Thomcat
5/22/2024
The last of the Vance's Dying Earth, this feels like a collection of three stories, none of them strong. All three touch on IOUN stones, with the third fully detailing them. Interesting history, not the best narrative.
The title character was described as "the wisest and most sympathetic of all of Vance's wizards" and I'm not sure I agree. The most apt comparison is to Cugel the Clever, the star of two books. Rhialto wasn't as clever or despicable as portrayed, and yet his fellows (one especially) really had a bone to pick with him. The underlying theme is that they are jealous - he is better looking, more accomplished, etc. - but the author doesn't do much to prove that point.
I've played D&D for decades and the details of the stones here is really interesting stuff. I won't go into details, though the folks at Goodman Games have in their Dying Earth RPG. Would be fun to use some of that material in my home game!
Overall rating, 3 stars - glad I read it, will mine parts for the history. Similar rating and comments for the entire series, even though I rated the earlier books 4 star (really liked). The final here is a bit of a letdown.