Rating: 
Summary: A Classic!
Review: This book is a great collection of Jack Vance's work. It comprises all the material Jack Vance has written in the 'Dying Earth' setting. This is surprising considering the popularity of these particular books among the 50 + he has written. In a time when I find much of the writing in the fantasy genre to be fairly similar, Jack Vance stands out.If you have not read these books, I'm quite jealous, and you are in for a treat. These books are funny and smart.
Rating: 
Summary: Reissue Of A Classic That Only In Part Stands Up To Time
Review: This collection of short stories, originally published over the period of 1950 to 1983, are loosely linked through the setting attributed to Vance of a dying earth, existing far in the future yet evidencing many of the characteristics associated with fantasy rather than science fiction (the sci-fi depiction on the cover is misleading). This setting has since been mined successfully by a number of authors, effectively creating a subgenre of fantasy and science fiction, most notably by Gene Wolfe in his critically acclaimed "The Book of the New Sun" and its successors. And in many ways this collection does justice to the fertile ground it lays. Vance's strengths are in his descriptive detail and the imagination in which he invests the world that he creates. Additionally, in the character of Cugel, the protagonist in two of the four "novels" included here, the author has created a delightful scoundrel, in many ways reminiscent of Leiber's Grey Mouser, and written with a similar sense of humor. Some have also noted Vance's ironic style of writing, as well as a tendency to formalism in language, though, in my opinion, at times the latter is overdone, particularly in the first section that here forms the novel "The Dying Earth." While this first section contributed in large part to establishing the notion of a decaying and failing world as a convention for future writers, in many ways it is the weakest series of stories in the collection. All of Vance's work in thinly plotted, and this group of stories is only tied together by its common setting, tales of various magicians whose stories exist in large part individually, though some crossover occurs in "Turjan of Mir" and "Mazirian the Magician," as well as less significantly elsewhere, through a sharing of differing characters, secondary players in the stories often appearing elsewhere as the main protagonist. However, except for this loose association, and that of setting, the stories here must be considered separately, some more strongly plotted and written than others, with certain magical events--a strong element throughout the book--occurring with little explanation or foundation. The second two "novels" in this volume pertain to the plights and ongoing adventures of Cugel the Clever, an amoral rapscallion who more often than not complicates his situation through his attempts to outwit his opponents. Essentially a loosely strung series of adventures, whose establishing premise repeats itself between "The Eyes of the Overworld" and "Cugel's Saga," the two "novels" comprising this section, over time, regardless of Vance's inexhaustible inventions, become somewhat contrived and tiresome, a series of episodic encounters sustained only by Cugel's ongoing misfortunes and adventures met upon a twice-told if differing journey back to his home in Almery to face his nemesis, Iucounu the Laughing Magician. The last "novel" in this collection, entitled "Rhialto the Marvellous," concerns a colloquy of wizards, the last of their number at the very end of the last days of the dying earth. Much reduced in circumstance and abilities, they nonetheless wield considerable powers, for the most part directed at themselves in a series of separate and inept intrigues contained in the three chapters comprising this section. While connected both by their magical order and the figure of Rhialto, like the first section, these are clearly three separate stories, though more linear in their composition. The final chapter, "Morreion," unlike all the stories that have preceded, is as equally influenced by science fiction as fantasy. Women reading this collection may well find parts that are unpalatable, as there is a distinct undercurrent of misogyny present in chapters of "The Eyes of the Overworld," the hero Cugel abandoning one female companion to sexual enslavement, and raping another female character, who immediately after drowns, under the pretense of a fictitious marriage. While both women are unsympathetically portrayed, at least in terms of Cugel's goals and perspective, this does not entirely obviate the protagonist's actions. Further, in "Rhialto the Marvellous," the first chapter, "The Murthe," concerns a thinly veiled battle between the sexes, here portrayed as a struggle for dominance between the former rule of a sorceress and the male colloquy of wizards. The sorceress is able