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Emphyrio
Sur la planète Halma, les hommes sont asservis aux Seigneurs qui leur interdisent l'usage des machines. Pourtant, le petit Ghyl assiste à une représentation donnée par des marionnettes semi-humaines et racontant la légende d'Emphyrio, qui libéra Halma des monstres et proclama que nul ne doit connaître le profit par la sueur. Le père de Ghyl est sculpteur sur bois ; il a fabriqué un merveilleux panneau à cent visages, qui lui est payé un prix dérisoire. Plus tard, il osera reproduire des objets mécaniquement et sera soumis au supplice de la réhabilitation. Ghyl se révolte, capture un vaisseau spatial et se livre à la piraterie : à lui les œuvres d'art accaparées par les Seigneurs ! Un jour, il entend la fin de la légende et comprend que son errance a un sens : quelque part, il y a des machines qui peuvent reproduire bien des choses. Et pas seulement des œuvres d'art.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
47 people are currently reading
3308 people want to read
About the author
Jack Vance
779 books1,529 followersAka John Holbrook Vance, Peter Held, John Holbrook, Ellery Queen, John van See, Alan Wade.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.
The author was born in 1916 and educated at the University of California, first as a mining engineer, then majoring in physics and finally in journalism. During the 1940s and 1950s, he contributed widely to science fiction and fantasy magazines. His first novel, The Dying Earth , was published in 1950 to great acclaim. He won both of science fiction's most coveted trophies, the Hugo and Nebula awards. He also won an Edgar Award for his mystery novel The Man in the Cage . He lived in Oakland, California in a house he designed.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
January 15, 2016
Ghyl Tarvok is the son of a kindly but distracted woodworker on Halma - a planet that is ruled by an aristocracy, tightly managed by its public welfare department (which incorrectly calls its governmental system a "Welfare State"), and exhibits traits of a dogmatic but not entirely authoritarian theocracy as well. 'Emphyrio' is a legend out of time: a heroic young man who calmly challenged invaders and who ushered in a period of peace for his people. young Ghyl dreams of many things: owning a 'space-yacht', traveling to far worlds, discovering the truth behind the legend of Emphyrio, making his home a better place. the novel Emphyrio is about Ghyl gradually understanding the mysteries in his life - his own dreams & desires, his father, the true history & rulers of his world. it is not a fast-paced tale of adventure (although there is a little of that)... its structure is more of a gently-paced Coming of Age tale.
i connected with this novel in a couple ways. who doesn't dream of leaving their mundane environs to see the world(s) beyond? what kid hasn't looked around and wondered if there were mysteries and wonders that they could somehow experience eventually, if only, if this happens, if they could do that, if only it were like this, etc? who hasn't had those stabs of jealous anger at the idea that many people are fully financial capable of casually jetting off to see whatever they want to see, while everyone else is stuck scrimping and saving just to have a one-week excursion to some banal place that everyone else is going to anyway? being inside Ghyl's curious and envious head was like being inside my own head, at different points in my life.
i also connected with Ghyl's quietly contemptuous, eventually seething reactions to all of the petty political, fiscal, and religious bullshit that ties people down into living their lives like mice in a maze, led by this bit of cheese, constrained by walls, forced to move in certain directions. innoculated against difference and individualism and thinking outside of all of our carefully constructed boxes. Vance's depiction of Halma's organized religion was a particularly ingenious and sardonic invention. all the hypocrisy, all the passive-aggresiveness, all the public shaming... placed adroitly within a faith that is concerned with literally Leaping onto various squares symbolizing Right Behavior and avoiding those Bad Squares. it was all so mordantly comic - and also frustrating, depressing, and sickeningly hollow. but amusing!
over half of the novel simply shows Ghyl growing up in this stifling but not exactly horrendous environment. besides a certain wizened puppetmaster, characters are not portrayed as hideously evil or malevolent. the biggest jerks are the rule-minders, the businessmen, and the aristocrats... and also the rule-breakers, the folks who reject society, who want to get away with rejecting that society but still live off of it. Vance has an even hand when it comes to disdain and critique.
the remaining part of the novel is the actual "adventure". here also Vance does not indulge the reader in wish-fulfillment. hijacking a space yacht can get truly ugly. exotic locations are not always pleasant. the answers to lifelong questions can be disappointing. sometimes trickery is the only way to get what you want, even if you are a person who prides himself on his honesty.
fortunately, and here's a kinda SPOILER... this is not a nihilistic book. there is a happy ending, although one that has its share of blood-soaked slaughter (or at least a couple sentences worth).
in Emphyrio, Vance strips down his often ornate writing style to fit his goals. he is writing about the banally prosaic nature of most lives and so lushness of language is understandably absent, for the most part. but this is still Jack Vance, so even when he streamlines his more baroque tendencies, the reader is still able to enjoy his expert turns of phrase, his constant irony, his wry characterization, and his supreme ability to distill the ethos of a certain tradition or city or culture or planet into a few carefully chosen and beautifully constructed sentences. will there ever be a genre wordsmith as accomplished and as stylish as this author?
