Cugel's saga [Hardcover]

Jack Vance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1983

"Vance sees himself in the tradition of popular fantasy writers, but his classic writing style is also comparagle to Homer’s Odyssey, and Cervante's Don Quixote. Though the Cugel tales may lack the scope and pathos of the greatest adventure yarns, in the twenty-first century, they may be as close as one gets to the celebration of epic human perseverance."--editor, Brilliance Audio Cugel’s Saga, published 17 years after Eyes of the Overworld, is the second novel that features the scoundrel and trickster, Cugel. Again, Cugel tests wits with Iucounu and acquires rudimentary powers himself. “Cugel the Clever [is] a rogue so venal and unscrupulous that that he makes Harry Flashman look like Dudley Do-Right. How could you not love a guy like that? .... Judging from the number of times that Cugel has come back ... you can’t keep a bad man down.” —George R.R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire. “Cugel the Clever [is] a liar and thief in a doomed world of liars and thieves.... Probably the least attractive hero it would be possible to find, struggling through a universe like a Hieronymus Bosch painting, a hero only in that nearly everybody else he encounters in that universe is on the make too, and yet the Cugel stories are howlingly funny.” —Kage Baker, author of Empress of Mars.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Vance is one of the greats of science fiction. He has been writing for more than 60 years, and in 1997 was honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. He is the author of dozens of science fiction and fantasy novels, including the World Fantasy Award winning Lyonnesse series, and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning The Last Castle. He lives in Oakland, California. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 334 pages
• Publisher: Distributed by Simon and Schuster (1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671494503
• ISBN-13: 978-0671494506
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,491,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

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"