The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph — Jack Vance

Magnus Ridolph, at first glance, did not look like an interstellar troubleshooter. He was not tall and muscular, his skin had not been turned to a rugged color of bronze by the numerous distant suns he had visited, and his voice and manner seemed far too mild for an adventurer. Yet there was a chill hardness in his mild blue eyes that warned of the deceptiveness in his appearance.

Throughout the galaxy there were men and other beings -- Yellowbirds, Tau Gemini ant-things, Hecatian anthropes -- who could testify to the deadliness that lurked behind those eyes.

In Magnus Ridolph, Jack Vance has created one of the most memorable characters of his
award-winning career.