Rhialto the Marvellous takes up the personal and political conflicts among a conclave of two dozen magicians of Ascolais and Almery in the 21st Aeon. The shocking appearance of the Llorio the Murtha, a powerful female force from an earlier aeon threatens to unbalance nature by "ensqualming" or feminizing the magicians. This triggers a tremendous struggle for power and the other mages turn against Rhialto. Hoping to reestablish his rightful place, Rhialto travels to other aeons to restore the missing Perciplex which projects the Mostrament, the constitution of the association. In his final adventure, Rhialto must, ultimately, travel to the very ends of time and space to confront an old adversary whom he had wronged and must commit further misdeeds to restore order.

The Dying Earth series concludes as “a group of magicians embark on various adventures . . . recounted in Vance’s wonderful, unique prose” (The Guardian). Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Jack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents to ever grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. One of his enduring classics is his The Dying Earth series, fascinating, baroque tales set on a far-future Earth, under a giant red sun that is soon to go out forever. Rhialto the Marvellous contains three linked novellas about the adventures of the wizard Rhialto across the decadent landscape of the Dying Earth, under its swollen red sun. “Chock full of the ludicrous circumstances and strange humor that Jack Vance fans love.” —Fantasy Literature “In the end, there is nothing like Rhialto the Marvellous in Vance’s oeuvre . . . one of his most under-appreciated best.” —Speculiction

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

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.

New races of man had evolved, new species of beast; science had vanished and magic had arisen to dominate the twilight of our world as it dominated the earth's morning. The Dying Earth is Jack Vance's finest work - a stunning evocation of a world peopled by wizards, witches, demons, monsters, dashing princes and forlorn maidens. A bejewelled gallery of strange and wonderful beings in the eminent tradition of Tolkien and William Morris. Jack Vance's preferred title for this collection is Mazirian the Magician, but while we have elsewhere deferred to his wishes, in this case the book is so famous under a title of which he apparently strongly disapproves that we concluded it would be absurd to change it. All Jack Vance titles in the SFGateway use the author's preferred texts, as restored for the Vance Integral Edition (VIE), an extensive project masterminded by an international online community of Vance's admirers. In general, we also use the VIE titles, and have adopted the arrangement of short story collections to eliminate overlaps.