The Hand of Vance

Genre fiction recently lost Jack Vance, one its most underappreciated grand masters. A baroque visionary who penned his first tales aboard a merchant marine freighter in the South Pacific during World War II, Vance never quite managed to overcome the anti-genre bias of more respectable literary circles. What he did was successfully inspire generations of zealous fans.

Gamers owe particular homage to Vance. The First Edition Dungeon Master's Guide gives him an honored place on the acknowledgements page, and with good reason. He invented--among other D&D staples--ioun stones and the game's magic system (notorious for compelling mages to re-memorize forgotten spells each night).

If you're an avid gamer, or even a fan of classic genre fiction, I highly recommend checking out Vance's Dying Earth stories. Perhaps he, like Howard and Lovecraft, will receive in death the due honor he was denied in life.