directed by an inner voice he can't account for...until he returns to Kammerwelt, described in The Handbook of the Planets as the fourth world in the entourage of Robert Palmer's Star, drifting in a far-flung sector of the galaxy known as the Dragon's Maw. Then Myron Tany, in thrall to his zany aunt Dame Hester Lajoie, sets off in her space yacht to find a faraway fountain of youth. The captain flatters Hester agreeably, but when Myron points out that the man is a swindler, he is marooned on an inhospitable planet with barely his passage home. Thus he is given the perfect opportunity to live out his childhood fantasies of intergalactic adventure, alien encounters and exotic romance. Or starve to death. Luckily, the tramp cargo vessel Glicca is just then in need of a supercargo, and Myron is it.

Against the backdrop of the Gaean Reach, the widely populated region of space where the full diversity of human development is revealed, the story of Jaro Fath unfolds: from wildling orphan to spaceship captain, a tale of adventure and discovery wittily told. Jaro's life is directed by an inner voice he cannot account for . . . until he returns to Kammerwelt, described in The Handbook of the Planets as the fourth world in the entourage of Robert Palmer's Star, drifting in a far-flung sector of the galaxy known as the Dragon's Maw. Jaro is haunted by memories of his dead mother's terror, and he is about to find out why . . .