An exemplary painter of worlds and cultures. Vance's books are not so about what happens as where the story is set. His writings glow with alien cuisines and bizarre customs and odd social mores and intriguing caste systems. In short his writings have all the twiddly bits that real worlds have. Vance ornaments his writings with quotes from invented poets, footnotes explaining local customs on far-flung planets, references to the great works of galactic culture. This all adds to the richness of reading Vance. A number of Vance's books (and the best for me) are set in his Gaean reach. Mankind has reached the stars, a thousand and one social experiments have been tried on new worlds. Feeding Vance's imaginations are the cultures of "Old Earth". Subtly distilled as they are nonetheless much is founded on real cultures and customs here. There are some subliminal strands in Vance's work. I'm almost not sure they're there but one concerns the right of conquest, which is unfashionable nowadays. So one wonders at whether something like "The Gray Prince" has a political sub-text. Vance is not so good or sympathetic with his female characters. Well that's the feeling I have.
The Alastor cluster books are linked by being set in worlds ruled by the Connatic, a ruler who prizes his anonymity. "Trullion: Alastor 2262" is classic Vance in which his devised game of hussade plays a large role, as does a detective theme. "Marune: Alastor 933" is another mystery story pervaded by a different culture and also atavistic magic. In a number of Vance's books a streak of nature magic or telepathy can be found. "Wyst: Alastor 1716" depicts an idealist lost in a society where affirmative shopping is the order of the day.
Night Lamp published in 1996 is one of Vance's last books, but very worthwhile reading. An evocative and rich story. A young lad grows to adulthood in a club and prestige fixated society. But he doesn't know who he is - the journey of discovery will take him to the isolated world of "Night Lamp". Where an artistic but decayed aristocracy like alongside barbarous semi-human tribes.
Vance's Demon Princes series has five books in it; The Star King, The Killing Machine, The Palace of Love, The Face, and The Book of Dreams. It tells the tale of Kirth Gersen and his quest for vengeance on the master interplanetary criminals (known as the Demon Princes) who killed his parents. It combines detective fiction, humour, science fiction, heroic fantasy, and a stroll through strange lands.