i connected with this novel in a couple ways. who doesn't dream of leaving their mundane environs to see the world(s) beyond? what kid hasn't looked around and wondered if there were mysteries and wonders that they could somehow experience eventually, if only, if this happens, if they could do that, if only it were like this, etc? who hasn't had those stabs of jealous anger at the idea that many people are fully financial capable of casually jetting off to see whatever they want to see, while everyone else is stuck scrimping and saving just to have a one-week excursion to some banal place that everyone else is going to anyway? being inside Ghyl's curious and envious head was like being inside my own head, at different points in my life.
i also connected with Ghyl's quietly contemptuous, eventually seething reactions to all of the petty political, fiscal, and religious bullshit that ties people down into living their lives like mice in a maze, led by this bit of cheese, constrained by walls, forced to move in certain directions. innoculated against difference and individualism and thinking outside of all of our carefully constructed boxes. Vance's depiction of Halma's organized religion was a particularly ingenious and sardonic invention. all the hypocrisy, all the passive-aggresiveness, all the public shaming... placed adroitly within a faith that is concerned with literally Leaping onto various squares symbolizing Right Behavior and avoiding those Bad Squares. it was all so mordantly comic - and also frustrating, depressing, and sickeningly hollow. but amusing!
over half of the novel simply shows Ghyl growing up in this stifling but not exactly horrendous environment. besides a certain wizened puppetmaster, characters are not portrayed as hideously evil or malevolent. the biggest jerks are the rule-minders, the businessmen, and the aristocrats... and also the rule-breakers, the folks who reject society, who want to get away with rejecting that society but still live off of it. Vance has an even hand when it comes to disdain and critique.
the remaining part of the novel is the actual "adventure". here also Vance does not indulge the reader in wish-fulfillment. hijacking a space yacht can get truly ugly. exotic locations are not always pleasant. the answers to lifelong questions can be disappointing. sometimes trickery is the only way to get what you want, even if you are a person who prides himself on his honesty.
fortunately, and here's a kinda SPOILER... this is not a nihilistic book. there is a happy ending, although one that has its share of blood-soaked slaughter (or at least a couple sentences worth).
in Emphyrio, Vance strips down his often ornate writing style to fit his goals. he is writing about the banally prosaic nature of most lives and so lushness of language is understandably absent, for the most part. but this is still Jack Vance, so even when he streamlines his more baroque tendencies, the reader is still able to enjoy his expert turns of phrase, his constant irony, his wry characterization, and his supreme ability to distill the ethos of a certain tradition or city or culture or planet into a few carefully chosen and beautifully constructed sentences. will there ever be a genre wordsmith as accomplished and as stylish as this author?
July 21, 2010
Another superb Jack Vance novel. I would argue that this is among his strongest "stand-alone" works.
The plot revolves around a young man, Ghyl Tarvoke, who hails from from the city of Ambroy located on the planet Halma. Halma's ruled by unseen, mysterious Lords who run the planet as a giant "welfare state". Workers are paid a stipend for their labor and all forms of mass production or duplication (including prinitng) are strictly, and I mean strictly, prohibited. Unhappy with the way things are, Ghyl, in typical Vance protagonist fashion, vows to knowledge up and learn the truth behind a legendary figure, Emphyrio, in the hopes that he will find the secret to changing his society.
All of the hallmark's of Vance's best work are displayed in Emphyrio:
**incredible world-building;
** smart, well-integrated descriptions of local color and customs;
** marvelous, economical prose; and
** an unusual, well thought out social system, whose flaws and hampering of individual freedom lie at the heart of the story.
4.0 to 4.5 stars. Highly Recommended!!
The plot revolves around a young man, Ghyl Tarvoke, who hails from from the city of Ambroy located on the planet Halma. Halma's ruled by unseen, mysterious Lords who run the planet as a giant "welfare state". Workers are paid a stipend for their labor and all forms of mass production or duplication (including prinitng) are strictly, and I mean strictly, prohibited. Unhappy with the way things are, Ghyl, in typical Vance protagonist fashion, vows to knowledge up and learn the truth behind a legendary figure, Emphyrio, in the hopes that he will find the secret to changing his society.
All of the hallmark's of Vance's best work are displayed in Emphyrio:
**incredible world-building;
** smart, well-integrated descriptions of local color and customs;
** marvelous, economical prose; and
** an unusual, well thought out social system, whose flaws and hampering of individual freedom lie at the heart of the story.
4.0 to 4.5 stars. Highly Recommended!!
July 19, 2023
[9/10]
“Freedom, privilege, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience. Otherwise they fall into desuetude and become unfashionable, unorthodox – finally irregulationary. Sometimes the person who insists upon his prerogatives seems shrill and contentious – but actually he performs a service for all.
Freedom naturally should never become license; but regulation should never become restriction.”
Emphyrio is Jack Vance’s foray into dystopian planetary romance. His usual plots feature amoral adventurers with a yearning for star-hopping, getting in and out of trouble in exotic locations and discovering quirky new cultures with colourful cuisine, monsters and religions.
