We’re celebrating the release of DCC Dying Earth all this Month with articles in honor of Jack Vance.Howard and James’ Ten Vance FavoritesRecently the Skull issued a decree to various minions, bonded thralls, pseudo-sandestins, and temps from the secretarial pool to provide for his edification a list of their favorite works from the great and powerful wordsinger Jack Vance. Much of these replies were inferior, riddled with wrong opinions and bad taste, and those responsible were punished with hideous thoroughness for their failure. Only the perennial worthies Howard Andrew Jones and James Enge adequately fulfilled the Skull’s demands, not only sparing themselves a sorcerous expurgation, but providing a handy list of stand-out favorites from Jack Vance that make for a great recommended reading list.Howard: With an author as gifted and prolific as Jack Vance it’s a challenge to select ten favorites because that list might change depending on your mood. It turns out that a lot of my favorites overlapped with James Enge’s, but we decided to discuss different books. And sometimes I cheated.Five Vance Favorites from James EngeTo Live Forever/ClargesA harrowing tale of revenge and social climbing in a futuristic city where the first prize is immortality and the second prize is death. The first prize is also death.The Eyes of the OverworldHere’s where I rant a bit. This is one of the greatest works of sword-and-sorcery ever written. An episodic novel whose episodes (mostly) appeared in F&SF during the 1960s, the story follows (but does not endorse) the actions of Cugel the Clever: thief, trickster, liar, and just a tad less clever than he thinks he is. He fails in an attempt to loot a sorcerer’s mansion and is hurled to the far side of the world. He has to con, sneak, and fight his way home to have his revenge on Iocounu the Laughing Magician, which he does… sort of. The setting is Vance’s greatest creation, the Dying Earth: full of magical traps, ancient menaces, and red shadows in the last days before the sun goes dark.Space OperaMaybe Vance’s funniest book. An eccentric millionaire drags her nephew and a picked company of Earth’s greatest operatic talent to stage an interstellar tour of opera performances before nonhumans. Nothing goes as planned.The Blue WorldThis is an adventure novel on a worldwide ocean where human beings, having practically no resources...