De Stervende Aarde: Een Eerbetoon Aan Jack Vance (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
Songs of the Dying Earth Jack Vance has been one of my favorite writers ever since I first read his short story "Nopalgarth." I immediate read my way through everything of his I could find, and when I finally encountered The Dying Earth, my mind was blown. The merger of science and magic and the idea of an Earth so old nobody remembers it's history opened me up to a bunch of new fiction and established my taste in reading and writing. On a recent plane trip I realized I'd forgotten to pack any books, but the airport book shop had Songs of the Dying Earth, an anthology or original short stories from mega names like Neil Gaiman, and edited by George R.R. Martin. I bought the book despite that (I'm the only guy I know that doesn't really like either of those writers, but my mixed feelings about Martin's bibliography is another post) because I figured the big names of sci-fi and fantasy wouldn't just phone it in, and for the most part, that's true. The stories do a great job of evoking Vance, although none quite captures the almost foreign feeling you get from the original stories. Story telling has changed a lot since then, so I chalk it up to different sensibilities for modern writers. Of the wide variety of stories in the anthology, "An Incident in Uksvesk" by Elizabeth Moon was my hands down favorite. This particular story felt the least like something Vance would write, while at the same time doing an outstanding job of feeling like it belonged in his world. I won't spoil the fun by telling you more. Some other writers you might recognize that also contributed to the anthology include Silverberg, Tad Williams, Tanith Lee (her stories have always felt Vance-like to me) and Terry Dowling. An amazing tribute to a great writer! The Dying Earth series, by Jack Vance, contains one of the best written fantasy/scifi (hard to choose between the two) worlds and interesting characters one might ever come across. The short stories in this volume, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, follow the unique Vancian style well. My favorite of the bunch are the tales by Robert Silverberg, of the melancholic wine connoisseur (in The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale), and Tad Williams, of a situation so terrible as to be laughable (in The Lamentably Comical Tragedy). And of course George R. R. Martin is always great, especially here where he utilizes his well known Game of Thrones style for his tale of a nightmarish inn, in A Night at the Tarn House. It moves like a thriller and stays with you like a cynical man's dark humor.It is hard to find a collection that Gardner Dozois has worked on that doesn't contain at least a couple of gems, and this omnibus contains many. I recommend it highly!
What do You think about De Stervende Aarde: Een Eerbetoon Aan Jack Vance (2009)?
Good Anthology, but a bit hefty. If you like Vance's Dying Earth, you'll probably enjoy this book.
—EllaBella
This was my introduction to the sub genre of the dying earth,and I can't wait to find more!
—wvcindy