For those born on the planet Halma, such pursuits are the domain of amusement parks, where puppet shows and midway booths cater to the imagination of children and adults with exotic tales and ancient legends:
Wonders of the Universe: a magnificent tour without danger, inconvenience or expense, depicting the spectacles of sixteen enthralling worlds, arranged in tasteful and edifying sequence
When young Ghyl Tarvoke is taken to such a carnival show by his artisan father Amiante, the eight year old boy is captivated by the story of Emphyrio, a mythological figure who fights [and tricks] a powerful lord for the love of his sweetheart.
The puppet show mirrors the social order of the planet Halma, where an elite group of lords live a life of leisure and debauchery in their tall towers, while the population is divided into strict manufacturing guilds, controlled by single corporation.
On a planet where mass production is ideologically forbidden and where the highly valued artistic output of artisans is sold off-planet in exchange for a system of social merits [and de-merits for trespassing any of its myriad rules], there is zero social mobility or prospect of change. Young Ghyl is apprenticed to his father and forced to undergo indoctrination in religious camps, where adepts literally jump for joy at the bidding of their puppet masters.
“The path of life is well-trod; the wisest and best have erected guide-posts, bridges, and warning signals; it is either mullishness or arrogance to seek from side to side for new or better routes. So then: look to your welfare agent, to your Guild Delegate, to your Guide Leaper, follow their instructions. And you will lead a life of placid content.”
Ghyl grows up, partially protected by his disillusioned yet still subversive father, learning the trade, often escaping to the streets and roaming the city with his friend Floriel, dreaming of one day going off-planet in a pleasure yacht stolen from the lords.
Just pretend! Fancy that we’re out in space, with Mirabilis behind, heading for some wonderful strange planet. We dine in the main saloon, on turbot and roast bloorcock and the best Gade wine – and then we go along the promenade to the after-dome and eat our ices in the dark, with the Mirabilis stars behind and the Giant’s Scimitar above and the galaxy to the side.”
Later, as a young man, Ghyl learns the pangs of love and the iron fist of repression, as his father is arrested and brain-washed [re-educated] for printing illegal ancient papers from before the corporate and guild system.
The myth of Emphyrio comes to dominate his thoughts – inspiring Ghyl to take action and to try to break the status-quo.
“Human history has been long. If a man named Emphyrio never existed, there was another man, with a different name, who did.”
>>><<<>>><<<
And to think that some hold the Age of Wonders to be past and gone!
I approach each new story from Jack Vance with high expectations, and I have yet to be disappointed in his representations. Emphyrio has all his trademark sense of wonder, of discovery, of danger and romance and of not really knowing which way the story will turn from one chapter to the next.
Ghyl Tarvoke will eventually escape the confines of his restrictive society and he will go on a hero quest to discover the truth about the past and to be an agent of change for the future. He will travel the galaxy in his stolen spaceship, and even visit the ancient cradle of humanity on old Earth, where it is said there is a Historian who records all the events of the Sprawl of humanity to the far reaches of empty space.
Maybe somewhere in those archives there is the key to the true nature of Emphyrio and to the way his home planet ended under the jewelled boot of a handful of self-proclaimed lords.
Along the way, Ghyl has many occasions to exclaim at the marvellous vistas that come before his eyes, at the dangerous yet exhilarating adventures he takes part in. The young man has reason to criticize the old Earth’s ennuy about there being nothing new under the sun:
“Have you ever known grief or fear? Have you ever stolen a space-yacht and killed Garrion? Have you known a County Ball at Grigglesby Corners with the lords and ladies coming forth like magicians in their wonderful costumes? Or stumbled through a rite at Finuka’s Temple? Or looked down dreaming from the Meagher Mounts across old Fortinone?”
Vance usually avoids political sermonizing, even facile concepts of right or wrong, but in the present setting such libertarian, amoral atittudes must be reconsidered in the light of the chains imposed on the Halman population. A new Emphyrio is needed, even a fake one wearing a masked ball costume who makes the legend up as he journeys back from Earth to his home planet.
“Is the world responsible? Of course not! The world is random, vagrant, heedless. To be responsible is to be out of phase, to be insane!”
Ghyl pondered a moment. “This is perhaps the case, in a world left to itself. But society imposes order. Living in a society, it is not insane to be responsible.”
A secondary concern, but of particular interest to me, is the discussion about art, and whether it can flourish under a totalitarian regime. Ghyl and his father Amiante perform like puppets at the bidding of their masters, but they are free in the choice of their subjects [one example is very similar to the myth of Prometheus] and in their artistic expression:
Amiante approved of the design. “Quite suitable: whimsical and gay. It is best to produce new gay designs. Happiness is fugitive; dissatisfaction and boredom are real. The folk who gaze upon your screens are entitled to all the joy you can give them, even though the joy be but an abstraction.”
Highly recommended!
“Freedom, privilege, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience. Otherwise they fall into desuetude and become unfashionable, unorthodox – finally irregulationary. Sometimes the person who insists upon his prerogatives seems shrill and contentious – but actually he performs a service for all.
Freedom naturally should never become license; but regulation should never become restriction.”
Emphyrio is Jack Vance’s foray into dystopian planetary romance. His usual plots feature amoral adventurers with a yearning for star-hopping, getting in and out of trouble in exotic locations and discovering quirky new cultures with colourful cuisine, monsters and religions.
