The Dying Earth (Tales of the Dying Earth Series) [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Jack Vance (Author), Arthur Morey (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2010 | Series: Tales of the Dying Earth Series (Book 1)

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.

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (February 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441814566
• ISBN-13: 978-1441814562
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most believable, best work written in the fantasy genre, January 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dying Earth (Hardcover)

As a true fan of good fantasy and science fiction for some 20 years now, I've always searched for books which really fulfull the promise of those genres. In a time when both genres seem to have collapsed into a state where one rarely finds work which isn't some sort of commercial advertisement for childrens toys and tv shows, Jack Vance stands out like a beacon of pure genius. The dying earth is a series of vignettes in the fantasy realm of the same name invented by Vance. Humorous and brilliantly witty, yet darker and in many ways more believable (on a human level) than his space operas, the dying earth presents characters and situations using Vance's unique and eclectic mastery of the english language which sweep the reader away into another world from which it is hard to escape. This, ultimately is what good fantasy should do, and so often fails to accomplish. Readers should also seek out "The eyes of the overworld", "Cugels saga", and "Rhialto the marvelous", which occur in the same 'world'...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wierd Masterwork, October 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dying Earth (Hardcover)

A exquisite exotic, as terrible in beauty, and sweet in dreamworlds as any penned since Poe, very much it's shadow. Vance weaves a world as bejeweled in color and fantastique as readers could imagine, in a earth perched at the end of time, while the sun sputters its last gasp. Magic rules, and poor Cugel, its hero wanders from the lilac-flavoured poisons of Mazirian's garden to the autumn-cut glass palaces of the Dying Earth. He is betrayed, bewitched, and perplexed by his environs, all to our joy, and such is his adventures that we hope for more, but it takes a genius such as Vance to realize it. Some say NIGHT LAMP is his last, but his readers, his children, will reimagine the lost lands of this book long after he is gone, perhaps to the end of this incredible, dream-haunted journey.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exellent,a one book,one sit read., March 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dying Earth (Paperback)

this is a book of science fiction and fantasy combined.in book one of this four book sieres we,re introduced to a variety of people.turjan,creator of life.t,sais,who see's everything with evil intent.on her planet she meets her sister who sees everything with the goodness of her soul.here her sister travles to a planet called earth where the sky is blue to find love.here t,sais meets a hooded man who saves her from distruction his name is etarr(I liked him)his is a story of love for the wrong woman! there are manny other characters in this book to many for me to give a proper feel for each one. mazirian,liane,ulan dhor... JACK VANCE IS A MASTER STORRYTELLER...