The Wannek — Jack Vance

His exploration ship blasted from orbit, Terran scout Adam Reith is stranded on Tschai, a world colonized by three alien species -- the Chasch, the Dirdir, and the Wannek -- while the planet's original inhabitants, the mysterious Pnume, lurk underground. In the second book of the four-volume cycle, Reith sets out with Traz, a teenage barbarian, Anacho, an escaped slave of the birdlike Dirdir, and Ylin-Ylan, a princess rescued from a brutal cult, to return Ylin-Ylan to her distant homeland. When the plan fails, the group is enmeshed in an old and sinister conspiracy. The plotters see only one way to preserve their power -- kill Adam Reith! Reith will mix high cunning with calculated violence to survive and achieve his goal, to get back to Earth.

Tschai is grandmaster Jack Vance at his unparalleled adventure-spinning peak. â€" Matt Hughes

The Wannek, originally published as The Wankh, is Book II of the Tschai (Planet of Adventure) sequence, and Volume 35 of the Spatterlight Press Signature Series.Released in the centenary of the author's birth, this handsome new collectionis based upon the prestigious Vance Integral Edition. Select volumes enjoyup-to-date maps, and many are graced with freshly-written forewords contributedby a distinguished group of authors. Each book bears a facsimile of theauthor's signature and a previously-unpublished photograph, chosen from family archives for the period the book was written. These uniquefeatures will be appreciated by all, from seasoned Vance collector to new reader sampling the spectrum of this author's influential work forthe first time.

â€" John Vance II