For those born on the planet Halma, such pursuits are the domain of amusement parks, where puppet shows and midway booths cater to the imagination of children and adults with exotic tales and ancient legends:
Wonders of the Universe: a magnificent tour without danger, inconvenience or expense, depicting the spectacles of sixteen enthralling worlds, arranged in tasteful and edifying sequence
When young Ghyl Tarvoke is taken to such a carnival show by his artisan father Amiante, the eight year old boy is captivated by the story of Emphyrio, a mythological figure who fights [and tricks] a powerful lord for the love of his sweetheart.
The puppet show mirrors the social order of the planet Halma, where an elite group of lords live a life of leisure and debauchery in their tall towers, while the population is divided into strict manufacturing guilds, controlled by single corporation.
On a planet where mass production is ideologically forbidden and where the highly valued artistic output of artisans is sold off-planet in exchange for a system of social merits [and de-merits for trespassing any of its myriad rules], there is zero social mobility or prospect of change. Young Ghyl is apprenticed to his father and forced to undergo indoctrination in religious camps, where adepts literally jump for joy at the bidding of their puppet masters.
“The path of life is well-trod; the wisest and best have erected guide-posts, bridges, and warning signals; it is either mullishness or arrogance to seek from side to side for new or better routes. So then: look to your welfare agent, to your Guild Delegate, to your Guide Leaper, follow their instructions. And you will lead a life of placid content.”
Ghyl grows up, partially protected by his disillusioned yet still subversive father, learning the trade, often escaping to the streets and roaming the city with his friend Floriel, dreaming of one day going off-planet in a pleasure yacht stolen from the lords.
Just pretend! Fancy that we’re out in space, with Mirabilis behind, heading for some wonderful strange planet. We dine in the main saloon, on turbot and roast bloorcock and the best Gade wine – and then we go along the promenade to the after-dome and eat our ices in the dark, with the Mirabilis stars behind and the Giant’s Scimitar above and the galaxy to the side.”
Later, as a young man, Ghyl learns the pangs of love and the iron fist of repression, as his father is arrested and brain-washed [re-educated] for printing illegal ancient papers from before the corporate and guild system.
The myth of Emphyrio comes to dominate his thoughts – inspiring Ghyl to take action and to try to break the status-quo.
“Human history has been long. If a man named Emphyrio never existed, there was another man, with a different name, who did.”
>>><<<>>><<<
And to think that some hold the Age of Wonders to be past and gone!
I approach each new story from Jack Vance with high expectations, and I have yet to be disappointed in his representations. Emphyrio has all his trademark sense of wonder, of discovery, of danger and romance and of not really knowing which way the story will turn from one chapter to the next.
Ghyl Tarvoke will eventually escape the confines of his restrictive society and he will go on a hero quest to discover the truth about the past and to be an agent of change for the future. He will travel the galaxy in his stolen spaceship, and even visit the ancient cradle of humanity on old Earth, where it is said there is a Historian who records all the events of the Sprawl of humanity to the far reaches of empty space.
Maybe somewhere in those archives there is the key to the true nature of Emphyrio and to the way his home planet ended under the jewelled boot of a handful of self-proclaimed lords.
Along the way, Ghyl has many occasions to exclaim at the marvellous vistas that come before his eyes, at the dangerous yet exhilarating adventures he takes part in. The young man has reason to criticize the old Earth’s ennuy about there being nothing new under the sun:
“Have you ever known grief or fear? Have you ever stolen a space-yacht and killed Garrion? Have you known a County Ball at Grigglesby Corners with the lords and ladies coming forth like magicians in their wonderful costumes? Or stumbled through a rite at Finuka’s Temple? Or looked down dreaming from the Meagher Mounts across old Fortinone?”
Vance usually avoids political sermonizing, even facile concepts of right or wrong, but in the present setting such libertarian, amoral atittudes must be reconsidered in the light of the chains imposed on the Halman population. A new Emphyrio is needed, even a fake one wearing a masked ball costume who makes the legend up as he journeys back from Earth to his home planet.
“Is the world responsible? Of course not! The world is random, vagrant, heedless. To be responsible is to be out of phase, to be insane!”
Ghyl pondered a moment. “This is perhaps the case, in a world left to itself. But society imposes order. Living in a society, it is not insane to be responsible.”
A secondary concern, but of particular interest to me, is the discussion about art, and whether it can flourish under a totalitarian regime. Ghyl and his father Amiante perform like puppets at the bidding of their masters, but they are free in the choice of their subjects [one example is very similar to the myth of Prometheus] and in their artistic expression:
Amiante approved of the design. “Quite suitable: whimsical and gay. It is best to produce new gay designs. Happiness is fugitive; dissatisfaction and boredom are real. The folk who gaze upon your screens are entitled to all the joy you can give them, even though the joy be but an abstraction.”
Highly recommended!
