Tales of the Dying Earth
by Jack Vance
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jack VanceEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2000-12-01
ISBN: 0312874561
Number of pages: 752
Publisher: Orb Books
Book Reviews of Tales of the Dying Earth
Book Review: Humor in fantasy
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Summary of Tales of the Dying Earth
Jack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents to ever grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. One of his enduring classics is his 1964 novel, The Dying Earth, and its sequels--a fascinating, baroque tale set on a far-future Earth, under a giant red sun that is soon to go out forever.
This omnibus volume comprised all four books in the series, The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rialto the Magnificent. It is a must-read for every sf fan.
This omnibus volume comprised all four books in the series, The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga and Rialto the Magnificent. It is a must-read for every sf fan.
Vance, Jack Books
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