The Dying Earth - Hardcover

Vance, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0887331920 ISBN 13: 9780887331923

Publisher: Underwood-Miller, 1976

Synopsis

The stories included in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisdom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home in Vance’s lyrically described fantastic landscapes like Embelyon where, “The sky [was] a mesh of vast ripples and cross-ripples and these refracted a thousand shafts of colored light, rays which in mid-air wove wondrous laces, rainbow nets, in all the jewel hues....” The dying Earth itself is otherworldly: “A dark blue sky, an ancient sun.... Nothing of Earth was raw or harsh—the ground, the trees, the rock ledge protruding from the meadow; all these had been worked upon, smoothed, aged, mellowed. The light from the sun, though dim, was rich and invested every object of the land ... with a sense of lore and ancient recollection.” Welcome. “The Dying Earth and its sequels comprise one of the most powerful fantasy/science-fiction concepts in the history of the genre. They are packed with adventure but also with ideas, and the vision of uncounted human civilizations stacked one atop another like layers in a phyllo pastry thrills even as it induces a sense of awe [at] ... the fragility and transience of all things, the nobility of humanity’s struggle against the certainty of an entropic resolution.” — Dean Koontz, author of the Odd Thomas novels. “He gives you glimpses of entire worlds with just perfectly turned language. If he’d been born south of the border, he’d be up for a Nobel Prize.” — Dan Simmons author of The Hyperion Cantos.

About this title

About the Author

Jack Vance is one of the greats of science fiction. He has been writing for more than 60 years, and in 1997 was honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. He is the author of dozens of science fiction and fantasy novels, including the World Fantasy Award winning Lyonnesse series, and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning The Last Castle. He lives in Oakland, California.

From AudioFile

Technology has come full circle and is intertwined with and, in some cases, is indistinguishable from magic. This collection of linked short stories is set against the backdrop of an earth that is long past its prime. Four of the stories share a number of the same characters, but all are connected through setting and mood. Arthur Morey is a consistent storyteller who uses pace and timing to good effect. He imparts the awe of the characters in describing the natural beauty of the earth. Further, he has a light touch as he depicts their wistfulness and nostalgia toward the changes taking place as the earth continues to fade. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Underwood-Miller
• Publication date: 1976
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0887331920
• ISBN 13: 9780887331923
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 186