Books like The Eyes of the Overworld

Underneath the fading sun, Cugel--a hero--emerges. Well, sort of a hero, but more of a trickster. Less Hector, more Ulysses; less Samson, more Jacob; less Tom, and a lot more Huck. Cugel, however, is less likable than any of the these. Selfish, exploitative, and filled with unlimited self-regard, he continually overestimates his own considerable intelligence and fails where a lesser man might have succeeded.Paradoxically, it is Cugel's flaws and failures that keep us on his side during his picaresque journey, and his personality helps organize what might otherwise seem a disconnect series of tales. Vance's prose is still eccentric but more fluid than in the previous "Dying Earth" collection, and his imagination continues to astound: his descriptions of landscapes, individual flora and fauna are mesmerizing, and his plot inventions--particular the "eyes" mentioned in the title--are a source of continual delight.