
The Dying Earth
Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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Jack Vance
About this listen
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.
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Stranded on the distant planet Tschai, young Adam Reith is the sole survivor of a space mission who discovers the world is inhabited - not only by warring alien cultures but by human slaves as well, taken early in Earth's history. Reith must find a way off the planet to warn Earth of Tschai's deadly existence.
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"his new life. . . held zest and adventure"
- By Jefferson on 12-31-18
By: Jack Vance
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Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
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Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
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City
- By: Clifford D. Simak
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Jenkins was a robot. He was built to be the perfect worker, tireless and uncomplaining. But, quite unexpectedly, he also became a close companion to generation after generation of his owners as the human race matured, moved beyond the confines of its once tiny planet, and eventually changed beyond all recognition.
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A very special kind of story.
- By Andrew on 08-27-08
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Blood Music
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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An amazing breakthrough in genetic engineering made by Vergil Ulam is considered too dangerous for further research, but rather than destroy his work, he injects himself with his creation and walks out of his lab, unaware of just how his actions will change the world.
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THOUGHT UNIVERSE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 08-01-15
By: Greg Bear
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Swords and Deviltry
- The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
- By: Fritz Leiber
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Neil Gaiman (introduction)
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.
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Fafhrd/Gray Mouser
- By melody333 on 08-21-08
By: Fritz Leiber
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Hothouse
- By: Brian W. Aldiss
- Narrated by: Nick Boulton
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of years beyond our time, our Earth has long since stopped spinning—and giant flora have taken over the sunlit half of the motionless world. Here humans are among the very few animal species that still exist, struggling to survive against enormous odds, but they have become small and weak, and their numbers have dwindled to almost nothing. When the aging leader of Gren's tribe decrees it is time for the old ones to go "Up," the younger are left to make their own way below.
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Classic but seems simple
- By DrEHarris on 02-14-25
By: Brian W. Aldiss
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Planet of Adventure
- City of the Chasch, Servants of the Wankh, The Dirdir, The Pnume
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Elijah Alexander
- Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Stranded on the distant planet Tschai, young Adam Reith is the sole survivor of a space mission who discovers the world is inhabited - not only by warring alien cultures but by human slaves as well, taken early in Earth's history. Reith must find a way off the planet to warn Earth of Tschai's deadly existence.
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"his new life. . . held zest and adventure"
- By Jefferson on 12-31-18
By: Jack Vance
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Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
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Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
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City
- By: Clifford D. Simak
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Jenkins was a robot. He was built to be the perfect worker, tireless and uncomplaining. But, quite unexpectedly, he also became a close companion to generation after generation of his owners as the human race matured, moved beyond the confines of its once tiny planet, and eventually changed beyond all recognition.
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A very special kind of story.
- By Andrew on 08-27-08
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Blood Music
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
An amazing breakthrough in genetic engineering made by Vergil Ulam is considered too dangerous for further research, but rather than destroy his work, he injects himself with his creation and walks out of his lab, unaware of just how his actions will change the world.
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THOUGHT UNIVERSE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 08-01-15
By: Greg Bear
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Swords and Deviltry
- The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
- By: Fritz Leiber
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Neil Gaiman (introduction)
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.
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Fafhrd/Gray Mouser
- By melody333 on 08-21-08
By: Fritz Leiber
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Three Hearts and Three Lions
- By: Poul Anderson
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The gathering forces of the Dark Powers threaten the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons, and the Wild Hunt itself, are poised to overthrow the Realms of Light. Holger Carlsen, a bemused and puzzled twentieth-century man mysteriously snatched out of time, finds himself the key figure in the conflict. Arrayed against him are the dragons, giants, and elfin warriors of the armies of Chaos and the beautiful sorceress Morgan le Fay.
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I FEEL ALL AT SEA
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 03-24-17
By: Poul Anderson
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The Star King
- The Demon Princes Series, Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Five intergalactic criminal masterminds raid the tranquil world of Mount Pleasant, leaving behind only ruin and slaughter - and the orphaned child Kirth Gersen, who comes to manhood swearing to take bloody revenge. Now Gersen roams the galaxy, bringing vengeance to the Demon Princes one by one, in Jack Vance's classic series of hardboiled space opera.
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A longtime favorite, perfectly narrated
- By Gan on 03-05-22
By: Jack Vance
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Solaris
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Stanislaw Lem, Bill Johnston - translator
- Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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At last, one of the world’s greatest works of science fiction is available - just as author Stanislaw Lem intended it. To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Solaris, Audible, in cooperation with the Lem Estate, has commissioned a brand-new translation - complete for the first time, and the first ever directly from the original Polish to English. Beautifully narrated by Alessandro Juliani ( Battlestar Galactica), Lem’s provocative novel comes alive for a new generation.
