Dying Earth

The Dying Earth subgenre is a sub-category of science fiction or science fantasy which takes place in the far future at either the end of life on Earth or the End of Time, when the laws of the universe themselves fail. Themes of world-weariness, innocence (wounded or otherwise), idealism, entropy, (permanent) exhaustion/depletion of many or all resources (such as soil nutrients), and the hope of renewal tend to pre-dominate.

The apocalyptic sub-genre is nearly as old as literature itself. The Dying Earth genre differs in that it deals not with catastrophic destruction, but with entropic exhaust
...more

The Dying Earth (The Dying Earth, #1)
The Shadow of the Torturer
The Eyes of the Overworld (The Dying Earth, #2)
Tales of the Dying Earth
Shadow & Claw
The Claw of the Conciliator
Hothouse
Zothique
Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance
Cugel's Saga (The Dying Earth, #3)
The Sword of the Lictor (The Book of the New Sun, #3)
Sword & Citadel
A Quest for Simbilis
The Pastel City (Viriconium #1)
The Night Land
1984 by George OrwellThe Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le GuinA Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le GuinSomething Wicked This Way Comes by Ray BradburyStories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
SFF: Best Themes
27 books — 18 voters
Outpassage by Janet E. MorrisShadow Over Avalon by C.N. LesleyThe IX by Andrew P. WestonThe Secret of Excalibur by Sahara FoleyExile's Gate by C.J. Cherryh
Best Science Fantasy Books
59 books — 83 voters

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. BeagleThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakStardust by Neil GaimanThe Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine ArdenA Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
SFF: Best Prose
42 books — 19 voters

La terra morente by Jack VanceZothique by Clark Ashton SmithL'ombra del torturatore by Gene WolfeThe Night Land by William Hope HodgsonLa saga di Cugel by Jack Vance
All Dying Earth Books
57 books — 14 voters
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. TolkienThe Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own M... by Catherynne M. ValenteStranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. HeinleinThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank BaumThe Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
SFF: Best Settings
49 books — 18 voters


Jack Vance
Day and far into the opalescent Embelyon night [Turjan of Miir] worked under Pandelume's unseen tutelage. He learned the secret of renewed youth, many spells of the ancients, and a strange abstract lore that Pandelume termed 'Mathematics.' "Within this instrument," said Pandelume, "resides the Universe. Passive in itself and not of sorcery, it elucidates every problem, each phase of existence, all the secrets of time and space. Your spells and runes are built upon its power and codified accordin ...more
Jack Vance, The Dying Earth

Carolina Cody Aldaz
You know what it is like to wake up in the middle of a bunch of corpses with a little girl in your arms scared to death?-Enyo
Carolina Cody Aldaz, The Guardians of the Earth Type Planets

More quotes...
Women of the Future This group celebrates adult Scifi & future-focused Fiction - written by women and nonbinary au…more
760 members, last active one year ago