Considered by many to be the greatest living science fiction writer, Vance has won nearly every possible genre award, many multiple times.īest known for his Dying Earth stories (which I’ll be reviewing tomorrow), Vance published science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. After selling his first short story in 1945, Vance wrote and published consistently into the 1990’s, publishing more than 60 novels to date. Unfortunately, his decaying vision often made work difficult.įriendly with Poul Anderson and Frank Herbert, Vance was exactly when and where he needed to be to create some of the most treasured science fiction and fantasy known.

Like many writers, Vance had a variety of careers – naval electrician, carpenter, surveying engineer, along with a stint in the Merchant Marine. He wrote his first science fiction short story during his time at Berkeley, but was derided by an English professor for trying to pass it off as a proper assignment. He attended University of California, Berkeley, and studied Engineering, Physics, English and Journalism. Formulating wild fantastical stories at an early age, Vance’s imagination was encouraged by his family. Many of these authors are “new to me”, so feel free to add your thoughts in the comments)īorn in 1916 in California, Jack Vance spent most of his childhood there. (As part of Vintage Science Fiction month, I’m going to be posting short bios about many of authors I’m reading.

Jack vance tales of the dying earth