Published as a book, all stories original to the publication. (ref) It contains the following stories:

• Turjan of Miir
• Mazirian the Magician
• T’sais
• Liane the Wayfarer
• Ulan Dhor
• Guyal of Sfere

According to Foreverness, the original title of the collection (The Dying Earth) was strongly disapproved by Vance. Later published under the title Mazirian the Magician. Vance also preferred a different order (starting with the similarly titled “Mazirian the Magician”) for the stories from the one originally used.

Vance wrote the stories while serving in de Pacific as a merchant seaman, during the Second World War. Foreverness writes:

Thought to be influenced by various writers; influences actually mentioned by author include: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jeffery Farnol, P. G. Wodehouse and L. Frank Baum; from The Emerald City of Oz: The Phanfasms were Erbs, and so dreaded by mortals and immortals alike that no one had been near their mountain home for several thousand years. Other interesting Oz echoes occur. (ref)

Jackvance.com asserts that the stories have...

...inspired generations of fantasy writers- from Gene Wolfe and Michael Moorcock, to Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin- and has deeply influenced today’s realms of graphic novels, comics, and fantasy role-playing games (in particular, Dungeons & Dragons). (ref)

See also the Wikipedia article.

Republished as Mazirian the Magician, Spatterlight, 2012

Comment: It’s a bit unclear to what genre this story exactly belongs (unless one reads SF simply as Speculative Fiction).

Quote:

The affair had occurred five years previously. The house was abandoned and perhaps inevitably there was talk of haunting. Jean explicitly corroborated these reports. The group had been jocular, skylarking, inviting ghosts to the feast: all ostensibly casual and careless, but all inwardly thrilling to the spooky look of the house, and the memory of the macabre killing. Jean had noticed a flickering of red light at the window of the living room. She had assumed it to be a reflection of the fire, then had looked again. There was no glass in the window. Others noticed; there were squeals and squeaks from the girls. All rose to their feet. Inside the living room, clearly visible, hung a body, twisting and writhing, clothed in flames. And from within came a series of agonized throat-wrenching sobs.

Republished in Sail 25 and Other Stories, Spatterlight, 2012.

Became part of the novel The Eyes of the Overworld (which was later re-titled as Cugel the Clever).

The novel was republished as Cugel the Clever, Spatterlight, 2012

Became part of the novel The Eyes of the Overworld (split into “The Cave in the Forest” and “The Manse of Iucounu ”). The novel was later re-titled as Cugel the Clever.

The novel was republished by Spatterlight, Cugel the Clever, 2012

Became part of the novel The Eyes of the Overworld (which was later re-titled as Cugel the Clever).

The novel was republished as Cugel the Clever, Spatterlight, 2012

Became part of the novel The Eyes of the Overworld (which was later re-titled as Cugel the Clever).

The novel was republished as Cugel the Clever, Spatterlight, 2012

Comment:

Foreverness writes that the editor came up with the title “The Eyes of the Overworld” and that according to Vance that didn’t make sense, then it should have been “The Eyes of the Underworld”. (ref)

Became part of the novel The Eyes of the Overworld (which was later re-titled as Cugel the Clever).

Republished in Cugel the Clever, Spatterlight, 2012

ISFDB characterizes the novel as a “fix-up/related-story collection”. (ref)

The novel contains the following stories:

• The Overworld (first published December 1965 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
• Cil (original to the novel)
• The Mountains of Magnatz (first published February 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
• The Sorcerer Pharesm (first published April 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
• The Pilgrims (first published June 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
• The Cave in the Forest (first published July 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction as the first part of “The Manse of Iucounu” (ref))
• The Manse of Iucounu (first published July 1966 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

Republished as Cugel the Clever, Spatterlight, 2012

First published in the collection Rhialto the Marvellous, which contained:

• Foreword (original to the publication)
• The Murthe (original to the publication)
• Fader’s Waft (original to the publication)
• Morreion (first published 1973)

Republished in Rhialto the Marvellous, Spatterlight 2012.

First published in the collection Rhialto the Marvellous, which contained:

• Foreword (original to the publication)
• The Murthe (original to the publication)
• Fader’s Waft (original to the publication)
• Morreion (first published 1973)

Republished in Rhialto the Marvellous, Spatterlight 2012.

Contents of this collection:

• Foreword (original to the publication)
• The Murthe (original to the publication)
• Fader’s Waft (original to the publication)
• Morreion (first published 1973)

Republished in Rhialto the Marvellous, Spatterlight 2012.