To honor the magnificent career of Jack Vance, one unparalleled in achievement and impact, George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, with the full cooperation of Vance, his family, and his agents, have created a Jack Vance tribute anthology: Songs of the Dying Earth . The best of today's fantasy writers to return to the unique and evocative milieu of The Dying Earth, from which they and so many others have drawn so much inspiration, to create their own brand-new adventures in the world of Jack Vance's greatest novel. Half a century ago, Jack Vance created the world of the Dying Earth, and fantasy has never been the same. Now, for the first time ever, Jack has agreed to open this bizarre and darkly beautiful world to other fantasists, to play in as their very own. To say that other fantasy writers are excited by this prospect is a gross understatement; one has told us that he'd crawl through broken glass for the chance to write for the anthology, another that he'd gladly give up his right arm for the privilege. That's the kind of regard in which Jack Vance and The Dying Earth are held by generations of his peers. This book contains a collection of original short stories from George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Moon, Tanith Lee, Tad Williams, Kage Baker, and Robert Silverberg, along with fifteen others--as well as an introduction by Dean Koontz.

"This original anthology of all-new stories harkens back to the Golden Age of SF, when science fiction was filled with tales from our own solar system, at a time when no one knew what lay on the surface of our nearest galactic neighbors and speculation ran rampant. And though that old solar system was "disproved" in the 1960s, when space probes showed that the real worlds were very different from those of our imaginations, these linked anthologies take us back to the time when it still seemed possible that Mars was home to dying civilizations, and Venus was a steamy, swampy jungle world, with strange creatures lurking amidst the lush vegetation. "--

Running from poverty and hopelessness, Ramón Espejo boarded one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the new life he found on the far-off planet of São Paulo was no better than the one he abandoned. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him. Deadly violence ensues, forcing Ramón to flee into the wilderness. Mercifully, almost happily alone—far from the loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor—the luckless prospector is finally free to search for the one rich strike that could make him wealthy. But what he stumbles upon instead is an advanced alien race in hiding: desperate fugitives, like him, on a world not their own. Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret and caught up in an extraordinary manhunt on a hostile, unpredictable planet, Ramón must first escape . . . and then, somehow, survive. And his deadliest enemy is himself.

Some see it as the ultimate blessing, others as an intolerable curse. Tempting or terrifying, the idea of immortality has inspired creative souls for thousands of years. In this brilliant collection, some of today's most ingeniously imaginative writers deal with the entrancing theme of eternal possibilities. Features Thomas M. Disch, Greg Egan, Jack Vance, and other acclaimed masters of fantasy and science fiction.

There is a lot of rubbish to sort through in Tommy and Tuppence Beresford's new country home, The Laurels. Turning the pages of an abandoned book, Tuppence uncovers a troubling note: "Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us. I think I know which one." Peering into the past, the Beresfords learn the author of the note died very young—was it coincidence, or did he know too much? But it is no coincidence when a loose panel of glass just misses Tuppence, nor when a bullet grazes her arm. Someone wants to bury the sixty-year-old secret...and the Beresfords.