Reise in die Unterwelt

For the record, I've not read any of the actual Dying Earth books, or even any Vance for that matter, despite pretty extensive familiarity with the material and concepts thanks to a lifetime of ttrpgs. I'm sure that influences how I felt about this one to some degree, maybe if I'd read Vance's stuff first I wouldn't care for this as much as I do. Because I loved this.returnShea's Lovecraft sequel, per a review way back, fell pretty flat for me. Which left me a little apprehensive about this sequel written in someone else's world, though less so due to its reputation (including amongst such notable as Patton Oswalt). This was such a pleasantly surprising experience though.returnIt certainly has some of the sword and sorcery tropes, though it never feels like its really embracing that subgenre. It reminds me a little bit of some of Moorcock's work in that regard.returnI think what really made the book was that it was funny, which was something I wasn't expecting. Its not poking fun at the genre, or Vance's setting, but it also never feels like its taking itself too seriously. The series of misadventures experienced by the characters along their titular quest seem so random, beyond their power, and the characters themselves make such amusingly silly choices at times. This is really working in someone else's world, in a genre that maybe has aged past its prime, at its absolute best.

This book [1974] by Michael Shea is the sequel to Eyes of the Overworld aka Cugel the Clever by Jack Vance [1966]. Vance would go on to write his own sequel Cugel's Saga aka Cugel: The Skybreak Spatterlight [1983]. Comparing the two books is fascinating.

Both begin at the same place and same moment with Cugel finding himself deposited on the same beach he had arrived at in the first book. Here the immediately diverge. Vance takes Cugel across the ocean and then on a somewhat round about trip home.

Shea on the other hand takes Cugel on a quest to find the Wizard Simbilis in the hope that he can be persuaded to return him home and confront his nemeses. The writing is disimler. in both Cugel is cunning and faces constant change in circumstance. Vance who is writing at the height of his powers does this to much greater effect. Vance's Cugel is constantly making great fortunes and loosing them a page later. Shea's cugel has a more typical difficult journey. The winds of fate blow less hard.

Its unclear if Shea has attempted to approximate the language of Vance, but if he has he has not come close. Vance writes with blinding wit, Shea stands in pale comparison.

Still Shea does manage to capture some of the incredibly diverse settings that Vance has conjured.

I would not recommend this book. It's fine, but surely only of interest to those who have read both of Vance's previous efforts. Those who have will be somewhat disappointed. Still it is not without merit, and is a short enjoyable read. Readers who have not read the two works by Vance would be much better starting there. Those who want more Vance should try Songs of the Dying Earth, the anthology edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.