Jack Vance's Dying Earth | Worlds of Speculative Fiction (lecture 31)

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This is the thirty-first session in a new series of monthly lectures and discussions, featuring Dr. Gregory Sadler, and hosted by the Brookfield Public Library. The series focuses on philosophical themes in the works and world of selected classic and contemporary fantasy, science fiction, horror, and other speculative fiction genre authors.
We continue the series by focusing in this session on the science fiction and fantasy author, Jack Vance. We explore Vance's biography and works, his worldbuilding, and several main philosophical themes of his stories.
The books we examine are all part of his "Dying Earth" series, and include: The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the Overworld; Cugel's Saga; Rhialto the Marvellous. They are available in one omnibus volume available here - amzn.to/2PFDIqb
Authors we have covered in the series so far are J.R..R. Tolkein, A.E. Van Vogt, C.S. Lewis, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Leguin, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, Mervyn Peake, George R.R. Martin, Philip Jose Farmer, Madeline L'Engle, Douglas Adams, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Iain Banks, H.P. Lovecraft, William Gibson, C.L. Moore, Octavia Butler, Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Andre Norton, Arthur Clarke, Robert Howard, Gene Wolfe, C. J. Cherryh, Jack Vance, Edgar Allan Poe, G.K. Chesterton, Lewis Carroll, Tanith Lee, Gordon Dickson, August Derleth, Karl Edward Wagner, Aldous Huxley, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, China Mieville, Walter Miller, Cordwainer Smith, Liu Cixin, R. Scott Bakker, Stanislaw Lem, Neal Stephenson's, Philip Pullman, Olaf Stapledon, Veronica Roth, J.G. Ballard, Dan Simmons, Andrzej Sapkowski, Kim Stanley Robinson, N. K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, and Steven Erickson
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[@_ariosto1519]

So glad to have the grandmaster being studied seriously. One day people will rediscover his great work! 🎉

[@GregoryBSadler]

He certainly is a great one

[@Cugelclever]

Very nice to see Jack Vance getting some attention. He is my absolute favorite writer.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Just read Languages of Pao - a friend gave it to me - great stuff!

[@hhlavacs]

I was (a small) part of the integral edition as a member of textual integrity, it was an epic endeavor done by amazing people. Thanks for discussing Jack Vance, my all time favorite author!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome - and that was very cool experience, I imagine

[@hhlavacs]

@@GregoryBSadler It was, and the biggest gain of course is the whole Vance Integral Edition sitting on my book shelf. I really enjoyed your video, it was spot on.

[@petersbayley]

I did the same for a few books. A great project :-)

[@waltertheartist2746]

Very rereadable, Jack Vance's Dying Earth cycle has been, for me, very rewarding, inspiring and pleasurable.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Yes - it's fun stuff!

[@shawn6669]

@@GregoryBSadler read "The Demon Princes" by Vance. In my mind it's equal in quality to the Dying Earth books. I consider those 2 series to be both the pinnacle of Vance's work and very close to the pinnacle of SF/Fantasy in general. FWIW>

[@shimrodson5443]

Dying Earth series and Lyonesse series are masterpieces

[@GregoryBSadler]

Quite true

[@skulptor]

I read the Dying Earth when I was 10 in 1971. It was revelation. More accessible than Tolkien,more colorful than Arthur C Clarke. Eyes of the Overworld just confirmed this. A kind of over- matured science fiction setting reminiscent of Herodotus to me. The Dying Earth is mostly written ona need to know basis which keeps one hungry for more snippets to flesh the setting out. I think he compares well with Dickens and R.L.Stephenson. Great to find a discussion of Vance and his works.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@skulptor]

@@GregoryBSadler working through thte others now. Glad i found your channel!

[@benkingston8129]

One of my favorite authors ever! Thanks Greg!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome!

[@coconuciferanuts339]

Vance was a talented fantasy,sci-fi author.Very funny,futuristic & historical.Yes,his word-play like "manse" for house or mansion.Cugel was my favourite rascal/hero. Also the jobs,places etc so real. Also,Vance's magic description of these wizards etc were so somehow possible. Jack was a magical writer.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Indeed he was

[@ghc9425]

At 55:00 Corona flashbacks ahah. Lovely analysis, thank you!

[@ghc9425]

Hey Gregory, are you whipping some of these online (e.g. discord) during the pandemic?

