"Songs of the Dying Earth" is an homage to the Dying Earth world of Jack Vance. The list of authors who have contributed to this tome reads like a who-is-who of today's top fantasy writers and I am delighted to hold this marvelous collection in my hands. As setting and style are predefined, the stories don't win prices for special originality. However, they entertain and it's a pleasure to travel into the world of Jack Vance and to see the authors play with the toy. Each story features an afterword in which the author describes his or her relation to Jack Vance.(B) The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale by Robert Silverberg is a light, melancholic story. A man reflects on his life and has to find a way to get rid of intruders. The pieces of poetry add much to the atmosphere, the extensive listings of various items on the other hand slow down the speed too much.(B) Grolion of Almery by Matthew Hughes is a dark adventure story about a very special house. It starts quite interesting, telling the story from an unusual perspective, but the events in the end went over my head. (A) The Copsy Door by Terry Dowling is a wonderful light story about a sorcerer who finds himself trapped in a troublesome situation. Very clever and very funny. (C) Caulk the Witch-Chaser by Liz Williams felt unmotivated. Caulk is forced to look for an owl in a very dangerous country. I didn't understand why he had to go nor did I like how the story unfold.(A) Inescapable by Mike Resnick tells the story of a watchman who falls in love with a beautiful witch. This is a funny and smart story, making the connection to a very famous Vance story. Highly recommended.(A) Abrizonde by Walter Jon Williams is another highlight. Vespanus, a constructor by profession, is stuck in a castle which is under attack. With the help of his servant he invents counter-schemes but the enemies are not dumb. Very smart and very entertaining.(B) In The Traditions of Karzh by Paula Volsky Farnol of Karzh has to show his mastership as a sorcerer. He has neglected this part of family tradition as best as he could but now he is forced to gain knowledge - quickly. I was turned off by the boring way how the quest starts. The adventures though were interesting, especially the encounter with the pelgrane. (A) The Final Quest of the Wizard Sarnod by Jeff VanderMeer is the next highlight. Its strong points are the characters. They are on a quest but they are also forced to think about who they are. I find it amazing how Jeff is able to describe believable relationships in just a few words. Recommended.(B) The Green Bird by Kage Baker is a Cugel story. It's not bad and the twist at the end is really good but it never felt like the real Cugel. (A) In The Last Golden Thread by Phyllis Eisenstein a merchant son desperately wants to become a sorcerer. His motivation is led astray when he meets a famous witch looking for a golden thread to complete her carpet. A very well told story with neat ideas.(B) An Incident at Uskvosk by Elizabeth Moon features interesting characters and events but I had a big problem with the social structures. Usually the servants look for holes in their arrangements with the master and try to cheat them. Not so in this story where we have a powerless dwarf who is trapped in an unfortunate situation. I don't know how this fits into the Dying Earth scenario.(B) Sylgarmo's Proclamation by Lucius Shepard is a dark revenge story with great imagination and almost deserves an A. What I didn't like was the sinister way in which Cugel is described and actually I didn't care much what became of him.(A) The Lamentably Comical Tragedy (or The Laughably Tragic Comedy) of Lixal Laqavee by Tad Williams not only has the longest title, it's a funny story in which the blackmailer has to pay for his crime. (A) Guyal the Curator by John C. Wright starts very slow. An effectuator, whose main source of power is a special wand, wants to help a man who has lost his memory. Obviously this man has some insight into the artifact so both begin to look for traces. What begins is an exciting adventure with religious overtones. Recommended.(C) Stripped down to the bare essence, The Good Magician by Glen Cook is not a bad story. The inferior sorcerer Alfaro has a vision. A bunch of top-class magicians is summoned immediately to investigate the secret, which goes far back into history. It's nice to meet some old characters, but I found the plot hard to believe and disappointing. (C) It's telling that the introduction to The Return of the Fire Witch by Elizabeth Hand doesn't loose a word about the story. After some pages I felt puzzled and confused. The sentences sound nice if spoken aloud but I had a hard time to understand their meaning. (B) The Collegeum of Mauge by Byron Tetrick is a very light and cheerful story about a man who is looking for his father. He stumbles into a group of wannabe sorcerers who have just started with their training. To be honest, the begin reads more like fan fiction but the second half is fine, introducing an interesting twist.(A) Evillo the Uncunning by Tanith Lee is by far the funniest story of the collection and in true tradition to Jack Vance. An orphan with a tough childhood meets an intelligent snail and starts the adventure of his life. His naive worship for Cugel combined with the magic skills of the snail lead to unexpected situations. Highly recommended.COMING SOONThe Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz by Dan SimmonsFrogskin Cap by Howard WaldropA Night at the Tarn House by George R.R. MartinAn Invocation of Incuriosity by Neil GaimanAfterwordMy first Jack Vance book was [b:Alastor|40876|Alastor|Jack Vance|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169512178s/40876.jpg|40461] and I have read it at least 10 times. On various rainy Sunday mornings I stayed in bed, picked up the book and enjoyed the exotic worlds, the different people and the unusual societies. Later I read almost everything written by Jack Vance, the [b:Tales of the Dying Earth|40866|Tales of the Dying Earth|Jack Vance|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169512126s/40866.jpg|743153] being almost the last but I immediately loved Cugel and his funny adventures and admired the setting at the end of Earth's days.

