Steve Jackson Games announced Thursday that they will publish a roleplaying sourcebook for Jack Vance's classic Planet of Adventure series in late 2000 or early 2001.

"I've been a Vance fan for decades," SJG owner Steve Jackson told SPACE.com, "and I have always wanted to do this book. This was the year that I got organized and went after it."

Planet of Adventure, originally published as four separate novels -- City of the Chasch (1968), Servants of the Wankh (1969), The Dirdir (1969) and The Pnume (1970) -- tells the story of Adam Reith, a scout sent from Earth to the planet of Tschai to investigate a mysterious radio message.

After his ship is shot down by a missile from the planet's surface, he finds himself on a world colonized by four alien races and a variety of genetically altered humans.

While searching for a way home, Reith makes allies and enemies, falls in love with astonishingly beautiful alien women and discovers many of the ancient secrets of Tschai.

"I like the way he writes," Jackson said. "The rich background, the understated wit, the descriptions - nobody else does what he does."

This isn't the first time Vance's work has encountered the world of fantasy gaming.

His novel The Dying Earth (1950) influenced Dungeons and Dragons, the first roleplaying game, and a Dying Earth roleplaying game is now under development by Pelgrane Press.

Jackson believes the sourcebooks are an "entertaining" read even for fans who don't play roleplaying games.

"A good game conversion is like a concordance," he said. "It brings everything together, and fans of a SF work may enjoy reading about the world and its characters in a different format."

The books are as much a labor of love as a commercial venture. Jackson said sales of the licensed books are generally good, but even if they weren't, he would continue to do them as time and money allow -- "just because they should be done."

Planet of Adventure isn't the only space-related project in development at Steve Jackson Games.

Next year, the company will debut "Transhuman Space", a line of near-future sourcebooks exploring life in colonies scattered around the solar system. SJG also publishes sourcebooks for Traveller, one of the first roleplaying games.

Jackson believes there's been an upswing in space interest recently.

"These things go in cycles," he said. "It may be that the high profile of the recent Mars missions has been a factor -- I know it has been for me."