April 5, 2012
Far in the future, young Ghyl rebels against the system that would have him carve wood his whole life, without hope of luxury or travel. He is raised by his thoughtful, brave, but slightly unworldly father. His father teaches him to read archaic script, including the ancient covenant of their world and the legend of Emphyrio. Inspired, Ghyl first tries to run for mayor,
I read this in the same spirit as a child eating their vegetables. I've never yet enjoyed "classic" sf (a category in which I throw Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc), but I feel like I ought to read it in order to properly understand and appreciate the genre. The Worlds Without End Grand Masters Challenge provided the prod to do so. It was better than much of the trashy fantasy I read, but not by much. Although ostensibly sf, the tech obeys no physical laws--Ghyl never worries about running out of spaceship fuel, nor is there any explanation for how any of the tech works, and the alien construct creatures make no logical sense. The childhood of Ghyl is described in interminable detail, to no point I could discern. The dialog is stilted and unbelievable, like a mix of Dostoyevsky-translated-into-English and Socratic dialogs. Ghyl has the same vocabulary and thoughts as a nine-year-old as he does as an adult. He is a bit of a cypher; the other characters have even less personality. And the plot just doesn't make sense. BUT. The female characters are not treated any differently than the male by the author (although they do still follow 20th century roles, and are only present in the story as love-interests). Some effort was clearly put into the world-building; certain details are very vivid.
To my mind, this book would have been much better if it had been either been much shorter or a bit longer. As a novel, the pacing is very ragged: we spend chapter upon chapter watching Ghyl grow up, and then no time at all Alternately, if every part of the story was as rushed as the climax, the first half wouldn't be so out-of-place and boring.
I don't intend to read any more by Vance--but I don't regret reading this. It's got at least a few ideas to it, and the descriptive text (if not the dialog) are good.
I read this in the same spirit as a child eating their vegetables. I've never yet enjoyed "classic" sf (a category in which I throw Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc), but I feel like I ought to read it in order to properly understand and appreciate the genre. The Worlds Without End Grand Masters Challenge provided the prod to do so. It was better than much of the trashy fantasy I read, but not by much. Although ostensibly sf, the tech obeys no physical laws--Ghyl never worries about running out of spaceship fuel, nor is there any explanation for how any of the tech works, and the alien construct creatures make no logical sense. The childhood of Ghyl is described in interminable detail, to no point I could discern. The dialog is stilted and unbelievable, like a mix of Dostoyevsky-translated-into-English and Socratic dialogs. Ghyl has the same vocabulary and thoughts as a nine-year-old as he does as an adult. He is a bit of a cypher; the other characters have even less personality. And the plot just doesn't make sense. BUT. The female characters are not treated any differently than the male by the author (although they do still follow 20th century roles, and are only present in the story as love-interests). Some effort was clearly put into the world-building; certain details are very vivid.
To my mind, this book would have been much better if it had been either been much shorter or a bit longer. As a novel, the pacing is very ragged: we spend chapter upon chapter watching Ghyl grow up, and then no time at all Alternately, if every part of the story was as rushed as the climax, the first half wouldn't be so out-of-place and boring.
I don't intend to read any more by Vance--but I don't regret reading this. It's got at least a few ideas to it, and the descriptive text (if not the dialog) are good.
June 3, 2021
Classic Vance! Emphyrio, first published in 1969, is largely set on a distant, provincial world (Halma) far from Earth. Our main protagonist, Ghyl Tarvok, starts off as a young boy of 10 or so, the son of a wood carver. Halma, or at least the part of it where Ghyl lives, is ruled by the guilds and Lords in a quasi-feudal system. Everyone is some sort of craftsmen who receive 'vouchers' for their work by the guilds; citizens are known as 'recipients' as they receive these vouchers. Life has carried on largely unchanged for over 1000 years.
Vance has a real gift of making a completely foreign society seem 'normal' and we are quickly immersed into daily life on Halma. The Lords live in the very top of the relics of skyscrapers left over after a nasty war. After the war life on Halma was brutal; the Lords came and rebuilt basic infrastructure and a charter was formed-- for their efforts, the lords would receive about 1% of the wages due to the craftsmen and sell the products off world. The guilds serve to enforce the charter which has strict rules about 'duping', or using any type of machinery to replicate items; hence, every product is handcrafted to the extreme.
Vance employs an old trope as a plot, namely, Ghyl is dissatisfied with life on Halma, and increasingly so as he grows up. While the lords live lavishly, often traveling off world in their space yachts, the commoners eek out a meager existence. There are 'rebels' of course who choose not to be 'recipients', getting by on smuggling and such, but they are tolerated as long as they lie low. Ghyl's father is a mysterious figure; he seems to know quite a bit about Halma's history and shows no respect for the guilds or the formal religion (which is quite funny as it involves patterns of leaps and bounds in certain orders for prayer). Ghyl is particularly entranced by the legend of Emphyrio-- a liberator from Halma's past of which Ghyl's father has a partial account found on an ancient scroll...
Enough of the plot. Classic Vance to be sure and one of his better stand alone novels I have read. Great pacing, some snarky references to organized religion, and a lead character who is determined to uncover the true history of his world. 4 strong stars!
Vance has a real gift of making a completely foreign society seem 'normal' and we are quickly immersed into daily life on Halma. The Lords live in the very top of the relics of skyscrapers left over after a nasty war. After the war life on Halma was brutal; the Lords came and rebuilt basic infrastructure and a charter was formed-- for their efforts, the lords would receive about 1% of the wages due to the craftsmen and sell the products off world. The guilds serve to enforce the charter which has strict rules about 'duping', or using any type of machinery to replicate items; hence, every product is handcrafted to the extreme.
