Fantasy Books - Non-Epic In Nature

[Ragnorakk]

This Vance tangent is interesting.
When i started the first book of Lyonesse, I really kinda hated it. I think at that point I had read a decent amount of his other works, so it wasn't a matter of coming into this dry. It is one of the few books I can remember asking myself "why bother?" I don't generally abandon books and ended up not giving up on this one. And at some point, my difficulty with it flipped 180 degrees - I have often afterwards wished I could remember what point in the story this happened, but after two re-reads, I cannot - and came away totally immersed in the story.

I'd agree with what others have said above re: Dying Earth & Eyes - I think that the narrative focus of Eyes (Cugel) could make it a more satisfying entry point than Dying Earth.

[T. Foster]

I prefer the Lyonesse books to the Dying Earth books, but I do remember that the first one got off to a pretty slow start and for the first hundred or so pages it wasn't at all clear where things were going and it didn't really start feeling like a Jack Vance book until about the point where the wizard Shimrod is introduced.

[Terrex]

I've read both Dragon Masters and Last Castle. I agree with RA on Dragon Masters being too thin. I did not know Last Castle was an award-winning story/novella. It deserves it. For me, it's right up there with the original Dying Earth and Demon Princes as among Vance's best. If you haven't, TFoster, you should read it. It is short, even for Vance. My copy is a 2-in-1 Ace paperback where it takes up half of a short book, then you flip the book over and there's another "front cover" to a book which takes up the other half of the pages. I believe this copy had a few illustrations, too. I'm not sure if they were done by Vance or an actual artist. They were kind of cool, but rough.

[ScottM]

I've really enjoyed The Vance books I've read, so just purchased Dragon Masters & The Last Castle paperback.

[grodog]

I prefer the Lyonesse books to the Dying Earth books, but I do remember that the first one got off to a pretty slow start and for the first hundred or so pages it wasn't at all clear where things were going and it didn't really start feeling like a Jack Vance book until about the point where the wizard Shimrod is introduced.

Apparently they're being adapted to a full RPG now: http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/201 ... oming.html

Allan.

[T. Foster]

There’s a bit of poetic irony there, because the Mythras system is (from what I understand) the version of Mongoose Publishing’s edition of RuneQuest after Chaosium cancelled their license to the RQ name, and BITD when Avalon Hill had the rights to RQ they apparently came very close to licensing Vance’s Lyonesse as an alternative setting to Glorantha (which required approval from Chaosium).

[TRP]

I prefer the Lyonesse books to the Dying Earth books, but I do remember that the first one got off to a pretty slow start and for the first hundred or so pages it wasn't at all clear where things were going and it didn't really start feeling like a Jack Vance book until about the point where the wizard Shimrod is introduced.

Apparently they're being adapted to a full RPG now: http://akraticwizardry.blogspot.com/201 ... oming.html

Allan.

Hmmmm .. something about the Mythras rule book cover looks familiar. Now, where I have seen that before?

I didn't know it was allowed to steal a games cover along with cloning the rules.

As for using Runequest/BRP rules for Lyonesse, I think a better choice is DJ:Mythus. At least that's the road I'm taking. Epic of Aerth was practically built for Lyonesee and Averoigne.