[@GregoryBSadler]

@@ghc9425 I've been doing that for months

[@ghc9425]

​@@GregoryBSadler where can I find you! I'll assume these are for Patreon people

[@GregoryBSadler]

@@ghc9425 When you go to the channel, there's all sorts of links. And no, the sessions are not just for Patreon supporters

[@machtundehrexiv2600]

I've played Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (aka 2nd Edition) for over two decades now. Dying Earth was a major influence to the setting and theme. Only recently have I enjoyed Jack Vance's work and was blown away. I didn't realize how profoundly inspirational this is to RPGs.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Yes - if I remember right, he's one of the people Gygax suggested GMs read in the Dungeon Master's Guide

[@machtundehrexiv2600]

@@GregoryBSadler, a "World Builders' Guide" was published with mention of Dying Earth. I didn't remember anything from the DMG.

[@GregoryBSadler]

@@machtundehrexiv2600 There was that section midway through - and I'm talking 1st edition, since it's been decades since I've played D&D - where Gygax made recommensations

[@tame7347]

@@GregoryBSadler Appendix N, great list of a mix of influential authors

[@kedabro1957]

@@tame7347 www.amazon.com/Appendix-Literary-History-Dungeons-Dragons-ebook/dp/B01MUB7WS6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1587937017&refinements=p_27%3AJeffro+Johnson&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Jeffro+Johnson

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

I love how everyone is the dying earth is trying to screw eachother over. No noble heroes , noble knights or what have you. I love the dark humor. It's a shame he didn't write more in this series.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You'll find others who have, for example Tanith Lee

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

@@GregoryBSadler I remember reading her as well,. Yet when i try to remember more specific details , I notice i have forgotten them . ( And I find most of Vance other books a bit repetitive to be honest) . The dying earth series somehow stuck with me after all these years.

[@earlpipe9713]

My favorite thing about it is how there'd be characters coming up with vicious, elaborate trap plans for others, always based on the most petty, small potatoes of reasons like "he wore a fancier hat then me on my birthday!"

[@shimrodson5443]

Vance was ahead of his time for sure

[@lagsmith]

intelligent discussion regarding a glorious worldsmith. subscribed.

[@GregoryBSadler]

He does like to sling them doesn't he!

[@wateriso]

great video. i just read fifth head of cerberus. will read some jack vance. thank you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Cool!

[@onepiecefan74]

These stories sound like the Zothique stories by Clark Ashton Smith. Those deserve a segment on Worlds of Speculative Fiction.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Yep. Make your suggestions when we ask for them every year in December

[@shawn6669]

The character you were looking for was "Nifft the Lean" by Shea.

[@earlpipe9713]

I love that Vance's wizard characters are named in ways that seem to have influenced the colorful pimps of the 1970s

[@cryptout]

Big Vance fan here, I enjoyed your conversation about him and the Dying Earth. One of the people said there are a few authors that write in the Dying Earth universe, do you know their names?

[@58lespaul]

Matthew Hughes is one.

[@cryptout]

@@58lespaul Thank you so much!

[@GreenTeaViewer]

Michael Shea wrote a Cugel the Clever book, and his non-Dying Earth work is heavily influenced by Vance but with its own flavour.

[@cryptout]

@@GreenTeaViewer Excellent, I will check him out too. Thanks!

[@shawn6669]

In the "Songs of the Dying Earth" collection (of stories set in the Dying Earth world, but by other authors), the best stories, in my opinion, were done by Kage Baker, Dan Simmons and George RR Martin. Simmons story "The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz" is my favorite of the three although they are all amazingly good

[@inevitabledaydream]

Awesome Greg thanks!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome!

[@pdyepes]

his societies are his best charachters.

[@3p1Kf41L]

I gotta find my copy again

[@troisiemeoeil3651]

Thanks for the video! Could you at some point cover the worlds of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky? To get some soviet sci-fi covered.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I'll add them to the pool. Keep an eye open for the upcoming vote for some of the slots in 2019

[@fevertreeful]

Why no discussion of fantasy, mischief and magic?

[@GregoryBSadler]

Left that open so you can put that in your own video. Way better than just complaining

[@The_Dean_91]

watching this during the 2020 pandemic lolz

[@GregoryBSadler]

Good time to catch up. We haven't had a meeting since February!