Jack Vance's Dying Earth
 

I've been looking through the archives and reading about some of the more "classic" fantasy that is out there. I haven't read enough of these classics so I figure I'll give Jack Vance's Dying Earth series a go, as they sound pretty good.

I'm a little confused as to what books make up the series though. As far as I can tell, The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rhialto the Marvellous make up the quartet. But I also found other books that as far as I can tell are also related. These are Murreion, The Seventeen Virgins, The Bagful of Dreams and The Laughing Magician.

My question is how are these second set of books related to the Dying Earth series. Are they essential or just an extension. Do they have to be read to fully appreciate the series and if so, what is the order?

I have only read one (overlord), but it seemed to me just the basic adverture-encounter format: The character has some vague quest to do, but most of the book consists of those events they encounter while travelling. If the other books are the same then not only could you enjoy the books out of order, but you would still understand most if you read the chapters backwards.

By coincidence, I just re-read the first book in the quartet, The Dying Earth, last week. It's my favorite of the four books, although I did like the other three.

I did some searching on Google, as I haven't heard of the titles you mentioned.
The Laughing Magicianis a book which contains The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga. I think the other titles you mentioned are short stories that possibly have something to do with Cugel. At any rate, I don't think they're essential to the series.

You're right. There are 4 books in the Dying Earth series. However, these are not really novels but story collections. You can compare it with Fritz Leiver Lankhmar which is also a collection of one novel, some novellas and a lot of short stories. 17 virgins, bagful of dreams are the titles of individual stories in the Cugel saga. Here is a complete listing :

Tales of the Dying Earth Jack Vance (Orion/Millennium 1-85798-994-5, Apr 2000, £7.99, 741pp, tp, cover by Geoff Taylor) [Dying Earth]; Fantasy omnibus of all the “Dying Earth” books: The Dying Earth (1950); The Eyes of the Overworld (1966); Cugel’s Saga (1983); and Rhialto the Marvellous (1984). Volume 4 in the “Fantasy Masterworks” series. [First U.K. edition]
• The Dying Earth • oc New York: Hillman Books, 1950
3 • Turjan of Miir • ss The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
17 • Mazirian the Magician • ss The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
32 • T’sais • nv The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
55 • Liane the Wayfarer • ss The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
65 • Ulan Dhor [“Ulan Dhor Ends a Dream”] • nv The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
89 • Guyal of Sfere • nv The Dying Earth, Hillman, 1950
• The Eyes of the Overworld [Cugel] • co New York: Ace, 1966
133 • The Overworld [Cugel] • nv F&SF Dec ’65
158 • Cil [Cugel] • nv The Eyes of the Overworld, Ace, 1966
180 • The Mountains of Magnatz [Cugel] • nv F&SF Feb ’66
206 • The Sorcerer Pharesm [Cugel] • nv F&SF Apr ’66
228 • The Pilgrims [Cugel] • nv F&SF Jun ’66
261 • The Cave in the Forest [Cugel] • ss F&SF Jul ’66
273 • The Manse of Iucounu [Cugel] • ss F&SF Jul ’66
• Cugel’s Saga [Cugel] • n. Underwood-Miller: Columbia, PA, 1983
501 • The Seventeen Virgins [Cugel] • nv F&SF Oct ’74
523 • The Bagful of Dreams [Cugel] • nv Flashing Swords! #4, ed. Lin Carter, Dell, 1977
• Rhialto the Marvelous • co Underwood-Miller: Columbia, PA, 1984
581 • Foreword • fw
585 • The Murthe • na Rhialto the Marvellous, Underwood-Miller/Brandywyne, 1984
609 • Fader’s Waft • na Rhialto the Marvellous, Underwood-Miller/Brandywyne, 1984
701 • Morreion • na Flashing Swords! #1, ed. Lin Carter, Dell, 1973

Thanks the clarification, Lowlander. I guess I'm off to the local second hand bookshops later today. :)