Vance employs an old trope as a plot, namely, Ghyl is dissatisfied with life on Halma, and increasingly so as he grows up. While the lords live lavishly, often traveling off world in their space yachts, the commoners eek out a meager existence. There are 'rebels' of course who choose not to be 'recipients', getting by on smuggling and such, but they are tolerated as long as they lie low. Ghyl's father is a mysterious figure; he seems to know quite a bit about Halma's history and shows no respect for the guilds or the formal religion (which is quite funny as it involves patterns of leaps and bounds in certain orders for prayer). Ghyl is particularly entranced by the legend of Emphyrio-- a liberator from Halma's past of which Ghyl's father has a partial account found on an ancient scroll...
Enough of the plot. Classic Vance to be sure and one of his better stand alone novels I have read. Great pacing, some snarky references to organized religion, and a lead character who is determined to uncover the true history of his world. 4 strong stars!
November 2, 2020
The situation had a queer ambivalence. Ghyl swung between nervous amusement for his own whimsies and a dreadful bleakness of spirit.
What better way to capture my own feelings about this book and Vance's writing than to quote the man himself. But that doesn't quite reflect how I enjoyed this book. Something about the way Vance writes, and presents his worlds, feels at once familiar and persistently but vaguely off. I think that peculiarity is what keeps drawing me back to his works. While this is not my favorite of his novels, it kept me engaged, and it was a nice break to jump into some space fantasy after the heaviness of Liu Cixin's hard SF.
February 23, 2024
A fine space opera, if only lacking in flair. The basic idea is that a small aristocracy rules over craftsmen plebeians—until a young boy is inspired by the Legend of Emphyrio!
I felt the beginning was a bit slow. The narrative was locked down for half the book, following the main character’s childhood for far too long for my liking. Once we get past the halfway point, then the plot becomes more exciting, if not equally erratic. The plot goes all over the place, from a deadly Savannah planet to Earth to an alien moon.
That said, Vance only gives you snapshots. You’re really following the main character as he finds his footing and decides to take action—something he only decides to do 20 pages before the book ends.
Speaking of the main character . . .
Ghyl is a very flat, uninteresting dude. He doesn’t really have strong feelings or beliefs. He doesn’t even have a lot of passion or persistent goals. The only exception is he NEEDS to know how the legend of Emphyrio (who’s basically a kind of Robin Hood) ends.
The big saving grace of this book is Vance’s ability to write. Even though the story takes a while to get going, you feel this sense of childlike optimism and earnestness. You want to keep going along with Ghyl and see him succeed.
Not as strong of a recommendation for this Vance story, but it’s still decent!
I felt the beginning was a bit slow. The narrative was locked down for half the book, following the main character’s childhood for far too long for my liking. Once we get past the halfway point, then the plot becomes more exciting, if not equally erratic. The plot goes all over the place, from a deadly Savannah planet to Earth to an alien moon.
That said, Vance only gives you snapshots. You’re really following the main character as he finds his footing and decides to take action—something he only decides to do 20 pages before the book ends.
Speaking of the main character . . .
Ghyl is a very flat, uninteresting dude. He doesn’t really have strong feelings or beliefs. He doesn’t even have a lot of passion or persistent goals. The only exception is he NEEDS to know how the legend of Emphyrio (who’s basically a kind of Robin Hood) ends.
The big saving grace of this book is Vance’s ability to write. Even though the story takes a while to get going, you feel this sense of childlike optimism and earnestness. You want to keep going along with Ghyl and see him succeed.
Not as strong of a recommendation for this Vance story, but it’s still decent!
May 28, 2024
Emphyrio was first published in 1969 and is currently in print in a Spatterlight Press edition. My out of print copy has 201 pages of text, and this is my second reading of the novel in recent years. I rated it a 4 both times and liked it about the same each time that I read it. I highly recommend it to all Vance fans.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
Emphyrio is a rather serious and bleak novel for Vance. It has excellent world building, a good plot and decent character development (mostly in the first half and focused on Ghyl and Amiante). Vance satirizes social and governmental stupidity, injustice and hypocrisy regardless of ideological orientation He portrays an unfair so-called welfare system that advocates "voluntary" religious participation while monitoring and enforcing certain prescribed work and social behaviors. Vance also shows corruption by pompous aristocratic lords and ladies who live off the workers and travel to distant planets in their luxurious space-yachts. Some readers might miss Vance's usual wit, humor and fascinating dialog. The novel also has minimal action or drama and most of the adventure is in the second half. All considered, though, Emphyrio is a very good novel with many ideas and issues about societies, politics, governments and culture.
The initial setting for the novel is in the city of Ambroy on the planet Halma. The first chapter of the novel begins with a glimpse of an incident that happens to the main character later in his life. Then in chapter two it returns to when our main character, Ghyl Tarvoke, was only seven years old and attended a puppet show with his father. At the puppet show he saw a play about the folk hero Emphyrio who many years ago negotiated a peace between Damarans and Ghyl's human ancestors. But each story or puppet show he sees about Emphyrio ends differently, and the only historical documentation that has survived on Halma is incomplete. Ghyl continues to be fascinated with Emphyrio as he grows up under his father's rather lax but benevolent parental supervision.
