The Dragon Masters

9 best books like The Dragon Masters (Jack Vance): The Shadow of the Torturer, The King of Elfland's Daughter, "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman, How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Elric Saga Part II, I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, Nine Tomorrows, Driftglass

The Shadow of the Torturer

Author	Gene Wolfe
ISBN	0671540661

Wolfe has an almost legendary status amongst fellow authors; Gaiman called him 'a ferocious intellect', Swanwick said he's "the greatest writer in the English language alive today", and Disch called this series "a tetralogy of couth, intelligence, and suavity".

You can rarely trust the...

The King of Elfland's Daughter

Author

Lord Dunsany

In fantasy, I've seen magic used in many ways: as plot device, curio, religious allegory, and the personification of morals, but rarely do I find a book where magic is truly magical. Too often, it's a convenience, a cliche, but for Dunsany, magic is pervasive, mysterious, unknowable, and lovely. He...

"Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman

Author	Harlan Ellison
ISBN	1887424350

In a future where humanity has become obsessed with timekeeping and punctuality, a single mysterious figure tries to make a change, by wasting everybody's time.

Try reading that in a deep movie trailer voice.

“Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman is a whimsical and satirical...

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems

Author	Randall Munroe
ISBN	1473680336

How To is an instruction manual for taking everyday problems and using science and creative thinking to turn them into much bigger and more exciting problems. It teaches you how to cross a river by boiling it, outlines some of the many uses for lava around the home, and walks you through how to use experimental...

The Claw of the Conciliator

Author	Gene Wolfe
ISBN	0671416162

Severian is in possession of a gem considered to be "The Claw of the Conciliator", a powerful relic of the Master of Power, a legendary figure of mythic proportions. Armed with his sword, Terminus Est, and the Claw, Severian continues his journey to Thrax, the city of his exile. Bizarre apes, strange...

The Elric Saga Part II

Author	Michael Moorcock
ISBN	1568650418

2011 re-read:
The Vanishing Tower: Elric and Moonglum continues their quest to destroy the sorcerer Theleb K'aarna, visiting Myshella's castle, Nadsokor, the city of beggars, Tanelorn, and the Forest of Troos...

The saga of Elric continues moving toward its conclusion. Elric meets...

I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream

Author

Harlan Ellison

"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi short story by Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction.

It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The name was also used for a short story collection of Ellison's work, featuring this story....

Nine Tomorrows

Author	Isaac Asimov
ISBN	0345346041

Isaac Asimov may very well be the most prolific author in modern history. With over 500 books to his credit (506, to be exact...go to asimovonline.com for the full list, if you don't believe me!), covering just about every subject in the Dewey Decimal System (except philosophy, I believe), the man was...

Driftglass

Author	Samuel R. Delany
ISBN	0451144244

Why?From Ganymede to Gomorrah, a bizarre breed of planet-hopping humans sell their sexless, neutered bodies... so that others may explore the outer limits of sexual perversion.Far beneath the surface of the planet earth, a doomed architect lives out the rest of his years in a hideous life-sustaining...