A review by gengelcox
Liane the Wayfarer by Jack Vance

5.0

The developers of Dungeons and Dragons knew [a:J. R. R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1564399522p2/656983.jpg]. With the success of [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3)|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566425108l/33._SX50_.jpg|3462456] it would have been hard to develop a fantasy game without including something of his influence. But other authors were just as influential, including Jack Vance, whose Dying Earth stories contain so many elements of what would be incorporated in that game. Things such as the bronze ring that Liane finds early in this story, a tiara that somehow enlarges itself as you put it on to fall down and encompass your own body, giving you a space to hide in that is apart from the rest of the world. Like a bag of holding. And Liane is a thief and a brigand, one of the D&D character staples, and he runs into a several magic users. Vance was incredibly inventive and this is a prime example. Recommended to any and all fantasy buffs.