Na het verdrijven van de Ska houdt Koning Aillas met zijn Ulfse troepen de onneembare vesting Poelitetz bezet, tot groot ongenoegen van Koning Audry van Dahaut, op wie de Ska het fort hadden veroverd. Koning Casmir van -Lyonesse is er al evenmin gelukkig mee, want nu kan hij Dahaut niet langer via de Vlakte der Schaduwen binnenvallen; de Oude Eilanden balanceren op het randje van een grote oorlog... Hoog in de Teach tac Teach tracht oppermagier Murgen vanuit zijn kasteel Swer Smod een mysterieuze dreiging af te wenden, terwijl vanuit een glazen bol de verslagen Tamurello hem in de vorm van...

A society matron underwrites the interstellar tour of an Earth opera company, performing Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini for bewildered human and alien audiences on a kaleidoscopic range of planets. But intrigue and secret agendas complicate what was already a doubtful enterprise, and the matron's feckless nephew finds that the simple country girl he plans to marry is far more mysterious than she seems.
This is Jack Vance at his funniest, rolling out a rollicking picaresque tale where the belly laughs play a perfect duet with the grandmaster's sly observations on the absurdities of life,...

Gold and Iron
Roy Barch, the first Earthman held captive by the Klau on the planet Magarak, had to accomplish the superhuman - he had to fins a way back to Earth And he had to warn his people, make them aware of the menace from the skies, or in no time the entire human race would become slaves of the Klau.

Clarges
Gavin Waylock had been exceedingly careful about hiding his past. Then he met The Jacynth. He recognized that a wisdom far beyond her apparent age allowed Jacynth to know too much about him to live. For her, death would be a mere inconvenience, but once The...

Halma is a planet forever shrouded by the mystical epic of Emphyrio. Governed by an antiquated feudal system, all but the powerful Lords are involved in the planet's arts and crafts handiwork, which is exported and highly regarded throughout the galaxy. Work on machines is punishable by death, and profits are small. From his father Amiante, Ghyl Tarvoke learns that the inequalities of life on Halma can be remedied, and that the answer lies in legend. When Amiante dies a cruel and unjustifiable death, Ghyl begins his quest - to know the true story of Emphyrio.