The Dying Earth

• "Turjan of Miir"
• "Mazirian the Magician"
• "T'sais"
• "Liane the Wayfarer"
• "Ulan Dhor"
• "Guyal of Sfere"

During a far future time, the Sun nears the end its life. The sky ranges from pink to deep blue, lit by a dim red Sun, and strange plants and animals exist. Much of the book is set within the forested country of Ascolais and in the ruined cities covering the landscape.

The setting is marked by the presence of ancient ruins and other fragments of decayed civilizations. The human population is shrinking. Most live in structures built long ago, in varying degrees of ruin, squalor, or luxury. Many also make use of magic (or in some cases, technology) which was created long ago but which they no longer understand. Characters and often make carefree, nihilistic references to the fact that their planet does not have much longer to live. (It is not specified how how long the planet has left.)

Many of the important people in Ascolais are magicians. They use magic by memorizing lengthy formulas for spells and activating them by speaking the proper commands. Once cast, the spell formula is forgotten, requiring the wizard to reread and re-memorize them. Because even talented magcians can only memorize and must "load" a handful of spells, they are also have to rely onrelics and their other talents for protection. There are only one hundred spells which are still known to mankind, of thousands which were discovered over the course of history. Pandelume implies that "magic" has a scientific origin; many spells were invented through the use of mathematics. Regardless of this, it appears that purely supernatural powers exist as well.

• Guyal of Sfere: A young man who is famous among his people for his endless asking of questions, due to a "void" in his mind which compels him to seek knowledge and who goes in search of it.
• Liane: A "bandit-troubadour" is an amoral, possibly evil, adventurer.
• Pandelume: A powerful magician existing in his Embelyon, and not on Earth.
• Mazirian: A greedy and heartless magician capable of creating artificial life, though his creations lack human intelligence.
• Turjan: A magician who lives in the castle of Mii. His adventures often bring him into conflict with other wizards.
• T'sain: "Twin sister" of T'sais, who lacks T'sais's flawed brain.
• T'sais: An artificial woman created by Pandelume, who has a flawed brain.
• Ulan Dhor: The nephew of Prince Kandive, and an aspiring swordsman and magician.

• Ampridatvir: Like Kaiin, an ancient city whose people now dwell in half-ruins.
• Ascolais: A forested country where Turjan, Mazirian, and many other wizards and strange creatures reside.
• Embelyon: a realm removed from the Earth; it may be located in a different planet or another plane of existence entirely.
• Kaiin: A city on the edge of Ascolais, ruled by Prince Kandive the Golden.
• Saponce: The city of the Saponids, a people who are ruled by ancient traditions.

• Chun the Unavoidable: A mysterious entity, species is unknown.
• Deodands: Handsome humanoids with dark skin and savage disposition.
• Pelgranes: Winged hostile creatures with beaks.
• Gauns: Roughly humanoid dangerous creatures which haunt the streets of Ampridatvir by night.
• Oasts: Creatures which appear to be giant humans.
• Twk-Men: Tiny greenish humonoids who ride on dragonflies.

The Dying Earth was featured in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master’s Guide under Appendix N: Literature as one of the works that were read during the development of the game system.[2] The designer, Gary Gygax, also credited the novel with being the inspiration for the magic system, which he called "Vancian".[3]

The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, Pelgrane Press (2001). A tabletop roleplaying game based on the novel series.[4]^: 54

• Levack, Daniel J. H.; Tim Underwood (1978). Fantasms. San Francisco: Underwood-Miller. p. 25.
• Tuck, Donald H. (1978). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 433. ISBN 0-911682-22-8.
• Underwood, Tim; Miller, Chuck (1980). Jack Vance. Writers of the 21st century. Taplinger.
• Yoke, Carl B. (1987). Phoenix from the ashes: the literature of the remade world. Contributions to the study of science fiction and fantasy. Vol. 30. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-24328-X.

• Jack Vance at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database