Tschai is a planet orbiting the star Carina 4269, 212 light-years from Earth. It is populated by three alien, mutually hostile species; the displaced, native Pnume; and various human races, some of whom live as slaves or clients of the aliens. Each of the four novels relates Reith's adventures with one of the species, and is named after that species. In order, the books are:City of the ChaschServants of the WankhThe DirdirThe Pnume

Product DescriptionThe Moon Moth:When an out-worlder's body was found in the river, Thissel knew where the criminal was - behind one of the masks worn by the remaining out-worlders on Sirene. But how could he tell which one, on a world where everybody lived behind masks, where men never spoke but sang to instruments, and where any act of intervention with another man's business was punishable by death! This Book's Contents:The Kokod Warriors, The New Prime, The Men Return, Ullward’s Retreat, Coup De Grâce, Dodkin’s Job, The Moon Moth, Green Magic, Alfred’s Ark, Sulwen’s Planet, Rumfuddle.

The minstrel Gastel Etzwane lives in Shant- a country of cantons, each independently dictating its own law and customs. The enforcement of law is simple, quick, and inevitable: death by decapitation, from an explosive torc clamped around each citizen's neck by authority of a single man- the Anome. For millennia Anomes have ruled Shant, dealing death as they see fit- and none dares defy them, until Gastel Etzwane risks his head to expose the Anome’s identity- and end the tyranny of these faceless men forever.The Anome is part 1 of 3 of Durdane.The land of Shant on the planet Durdane is ruled by a purposely anonymous dictator called the Anome or Faceless Man. He maintains control by virtue of the torc, a ring of explosive placed around the neck of every adult in Shant.Cover art by Tais Teng

Trullion - world 2262 of the Alastor Cluster - is a water-world of fens, mists, and idyllic islands set in clear oceans whose teeming richness provides food for the taking. The Trill are a carefree and easy-living people, but violence enters their lives during raids of the Starmenters, freebooting galactic pirates who live short, perilous lives in pursuit of adventure, rape and pillage. Then there's the planet-wide game of hussade - when the Trill's passion for gambling drives them to risk all - even life itself, on the hazardous water-chessboard gaming fields. Their prize? The beautiful sheirlmaiden...

Jack Vance has long been one of the most influential, admired and imitated writers in science fiction and fantasy literature, the award-winning author of such widely acclaimed works as The Dying Earth, the Lyonesse trilogy, the adventures of Cugel the Clever, the Demon Princes series, and many other masterful tales set among the stars, in exotic fantasy realms or on our own Earth. For much of his career, Vance has also been one of the field's most private writers, an author who preferred to let his work speak for him. Now, at last, to coincide with the release of the tribute anthology Songs of the Dying Earth, Jack gives us this intimate and fascinating glimpse into his rich and eventful life, and a valuable insight into how he went about practicing his craft. For fans of the Grand Master's work, these memoirs are something to be treasured.

Tschai is a planet orbiting the star Carina 4269, 212 light-years from Earth. It is populated by three alien, mutually hostile species; the displaced, native Pnume; and various human races, some of whom live as slaves or clients of the aliens. Each of the four novels relates Reith's adventures with one of the species, and is named after that species. In order, the books are:City of the ChaschServants of the WankhThe DirdirThe Pnume

The planet "Cadwal" is forever set aside as a natural perserve, owned and administered by the Naturalist Society of Earth, and inhabited by a very limited number of skilled human scientists and their families. But this system has been complicated by the passing centuries, and has become a byzantine culture where every place in the Houses of Cadwal is the object of savage competition. In "Araminta Station", the first volume of "The Cadwal Chronicles", Jack Vance has constructed a brilliant, complex tale of revenge and murder, of love and alien intrigue, and set it glittering among the stars of the Purple Rose System.

Nebula and World Fantasy Grand Master Jack Vance is one of the most admired and cherished writers of science fiction and fantasy in the world, and is one of the truly important and influential storytellers of the 20th century. From his first published story "The World Thinker" in 1945 to his final novel Lurulu in 2004, Vance has shown an astonishing range of inventiveness, versatility and sheer storytelling power, as well as a gift for language and world-building second to none. Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy and Edgar awards, his acclaimed first book The Dying Earth and its sequels helped shape the face of modern heroic fantasy for generations of readers -- and writers! In more than sixty novels, he has done more than any other author to define science fantasy and its preeminent form: the planetary adventure. Born in San Francisco in 1916, Vance wrote much of what you'll find between these covers both abroad and at home in the hills above Oakland, either while serving in the merchant marine or traveling the world with his wife Norma, all the while pursuing his great love of fine cuisine and traditional jazz. Now, at last, the very best of Vance's mid-length and shorter work has been collected in a single landmark volume. With a Preface by Vance himself and a foreword by long-time Vance reader George R R Martin, it stands as the capstone to a splendid career and makes the perfect introduction to a very special writer.

Jack Vance (writing as Ellery Queen)A Room to Die InSUICIDE! Impossible! Ann Nelson was positive her admittedly eccentric father would never take his own life. Especially not when he'd just come into a pile of cool cash.The question was how to prove it to pigheaded Police Inspector Tarr. Finding the corpse, the gun, and a partly burned blackmail threat in a room locked and bolted from the inside provided a pretty good scenario for suicide and an almost-impossible-to-beat case against murder.Yet Ann was sure her father had been killed, though it took the uncovering of several more bodies before the cops were ready to listen. And then it was almost too late. Ann had put her finger on some dangerous clues, and if she didn't add them up fast enough a deadly murderer would put the finger on her .....

The planet Cadwal has an ecosystem unique in the human-explored galaxy; a thousand years past it was set aside as a natural preserve, protected by law and covenant against colonization and exploitation. But now the elite Conservator culture that has developed on Cadwal is facing a conspiracy of humans and aliens to open the planet, and its rich resources, to full commercial use. Glawen Clattuc, scion of one of the scientific houses of Cadwal, must discover who exactly is behind all the sabotage, and bring them to interplanetary justice. But Glawen soon discovers that he is investigating his own family — there are ancient crimes to be discovered, as well as the key that will resolve the crisis that threatens Cadwal and its way of life.

Tschai is a planet orbiting the star Carina 4269, 212 light-years from Earth. It is populated by three alien, mutually hostile species; the displaced, native Pnume; and various human races, some of whom live as slaves or clients of the aliens. Each of the four novels relates Reith's adventures with one of the species, and is named after that species. In order, the books are:City of the ChaschServants of the WankhThe DirdirThe Pnume