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  • The Dying Earth

  • Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1
  • Written by: Jack Vance
  • Narrated by: Arthur Morey
  • Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (35 ratings)

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The Dying Earth

Written by: Jack Vance
Narrated by: Arthur Morey
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Publisher's Summary

The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisom 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.

©2010 Jack Vance (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What the critics say

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)
"There are few enough of the writers I loved when I was 13 that I can imagine myself going back to in 20 years from now. Jack Vance I will read forever.” (Neil Gaiman)

What listeners say about The Dying Earth

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The Bones of Modern Fantasy

Vance’s Dying Earth represents one of the foundational works from which much of modern fantasy takes inspiration. It is an interesting, exciting, and at times grim read of adventurers in a fantastical future earth, rendered unrecognizable by the passage of eons. The stories in this book are classic swashbuckling intensely imaginative Sci-fantasy more reminiscent of pulp titles like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars series than other foundational epic fantasy titles like The Lord of the Rings.

It is however also hopelessly dated, Readers should understand that when they read this book they are stepping into a seventy year old world view with all the preconceptions and prejudice of the time. Few for example are the female characters who manage to ascend beyond prizes for heroes to win and villains to victimize in this dark, end of time world.

It’s not a long read, and I would recommend the title to any fans of modern fantasy, particularly those who are fans of fantasy and Sci fi in tabletop gaming as you will find the roots of many familiar concepts in the words of this book. Just be aware that your also reading a piece that is very much of its own time.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

magique

comme toujours avec Jack Vance une histoire épique écrite avec l'humour sarcastique de l'auteur

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fantastic short stories

slightly dated writing style but very enjoyable short fantastic and strange stories. it was awesome to read some of the historic foundations of dungeons & dragons like the magic style that Jack Vance created. some of the short stories were absolutely absurd but I love them!

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Awesome look at classic fantasy

It's really exciting to read Jack Vance and see the seeds that inspired games like D&D and modern fantasy in general.

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