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. Out of this welter of exotic politics, values systems, personal eccentricity, and magic, the figure of Rhialto slowly comes into focus and takes on dimension. He is a vain, apparently superficial man, not ashamed to demonstrate his melancholy to enhance his reputation. But he is courteous, patient, and subtle, even kind. He is self-aware and introspective as Cugel never could be—the wisest and most sympathetic of all of Vance’s wizards.
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"Especially brave when his enemies are tied up, enormously selfish, a role model to none, Rhialto truly is marvellous. " — Jonathan (5 out of 5 stars)
"Especially brave when his enemies are tied up, enormously selfish, a role model to none, Rhialto truly is marvellous. "
" Word candy. All of Vance's book have delicious syntax but for some reason this is my all time favorite. "
" Read as part of 'Tales of the Dying Earth' trade p/b omnibus "
" Probably my least favorite Dying Earth book and character. The characters were all interchangeable and rather dull compared to previous Vance works. The writing is still as grandly lush as ever, but overall it lacks substance and Vance's charm isn't enough to make it worthwhile. "
" I basically have the same thoughts about this that I had about the earlier Dying Earth books: love the prose and worldbuilding and wit, shame about how he wrote women. It seemed harder to ignore in this one because Rhialto and the other wizards are constantly treating them as things/toys/prizes. "
" Especially brave when his enemies are tied up, enormously selfish, a role model to none, Rhialto truly is marvellous. "
" Apparently I missed something because everyone else loves this book. I hated it. What a pretentious piece of garbage. And nothing happens. Dumb, dumb, dumb. "
" re-reading concurrently with my son: what joy! these are the kind of laughs that last forever. "
Jack Vance (1916–2013) published his first story, “The World Thinker,” in 1945 and has since written over sixty books. Best known as a science fiction and fantasy writer, Vance has won several awards in those genres, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement and a number of Hugo Awards. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Ellery Queen, Peter Held, John Holbrook, John van See, and Alan Wade.
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.
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