Dying Earth
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 |
| 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. 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.
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, although it was marketed as a collection and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) calls it a "loosely connected series of stories".
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.