Songs of the Dying Earth
First edition cover
EditorsGeorge R. R. Martin
Gardner Dozois
AuthorVarious
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesDying Earth tribute
GenreScience fiction/Fantasy
PublishedJuly 31, 2009
PublisherSubterranean Press
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages600
ISBN1-59606-213-4

Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance is a collection of short fiction and shorter essays composed in appreciation of the science fiction and fantasy author Jack Vance, especially his Dying Earth series. Edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, it was published in 2009 by Subterranean Press.[1]

Twenty-two authors contributed short fiction and an Afterword, about thirty pages on average. Fifteen of the stories are novelettes (7500 to 17,500 words), six are shorter, and The Guiding Nose of Ulfänt Banderōz by Dan Simmons is a novella highlighted on the cover of the second U.S. edition.[2]

As of May 2012 there have been British (Harper) and American (Tor) hardcover and trade paper editions, an American audio edition, and two numbers of an Italian-language serialization.[1]

Contents

Each of the stories by 22 different authors is followed by that author's Afterword and the next story's title, illustration, and introduction. With padding that material consumes four or five pages.[2][a]

Stories, each with the author's Afterword

† One story without supporting material is available online from Tor Books, the publisher of later U.S. editions: Baker, "The Green Bird".

† One story with supporting material is available online from Subterranean Press, the first publisher: Shepard, "Sylgarmo's Proclamation".[b]

A longer version of VanderMeer's story was published as a chapbook in 500 signed and numbered copies, The Three Quests of the Wizard Sarnod (WSFA Press, 2010).[3] The occasion was Ann and Jeff VanderMeer's appearance at 2010 Capclave as featured guests.

Notes

  1. ^ Inspection of one reprint online shows that its introduction and afterword are both about one full page in length. See the subsequent Note on Shepard, "Sylgarmo's Proclamation".
  2. ^ With a browser and settings that display the editorial introduction on two pages (screens), the novelette is about 70 pages and the Afterword is two pages. Jointly they are 31 or 32 pages in print.

References

  1. ^ a b Songs of the Dying Earth title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  2. ^ a b Songs of the Dying Earth (first Tor edition), 2010 publication contents at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  3. ^ The Three Quests of the Wizard Sarnod. ISFDB. Retrieved 2012-06-06.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Songs of the Dying Earth.
Fiction anthologies edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Works by Jack Vance
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