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Jack Vance (b.John Holbrook Vance on August 28, 1916 in San Francisco, California) wrote his first story during WWII while serving in the merchant marine. He continued to publish stories in the pulps during the late 1940s, and published his first novel, The Dying Earth, in 1950. The Dying Earth is a landmark novel. It can be categorized as science fiction because it takes place in the far, far future, where technology has waned and magic is the order of the day. The sun is dimming, and could go out anytime. Most people are content to lead lives of either hedonistic pleasure or depressed nihilism, but a cadre of wizards all vie for greater power—not to save the world, but for their own glorification. Vance would go on to write more novels and stories in this setting, including The Eyes of the Overworld and Cugel's Saga, both of which feature Cugel, a minor wizard of weak morals. Note that Michael Shea also wrote an authorized sequel to The Eyes of the Overworld that features Cugel, A Quest for Simbilis.

Vance often creates such far-future worlds that evoke a fantasy look and feel. He won his first Hugo Award for one such, The Dragon Masters, a tale of war and chivalry that involves genetically engineered dragons.

A prolific author, Vance also specialized in planetary romances that feature wide-open worlds filled with aliens and alien humans that have fractured into strange cultures and habits. Big Planet is a prime example, about a world that’s much larger than Earth, but poor in metal so the gravity is tolerable. The planet provides a vast canvas for travel and adventure. The "Planet of Adventure" series works in the same vein, but is notable in that it has aliens—a rarity for Vance. In this case, one planet is home to four intelligent species, each of which keeps a population of enslaved humans who have evolved to look and think like their masters.

Vance's writing stands apart from pulp-style authors, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, thanks to its unique style. His voice is poetic, ironic, and often lyrical. His descriptions are baroque. His works are highly prized by collectors, and in 1998 a group of fans, with Vance’s blessing, founded the Vance Integral Edition. This project published restored versions of Vance's complete works (to date), in uniform Readers’ and Deluxe editions. The VIE comprises 44 volumes.

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