An unusual traveler wanders through the lands of the ancient planet Tchai, lost among the stars. Adam Reisch was a scout on a ship that was investigating the origins of signals sent from an unexplored part of space. Of the entire crew, he was the only one who survived. Adam found himself completely alone in a world where wars once raged between representatives of amazing races, who in ancient times kidnapped entire peoples from the Earth and enslaved them, and forced the original inhabitants of Tchai to hide in dungeons. In his wanderings, Adam pursues two goals - to find a way to return to his home planet, and to free his fellow tribesmen. One of the best series of the classic American science fiction and fantasy Jack Vance (Jack Vance, 1916-2013), the tetralogy about Tchai (“Planet of adventure” ( 1968-1970), each novel is dedicated to the adventures of the hero in the possessions of one of the four races inhabiting this planet - Chachas, Vanneks, Dirdirs and Pnums) - fantasy only in terms of the surroundings and the cross-cutting plot, which is important insofar as it allows you to string one event after another onto it . In the form of the narrative, in the laconic, as if “rammed”, but capacious, bravura style of writing, where there is both grotesque and cynical humor of a picaresque novel, this is an adventure fantasy - the genre in which Vance succeeded most. The main character, for all his conditional positivity, here often acts in the spirit of the cute “bad guy” Kugel from the famous “Dying Earth” series. Colorful descriptions of a world that is gradually opening up to us, surprisingly integral in its diversity, incredible creatures and their no less strange customs and rituals captivate us no less than battles, treasure hunts, terrible secrets, love, mystical horrors and other twists and turns of the plot. Vance’s “signature” style, formed under the influence of one of the founders of fantastic literature K.E. Smith, creates an atmosphere of almost playful convention of what is happening, a free flight of fantasy. Unfortunately, it is precisely this feature that usually disappears when translating his books, especially science fiction ones - the result is either clumsy and ponderous, if not tongue-tied, or almost a retelling. Reworked (taking into account the author's changes in the latest edition) and newly edited translation.