Jack Vance - Tales of the Dying Earth- Review

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'Tales of the Dying Earth', Gollancz, 2000 – by Jack Vance

'Tales of the Dying Earth' is a collection of four stories ('The Dying Earth', 'Eyes of the Overworld', 'Cugel's Saga', and 'Rhialto the Marvellous') linked by a poignant and powerful setting and the rebellious heroes and merciless antiheroes that explore and inhabit it. It is a dim and ancient Earth in the far future, where the old red sun is failing and Earth's inhabitants (human and inhuman) wander amid the ruins of the past. I loved these strange lands, and stranger peoples (complete with queer customs) that are so far removed from fantasy-fiction's typical pastoral fare. Instead it is a world characterized best by the word "mystery" and similar to the exotic, shadowy and somewhat morbid dream-worlds of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Indeed, Vance is a master of the weird . His prose style which is both rich and ornate; conjures this profusion of odd cultures, ghoulish otherworlds, decadent magicians (there are no benevolent patriarchs here!), tragedy and drollery (the book is littered with witticisms and verbal flourishes).

This is fantasy without the usual trappings, and is so utterly unique. So much fantasy is parochial - not as true now as it was years ago - but the assumption is simply one of a culture, more or less like ours, with the same ideals and the same notions of how to do things, just idealised, and pitched within a simple, almost Manichean, struggle between the absolute polarities of good and evil. Vance's work is infused with an existential mood rather than simply reflecting the sentiments of sacrifice and morality typical of fantasy-fiction. I loved Cugel the loathsome anti-hero who is just engaging enough that you want him to win through. 'Tales of the Dying Earth' is a superb read that I simply cannot recommend enough to you.

 

Read that book just this summer. Loved it. Liked your review, even if your vocabulary seems to have become Vance-like over-expanded.

 

Thanks for the comments Iago. I've been reading Vance since I was a teenager (which admittedly isn't a long time), beginning with The 'Tales of the Dying Earth'. Only recently did I discover, to my delight, how many more of his books I've yet to read; since he has over 80 volumes of short stories and novels to his credit and his writing has appeared in a variety of styles and genres, eluding simple categorization. The best I have come across so far would be his inspired 'Lyonesse' trilogy and the visionary 'Demon Princes' series ('The Face' and 'The Book of Dreams' being best of the line). If you have not already done so, I would recommend you try and get your hands on these.

[ January 30, 2006, 18:36: Message edited by: SatansBedFellow ]

 

Verbal flourishes. That is exactly the word I would use to describe Vance's writing.

But Jack Vance is a man, right? Not a woman as inferred by your last post?

 

You are right of course HB. Oh dear, I wonder what Freud would have made of that one?

 

Jack vance has always been one of my favourite authors and the 'Demon Princes' series I also read as a teenager many, many moons ago but kirth Gersen has always stayed with me as has Howard Alan Treesong. I think it was having read Vance that when I found Zelazny a man who wrote in even more diverse styles that I was able to appreciate him more and he became my favourite author particularly 'Doorways in the Sand', 'Lord of Light', 'Creatures of Light and Darkness' and my personal favourite 'Eye of Cat'.

I have almost everything published by both of them in my library.

 

Cugel wasn't loathsome!!! He rocked, and he totally developed a conscience throughout "Cugel's Saga". I'm a huge fan of Cugel and piqueresqe adventures.

I never read "Rhialto the Marvelous"- I heard it wasn't so good.