Dying of the Light
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| Author | George R. R. Martin |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
| Released | January 1978 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-575-02385-6 (first edition, hardback) |
Dying of the Light (1978) is a science fiction novel by George R. R. Martin, who later wrote the epic fantasy Series A Song of Ice and Fire.
[edit] Plot summary
To start with, the planet of Worlorn, the locale for the book, is itself dying; a rogue planet whose erratic course is taking it irreversibly far from its neighboring stars into a region of cold and dark where no life will survive. Worlorn's 15 cities, built during the interval when it passed close enough to a red giant star to permit a brief window for life to thrive, are dying too. Built to celebrate the diverse cultures of 15 planetary systems, they have largely been abandoned. Their systems and maintenance are failing, and soon they will be cold, dead shells.
The cast of characters is also flirting with death. Dirk t'Larien, the protagonist, finds life empty and of little attraction after his girlfriend Gwen Delvano drops him. Most poignant of all, the Kavalar race, into which she has "married" (the relationship is complex) is itself dying in a cultural manner of speaking. Their home planet has survived numerous attacks in a planetary war, and in response they have evolved social institutions and human relationship patterns to cope with the depredation of the war. Yet now that the war is long past, they find themselves trapped between those who would recognise that the old ways need to be reviewed for the current day and those who believe that any dilution of the old ways spells the end of Kavalar culture.
The battles, then, of all these varying actors are played out beneath the dying light falling on Worlorn. At the end, many of the characters have indeed died (Martin leaves some endings deliberately ambiguous), but having faced their fears of death and of life.
[edit] Explanation of the novel's title
The title is clearly drawn from Dylan Thomas' poem about death, Do not go gentle into that good night which contains the lines :
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The book mentions a race of beings called the githyanki, and the name was taken from it for use with a much different race in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. See the Githyanki article for more details on both versions.