"Songs of the Dying Earth" is an homage to the Dying Earth world of Jack Vance. The list of authors who have contributed to this tome reads like a who-is-who of today's top fantasy writers and I am delighted to hold this marvelous collection in my hands. As setting and style are predefined, the stories don't win prices for special originality. However, they entertain and it's a pleasure to travel into the world of Jack Vance and to see the authors play with the toy. Each story features an afterword in which the author describes his or her relation to Jack Vance.(B) The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale by Robert Silverberg is a light, melancholic story. A man reflects on his life and has to find a way to get rid of intruders. The pieces of poetry add much to the atmosphere, the extensive listings of various items on the other hand slow down the speed too much.(B) Grolion of Almery by Matthew Hughes is a dark adventure story about a very special house. It starts quite interesting, telling the story from an unusual perspective, but the events in the end went over my head. (A) The Copsy Door by Terry Dowling is a wonderful light story about a sorcerer who finds himself trapped in a troublesome situation. Very clever and very funny. (C) Caulk the Witch-Chaser by Liz Williams felt unmotivated. Caulk is forced to look for an owl in a very dangerous country. I didn't understand why he had to go nor did I like how the story unfold.(A) Inescapable by Mike Resnick tells the story of a watchman who falls in love with a beautiful witch. This is a funny and smart story, making the connection to a very famous Vance story. Highly recommended.(A) Abrizonde by Walter Jon Williams is another highlight. Vespanus, a constructor by profession, is stuck in a castle which is under attack. With the help of his servant he invents counter-schemes but the enemies are not dumb. Very smart and very entertaining.(B) In The Traditions of Karzh by Paula Volsky Farnol of Karzh has to show his mastership as a sorcerer. He has neglected this part of family tradition as best as he could but now he is forced to gain knowledge - quickly. I was turned off by the boring way how the quest starts. The adventures though were interesting, especially the encounter with the pelgrane. (A) The Final Quest of the Wizard Sarnod by Jeff VanderMeer is the next highlight. Its strong points are the characters. They are on a quest but they are also forced to think about who they are. I find it amazing how Jeff is able to describe believable relationships in just a few words. Recommended.(B) The Green Bird by Kage Baker is a Cugel story. It's not bad and the twist at the end is really good but it never felt like the real Cugel. (A) In The Last Golden Thread by Phyllis Eisenstein a merchant son desperately wants to become a sorcerer. His motivation is led astray when he meets a famous witch looking for a golden thread to complete her carpet. A very well told story with neat ideas.(B) An Incident at Uskvosk by Elizabeth Moon features interesting characters and events but I had a big problem with the social structures. Usually the servants look for holes in their arrangements with the master and try to cheat them. Not so in this story where we have a powerless dwarf who is trapped in an unfortunate situation. I don't know how this fits into the Dying Earth scenario.(B) Sylgarmo's Proclamation by Lucius Shepard is a dark revenge story with great imagination and almost deserves an A. What I didn't like was the sinister way in which Cugel is described and actually I didn't care much what became of him.(A) The Lamentably Comical Tragedy (or The Laughably Tragic Comedy) of Lixal Laqavee by Tad Williams not only has the longest title, it's a funny story in which the blackmailer has to pay for his crime. (A) Guyal the Curator by John C. Wright starts very slow. An effectuator, whose main source of power is a special wand, wants to help a man who has lost his memory. Obviously this man has some insight into the artifact so both begin to look for traces. What begins is an exciting adventure with religious overtones. Recommended.(C) Stripped down to the bare essence, The Good Magician by Glen Cook is not a bad story. The inferior sorcerer Alfaro has a vision. A bunch of top-class magicians is summoned immediately to investigate the secret, which goes far back into history. It's nice to meet some old characters, but I found the plot hard to believe and disappointing. (C) It's telling that the introduction to The Return of the Fire Witch by Elizabeth Hand doesn't loose a word about the story. After some pages I felt puzzled and confused. The sentences sound nice if spoken aloud but I had a hard time to understand their meaning. (B) The Collegeum of Mauge by Byron Tetrick is a very light and cheerful story about a man who is looking for his father. He stumbles into a group of wannabe sorcerers who have just started with their training. To be honest, the begin reads more like fan fiction but the second half is fine, introducing an interesting twist.(A) Evillo the Uncunning by Tanith Lee is by far the funniest story of the collection and in true tradition to Jack Vance. An orphan with a tough childhood meets an intelligent snail and starts the adventure of his life. His naive worship for Cugel combined with the magic skills of the snail lead to unexpected situations. Highly recommended.COMING SOONThe Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz by Dan SimmonsFrogskin Cap by Howard WaldropA Night at the Tarn House by George R.R. MartinAn Invocation of Incuriosity by Neil GaimanAfterwordMy first Jack Vance book was [b:Alastor|40876|Alastor|Jack Vance|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169512178s/40876.jpg|40461] and I have read it at least 10 times. On various rainy Sunday mornings I stayed in bed, picked up the book and enjoyed the exotic worlds, the different people and the unusual societies. Later I read almost everything written by Jack Vance, the [b:Tales of the Dying Earth|40866|Tales of the Dying Earth|Jack Vance|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169512126s/40866.jpg|743153] being almost the last but I immediately loved Cugel and his funny adventures and admired the setting at the end of Earth's days.

