Emphyrio (S.F. Masterworks, Volume 19) (original 1969; edición 1999)

Some intriguing world-building with a clever mingling of the old and the new, social commentary that mingles light but still bitter cynicism and absurdity to great effect, jewel-bright prose and a bit of a mystery to unravel - all of this made Emphyrio a pleasure to read. However, the slow and fairly delicious buildup of the story is marred by the rather abrupt and perhaps too romantic ending, meaning that the preceding narrative felt as if it was shot through with a foreboding that wasn't warranted. ( )

This offers less action than your standard Vance tale, but quite a bit more to think about. In many ways it reminds me of the novels of L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

As dystopias go, Vance's largely paternalistic and in many ways quite forgiving planetary government is a fairly benign one. People who work hard and mind their own business are supported by a safety net which cares for their basic needs. People can freely leave the system, but then forego the safety net. There is, however, a quite stringent prohibition against mechanical duplication, whether of goods or the printed page. Sounds fairly innocuous, right?

As our protagonist comes of age in this society he longs for greater opportunity, and finds himself and those around him facing difficult decisions. He and they then have to live with the consequences of those decisions. There is a hidden mystery running through the book which, once answered, both seems obvious, and validates the protagonist’s actions in a very satisfying way.

One of the best books by one of the best science fiction authors. Give it a try. ( )

Emphyrio is another of Jack Vance's science fiction novels, almost certainly part of his Oikumene/Gaean Reach setting, but that hardly matters as the story is entirely self-contained. Emphyrio was originally published in a hardback edition by Doubleday in 1969. It is explicitly a work of social/political commentary, and I would suggest that its message is even more relevant today than it was in the late 1960s.

Please note that spoilers for the book’s plot follow.

Ghyl Tarvoke is a young man, raised by his father Amiante on the planet Halma. Amiante is an extremely skilled woodcarver who eventually trains Ghyl in this craft. All who dwell on Halma are members of craft guilds (closed shop unions) and entirely dependent on the socially- and politically-stratified state, which controls all aspects of daily life, including the most intimate details, in exchange for the cradle-to-grave welfare society provided. Vance's critique, of course, is that by becoming infantilized and allowing governmental and social institutions to provide the means of sustenance, one also allows those same institutions to determine the course of one's existence through increasingly intrusive means. Ghyl and his father become increasingly dissatisfied with the regimented society in which they find themselves trapped. Eventually Amiante is killed and Ghyl falls in with a bad crowd, hijacking a nobleman's space yacht and traveling to several other worlds, discovering more about Halma's history and how the present society was formed. I hesitate to reveal the nature of Ghyl's discoveries, as they are startling and important to the novel's climax. Suffice it to say, Ghyl takes on the role of the mythical Emphyrio and overturns the oppressive system that governs Halma.

That plot may sound a bit dry when spelled out so baldly, but the tale is well-told and certainly more nuanced than I've described above. Ghyl and the other characters are interestingly portrayed, and we certainly see a great deal more depth in Ghyl than in many of Vance's protagonist (one of his few weaknesses, in my opinion). That weakness, if it exists, is certainly not present in Emphyrio.

I had read this novel years ago but had forgotten how explicit (and important) it's social and political critique was; this is somewhat unusual for Vance, but well-done, and one of his finest. I highly recommend this science fiction stand-alone novel. It is well-regarded and one of Vance's best. I give Emphyrio 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Review copyright 2010 J. Andrew Byers ( )

Certainly not an average writer is Jack Vance. Emphyrio is perhaps the most highly regarded of his stand-alone novels. In it, Ghyl, the young hero, is on the trail of a fabled being of yore, the eponymous Emphyrio, and finds himself using the same name in a bid to overturn the wrong-doings of the revered Lords of his isolated home planet.

The novel has a pulp-ish charm to it - a simple, brave protagonist in an exotic but faintly barbaric world, where gentle craftspeople carve out an existence for themselves largely for the benefit of the upper classes. Vance weaves a delicate and enchanting society, one not without credibility and parallels with sections of out own planet (which also makes a brief appearance as a sort of legendary cradle of civilization) and knows how to raise the emotion of the reader with just a few well-placed lines. To me this is a sort of space fantasy, where 'space yachts' can skip over the light years as easily as we can walk to the shops and most problems can be resolved within a few paragraphs, but this is all for the betterment of the flow of the action, of course. I actually can't think of a bad word to say about this book and look forward to reading more Vance. ( )

amazon: Jack Vance began to publish SF in 1945, and his 1950 science- fantasy classic The Dying Earth established him as a master of exotic, ironic style--still the hallmark of his 1990s novels. Emphyrio dates from 1969 and is perhaps his best handling of a favourite theme, a young boy's rebellion against a fossilized and unfair society. Ambroy, on the far world Halma, is a city of fine craft-workers where quiet tyranny wears the smiling face of a welfare state. Social workers with draconian powers enforce strict laws against mechanical duplication (each work of art must be unique), while priests of the absurd state religion go from door to door being loftily officious. Dissatisfied young Ghyl Tarvoke more or less prankishly runs for Mayor of Ambroy under the name of legendary hero Emphyrio--a quixotic act which leads indirectly to his master-craftsman father's tragic punishment and death, to despairing involvement in his wild friends' spaceship hijack plan, and to shocking revelations about Ambroy's real rulers. Legend says that Emphyrio long ago brought peace to Halma by uncovering truth, at the cost of his life. After colourful adventures Ghyl finds himself similarly placed: the truth can redeem the city he loves but means great personal loss. A fine, strangely underrated novel, now reissued as #19 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series. --David Langford