Cugel's Saga [Paperback]

Jack Vance (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Grafton Books (1986)
• ISBN-10: 0586063196
• ISBN-13: 978-0586063194
• ASIN: B000KKGRL6
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,803,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare fantasy gem, March 29, 2005

By 

Happy Jack (Georgia, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cugel's saga (Hardcover)

Vance smoothed and decorated a small niche of fantasy / sci-fi where overly-mannered, ceremonius language is put to comedic and adventurous use. Critics confuse Vance tales of lacking in plot. True, his books tend to lack subtle scheming and unforeen forces at work against the protagonist. However, the true plots are the rich settings themselves: Cugle is matching wits (often with negative results) with fantastic settings, creatures and customs that no rational person would conceive, let alone write about in brilliant tones. Cugles travels from episode, to episode, trying to get home.

Vance has thankfully chosen to render his artistry in a genre mocked and ignored by confused critics who dislike unfamiliarity.

I urge you to gather up this book, as well as the entire Dying Earth series, and without question read the "Demon Princes" series. You'll appreciate a true artist working in colors and hues rarely seen in fantasy or sci-fi.

One last recommendation: Michael Shea's "Incompleat Nifft" is a worthy homage to Cugel, with a hefty dose of Lovecraft. I highly recommend that book as well if you enjoyed The Dying Earth series.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jack Vance's unique style of language is unmatched., September 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cugel's saga (Hardcover)

Jack Vance's "Cugel's Saga" is my favourite fantasy novel (the other "Dying Earth" novels coming a close second) - his unique style of writing is unparalleled in fantasy fiction. How often have you read a fantasy novel that tried to furbish you with a so-so plot, but used a style of writing so hackneyed and drab that it hurt? In Vance, you not only get a lovable protagonist in ne'er-do-well Cugel, who's so utterly selfish and vainglorious that the reader can only be baffled and thoroughly amused, but you also get witty characterizations, weird plot turns and the most artistic dialogue you'd ever expect in a fantasy novel. Acidic irony, villainy carefully disguised under a mantle of impeccable (?) politeness, and enough high-brow expressions to fill a mid-level dictionary. The plot is basically a chain of unconnected "scenes", one more imaginative than the other, which could go on indefinitely, but sadly has to end at a point. And here we have the one downside to the book: Its end. Compared to the colorful happenings during the whole of the novel, the end is somewhat of an anticlimax. But Vance, who excels at creating highly complex and enjoyable mini-scenarios, can be forgiven the fact that epic plots are not one of his strengths. If you can get ahold of this out-of-print book, give it a try. Chances are that you will at least like it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable to any true Vance collector!, August 9, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Wethersfield, Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cugel's saga (Hardcover)

Continuing to explore the fantastic world first
seen in "The Dying Earth" and in the second volume of
the series, "The Eyes of the Overworld" (another
must-have!), Vance spins the tale of an ordinary
fellow, Cugel, of no great moral fiber, who ires the
wizard Iucounu, known as the Laughing Magician. The
mage then sends him on a quest, with an on-board
passenger named Firx (from Achernar, a far star) to
goad him. Intrigued? You should well be-- this is
one of Vance's greatest works, eclipsed in this
reviewer's estimation only by "The Eyes of the
Overworld" for pure picaresque adventure and humor.
Rogues tend to be Vance's funniest characters, and
Cugel is his best. Also highly recommended:
"Rhialto the Marvellous"