 Dust jacket of the 1999 omnibus edition | |
The Dying Earth (1950) The Eyes of the Overworld (1966) Cugel's Saga (1983) Rhialto the Marvellous (1984) | |
| Author | Jack Vance |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | various Gerald Brom, depicted[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Speculative fiction, Dying Earth subgenre |
| Published | 1950–1984 |
| Media type | |
| No. of books | 4 by Vance (see sequels) |
Dying Earth is a speculative fiction series by the American author Jack Vance, comprising four books originally published from 1950 to 1984.[2] Some have been called picaresque. They vary from short story collections to a fix-up (novel created from older short stories), perhaps all the way to novel.[2]
The first book in the series, The Dying Earth, was ranked number 16 of 33 "All Time Best Fantasy Novels" by Locus in 1987, based on a poll of subscribers,[3] although it was marketed as a collection and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) calls it a "loosely connected series of stories".[4]
The Dying Earth series has been described as a "sword and sorcery" series, as the plots of the various stories often revolve around picaresque exploits, swordplay, and magic.[5][6]
- ^ The Compleat Dying Earth (first omnibus) publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ^ a b Dying Earth series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Retrieved 2012-05-09.
- ^ "Best All-time Fantasy Novel Results, 1987". Locus Online. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
isfdb-1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Jones. Howard Andrew and Rhodes, Robert. "Sword and Sorcery Fiction" in Womack, Kenneth (ed.) Books and Beyond : the Greenwood Encyclopedia of new American Reading. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 2008. ISBN 031333742X (pgs. 973-993).
- ^ Shanks, Jeffrey. "History, Horror, and Heroic Fantasy: Robert E. Howard and the Creation of the Sword-and-Sorcery Subgenre" in Hoppenstand, Gary. Pulp Fiction of the 1920s and 1930s Salem Press, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 2013 ISBN 9781429838436 (pgs. 11).