The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

 “I lived beside the ocean – in a white villa among poplar trees. Across Tenebrosa Bay the Cape of Sad Remembrance reached into the ocean, and when the sunset made the sky red and the mountains black, the cape seemed to sleep on the water like one of the ancient earth-gods…All my life I spent here, and was content as one may be while dying Earth spins out its last few courses.” - Etarr from "T'sias," by Jack Vance

The Dying Earth is a collection of six loosely related short stories originally published in 1950. The stories are set in a far distant future where the Sun is nearing the end of its life and magic has returned. Magic and technology exist side by side but many secrets to both have been lost. While some people have left the Earth for the stars, others have remained living in cities scattered across the planet, some in ruins. 

I really enjoyed Vance’s writing style. His descriptions were lyrical and poetic. I was surprised by how beautifully he used colors when describing the unusual flora and fauna. I liked the dialogue as well. While characters often spoke in a romantic and formal style, there was also some deadpan humor. He also used lots of interesting vocabulary. I learned more than a few new words. 

The characters in the stories are all searching for something. In one story a magician is trying to create life. In other stories characters are on quests. During their journeys we learn more about the characters and the world of the Dying Earth. For example, magicians have to prepare spells in advance by memorizing them. Each spell has a specific purpose and has to be re-memorized once used. The spells have descriptive names like Phandaal’s Gyrator and The Spell of the Omnipotent Sphere.

All this reminded me of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. It turns out that The Dying Earth is one of the books listed in Appendix N of the original D&D Dungeon Masters Guide. Also, creator Gary Gygax credits the book with being the inspiration for the game’s magic system. 

Although I’ve played D&D before, I didn’t know about Appendix N until last year. I learned about it through the excellent blog on the DMR Books website. 

Appendix N is a list of authors and works that influenced the creation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Besides Jack Vance, the list includes Poul Anderson, Leigh Brackett, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, Andre Norton, Michael Moorcock, J. R. R Tolkien, Manly Wade Wellman, Roger Zelazny, as well as a few others. Many of these authors are favorites of mine. 

"Turjan of Mir" (3/5)

The magician Turjan has been trying to create human life but has not been successful. He travels to Embelyon, a realm not of Earth and seeks help from the mysterious Pandelume. On the way he meets a very unfriendly woman by the name of T’sais. Pandelume agrees to help but only if Turjan retrieves an amulet from Kandive the Golden. Turjan learns that T’sais was created by Pandelume but that “...what we hold to be beautiful seems to her loathsome and ugly, and what we find ugly is to her intolerably vile…” 

I liked the spell battle that followed and how things played out after Turjan gained the knowledge he was seeking. It came across a little like a science fiction/fantasy fairy tale, one that involved tragedy as well as hope. 

"Mazirian the Magician" (3/5)

This story begins with Turjan from the previous story, a prisoner of Mazirian the Magician. Everyday a woman from the forest observes Mazirian. She thwarts all of his attempts to capture her. Finally, he memorizes five spells and prepares his Live Boots, boots that allow him to run at great speed. When she appears again a great chase and battle of wits ensues. 

"T’sais" (4/5)

T’sais from the first story tells Pandelume that she wishes to leave Embelyon and travel to Earth in order to learn more about beauty and love. Pandelume warns her that Earth is a dangerous place and we learn more of its history.  

“Earth,” mused Pandelume. “A dim place, ancient beyond knowledge. Once it was a tall world of cloudy mountains and bright rivers, and the sun was a white blazing ball. Ages of rain and wind have beaten and rounded the granite, and the sun is feeble and red. The continents have sunk and risen. A million cities have lifted towers, have fallen to dust. In place of the old peoples a few thousand strange souls live. There is evil on Earth, evil distilled by time…Earth is dying and in its twilight…”

But T’sias has heard that Earth is also a place of beauty and she has the urge to learn more. Pandelume agrees to send her. He gives her an amulet that repels magic, a sword, and a bag of jewels. On Earth she has an encounter with Liane the Wayfarer, a vain, smooth talking, dangerous thief. Eventually she meets Etarr, a kind man who keeps his face hidden because of a curse. 

I liked this story a lot. T’sias pushes herself to understand her feelings, manages to get out of a couple of bad situations before meeting up with Etarr, then joins him in his efforts to remove the curse.

"Liane the Wayfarer: (5/5)

We meet Liane again, the vain and dangerous thief from the previous story. He meets a beautiful woman named Lith. He is infatuated with her but she will have nothing to do with him unless he performs a task for her. Lith shows him half of a beautiful tapestry.  She explains that the other half has been stolen and placed in some ruins in the north. His task is to recover the missing tapestry. He agrees without hesitation. 

When I started this story, I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, but it became one of my favorite stories from this collection. Short and sweet with one heck of an ending. 

"Ulan Dhor" (4/5)

Prince Kandive the Golden sends his nephew, Ulan Dhor on a quest to retrieve a pair of ancient tablets from the lost city of Ampridatvir.  When combined the tablets provide a key to ancient knowledge. The tablets are controlled by two rival factions. Each one of the factions has one of the tablets in their temple. Ulan Dhor makes his way to the city and learns more about the factions and why each of them guards one of the tablets. We see a lot of ancient technology in this story, from anti-gravity devices to flying cars. By the end of the story we learn all the details about the mysterious city and the two tablets. 

"Guyal of Sfere" (5/5)

Guyal of Sfere is not well liked. As a child he constantly asked questions in order to understand everything around him. This continued into adulthood, much to the annoyance of his father. He decides to go on a quest to find the mythical Museum of Man so he can ask the supposedly all-knowing Curator questions. To aid him in his journey, Guyal’s father gives him a white horse, a magic shelter, and a glowing dagger. Guyal heads north and has a series of adventures as he searches for the museum. 

Guyal quickly became my favorite character after reading the answers he gave to questions he was asked. When asked if all the people from the south are as inquisitive as he is, he responds with:

“In no degree,” said Guyal. “Everywhere normality of the mind may be observed. The habitants adroitly perform the motions which fed them yesterday, last week, a year ago. I have been informed of my aberration well and full. ‘Why strive for a pendant’s accumulation?’ I have been told. ‘Why seek and search?’ Earth grows cold; man gasps his last; why forego merriment, music, and revelry for the abstract and abstruse?”

He continues:

“The rumor goes that I am demon-bereft of my senses. Such may be. In any event the effect remains, and the obsession haunts me.” 

I love that Guyal stands his ground and pushes back against what everyone else thinks about him.

Later in the story after a long journey and various encounters, he is about to face a new danger. When asked how he can be defiant against the oncoming danger he responds with:

“In truth I do not know…Perhaps I find it incredible that the Norns would direct me from pleasant Sfere, through forest and crag, into northern waste, merely to play the role of cringing victim. Disbelieving so inconclusive a destiny, I am bold.” 

He’s brave and he’s not exactly sure why, but he’s not giving up!

The first two stories were the shortest. They’re a little simpler than the later stories. While I enjoyed them, the stories really took off with the third one. Each story had interesting characters and worldbuilding. The combination of unique prose and unique and sometimes satirical settings, made for an enjoyable reading experience.

Jack Vance wrote three sequels to The Dying Earth. They are The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel’s Saga, and Rhialto the Marvelous.