La terra morente. Vol. 1

I did not like this book much the first time I read it, but after reading it a second time while visualizing its characters as puppets, I found I liked it much more. This book—particularly the first three stories—irritated me. I found its wizards to be contemptible creatures, morally inferior product Leggi tutto

Strange to think that this was the series that inspired Martin and Wolfe in their fantasy endeavors. Going from their gritty, mirthless rehashes of standard fantasy badassery to Vance's wild, ironic, flowery style was jarring--going directly from Anderson's grim, tragic Broken Sword to this was tona Leggi tutto

To read The Dying Earth by Jack Vance is like to find oneself inside the fabulous canvas painted by some artist exiled to the end of the fatigued time… Or in the garden of paranoia… Deep in thought, Mazirian the Magician walked his garden. Trees fruited with many intoxications overhung his path, and Leggi tutto

1950, a time of transition from swashbuckling square-jawed heroes with huge brains and spaceships falling headlong into a deep future world where everyone is surrounded by death, old tech indistinguishable from magic, and to make things worse, the sun is dying. This is the last hurrah of Earth and i Leggi tutto

4.0 Stars This is an interesting sci fantasy novel that blends the two genres together in a delightful way. Given the premise, I couldn't help but compare this series to the Book of the New Sun. The one likely took inspiration from the other but each is also very much its own. The Dying Earth was a sh Leggi tutto