Eyes of the Overworld: Reading about the adventures of one of fantasy’s greatest rascals.
Fantasy is full of picaros; rascally protagonists that are just as likely to steal the king’s treasure as he is to rescue the King’s daughter. Fritz Leiber’s Grey Mouser and Fafhrd come to mind. None however, are as charming and irredeemable as Cugel the self-proclaimed "Clever" in Jack Vance’s Eyes of the Overworld.
Eyes of the Overworld is set in the distant future where science has given away to occult superstition and the earth’s bloated red sun hangs in the sky like a piece of rotten fruit ready to drop form the vine. In light of earth’s soon to be demise, most people just go about the business of self-gratification. Cugel is a master at this. He is a lazy, untrustworthy, rakish, lecherous, greedy, and impish rogue. Unfortunately for him, he gets caught stealing from a powerful magician and is coerced into performing a task that takes Cugel to the far side of the world. He must use his wits and natural talents (which are fairly base) to return to the wizard and free himself from his service.
Reading about Cugel’s adventures while he accomplishes his task is a beautiful train wreck. Time after time he surprises the reader with his selfish behavior and turns advantage against him. And as bad as Cugel gets, I can’t help but read on. Much of this is a result of Jack Vance’s masterful use of baroque language. Jack Vance weaves a tapestry of obscure words and vivid descriptions that keep the reader ensorcelled. He introduces language in such a way that not only does the willing of suspension of disbelief remain unbroken, but context offers clues to even the most archaic of terms and keeps the reader from running for his dictionary.
This book is a timeless classic of fantasy, and has inspired legions; Gary Gygax, George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman to name a few. If you are interested in getting back to popular fantasy roots, reading something that isn’t a pastiche of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and like scoundrels, this book is for you!
Adam Brennan
LRC Floater
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