His father, Amiante Tarvoke, is a member of the Woodworkers guild and is a highly skilled master wood carver who creates beautiful, elaborate wooden screens that are sold on other planets. Production of crafts (really works of art) is highly regulated. All must meet high standards and be hand made. Copies, duplications or anything machine made is forbidden and violations can lead to death. Even copying a document or the use of hand tools that are not approved is strictly forbidden by all the guilds. The guilds also handle all the sales so the various craftsmen cannot sell directly to the public. Craftsmen are paid minimally in script and are also paid monthly under a so called welfare system run by the state. Amiante is paid very little for his works, even though, as Ghyl eventually learns, these screens end up being sold to museums and buyers on distant planets for exorbitant amounts of money.
Persons who do not enroll in the welfare system are considered to be noncups (short for noncuperatives). Noncups are sometimes called chaoticists and are held in very low esteem. They often operate in the black market, by thievery or through other illegal activities. Persons who do enroll have to follow all of the social and work related rules and must pay 1.18% of their income to the Lords, the aristocrats who essentially control the planet. Since there is one lord for every 5,000 participants, each lord has the same income that 50 workers combined have. The lords and ladies live aloof in mansions and have Garion creatures for body guards. They spend their time traveling to other worlds and being entertained, all at the expense of the workers.
Work compliance and social behavior is carefully monitored by welfare agents who all have the last name of Cobol. They either are descendents of the Cobol family or change their name once appointed as an agent. All those in the welfare system are expected to participate in religious ceremonies that entail elaborate leaps into the air by devotees who worship Finuka. This includes participation in Soul Endowment, learning Basic Saltations, studying Rite, Rote and Doxology and Voluntary Temple Exercises.
Ghyl decides to become a master woodworker under his father's guidance but is too independent in his behavior and thinking to get along well under these strict rules and supervision. He continues to be obsessed with the hero Emphyrio who lived many years ago and helped negotiate an end to a long war. But half the story about Emphyrio is missing. Ghyl learns about the Historical Institute on Earth that might possess the rest of the Emphyrio story and documents about the real history of his planet Halma. He thinks about traveling to Earth but has no funds or means to do so.
In the second half of the novel Ghyl becomes increasingly dissatisfied with his life, society and work. When his father is badly mistreated by the state, Ghyl becomes even more motivated to try to learn the truth about Emphyrio and his planet's history. The adventurous part of the novel begins when he decides to leave the planet and set out to find the truth by whatever means possible.
Initially the novel was mostly an examination of society and a coming of age for Ghyl, but after Ghyl's disillusionment it became a quest for truth. And there are, indeed, some important and startling truths and history that are hidden from almost everyone. The ending of the novel, however, seemed rushed, as though Vance wanted to limit the number of pages. I think the ending would have been better if it had been developed in greater detail with a more gradual transition. The surprise at the ending was very good, however. Overall, although, the novel is different from most Vance novels, it is highly recommended to all Vance fans.
For the most recent review and other Vance reviews please see:
https://vancealotjackvanceinreview.bl...
Emphyrio is a rather serious and bleak novel for Vance. It has excellent world building, a good plot and decent character development (mostly in the first half and focused on Ghyl and Amiante). Vance satirizes social and governmental stupidity, injustice and hypocrisy regardless of ideological orientation He portrays an unfair so-called welfare system that advocates "voluntary" religious participation while monitoring and enforcing certain prescribed work and social behaviors. Vance also shows corruption by pompous aristocratic lords and ladies who live off the workers and travel to distant planets in their luxurious space-yachts. Some readers might miss Vance's usual wit, humor and fascinating dialog. The novel also has minimal action or drama and most of the adventure is in the second half. All considered, though, Emphyrio is a very good novel with many ideas and issues about societies, politics, governments and culture.
The initial setting for the novel is in the city of Ambroy on the planet Halma. The first chapter of the novel begins with a glimpse of an incident that happens to the main character later in his life. Then in chapter two it returns to when our main character, Ghyl Tarvoke, was only seven years old and attended a puppet show with his father. At the puppet show he saw a play about the folk hero Emphyrio who many years ago negotiated a peace between Damarans and Ghyl's human ancestors. But each story or puppet show he sees about Emphyrio ends differently, and the only historical documentation that has survived on Halma is incomplete. Ghyl continues to be fascinated with Emphyrio as he grows up under his father's rather lax but benevolent parental supervision.
His father, Amiante Tarvoke, is a member of the Woodworkers guild and is a highly skilled master wood carver who creates beautiful, elaborate wooden screens that are sold on other planets. Production of crafts (really works of art) is highly regulated. All must meet high standards and be hand made. Copies, duplications or anything machine made is forbidden and violations can lead to death. Even copying a document or the use of hand tools that are not approved is strictly forbidden by all the guilds. The guilds also handle all the sales so the various craftsmen cannot sell directly to the public. Craftsmen are paid minimally in script and are also paid monthly under a so called welfare system run by the state. Amiante is paid very little for his works, even though, as Ghyl eventually learns, these screens end up being sold to museums and buyers on distant planets for exorbitant amounts of money.
