What do You think about Cugel's Saga (2015)?
Like its companion novel, Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga is an odd duck of a book, nominally fantasy, but different from most popular fantasy in setting and style. It takes place on a far future Earth, where magic exists, the Sun is about to go out (or so the inhabitants of the world believe), and all manner of odd people, weird creatures, and bizarre societies occupy their own corners of the world. The writing is very tongue-in-cheek, mixing high-minded language and ideas with low humor, and the hero of the story, Cugel, is about as much of a vain, swindling, self-serving rogue as can be imagined. Exiled to a distant beach by a magician that he failed to rob in the previous book, Cugel wanders through a wholly different series of misadventures than before, each time coming up with some clever scheme to enrich himself, and almost (but not quite) pulling it off.Despite the overt silliness of affairs, Vance is a smart, literate writer, and the clever exchanges between characters can be a hoot. Everyone on the Dying Earth, it seems, from cart boys to sorcerers, is an amateur philosopher, theologian, legal scholar, or student of etiquette, though many are as amusingly corrupt as Cugel himself. A number of the situations he gets implicated in have a parable-like meaning, if one reads between the lines. And the background world seems full of half-forgotten myth and history, which, while never explored in much depth, gives the story's details a tapestry-like richness. (Speaking of which, if you're interested in a more serious-minded cycle of books set on a similar end-of-Earth world, I highly recommend Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, which was directly inspired by Vance's Dying Earth, and takes it to a whole new level.)As with Eyes of the Overworld, the episodic nature of the story and lack of recurring characters limits its depth, but if you're in the mood for something imaginatively *different*, either or both novels are worth a read. I thought this one had a bit more continuity than its predecessor and made Cugel a little more sympathetic, so I liked it more. I also enjoyed the audiobook narrator's inspired choice of making Cugel sound like Richard Nixon.
—Ryan
"Without urgent goals, life is insipid!" After a 17 years pause (so quit complaining fans of Game of Thrones about when the next book is coming out) Jack Vance returns to his Dying Earth universe with another book focused on Cugel the 'not-so-clever-as-he-thinks-he-is' . Vance knew he was on to a good thing whith this completely amoral and accident prone scoundrel and decided to throw him back in the soup as Iucounu the Laughing Magician sends Cugel once more to the farthest corner of the map, away from civilized Almery. Deja vu much?Cugel's life is anything but insipid, as he tries to get back to Almery and exact his revenge on the powerful magician. The pattern set up in The Eyes of the Underworld is repeated here as Cugel alternatively lies, cheats, steals and tricks everybody he meets along the way, only to get lied, cheated, robbed, beaten and tricked in his turn: Cugel's visit to Cuirnif was marred by several disagreeable incidents, and he left town with more haste than dignity. The joy and fascination of the journey resides in the inexhaustible power of Jack Vance to imagine outlandish settings, grotesque fauna and flora and weird social institutions. You never know what Cugel will come across next and how he will manage to get in trouble again and again. The book is almost twice as long as the previous one, but I didn't notice it as the urge to turn the page and read the next adventure made the long journey pass in a flash. In the first episode, Cugel gains employment in the house of a treasure hunter. The tresure lies at the bottom of a mud pit where divers seek the scattered scales of a demon dragon fallen from the Overworld. Most of the fun comes from the desperate efforts of Cugel to avoid getting his hands muddied while stealing as many of the scales as he can. Of course, his plans are too clever by half and he ends up with nothing (except the most powerful scale of all, that will be used as a sort of McGuffin for the rest of the novel to link Cugel's picaresque adventures into the main plot.)Next stop is at the Inn of the Blue Lamps, where Cugel enters into an outrageous betting game with another crook for a place on the next ship to leave the shore. On the losing side again, Cugel must accept the position of worminger on the ship. In case you're wondering, a worminger must take care of the pair of giant sea worms that are pulling the ship along its route, a backbreaking, tedious and very, very wet job.The worm driven ship makes an escale in Lausicaa, a most peculiar island that reinded me of the way Jonathan Swift used comedy and sarcasm to address social issues: Those of you who have visited this place before, I doubt if there are many, will understand why I must issue warnings. In a nut-shell, you will find certain customs which guide the folk of this island to be at variance with our own. They may impress you as strange, grotesque, laughable, disgraceful, picturesque or commendable, depending upon your point of view. Whatever the case, we must take note of these customs and abide by them, since the folk of Lausicaa will definitely not alter their ways in favor of ours. No, the mystery of Lausicaa is neither Lilliputanians or Brobdingnagians but the lustful nature of its womenfolk, so strong that men are force to hide their faces behind burkas lest they drive the fair sex wild with temptation. As Cugel and the rest of the male visitors don the face veils, the scene is set for a Molliere style pantomime of mistaken identity, lovers thrysts and bastonades. Bring out the popcorn folks, and enjoy the way Cugel's get rich quick plans unravel.Quick on his feet