A charming rogue undertakes an epic journey across a dying planet in the World Fantasy Award–winning author’s classic tale of adventure and revenge. The Earth is now a world older than memory, a place where the lowly inhabitants await the final twilight of the bloated red sun. But Cugel the Clever is nothing if not a survivor. Now, for the second time, Iucounu the Laughing Magician has magicked Cugel across the Ocean of Sighs to the faraway Shanglestone Strand. Beset by thieves and schemers, whose cunning almost equals his own, Cugel must fight the long way back to Iucounu’s manse where he intends to exact a terrible revenge before the old red sun goes out forever. Mixing sardonic humor and high adventure, World Fantasy Award–winning author Jack Vance weaves a picaresque tale of treachery and danger in his classic Tales of the Dying Earth series.

Edwer Thissell is having trouble adjusting to life on the planet Sirene. The Sirenese all wear masks to indicate their social status. They also communicate by playing instruments that are carefully selected for any social situation. (To make matters worse, errors of musical etiquette often prove fatal.) Shortly after Thissell arrives on Sirene, he finds himself embroiled in an unsolved murder made all the more mysterious by the fact that since everyone must always wear a mask, you can never be sure who you are dealing with.

The story of a young man's quest to discover the secret of his own origin, hidden by his adoptive parents and lost with their untimely death, "Night Lamp" features exotic settings, interesting characters, and classic Vance storytelling charm.

A four book volume containing "The Dying Earth," "The Eyes of the Overworld," "Cugal's Saga," and "Rhialto the Marvellous."

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.