- Hardcover
- Publisher: Robert Beard Books
- ISBN-10: 0307291812
- ISBN-13: 978-0307291813
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 16 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
...and it kinda shows. On one hand, George has delivered one of the most creative settings I've ever seen in Sci-Fi, complete with fascinating alien cultures. On the other hand, I felt quite dissatisfied with his main characters, and there was little action. However, it was still fun to see the master honing his skills.
The planet of Worlorn is a rogue, simply meandering through space on its own. Recently, it has come to drift near 'The Wheel of Fire' -a constellation, which has brought it to life for a few decades. The wandering planet became a wonderful tourist attraction for a while... a festival, with fantastic cities built by each of the known races. Now, Worlorn is pulling away into cold darkness again, and its becoming uninhabitable once more. The Festival of Worlds has come to a close, yet a few people can still be found living among it's deserted cities as the planet slowly dies. Dirk travels here in answer to a call from his old lover, Gwen, and ends up the pawn of an intercultural conflict.
As I said before, this is a fantastic place I'd love to see with my own eyes, but the characters were too dry and unrealistic. There really wasn't any motivation to keep turning the pages here. Since reading A Song Of Ice And Fire, I've been hunting down all of George RR Martin's earlier out-of-print works, and have enjoyed the ones I've found quite a bit. He has quickly become my favorite author, but Dying Of The Light could have been skipped.
-Lysander
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those coming to this book because of the Song of Ice and Fire be warned this is not high fantasy, it's a piece of straight cultural science fiction. It is very different from his current work. Science fiction and fantasy are often linked together, but despite this overlap there are huge differences between the genres. If you like space opera and great SF ideas this book is for you, if you want a high fantasy romp and have never liked hard SF then look elsewhere
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dying of the Light was George RR Martin's first novel, published in 1977. It is set in his SF 'Thousand World's' mileu, but no prior knowledge of the setting is required. As GRRM's first experience of the long-form novel, it is perhaps unsurprising that Dying of the Light is somewhat rough around the edges, lacking the trademark expert pacing of his later works. The first half of the novel is terribly drawn out. Whilst Worlorn, its flora and fauna and its dying cities are beautifully described, there is the feeling of the plot meandering around without a purpose for a while. In the second half, the book's various strands coalesce into a much more driven storyline and the pacing ramps up to the ambiguous finale in a manner which is classic GRRM.
The protagonists are well-drawn. Once again (see also many of the short stories in Dreamsongs), anyone who has been been through a painful or awkward relationship can identify with GRRM's main characters, Dirk and Gwen. The Kavalar are also a well-drawn species, whose complex codes of honour are logical, although the exploitation of legalistic loopholes in their traditions and customs occasionally makes the book feel like a 'Klingon honour' episode of Star Trek. Some may also bemoan the Butch & Sundance-style ending.
Overall, the novel has aged reasonably well, although the odd pacing means the first half of the book has a tendency to drag somewhat. Once the reader hits the second half of the novel, however, things improve immeasurably. As usual, it's fun finding precursors to George's later work (particularly the similarities between Bretan and A Song of Ice and Fire's Sandor Clegane), but Dying of the Light is a somewhat slight work compared to ASoIaF, Fevre Dream or The Armageddon Rag.
The protagonists are well-drawn. Once again (see also many of the short stories in Dreamsongs), anyone who has been been through a painful or awkward relationship can identify with GRRM's main characters, Dirk and Gwen. The Kavalar are also a well-drawn species, whose complex codes of honour are logical, although the exploitation of legalistic loopholes in their traditions and customs occasionally makes the book feel like a 'Klingon honour' episode of Star Trek. Some may also bemoan the Butch & Sundance-style ending.
Overall, the novel has aged reasonably well, although the odd pacing means the first half of the book has a tendency to drag somewhat. Once the reader hits the second half of the novel, however, things improve immeasurably. As usual, it's fun finding precursors to George's later work (particularly the similarities between Bretan and A Song of Ice and Fire's Sandor Clegane), but Dying of the Light is a somewhat slight work compared to ASoIaF, Fevre Dream or The Armageddon Rag.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
unappreciated
I'm going to put my cards on the table straight away and say I tried the first of GRR Martin's Game of Thrones books and did not understand what all the fuss was about. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jason
s'ok mental roughage..
s'ok mental roughage..what did I expect.
I may read some of his other stuff next time I'm on long holiday and don't want to be stretched.
I may read some of his other stuff next time I'm on long holiday and don't want to be stretched.
Published 9 months ago by Vmouse
Boring and colourless
After reading "A game of thrones" and "A clash of kings", I was chumping at the bit to read anything written by this author. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2001
This was a major let down
After reading the first 3 instalments of George RR Martins saga of fire and ice which are absolutely brillent, I was mightily disappointed by this book. Read more
Published on 21 May 2001 by dapo_o@yahoo.com
An excellent and original sci-fi story
This story is set in the far future when humanity is only recently recovered from disastrorous wars which cut off interstellar contact for many years. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2001 by William Marnoch
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