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Dust jacket by Tom Kidd

When Jack Vance decided to become a writer, a “million words a year” man as he put it so pragmatically at the time, he also gave fantastic literature one of its most cherished and distinctive voices. Though primarily a novelist throughout his long and distinguished career, this Hugo, Nebula, Edgar and World Fantasy Award-winning Grand Master also produced many short and mid-length works.

Wild Thyme, Green Magic collects an alien’s handful of these wondrous tales, among them the author’s first-ever sale, “The World Thinker”, the unforgettable “Chateau d’If”, the stylish “Green Magic”, the no-punches-pulled “DP”, the macabre, almost Gothic “Seven Exits from Bocz”.

“Who could not return from a visit to Jack Vance’s world without feeling that he had been somewhere unique, that he had experienced things unavailable in our mundane world?” -- Robert Silverberg

“Jack Vance is one of the greatest image-makers of English letters.” -- Frank Herbert

“Jack Vance is one of the finest writers that the science fiction field has ever known.” -- Poul Anderson

“You can’t possibly pass up any book by Jack Vance…He has perfected the trick of creating new worlds so deceptively real that after a while your own home seems imaginary.” -- Jerry Pournelle

Table of Contents:

Introduction by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan
Assault on a City
Rumfuddle
The Augmented Agent
Green Magic
Ullward's Retreat
Coup de Grace
Chateau d'If
The Potters of Firsk
The World-Thinker
Seven Exits from Bocz
Wild Thyme and Violets

From Publishers Weekly:
“The 'spun-silver' prose of fantasy grand master Vance (Lurulu) illuminates 12 delightful stories, some with intriguing afterwords by the author…this showcase follows Vance's career from his very first publication, 1945's 'The World-Thinker,' through 1961's fast-paced novelette 'The Augmented Agent' and 1974's Dying Earth story 'The Seventeen Virgins' to 'Wild Thyme and Violets,' the outline for an Italy-inspired gothic romance that reads like a surreal flash fiction novel and was first published in 2005. Most of the focus is on Vance's work from the 1960s and 1970s, which ranges from dramatic fantasy ('Green Magic') to classic science fiction parables ('Ullward’s Retreat')."

From Fantasy Literature:
“I recommend Wild Thyme, Green Magic to any Jack Vance fan — you’ll enjoy this collection of typical Vance stories: cagey heroes (some of them already familiar), exotic locales (again, some familiar), high adventure, grand and sometimes bewildering ideas, sarcasm, irony, and occasional ten-dollar words. If you’re not yet a Jack Vance fan, here’s a good collection to get you on your way. I suggest starting with ‘Chateau d’ If,’ ‘The Seventeen Virgins,’ and ‘The World-Thinker.’ If you don’t find those stories highly entertaining, there’s probably no hope for you.”