[0RO]∎ [PDF] The Eyes of the Overworld Jack Vance 9780671832926 Books

The Eyes of the Overworld Jack Vance 9780671832926 Books

Download As PDF : The Eyes of the Overworld Jack Vance 9780671832926 Books

The Eyes of the Overworld Jack Vance 9780671832926 Books

This review is specifically for any of a number of four book omnibuses for the Dying Earth series of Jack Vance, N.B.
For the fantasy enthusiast Jack Vance and his Dying Earth series are one of the great monuments of the post 1950s period. These stories fall into the "dying earth" genre, probably derived from Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique series(also great q.v.) and possibly Hodgson's Night Land, which I have not yet read. The series started with the interconnected Dying Earth short stories, all fantastic, followed up by the novel Eyes of the Overworld, also fantastic. Much later Vance padded out two earlier novellettes to make Cugel's Saga and Rhialto the Marvelous, which fall off somewhat from his previous splendor. These two books were cannibalized from novelletes written for Lin Carter's Flashing Swords anthologies. Morreion, one such novelette is included in Rhialto the Marvelous and this story is at least as good as the original Dying Earth material.

Vance's madcap imagination and courtly prose style are unmatched, except perhaps in works such as Clark Ashton Smith's own writing and the works of ER Eddison. Vance blends wonderful plot elements with humor, wit, and symbolism of a very high level. Vance doubles as amateur philosopher, more satisfying than the professional philosophers in the field such as John Norman of Gor fame. For instance, in Morreion a party of magicians rides a magical spaceship to the end of the universe. Often in literature, the quest or journey symbolize life's journey. They enjoy wine and women along the way, until they reach their destination where resides the Nothing. Here Vance allegorizes his life philosophy--atheistic materialism. In Eyes of the Overworld, he satirizes potheads!

Vance's Dying Earth series has been enormously influential, inspiring legions of imitators. I think no other author is so frequently homaged. Book of New Sun by Gene Wolf and Virconium by Harrison owe a debt to the dying earth series and genre. The Dungeons and Dragons magic system and numerous spells and magic items come from the Dying Earth. Also, the failed animated series pilot Korgoth of Barbaria clearly owes a debt specifically to Eyes of the Overworld(This show can be found online and is worth watching).

This specific edition is not perfect; the cover has nothing to do with the stories and it is fraught with typeset errors. However, the print size is good and the volume sits well in ones hands. Altogether recommended--the edition, the author and especially the series!


Tags : The Eyes of the Overworld [Jack Vance] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Eyes of the Overworld is the first of Vance’s picaresque novels about the scoundrel Cugel. Here he is sent by a magician he has wronged to a distant unknown country to retrieve magical lenses that reveal the Overworld. Conniving to steal the lenses,Jack Vance,The Eyes of the Overworld,Pocket,0671832921,Non-Classifiable

The Eyes of the Overworld Jack Vance 9780671832926 Books Reviews

The Eyes of the Overworld is the second part of Tales of the Dying Earth and the main character is one of my favorite Vance characters the self-titled Cugel the Clever. Cugel is not the kind of guy you want to have dealings with -- he's clever, sneaky, completely selfish and remorseless. He is always trying to figure out how he can take advantage of other people in order to make his own circumstances better.

In The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel decides to burglarize the house of Iucounu the Laughing Magician so he can sell some of Iucounu's thaumaturgical artifacts. But the magician catches Cugel and punishes him by setting him on a quest to procure a lens which allows the wearer to view the overworld.

Cugel is clever, but as clever as he is, he often finds himself facing a foe who, at least temporarily, manages to outwit him (which invariably surprises Cugel). This time his quest leads him on a series of misadventures in which he gets captured by rat people... is forced to be the watchman of a village... steals more than one person's inheritance... deals with demons... trades a woman for information... impersonates a god... and travels a million years into the past. Wherever he goes, Cugel, sometimes purposely and sometimes unwittingly, leaves sorrow and destruction in his wake. He deprives people of their hope, their faith and, often, their lives.

This doesn't sound like it should be very entertaining, but oh, it is! That's because the story is written in Jack Vance's singular style high language, bizarre occurrences, and Vance's characteristic humor. I hate to say it again, but the best comparison I can make is to Monty Python. If you're a fan of that type of strange dark humor, then this should be your thing.

I listened to The Eyes of the Overworld in audio format. I can't express how excited I was to learn that Brilliance Audio was producing these, and I'm pleased to report that they did an excellent job. Arthur Morey once again brought out all of the nuances of Vance's humor and he made a perfect Cugel. In fact, The Eyes of the Overworld was even better than The Dying Earth, probably because it follows the same main character rather than being divided up into separate short stories. I loved it.
reading of this classic is excellent.
The story is basically a series of events which take place during the travels of the roguish protagonist, who is sent by a wizard he wronged on a quest to recover a magical artifact. The central character, Cugel, is portrayed as the anti-hero type; a typical rascal who lives his life by the Machiavellian code, and who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. The story is well-written, and certainly worth a reading, but there is not enough character development. The plot is used merely to showcase how much of a rascal Cugel is, and how he interacts with (and takes advanatge of) the various characters he meets on his quest.

Still, Vance creates an interesting and rather intricate fantasy world, whose influence on later authors of the genre is no less profound than that of J.R.R. Tolkien.
This review is specifically for any of a number of four book omnibuses for the Dying Earth series of Jack Vance, N.B.
For the fantasy enthusiast Jack Vance and his Dying Earth series are one of the great monuments of the post 1950s period. These stories fall into the "dying earth" genre, probably derived from Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique series(also great q.v.) and possibly Hodgson's Night Land, which I have not yet read. The series started with the interconnected Dying Earth short stories, all fantastic, followed up by the novel Eyes of the Overworld, also fantastic. Much later Vance padded out two earlier novellettes to make Cugel's Saga and Rhialto the Marvelous, which fall off somewhat from his previous splendor. These two books were cannibalized from novelletes written for Lin Carter's Flashing Swords anthologies. Morreion, one such novelette is included in Rhialto the Marvelous and this story is at least as good as the original Dying Earth material.

Vance's madcap imagination and courtly prose style are unmatched, except perhaps in works such as Clark Ashton Smith's own writing and the works of ER Eddison. Vance blends wonderful plot elements with humor, wit, and symbolism of a very high level. Vance doubles as amateur philosopher, more satisfying than the professional philosophers in the field such as John Norman of Gor fame. For instance, in Morreion a party of magicians rides a magical spaceship to the end of the universe. Often in literature, the quest or journey symbolize life's journey. They enjoy wine and women along the way, until they reach their destination where resides the Nothing. Here Vance allegorizes his life philosophy--atheistic materialism. In Eyes of the Overworld, he satirizes potheads!

Vance's Dying Earth series has been enormously influential, inspiring legions of imitators. I think no other author is so frequently homaged. Book of New Sun by Gene Wolf and Virconium by Harrison owe a debt to the dying earth series and genre. The Dungeons and Dragons magic system and numerous spells and magic items come from the Dying Earth. Also, the failed animated series pilot Korgoth of Barbaria clearly owes a debt specifically to Eyes of the Overworld(This show can be found online and is worth watching).

This specific edition is not perfect; the cover has nothing to do with the stories and it is fraught with typeset errors. However, the print size is good and the volume sits well in ones hands. Altogether recommended--the edition, the author and especially the series!