as ever, Cugel manages not only to run away from trouble, but to sail away on a stolen ship with only a portly matron and her three nubile daughters on board. Sailing the Ocean of Sights as your own captain with a personal harem ready to satisfy your every whim should give Cugel an early taste of Paradise, but we all know who we're dealing here with : Cugel's lands once again in the soup / mud on another strange shore with only the tattered clothes on his back to show for all his efforts.No matter, across the next hill there's another village with strange customs : the women do all the work, while the men sunbathe all day at the top of tall marble pillars. The higher the pillar, the more prestige for the woman whose husband loafs there. So the most lucrative business in the village is that of the stonecutter who builds up the pillars from the ruins of previous cities. The mason just happens to be old and behind schedule in his stone deliveries, so Cugel applies for the post of apprentice. Of course, Cugel doesn't like to exert himself, and he soon devises a plan to work less for more pay, and of course the plan backfires and our hero is again on the run, but this time he manages to come away with a useful magical potion, one that can make heavy objects levitate.After an interlude with a magician who wants to steal Cugel's powerful dragon scale and a flying bed ride across the sky (Alladin reference?) , Cugel continues his journey by caravan across a desert region. As this is the Dying Earth universe, the crossing is as unusual as the worm driven ship. Cugel uses his antigravity spell to set out in a floating ship where he hopes he will not only turn out a profit from first class passengers, but enjoy the respect and the perks of the captain position. Alas, he is once again too clever for his own good and has to work harder than all the erst of the caravan, while trying to discover which of his passengers is a serial killer before he becomes the next victim.The man can catch no break at all, but slowly and surely he gets closer to the destination on his rollercoater ride that at one time makes him night guard to a consignment of seventeen virgins to a festival (what could possibly go wrong with this picture) and the next forces to play cards with a demon in exchange for his own life. A chance to win the big prize at a magical fair with his display of a wormwhole to another dimension turns nasty when Cugel messes with the stuff dreams are made off.I thought the end of the journey and the final confrontation with Iucounnu came too abruptly, but that is probably because I wanted to go on in Cugel's company, becaue I felt there was so much more of the world to explore. I know there is one more book to read in the series, but I did a sneak preview and I think Cugel is not in it. I will miss this guy, he has become as much an icon of sword & sorcery as Fafhrd, Grey Mouser, Elric, Kane or Conan. In a bittersweet farewell, Cugel urges us to live our lives to the full, living in the present and enjoying every second of our journey regardless of how lucky the cards we have been dealt are, because the Sun might go off at any time and afterwards there will be only cold, darkness and emptiness.I was going to rate the book four stars, as I felt it lacks the majesty and the grand scope of the opening volume, and it is too similar to the second book, but as I retraced the steps of the journey and as I chuckled at every misstep and every misadventure of the irrepressible swashbuckling rogue I realized Cugel Saga turned out to be just as memorable as the previous Dying World experiences.
—Algernon
General description'Cugel's Saga' is the third book of the 'Dying Earth' saga. The plot is basically the same of The Eyes of the Overworld of which this book is a sequel. There is a time gap of 16 years between the publications of these two books. During this long time gap, A Quest For Simbilis,written by Michael O'Shea, has been published as an official sequel of The Eyes of the Overworld. However, when Vance writes 'Cugel's Saga' takes the story to a different direction compared to the one of O'Shea. In Cugel's saga, Cugel is left with no money (terces) and needs to return home to Almery where he will face his nemesis, Iucounu the laughing magician. In this book, the references to the Odissey are even more apparent than in the previous book. Cugel now travels by sea and even reaches an island called Lausicaa, which is a reference to the Odissey character Nausicaa.Cugel is not so arrogant as in the first book because he realises he is not as clever as he thought. This makes his character more likeable to the reader compared to how he was presented in the previous novel. Most characters of the Dying Earth also try to conspire against him, steal from him or even kill him. In this novel Cugel plays the role of the likeable rogue of the picaresque novels who try to survive in a dangerous world when all odds are against him. Sometimes Cugel feels like a Kafkian character with all rules and decisions aimed at damaging him. An example of this is the first story, in which Cugel is prisoner of the absurd rules of Twango's mansion where all he can earn by working is used to pay the food he eats and he cannot leave until he settles his accounts.What I liked the least about this bookThe book does not use the original setting in which the 'Dying Earth' saga is based, which blends fantasy and science fiction. Vance decided to remove all the science fiction elements including lost technology and alien-like species. I think this book would have stood out more if the extremely original and unique setting of the 'Dying Earth' saga was used.What I liked the most about this bookThe stories are enjoyable, imaginative and well told. The characters are well defined and realistic. There are less loose ends compared to the previous book of the series.
—Riccardo