to undermine the wizards by transforming them into women, by implication threatening their masculinity and thus nullifying their power. There are episodes of burlesque in which the former wizards attire themselves in dresses and jewelry, primping and becoming shrill of voice and nagging in complaint. The sorceress is finally defeated by summoning her earlier male nemesis, a paragon of masculinity, who counters her magic while at the same time implying that all could be resolved if the sorceress would abandon her obstinate demands for power over the wizards and succumb to his magnetism and desire. It is doubtful, however humorously presented, that many contemporary women will not view this chapter with a jaundiced eye. In a final aside, I must mention the presence of poor editing, particularly in the first "novel," on the part of the publisher, Orb. Part of the Tom Doherty Associates family, which also comprises St. Martin's and Tor, this is the fourth book I have recently read published by this house that has contained obvious oversights in spelling, as well as other editing problems (the other books being "Winter's Heart, "Daughter of the Forest," and particularly "The King's Peace"). Recently given the Locus Award for best science fiction and fantasy publisher (Tor), it would seem to me that St. Martin's/Tor/Orb should acknowledge that it has a responsibility, both to its authors and its readers, to present their books at a level that reflects the quality of their authors. All said, despite its flaws, there is much to recommend this book--its imaginative world and the detailed description of its construction. Much of the work is written with skill, even if the story line at times lags or seems contrived. Further, the work must be acknowledged for the precedent it established in the creation of its setting, a world that has proven inspirational for succeeding authors. However, for all its successes, it is doubtful, given the context of the many excellent works being currently written, that without its historical significance for the genre, I would have given it more than three stars.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars are not enough....
Review: This is an unforgettable work. These tales are set in the far future: the sun has aged into a red giant. A nuclear catastrophe so far in the past as to be almost unremembered has reduced the populace to a fraction of present levels; current technology has become "magic" to these ignorant and superstitious denizens of the future. Dead and blasted cities litter the landscape, and everywhere one looks deserted dwellings moulder into dust - often while serving as the lairs of monstrous predators or human bandits. Most of our current flora and fauna have evolved into different forms, many of them unpleasant in the extreme. Rapacious beasts stalk the shadows cast by the dim red sun and wait to pounce once it sets beneath the horizon. Sorcerers both evil and benign are almost commonplace - traveller beware! One recurring theme in Vance's works are the dangers of going outside after dark, and this book exemplifies this caution. But if a stroll through the darkness is to your taste, do not delay to read this feast for the imagination. Vance's elegance of phrase and quick turns of plot never fail to entertain.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy at its best!
Review: This is definitely one of the best fantasy books I've yet read. The first book "The Dying Earth" is the most wonderful (there are three others included in this collection) by far, made up of six parts involving characters I fell in love with--both good and evil, never failing to leave the reader less than intrigued. All this with names not even the most creative reader could invent themselves! In spite of Vance being mostly a sci-fi writer, this collection should be labeled as fantasy since the atmosphere is fairy tale-like, although set in the future. The following three books in the series are pretty good (definitely worth reading once) but not half as magical and entrancing as the first. I would give this five stars if referring to "The Dying Earth" alone, in all its darkness and charm, and I highly reccommend buying this if only for this first book. And if you're one of those people who aren't easily 'transported' into the fantasy you're reading, I say give this one a try and it's guaranteed to do the trick. :)
Rating:
Summary: The book that created D&D. But it's a LOT better than that.
Review: Vance's Dying Earth stories, along with Leiber's, inspired the creators of role-playing games. That those games lost all the style of Vance's work is no fault of his. Elegiac, arch, atmospheric and entrancing, this is fiction that had been a Grail for those in the know for decades, commanding high prices for out of print copies. That it is in back in print is cause for celebration.
Rating:
Summary: Some will definitely love it, others definitely won't.
