In length, it is more novella than novel, coming in at 130 pages (figure 32,500 words 250 words/page * 130 pages), and is, in fact, a collection of short stories. The Dying Earth was originally published in 1950. After working on a degaussing crew for a period, he left about a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He worked for a while as an electrician in the naval shipyards at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - for '56 cents an hour'. Vance wrote one of his first science fiction stories for an English class assignment his professor's reaction was “We also have a piece of science fiction” in a scornful tone, Vance’s first negative review. Vance plied many trades for short stretches: a bell-hop (a 'miserable year'), in a cannery, and on a gold dredge, before entering the University of California, Berkeley where, over a six-year period, he studied mining engineering, physics, journalism and English. With the death of his grandfather, the Vance's family fortune nosedived, and Vance was forced to leave junior college and work to support himself, assisting his mother when able. This early setting formed Vance's love of the outdoors, and allowed him time to indulge his passion as an avid reader. With the early separation of his parents, Vance's mother moved young Vance and his siblings to Vance's maternal grandfather's California ranch near Oakley in the delta of the Sacramento River. Vance's early childhood was spent in San Francisco. I found it of particular interest that Vance, like myself, spent part of his childhood in the areas of San Francisco and Sacramento: The individual novels found in the Tales of the Dying Earth are certainly amongst them. Many of his works are considered classics.

Jack Vance is one of the most prolific and popular science fiction and fantasy writers of our time. The Dying Earth by Jack Vance is the first part of the Tales of the Dying Earth omnibus that also includes The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga, and Rhialto the Marvellous.

Book Reviews The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

The dying earth by jack vance