From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" 
Subject: RE: (urth) Vancean  influence on Wolfe
Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 11:11:36 -0700

> In addition, I think it is important to isolate TDE from
> the other Vancean "Dying Earth" novels: TDE has an
> "earnest" quality, maybe something like sombre-mode Dunsany, 

Bingbingbingbingbing! I found myself thinking "Dunsanean" (or,
occasionally, less flattering: "Bad imitation Dunsany") over
and over again while going through TDE -- especially the Dunsany
of "The Castle of the Gnolls" and the story of "Chu-Bu and 
Sheemish."

> that is burlesqued in the other novels in a way closer to that
> of joking-mode Clark Ashton Smith (as opposed to decadent-mode,
> which is the voice CAS used in most of his Zothique stories).

(I really need to read those sometime...)

So are the other Dying Earth novels, uh, better? Or to put it
differently: do they have more of the gentle irony I tend to
associate with Vance?

> The isolation of TDE could be extended further, to separate 
> it from nearly all of Vance's work--it really is different.  
> But I've read nearly 100% of Vance's fiction (I haven't read
> a few of the mysteries because I cannot afford them--oh yes,
> Vance wrote mysteries, too. 

I seem to recall he's also one of the various SF writers who 
stepped in pseudonymously during "Ellery Queen"'s long blocked
period. I know for certain that Ted Sturgeon and Avram Davidson 
did.

--Blattid


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