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Title: Tales of the Dying Earth Author: Jack Vance Rating: Not available Avg. Score: 5 Submit Comment Hits: 83

Review of Tales of the Dying Earth

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Comments for Tales of the Dying Earth

• Posted on 2008-07-04
  Humor in fantasy
  
  There's a wonderful strain of humor in the early American fantasy writers of which I was unaware. After reading authors like Vance, de Camp, and Pratt, the existential gravitas of the Morris-Eddison-Tolkien axis seems rather tedious. Life is too short for gravity; the highest art must be to combine great fantasy with great comedy!
  
  I first discovered Jack Vance when I happened to read "The Last Castle" in an anthology of Hugo Award-winning stories. I was immediately blown away by his mastery of a high, lovley prose style reminiscent of the greats like Lord Dunsany and Eddison. Only years later did I find this series, the Vance mother-load.
  
  Tales of the Dying Earth is a compilation of Jack Vance's four, famous "Dying Earth" novels. In spite of giving the compilation five stars, I really only like the first two books, with the exception of "Morreion" from "Rhialto the Marvelous", for reasons I'll discuss. The first two books were published as serials in sci-fi pulp magazines relatively early in Vance's career. Therefore, they have the sort of splotchy, episodic style typical of that genre, so this must be forgiven.
  
  "Dying Earth" is a series of loosely connected short stories set in the extreme future when the sun is supposedly burning out. This idea comes from Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique" stories, and ultimately from the "Time Machine" of H.G. Wells. In the future, as human populations dwindle, magic will again rise to replace technology, as magic was the predominant force in the mythic early days of prehistory. (I feel it necessary to point out that current stellar evolution theories say that the sun will pass through a red giant phase, consuming the earth and near planets. So apparently the world will end in fire after all.)
  
  The second book "Eyes of the Overworld" is a sort of mock Odyssey set in the "Dying Earth" world, but not directly connected with the original stories. The main character Cugel is a super-rogue who goes from caper to caper and engages in all manner of depravity. I hope Cugel's antics are aimed at comedy and not at moral edification, but on second thought, I wonder just how different from Cugel most men really are, at least at the psychological root level.
  
  I would recommend reading "Eyes of the Overworld" first in order to get a sense of the series. "Dying Earth" is good, but the stories are somewhat uneven in quality(Mazirian the Magician is a standout). The reader who has been "hooked" by Eyes will probably enjoy the early stories more. The final two books (except for Morreion) were written much later in Vance's career, in fact shortly before his death. While the prose expression remains strong, the later books lack the mad-cap imagination of the youthful Vance that I find so intoxicating. The humor in Cugel's Saga flows from situations, more akin to that of PG Wodehouse, than from the fantasy itself, as in Eyes. Also, these later works are unoriginal and simply retool ideas from the stories written in Vance's prime. However, there are occasional glimpses of that old Vancian black magic for the die-hard readers. . .
  
  At his best, Vance has a picaresque, inventive imagination full of colorful details and artful asides. For example, in one story among the wares of a powerful wizard is a "pickled homonculus". There are various, original recurring monsters in the series, such as the deodand and the leukomorph. In one later story Vance describes how these creatures had their genesis in the menagerie of an insane wizard! Full of artful things like that. Overall the series has a vivid, Flash Gordony flavor.
  
  I think "Eyes of the Overworld" would make a great movie if a screen-writer tightened it up a little bit. The excellent pilot of the failed series "Korgoth of Barbaria" was loosely based on it.
  
  As a word on the edition, this compilation is terrible. I don't think there was any editing at all, what with all the typos. There's no scholarly introduction. And the cover art is not only bad, but doesn't pertain to the book in any way. We should only thank the publisher for keeping this series in print and making them available in one volume.
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2008-04-15
  Vance struck gold
  
  Upon reading this title I thought it was a complete ripoff of Gene Wolfe's The Sword and the Claw series, which is one of the best Fanstasy/sci fi literary achievements ever in this genre.
  
  Cugel indeed is an unlikely character. He is the textbook definition of a book. Add to that he exhibits utter stupidity at times and resorts to theivery and con man games.
  
  But that is just what makes this book so ver very compelling. You never can quess what will happen to cudgel, and lets face it, he is an outright funny character. I believe the language of the book does much to mask its' humor, but you will catch on and pay far more careful attention.
  
  Cugel is my no means a hero, but his is a driven survivor, and at times very clever. It is sort of refreshing to read about a character that isn't typecast in one paragraph. This is one of the best books of its kind, and I highly recommend reading it. I couldn't drop it after I started. There are few books that I take such an interest in reading and this one captivated me from start to end. The series deserves a special place in any fantasy/sci fi readers library. and it should be prominently displayed.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2007-09-15
  From a weak beginning to supreme mastery
  
  The first piece of this book is early Vance from 1950. The legendary Dying Earth. In reality, it's clearly the weakest of the lot, and it would be good for Vance's reputation if more people began to see beyond their nostalgia and acknowledge the fact. All real artists develop, and Vance is a real one and a big one. Only easy things come to even talented people early in their life, and, sadly for new writers, the modern publishing world isn't the place to grow. Marketing people of course try to hide this harsh reality. Fortunately for all true readers, Vance grew up in a different world. He would only have been exploited in today's.
  
  The next piece from 1966 is better, and shows Vance as a work in solid progress. However, it's not until the stuff from the late 70s and early 80s that this collection shows Vance at his peak.
  
  You hear many people these days saying that Vance's main worth is to be found in his influence on subsequent writers. This is absurd, and betrays a certain lack of sensitivity to what Vance is trying to do in his fiction. More people need to start reading him more carefully, especially his dialogues. They are often odd because they are often meant to be odd, as well as amusing in some way, often in a wry sort of way. Once you begin to appreciate Vance's style, you'll never be able to rank him below any writer. Vance is the favorite writer of people like G.R.R. Martin for a reason. And please, don't think that this is the only Vance you'll need to read. His ouvre is rich and varied, and the worst mistake you can make is to avoid the rest of it in the belief that he is a one trick pony. All of Vance's work from the 70s and later should be read and read again by every lover of good fiction.
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2007-01-29
  Overhyped Hodgpodge
  
  I looked forward to a bunch of great stories about the future of earth and how mankind was dealing with it. Instead this was three or four books obviously done at different times that were were slapped together to form a somwhat continuous story for the most part. I liked the first couple of stories and then the repetitiveness of Cugel wore me out. Unrepentent, scurrilous Cugel was funny for the first 30 pages but after what seemed like 1000 pages I wanted to bump him off myself.
  Please beware of the other reviews. Unless you want a semi humorous fantasy novel telling a bunch of semi linked stories about a dying earth with lots of magic then stay the heck away from this.
  Score: 1
• Posted on 2007-01-26
  Sheer Brilliance
  
  In both conception and execution, a work of genius. It is compulsory reading for all lovers of fantasy fiction. Jack Vance's writing is uniformly brilliant and it is a mystery why it hasn't been awarded the accolades it richly deserves. Do yourself a big favor and get this book and hole up with it. I know you'll treasure the experience.
  Score: 5