Review: Vance's works in this volume have nearly everything one could wish for: irony that ranges from scathing to sympathetic, meandering wit and charm, originality as baffling and unstoppable as an exploded hydrant, descriptions of subtle and self-contemplating beauty. He is daring, too. He invents monsters, for example, the way no other writer I know does - by coming up with names that sound cool and then attaching, or not attaching, shape and habits. Hence the countless erbs, gids, vasps, deodants and (especially vague, hence dreaded) leucomorphs that populate the Dying Earth's wilderness. With equal largesse Vance scatters landmarks, invents countries, seas and mountain chains and pulls eons, traditions and long-dead wizard celebrities out of a hat faster than you could say "Great Motholam." It looks like there is always more to discover on the Dying Earth, and Vance makes sure there is!
In fact that's the main attraction of the works, novelty. Judging by his books, Vance himself is a particular and rare kind of character, what you would call an explorer, always eager to see what's over the next hill or, in our age when there are few hills still worth climbing, inventing fantastical worlds in his imagination. Vance really writes for himself, and it shows, for instance, in his refusal to let go of flowery banter, a turn-off to many readers. He's not for everyone, and there is another reason for it I'll get to shortly. But the taut and even unsettling sense of freedom one gets from reading these novels, "The Eyes of the Overworld" more than the others, has to do with just this fact of self-conscious carelessness: Vance writes, and knows that he writes, for no other reason than that he wants to.
Now I did say the books are "nearly" everything one could wish for, so what's stopping me from inviting everyone to read them? Not any flaw but, if anything, a merit: neither Vance nor his characters believe in ideologies. This is important: vapid notions such as good, evil, light, dark, "cosmic balance," nation, God, soul and so forth, all those tarnished ideas that cannot stand rational scrutiny but which, though discredited by inconsistency, still dominate belle lettres and official discourse - you'll find none of them in the Dying Earth stories. Vance's characters take skepticism to the level of global cynicism, which only tends to make their lives miserable, but at the bottom the selfish Cugel is simply an aware, astute person who has seen a few cooky bigots too many. Speaking of which, if you ever get your hands on another Vancian novel, "Brains of Earth," be sure to read it, it's almost clairvoyant in its treatment of convictions as what would nowadays be called "memes."
At any rate, Cugel's ultimate goal in this crazy world - quiet luxury - comes down to a desire to be left alone, to get away from insane wizards, scheming monsters, deluded peasants and corrupt powers that be. Not to whitewash the vagabond, of course, but he (always a traveler) does have within him this ability to see through others' madness and pretense, though not through his own conceit. In short, Vance is, or writes as, an existentialist: the universe, he tells us, is ultimately a lifeless and uncaring place, only animated by sparks of genuine intelligence and emotion, and rarely at that.
And that's why most fantasy readers will be unhappy with the Dying Earth novels, even if they could be motivated to peek into a dictionary every three lines and embrace unorthodox wit. They will be put off by Vance's honesty, integrity and the fact that he writes for adults. This is not a TSR paperback, not Prozak in print; it has as few heroes as there are in real life. Nor is this collection escapist in the traditional sense of looking for some kind of dissolution, nirvana, moral cuddling. If anything, the place Vance invites us to escape to is harsher than reality but, because vast and not entangled by a single ideology such as our ideology of progress, also freer and more beautiful. There is something Nietzschean about the Dying Earth where everyone is trying to get the better of everyone else: a laissez-faire arena for excelling or failing, except that the Old Moustached One wrote for fighters and Vance for rogues.
Important: If you end up buying the book and enjoying it, and if you have friends who are also sympathetic to Cugel, and if you wish there were more Dying Earth stories to read, listen to this: there is a role-playing game out there based on Vance's work and by him approved! The style, the humor are every bit as fine as those in the source books and there are hilarious and thought-provoking adventure modules. Search Amazon.com for it.
Rating:
Summary: Optimism at the end of time
Review: What I found wonderful about these stories and most of Jack Vance's work in general, is that inspite of the bleakness of the situation (The constant death gasps of the Dying Sun), the cynicism of the times, Vance's hero's and heroines march on, not perky and euphoric, but determined that life will be better or that they can make it better. The other classic, a Hugo winner in fact, The Last Castle the protagonists free the slaves in spite of the fact that it means the end of their plush lifestyle. Vance's tenacity if not optimism is wonderful.
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