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Dying of the Light (1977)

by George R. R. Martin

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,1552317,097 (3.49)22
Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. Science Fiction. HTML:In this unforgettable space opera, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin presents a chilling vision of eternal night—a volatile world where cultures clash, codes of honor do not exist, and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.
 
A whisperjewel has summoned Dirk t’Larien to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight. Gwen needs Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise.
 
Praise for Dying of the Light

Dying of the Light blew the doors off of my idea of what fiction could be and could do, what a work of unbridled imagination could make a reader feel and believe.”—Michael Chabon
“Slick science fiction . . . the Wild West in outer space.”Los Angeles Times
 
“Something special which will keep Worlorn and its people in the reader’s mind long after the final page is read.”Galileo magazine
 
“The galactic background is excellent. . . . Martin knows how to hold the reader.”Asimov’s
 
“George R. R. Martin has the voice of a poet and a mind like a steel trap.”—Algis Budrys.
… (more)
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» See also 22 mentions

English (18)  Spanish (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Dutch (1)  French (1)  All languages (23)
Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
Disliked so much, did not finish. Did not find characters or story engaging. ( )
  nathanruggles | May 22, 2023 |
The prettiest edition of this book by far, found it at Barnes and Noble. ( )
  AudreySpotswood | Aug 4, 2022 |
I had absolutely no issues in giving this a full 5 star rating, because even though the novel was nominated in '78 for the Hugo, that it comes out of the mind of one of the more well-beloved SF/F authors of our times, the novel is absolutely gorgeous all on its own.

Why? Because we're getting such depth of world-building, from the science of the solar/planetary, to the culture it spawned, to an absolutely amazing depth of social explorations, to a very cool discourse on the sexes as seen from multiple cultures and their conflicts.

Sound impressive? It only gets better, because the story is oh so solid and very complex. This is the novel highlights all the things we truly love about his SoIaF series, establishing characters as one thing only to break the mold completely, crossing all the boundaries of evil to good and back again. No one is a secondary character, either. This is the precursor to the series we know, only it's Science Fiction.

It's easy to get carried away with the misogynic society of men and the desire of a single woman to free herself after having got caught, and it is a major theme, at first, but then we begin to see how truly disturbing the society is not because it does such male-centered things, but because of it's tragic history and how it had almost died out because it had lost most of its females, and as such, had changed them into true treasures and communal properties over a few generations despite the original star-faring society being perfectly egalitarian. It sounds bad, but then you start to see a particularly complex bond/love relationships between men, almost like honor, almost like romance, and it's made even more complex by the deep rules of duels, warfare, and conquest, all while having such strange mixes of old and rediscovered tech.

And of course we get to see and explore it all through both their eyes and an outsider's eyes in the greater galactic civilization, full of misunderstandings, surprises, hate, love, little heroisms and subversions.

Sound like a deeply complex storyline full of surprises and adventure? Well it is, and we get to see a deeply imagined physical world, too, not just of the people and the social structures. The planet is within a strange and chaotic start system and they cannot even see more than twelve stars. With so many multiple suns, we also discover that the planet had a near brush with a sun and is now on it's way out of the system entirely. The planet will go from great heat into an eventual iceball. See a theme? Only this time, it's explained in science, even if the inhabitants truly have little recourse or satisfaction in the knowledge.

When I first read SoIaF, I loved to speculate about the planetary system that would cause centuries of winter and a few small generations of summer. It's a very SF thing to do for an epic fantasy. Imagine how delighted I am to learn that he'd been long thinking of these specific plans within his fantasy? It's obvious from this book. :)

This should be a must read for all his fans, and even of fans of LeGuin. The deeper social aspects are quite fascinating, indeed. :)


( )
  bradleyhorner | Jun 1, 2020 |
A whisperjewel has summoned Dirk t’Larien to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. ( )
  jrthebutler | Dec 15, 2019 |
Na twee hoofdstukken heb ik dit boek maar opgegeven. Jammer, want andere boeken van George Martin (Lied van IJs en Vuur) waren juist wel goed te lezen.

nieuwe poging op 26 juli

29 juli. boek uit. Moest me er doorheen worstelen. het haalt het niet bij 'lied van ijs en vuur' van dezelfde schrijver ( )
  EdwinKort | Oct 18, 2019 |
Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
George R. R. Martinprimary authorall editionscalculated
Burns, JimCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Foss, ChrisCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fuchs, WernerTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kidd, TomCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Morrill, RowenaCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pugi, Jean-PierreTraductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Information from the Spanish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
A Rachel, que una vez me amĂł
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A rogue, an aimless wanderer, creation's castaway; this world was all those things.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. Science Fiction. HTML:In this unforgettable space opera, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin presents a chilling vision of eternal night—a volatile world where cultures clash, codes of honor do not exist, and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.
 
A whisperjewel has summoned Dirk t’Larien to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight. Gwen needs Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise.
 
Praise for Dying of the Light

Dying of the Light blew the doors off of my idea of what fiction could be and could do, what a work of unbridled imagination could make a reader feel and believe.”—Michael Chabon
“Slick science fiction . . . the Wild West in outer space.”Los Angeles Times
 
“Something special which will keep Worlorn and its people in the reader’s mind long after the final page is read.”Galileo magazine
 
“The galactic background is excellent. . . . Martin knows how to hold the reader.”Asimov’s
 
“George R. R. Martin has the voice of a poet and a mind like a steel trap.”—Algis Budrys.

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