Image from JackVance.com

JackVance.com is offering DRM-free ebooks (in epub and mobi formats) of most or all of Vance’s books. Some of the cover art (particularly for the Dying Earth books) is quite good. For example, see the covers of Mazirian the Magician or Cugel the Clever. I also like this Demon Princes cover.

I have yet to be disappointed by any Vance story (though I haven’t yet read them all). Particular pointers to Dying Earth stories (of course) and the Arthurian Lyonesse cycle seem warranted. Note that there is an all-in-one option for the DE tales.

Footnote placement is one minor issue with the ebook files. They seem to be embedded in the text several paragraphs below the reference, which looks wrong to me. I wrote to the site administrator about this, and was informed that they were aware of the problem but that it was a conscious compromise. Also, strangely, despite the files being DRM-free, it seems like purchase is limited to certain countries. Perhaps the original contracts for various locations differ (I noticed this only because I’m writing this post from the UK).

Despite those two minor downsides, the availability of these titles without DRM is something to celebrate.