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A comment on negative reviews
- By Burns on 09-20-11
By: Stanislaw Lem, and others
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Zothique
- By: Clark Ashton Smith
- Narrated by: Mathieu Buscatto
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Zothique est le nom d'un continent. Un monde mythique de sortilèges, de prodiges, d'incongruités, de maléfices et de terreurs innombrables. Dans cet univers, l'amour et la mort ont les couleurs de l'illusion, et les hallucinations sont toujours moins effrayantes que la réalité. Dans les villes et villages, dans les forêts et les campagnes, les morts, les momies, les squelettes ne laissent aux vivants aucun répit et, sans cesse, les assaillent et les poursuivent.
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A Fire Upon the Deep
- By: Vernor Vinge
- Narrated by: Peter Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A Fire Upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale. Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function.
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What a wild, wacky, awesome book!
- By Noah Smith on 06-20-10
By: Vernor Vinge
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Blindsight
- By: Peter Watts
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in 2082, Peter Watts' Blindsight is fast-moving, hard SF that pulls readers into a futuristic world where a mind-bending alien encounter is about to unfold. After the Firefall, all eyes are locked heavenward as a team of specialists aboard the self-piloted spaceship Theseus hurtles outbound to intercept an unknown intelligence.
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Gothic Horror Hard Science Fiction
- By Doug D. Eigsti on 06-24-15
By: Peter Watts
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Nine Princes in Amber
- The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1
- By: Roger Zelazny
- Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Amber is the one real world, of which all others including our own Earth are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne.
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Great book, lame deal!
- By Robert on 08-13-12
By: Roger Zelazny
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A Case of Conscience
- By: James Blish
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Father Ruiz-Sanchez is a dedicated man - a priest who is also a scientist, and a scientist who is also a human being. He has found no insoluble conflicts in his beliefs or his ethics...until he is sent to Lithia. There he comes upon a race of aliens who are admirable in every way except for their total reliance on cold reason; they are incapable of faith or belief. Confronted with a profound scientific riddle and ethical quandary, Father Ruiz-Sanchez soon finds himself torn.
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Moldy Oldie still gets it done
- By Bob V. on 03-22-09
By: James Blish
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The Shadow of the Torturer
- The Book of the New Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume epic, the tale of a young Severian, an apprentice to the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy towards his victim.
Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" is one of speculative fiction's most-honored series. In a 1998 poll, Locus Magazine rated the series behind only "The Lord of the Rings" and The Hobbit as the greatest fantasy work of all time.
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great writing, won't appeal to everyone
- By Ryan on 03-20-10
By: Gene Wolfe
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The Mote in God's Eye
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre. No lesser an authority than Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".
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A great read!
- By J. Rhoderick on 02-12-10
By: Larry Niven, and others
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The Face in the Frost
- By: John Bellairs
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Prospero, a tall, skinny misfit of a wizard, lives in the South Kingdom - a patchwork of feuding duchies and small manors, all loosely loyal to one figurehead king. Along with his necromancer friend Roger Bacon, who has been on a quest to find a mysterious book, Prospero must flee his home to escape ominous pursuers. Thus begins an adventure that will lead him to a grove where his old rival, Melichus, is falsely rumored to be buried and to a less-than-hospitable inn in the town of Five Dials - and ultimately into a dangerous battle with origins in a magical glass paperweight.
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Funny, delightful, fantasy for adults
- By Elisabeth Carey on 03-16-19
By: John Bellairs
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The Warrior of World's End
- Gondwane Epic, Book 1
- By: Lin Carter
- Narrated by: Daniel N. Wallace
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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"I see Gondwane as it shall be in the untold ages of dim futurity, near the time when the Earth shall be man's habitation no more, and the great night shall enfold all, and naught but the cold stars shall reign. The first sign of the end ye shall see in the heavens, for Lo! the moon is falling, falling. And there shall come a man into the lands, a man not like other men, but sent from Galendil."
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Imaginative pulpy adventure
- By Katherine on 12-03-13
By: Lin Carter
What listeners say about The Dying Earth
Highly rated for:
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- Mee Ra Lee
- 07-14-19
A cool classic
Seems like many writers have been inspired by this book. I liked it and found the individual stories entertaining.
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- Abel Vargas
- 07-05-23
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.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-11-24
What a blast from the past (of SciFi authors)!
Published almost 75 years ago, these stories are as thought- provocing as the most imaginative 21st century writers. And Vance's vocabulary and phrasing is like learning English a anew. Definitely worth listening until the end!
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Overall
- David M. Bullard
- 04-09-10
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
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11 people found this helpful
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- Bruce
- 11-09-16
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.
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- trevor
- 12-10-12
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.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 05-12-23
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.
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- T. Seck
- 10-14-23
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.
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- SAJK in BigD
- 10-06-18
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!
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- Karl Moens
- 01-07-16
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
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