Edited by George R.R. Martin (who contributes a story as well) and Gardner Dozois, this anthology is another journey to the Dying Earth world created by Jack Vance.

Vance himself provides an introduction, and Dean Koontz provides an appreciation. But the heart and meat of the anthology are the stories.

Many of the authors do a remarkable job in capturing the essence of the Dying Earth. The language, the picaresque characters, the strange rambling adventures. Some of the stories feature characters from Vance's stories as main protagonists, others rely on those characters as plot devices, or even just as background color.

So how did they do?

Given the truism that anthologies can vary in the quality and interest stories and authors bring, I thought the quality of the stories was uniformly high. I was gratified that my high expectations were met by the authors and their stories. And the range of subjects and stories is high. Therein you will find more doings of Cugel (contradictory stories, if you wanted to try and take all of these stories as canonical), an architect who uses his skills to defend a castle, magicians large and small scrambling for power as the sun dies, and more, much more.

Dan Simmons has the only novella, the centerpiece of this anthology, The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz. It's one of the stronger stories in the volume. Like his digestion of Keats in the Hyperion novels, and the Iliad in Ilium, Simmons shows that he truly digests and does a good Dying Earth.

Besides his story, I particularly liked Wright's Guyal the Creator (continuing the character's story from the Vance story), Matthew Hughes' Grolion of Almery. (Hughes' own novels show his prior affection for homage to Vance), Paula Volsky's The Traditions of Karzh (showing how a would be wizard really gets his power) and Walter Jon William's Abrizonde (the aforementioned story about a hero architect).

But, really, few of the stories are poor, although I do wonder why Neil Gaiman felt the need to tie in the real world with the Dying Earth in his tale. I found that a bit atonal, even if its a decent story.

In any event, fans of the Dying Earth should not miss this anthology, especially given the list of authors and the love and care they have given the world of Messr. Vance.

The full list of stories:
The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale --Robert Silverberg
Grolion of Almery --Matthew Hughes
The Copsy Door --Terry Dowling
Caulk the Witch Doctor --Liz Williams
Inescapable --Mike Resnick
Abrizonde --Walter Jon Williams
The Traditions of Karzh --Paula Volsky
The Final Quest of the Wizard Sarnod --Jeff Vandermeer
The Green Bird --Kage Baker
The Last Golden Thread --Phyllis Eisenstein
An Incident in Uskvesk --Elizabeth Moon
Sylgarmo's Proclamation --Lucius Shepard
The Lamentably Comical Tragedy (or The Laughably Tragic Comedy) of Lixal Laqavee --Tad Williams
Guyal the Curator --John C Wright
The Good Magician --Glen Cook
The Return of the Fire Witch --Elizabeth Hand
The Collegeum of Mauge --Byron Tetrick
Evillo the Uncunning --Tanith Lee
The Guiding Nose of Ulfant Banderoz --Dan Simmons
Frogskin Cap --Howard Waldrop
A Night at the Tarn House --George R R Martin
An Invocation of Curiosity --Neil Gaiman ( )