The Skybreak Spatterlight (aka. Cugel’s Saga, Jack Vance, 1983) is the second book in the Cugel duology, and third novel in the The Dying Earth series, once again following the rogue Cugel across fantasy wastelands in a world where the sun threatens to extinguish at any moment. Given the book’s nature as a sequel, spoilers for the previous novel will follow, as well as light spoilers for the opening chapters.
The novel picks up immediately after where the last left off, with Cugel deposited on a sandy beach far, far north of his home in Almery, a victim of his hubris after attempting to cast one of Iucounu’s spells of exile, only for it to backfire and render upon him the very fate he intended for the Laughing Mage. Naturally, Cugel disavows any of his own involvement in his predicament, preferring to renew vows of revenge against Iucounu. And so Cugel begins the long walk back to Almery, and Iucounu.
The framing story is unoriginal, identical in most aspects to Cugel’s first book: Our rogue lands in the strange northern lands in the exact same spot as when he was first exiled, and has the same goal as before: Return home and exact vengeance upon the Laughing Mage. This time, Cugel is not rushed in his quest by the liver-mate Firx, who was safely extracted towards the end of the last adventure.
I can’t fault Vance too much for reusing the circumstances: They lend themselves perfectly to the author’s goal of telling various, unconnected stories of Cugel’s adventures in unfamiliar and dangerous locales. As with the other novels in the The Dying Earth series, The Skybreak Spatterlight is more of the same, with Vance writing basically stand-alone stories, one to a chapter, with Cugel’s goal in each to either survive, earn money, or both. The novel itself can be read without reading its predecessor: The books share only two characters and, as I’ve mentioned, they’re almost the same book anyway.
This time around, there is something of a plot thread that weaves its way through the chapters: The Skybreak Spatterlight itself is a particularly valuable scale formerly of the ancient overworld being Sadlark. Over the course of Cugel’s adventure, he learns more about the history of the Spatterlight, as well as some of its odd properties. In other words, the Spatterlight fulfils the role of the magical macguffin. It is highly coveted by Iucounu, as Cugel finds out early on, a fact that Cugel intends to exploit.
Unlike the previous novel, where Cugel was prone to losing everything he had gained in each chapter by its end, Cugel merely loses mostly everything this time. Certain items that were won in earlier adventures make reappearances, and this helps make the story feel more cohesive and alive as a result. However, Vance still chooses not to make things easy for Cugel: There are losses, and the losses hit hard. Perhaps this is Vance’s way of telling the reader that crime and vagabond-ism doesn’t pay… most of the time.
Cugel himself has changed for the better. I like to think that the second long journey north mellowed him out somewhat. Gone is the Cugel who kills in rage, who negotiates the death of others for his own gain. Cugel’s only attempted murders in this novel are non-explicit and open to the possibility of survival. If he tries to kill you, you probably deserve it. So we can scratch out the ‘super’ in ‘super psychopath’ when referring to the new, kinder Cugel. Cugel’s attitudes towards his fellows has likewise improved. In the previous novel, Cugel abandoned all but one of his comrades to their fate — the man he didn’t abandon also didn’t pull through — but this time Cugel can be seen to have more of a conscience, at least making a token effort to save his companions before fleeing. All these subtle changes have the result of making the character more likeable. I found myself rooting for him far more than in the last book, but don’t worry: The reader will still feel the bliss of schadenfreude when Cugel’s more selfish schemes fall through.
The overarching structure of the series hasn’t changed, so characters continue to not persist between chapters. As if to make up for this, the chapters are significantly longer, often broken up into two parts. Now, we gain more of an insight into the lives of the poor people that Cugel comes into contact with. In one case, we get to see how Cugel slowly twists and corrupts an honest man into becoming more roguish. In another, we witness a whodunnit-style mystery unfolding upon a floating ship, becoming familiar with the suspects and victims in the process.
While still effectively one dimensional, the longer exposure to each character makes their eventual downfall or victory all the sweeter. I have no doubt some of the characters have deep histories somewhere in Vance’s head, but we only get a cross-section of their lives, for them the worst cross-section: the one in which they meet our rogue.
Vance’s imagination continues to deliver, although I understand many years had passed before he took up his pen again to write this chapter of the Cugel saga. Cugel comes across many new strange things: Oddly-benevolent people living on the site of ancient demon temples, a field of towers that reach towards the sky with men who lounge upon them to take in the sun’s healthy radiation, a festival of wondrous displays, and more.
The opening chapter deals with Cugel’s resolve to return to Almery, and his discovery of the Skybreak Spatterlight. Once again, Cugel’s infinite luck in finding long lost items comes through. And once again, he intends to deliver this item to the one who covets it the most: The mage Iucounu. In this sense, the story once again echos The Eyes of the Overworld: Cugel intends to trick Iucounu while delivering the item, but many, many miles lie between himself and Almery…
The writing has definitely improved, and reviewing this novel gives me the opportunity to mention something I neglected previously: Vance has a very, very large vocabulary. I was reaching for the dictionary more times than I can remember. However, in the process it became apparent that Vance invents a great deal of the words he uses. This isn’t a bad thing! For someone such as myself with a limited vocabulary, however, this makes figuring out the action challenging.
When I say the writing has improved, I refer to the fact that I didn’t have to perform the dictionary dance as often: The barrier to entry has been reduced, but maybe too late for people put off by the first novel.
The combination of the easier writing with the kinder Cugel and less severe setting makes the novel lighter. This could be considered a downside for people who still remember the utter despair that radiated from the first book in the series. For myself, these were welcome changes. I’m all for a bit of grim, but I need something more of an anti-hero in those cases, rather than the full-on villain that was Cugel in his first outing. While still not a hero, our Cugel isn’t a complete monster, acting more like a karmic deliverer.
The novel is a fitting end to Cugel’s adventures, but I would not be surprised if Vance decides to bring him out of retirement for a farewell run in another decade or so – presuming Cugel doesn’t perish horribly in the final book of the The Dying Earth series. If you’re a fan of humour, pathos, irony (or simply put, Cugel), The Skybreak Spatterlight is for you.
– Matthew
Note: When I wrote this review, I wasn’t aware of Vance’s passing. This sad event makes a Cugel sequel impossible. I’ve still yet to read the final novel in the series, Rhialto the Marvellous.
