Given that the novel's setting, the planet Koryphon, is integral to the plot, The Gray Prince may be said to belong to the science fiction subgenre of the planetary romance.

Also significant in this regard is the work's original title, The Domains of Koryphon, which gives prominence to the setting of the conflict narrated in the novel rather than to one of its many characters.

On the other hand, the Land Barons, who are in effect settled reavers and are rustic and quaint in comparison with urbane Szintarre society, nonetheless bring the benefits of civilisation (basic healthcare, education, reliable sources of drinking water, etc.)

That character is Elvo Glissam, an independently wealthy young man, who arrives on Koryphon and in Szintarre becomes involved in one of the various political groups campaigning for the rights of the planet's natives.

Jemasze and Kurgech are seeking the answer as to why Schaine's father, Uther, was murdered shortly after visiting the Palga and what was the secret, or "joke" as he referred to it, he discovered when he was there.

The three manage to escape and at the edge of the Palga plateau, bordering the Morningswake estate, they discover a hidden erjin temple carved from the solid rock.

Uther Madduc's "joke" is that the erjins are not wild beasts but sentient beings and therefore have an earlier and better claim to the land than the Uldras, although by the same logic the only rightful owners of the planet are the indigenous morphotes.

Szintarre is a long, narrow island, whose capital, Olanje, is a sophisticated, fashionable resort for Outkers ("out-worlders" in general) and also the seat of the planet's single organ of government, the Mull, which sits in Holrude House.

"[4] The Retent Uldras, led by the Gray Prince, attempt to manipulate the Mull as a means of evicting the Land Barons, but otherwise reject all centralised authority.

[5] We are given a glimpse of one such alien future language in the Prologue to The Gray Prince, where, in a footnote, the term Land Baron is said to be an unsatisfactory translation of "eng'sharatz (literally: the revered master of a large domain)".

"[7] Other examples of "untranslatable" concepts that form part of the phenomenology of the alien cultures of Koryphon are the Uldra word "aurau" ("said of a tribesman afflicted with revulsion against civilized restrictions, and sometimes of a caged animal yearning for freedom")[8] and "Sarai", the geographical name for the Windrunners' plateau, but suggestive of "a limitless expanse, horizon to horizon, of land or water, lacking all impediments or obstacle to travel and projecting an irresistible urgency to be on the way, to travel toward a known or unknown destination.

After the two-part serialization of The Domains of Koryphon in Amazing Science Fiction in 1974, the novel was published in hardback with the new title The Gray Prince by Bobbs-Merrill in February 1975.

[10] The most recent republication of the novel was in 2008, as part of The Jack Vance Reader, edited by Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan and published by Subterranean Press.

The Jack Vance Reader also includes the novels Emphyrio and The Languages of Pao, with prefaces by Robert Silverberg, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Mike Resnick (to The Domains of Koryphon).