The Dying Earth

Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1

By: Jack Vance

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

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.

Critic reviews

“ 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)

A cool classic

Seems like many writers have been inspired by this book. I liked it and found the individual stories entertaining.

A craftsmanlike vocal performance

The performance is solid here, but I’m not sure Vance’s work stands up to the test of time. For pure pulp adventure goodness, there are other authors that fit the bill better (like Robert E. Howard), but fans of Dungeons and Dragons will get a kick out of seeing where their magic system originated.

A Fun Listen

The Dying Earth is a series of slightly interwoven stories, each depicting someone experiencing a great personal challenge. Of course the backdrop to each is a dying planet and lots of sorcery. I don't read a lot of that genre, but this particular book delivered because the stories are well paced and each character is fully developed. The author's prose is very formal but it lends a certain gravity to the story that wouldn't be there if written in a more contemporary style. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi/fantasy. It's a book written in 1952 and still mirrors many moral issues we face in the 21st century. Worth the 6 hour listen

Engaging, unique world & writing; AMAZING reader

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes... if you like Vance's prose (I love it). I think 'florid' and 'turgid' have to do; definitely a specific taste, but I love it and it sets a mood like no other.

What about Arthur Morey’s performance did you like?

Morey's range on character voices is astounding. I've never had a book where I 'liked' all the characterizations and could follow them so easily. He transitions seamlessly from one to another, and each 'voice' is appropriate and distinctive.

Any additional comments?

I loved this as a written book; it's a delight as an audiobook thanks to Morey.

Very surprised

What did you love best about The Dying Earth?

The level of imagination in the book was a big surprise to me. It's kind of like a cross between Adventure Time and Sin City. With the setting being Adventure Time and the tone, gritty detail and story structure coming from Sin City. I've never read a science fiction or fantasy novel with quite as much creativity and it takes such an "advanced" look at technology that I thought it was written very recently. And, when I say advanced, I mean more along the lines of some of Greg Bear's novels in which genetics and human enhancement reaches a point in which our technology and limitations become almost magical (or in Bear's case of the Eon trilogy - godlike). And, if you look at the era - some 9+ billion years out - then you'd have to assume there were at least *some* highly advanced technology and genetic advancements made, even if the Earth has become a forgotten and dilapidated place.Additionally, the characters and the story arcs almost always go in directions I wouldn't have expected and that made it even more fun. I also really enjoyed the language and the names of this book as well. Some reviewers hated the pseudo ancient "tyme" English but it does a good job of creating the feeling of some distant era in which medieval people live in a post technological world and confuse technology with magic and ritual and give long winded names that aren't really meant to entirely make sense and sort of demonstrates the ignorance of even the people who "know."

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dying Earth?

When it first mentioned prismatic spray and the number of spell limitations the wizard could commit to memory, I couldn't help but guess the level the wizard would be in d&d. Which, with some cursory wiki work it looks like the creators of d&d borrowed the idea from this book and not vice versa. If you like d&d, that's just a fun twist in the story.

What does Arthur Morey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His tone is soft and endearing - like an old wizard reading a book of stories. I think that contrast with the dark subject matter helped give a unique feeling to the overall story and he does a good job voicing the different characters distinctly. My only negative is that the recording or his voice or both was very quiet and I had to crank it up a lot.

Any additional comments?

This is now one of my all time favorites and I'm going to look for more of his work and this setting. And I agree that it does require your full attention and I had to re-listen to parts throughout the book whenever I found myself lost but definitely worth checking out - especially since it's so short.

A Milestone in Fantasy

Jack Vance is one of those authors who is permanently imbedded in the genre of fantasy. This is not a sci-fi book. It is a fantastic collection of adventures through a unique world. Good for people with a taste for early pulp weirdness.

I had to listen twice before I knew I liked it

I listened to it a couple years ago, and was indifferent to it. All was strange, but some of it was truly interesting, especially the final 2 stories.
I recently bought the second book, on a whim, and had to look to see what this had been about. When I saw it was a collection of stories, and the rest of the books were novels continuing some of those stories, I decided to listen again.
It's still strange, both the stories and the writing, but on a second listen I found the whole thing truly interesting, and so now I'm very interested to hear the next book, even though I don't love the narration.

The Stories that Inspired the Creation of D&D!

Wondrous imagination with nearly poetic descriptions of people, places, and things!
Each character is memorable and different and stands out on their own merits, even the nasty ones!
Excellent vocal performance!
Can't believe how long ago these were written!
Do yourself a favor and get this!

Sublime

A perfect rendition of these beautiful tales of Dying Earth.

The futility of all human effort in the end times of Earth is perfectly balanced against the frantic actions of its denizens. The voice acting catches this wonderfully

An absolute classic

If you enjoy D&D than you will be familiar with much that is of Jack Vance's creation. These and the later stories of The Dying Earth are world building at its utmost quality. Vance not only creates a setting of fantastic depth but peoples it with a culture that is amazingly imaginative and supernally appropriate.
Everyone should read this book if only to experience Vance's facility with the English language. The fact that the Dying Earth is among the greatest of all story settings is not like icing on the cake - it is as though you get more cake than one human could eat in one pass.