Tales of the Dying Earth

Vance's Saga

Jack Vance is simply the best writer of fantasy and space opera alive today. All of his books are gems, especially 'The Eyes of the Overworld,' and his language is utterly intoxicating. No one else even comes close to the scope of his imagination and language.

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If you like short stories, this is for you

This book is like a series of short stories, all related in the fact that they take place in an extreme far future when the Earth's sun has turned red, mankind is waiting for the end to come, and magic and sorcery has become common place. It seems the Earth has spawned quite a few different races and demonkind during the ages, and our multiple main characters interact with many of these, usually to their deserved or undeserved demise. The main characters of the multiple stories are not always virtuous, and some are more likable than others. In one short story time travel is even magically induced and leaves one wondering if the end is so near, why not move into the past a few eons? All in all the stories are entertaining and imaginative with the use of many big words you may need to break out the dictionary for...

JACK VANCE

I learned about Jack Vance via REH Forum. Mr. Vance was highly recommended with praise and adulation!

I was pleasantly surprised as I didn't know his writing would be this good! I couldn't put the book down until I finished the first story as it was that good.

Highly recommended this book to all. It's better than Harry Potter!

The antidote

to humourless fantasy;

to plot at the expense of characterisation;

to novels weighed down with leaden prose;

to novels with One Big Idea and no other inspiration;

to self-conscious attempts at writing 'alien' manners.

Vance is one of the great witty stylists of the 20th Century - genre-independent. You cannot count yourself well-read if you haven't read him.

Great to see this back in print!

I was just about to pay $10 for the first volume alone from used collectors sources. This is a great book, of the rare genre of science fiction so far into the future that the sun is a red giant in the sky. It's very profound and also enjoyable to read. Also, if you play D&D, the magick system for characters is derived from this author's stories.

Best of the Best

Vance is perhaps the last of the Golden Age fantasy writers. His intelligence, style, and wit all make him a classic, and the Dying Earth stories are the best work he's done (together with the first two Lyonesse books).

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