Contento, William G. (2008). "Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections" (combineded.). Archived from the original on April 12, 2019 . Retrieved February 10, 2008. While most remaining civilizations on the Dying Earth are utterly unique in their customs and cultures, there are some common threads. Because the moon is gone and wind is often weak (the sun no longer heats the earth as much) the oceans are largely placid bodies of water with no tide and tiny waves. To cross them, boats are propelled by giant sea-worms. These worms are cared for and controlled by "Wormingers". In addition, the manses of magicians, protected by walls and spells and monsters, are relatively common sights in inhabited lands. From the 1930s onwards, Clark Ashton Smith wrote a series of stories situated in Zothique, the last continent of Earth, where its inhabitants live out their lives in a similar manner to the civilisations of the Classical era. Smith said in a letter to L. Sprague de Camp, dated November 3, 1953: Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Very far on the cynical end. When one sees the debauchery, sadism, ignorance and brutality that infest every corner of the Dying Earth, it begins to seem more and more like a Mercy Kill that the sun is about to go out. Xallops – Exhibits a talking but truculent book, the Compendium of Universal Knowledge, at the Exposition of Marvels.

The Murthe: The Murthe, a witch-goddess from the distant past, arrives in the present to take over the world and turn the men into women. A creature from the past has persued her and must rally the wizards against her. Cugel’s Saga (1983) is the third book in the Dying Earth series, coming 17 years after The Eyes of the Overworld (1966) and 33 years after The Dying Earth (1950). It’s also the second book to feature that thieving scoundrel Cugel the Clever, who often finds he is not quite as clever as he thinks, as his schemes generally end in failure at the end of each chapter, leaving him penniless and fleeing his enemies until he encounters the ne

Tropes:

Sadlark. Even when broken down into nothing more than scales he cannot be killed, and can still reflexively defend himself and feed on souls (which Cugel uses to great effect, to the point the Skybreak Spatterlight can be considered his signature weapon in his second book). Other role-playing games include: Lyonesse, Dying Earth, Fallen London, [44] and Talislanta (originally designed by Stephen Michael Sechi). Vance grew up in the family's large house in San Francisco on Filbert Street. When Vance's father left the family to live on his ranch in Mexico, the family's house in San Francisco was rented out to the father's sister. [9] With the separation of his parents, and the loss of use of the San Francisco house, Vance's mother moved him and his siblings to their maternal grandfather's California ranch near Oakley in the delta of the Sacramento River. This setting formed Vance's love of the outdoors, and allowed him time to indulge his passion as an avid reader of his mother's large book collection, which included Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes and his Barsoom novels and Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island. [9] When Vance explored the nearby town, he started reading pulp fiction magazines at the local drugstore. [9]

Philip Jose Farmer–In Dark Is the Sun (1979) a tribesman from the distant future quests across the landscape of a dying Earth. As with much of "Dying Earth" science fiction, this text ruminates on the nature of ending, and the meaning of time itself. The Vance Integral Edition puts "Mazirian" first in the volume. The sequence is unimportant as the stories are mostly independent of each other. Doris Piserchia– Earthchild (1977), in which the last human being on Earth faces competition from the world-spanning alien creatures that have devastated the planet. Time Travel: Rhialto the Marvellous does this often in one of his stories, and Cugel also spends some time in the distant past. (Even these jaunts are in the far, far future of Earth.) Magic Misfire: Cugel finds out the hard way that incorrectly cast spells tend to malfunction in the most inconvenient ways.Elai is a girl who shows kindness towards Ulan Dhor, during his journey to Ampridatvir. She is a member of the grey-clad worshippers of Cazdal. Ulan informs her of the truth about the city, and she serves as his guide and companion. George R.R. Martin– Dying of the Light (1977), a novel set on Worlorn, a world whose course is taking it into the far reaches of space, where all life on the planet will die. Etarr is a normal man who was unfortunate enough to fall in love with an evil witch. She used her mystical powers to exchange his face with that of a demon, cursing him with an unspeakably horrible face. However, Etarr is a kind man. After he offers help and hospitality to T'sais, she joins him on a journey to force his ex-lover to return his face. Although Etarr is not spoken of as a magician, he knows some spells which he uses to protect himself and T'sais.