Persons who do not enroll in the welfare system are considered to be noncups (short for noncuperatives). Noncups are sometimes called chaoticists and are held in very low esteem. They often operate in the black market, by thievery or through other illegal activities. Persons who do enroll have to follow all of the social and work related rules and must pay 1.18% of their income to the Lords, the aristocrats who essentially control the planet. Since there is one lord for every 5,000 participants, each lord has the same income that 50 workers combined have. The lords and ladies live aloof in mansions and have Garion creatures for body guards. They spend their time traveling to other worlds and being entertained, all at the expense of the workers.
Work compliance and social behavior is carefully monitored by welfare agents who all have the last name of Cobol. They either are descendents of the Cobol family or change their name once appointed as an agent. All those in the welfare system are expected to participate in religious ceremonies that entail elaborate leaps into the air by devotees who worship Finuka. This includes participation in Soul Endowment, learning Basic Saltations, studying Rite, Rote and Doxology and Voluntary Temple Exercises.
Ghyl decides to become a master woodworker under his father's guidance but is too independent in his behavior and thinking to get along well under these strict rules and supervision. He continues to be obsessed with the hero Emphyrio who lived many years ago and helped negotiate an end to a long war. But half the story about Emphyrio is missing. Ghyl learns about the Historical Institute on Earth that might possess the rest of the Emphyrio story and documents about the real history of his planet Halma. He thinks about traveling to Earth but has no funds or means to do so.
In the second half of the novel Ghyl becomes increasingly dissatisfied with his life, society and work. When his father is badly mistreated by the state, Ghyl becomes even more motivated to try to learn the truth about Emphyrio and his planet's history. The adventurous part of the novel begins when he decides to leave the planet and set out to find the truth by whatever means possible.
Initially the novel was mostly an examination of society and a coming of age for Ghyl, but after Ghyl's disillusionment it became a quest for truth. And there are, indeed, some important and startling truths and history that are hidden from almost everyone. The ending of the novel, however, seemed rushed, as though Vance wanted to limit the number of pages. I think the ending would have been better if it had been developed in greater detail with a more gradual transition. The surprise at the ending was very good, however. Overall, although, the novel is different from most Vance novels, it is highly recommended to all Vance fans.
September 15, 2011
With a somewhat slow beginning, I gradually found myself more engaged with the story and immersed in the dystopian, theocratic vision Vance created here.
The intransigence of the bureaucratic regime, the resistance to change and the desperation with which people will cling to the status quo when they have even the smallest vestige of power is demonstrated wonderfully here. However unlike other writers in the dystopian vein, Vance seems unable to resist temptation and allow a hero to arise and all too easily dismantle the apparatus of power to bring about a revolution and liberation.
The great mystery that the story built towards and which the protagonist unveils at the end of the book I found quite a let down. I just didn't buy it and thought the regime collapsed all too easily. But until the end, I really enjoyed the book.
The intransigence of the bureaucratic regime, the resistance to change and the desperation with which people will cling to the status quo when they have even the smallest vestige of power is demonstrated wonderfully here. However unlike other writers in the dystopian vein, Vance seems unable to resist temptation and allow a hero to arise and all too easily dismantle the apparatus of power to bring about a revolution and liberation.
The great mystery that the story built towards and which the protagonist unveils at the end of the book I found quite a let down. I just didn't buy it and thought the regime collapsed all too easily. But until the end, I really enjoyed the book.
February 24, 2015
Jack Vance is quickly becoming one of my most-favorite authors. His imagination astounds me, his witty irony makes me giggle, and his language is a joy to read. No one can create whole imaginary societies with such richness and ease, or write venomous insults in such a courtly manner. Very talented and very underappreciated writer. This book is not quite up there with the Dying Earth series, but still it's fun, quick, and enjoyable read.
April 4, 2016
Jack Vance's catalog is an embarrassment of riches and this standalone novel is no exception. Emphyrio is wonderful and charming and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.
April 18, 2017
Read for the SF Masterworks Reading Challenge and the Science Fiction Masterworks Book Club.
I had a really hard time getting into this book. At first I was ready to dismiss this whole thing as a bunch of right wing propaganda claptrap. Ghyl, our protagonist, is an anti-hero (in the traditional sense of the word, which is to say an ordinary man fighting heroism every step of the way) who becomes a victim of circumstance. His father questions the system in which they are raised, which is a world kept deliberately primitive so that no non-handmade items could be created on their planet, which is famed in the universe for its handmade creations. But little of that wealth trickles down to the citizens, who are described as "welfare recipients" and kept in line through a not-mandatory but mandatory religion and regulations that allow them to be taken for "reconditioning" and deprived of "benefits" if they don't precisely toe the party line or ask too many questions. I thought it was a Cold War age anti-communist propaganda piece, espousing how any one in a socially provided for system will become "lazy." Furthermore, everyone in Ghyl's life is a jerk, from his mostly-disinterested father to his so-called "friends" and the girls he dates. I thought it was a lot of "grim for grim's sake," and I have had enough of that in my fiction and entertainment. "Realistic" means that the "good guys" or the "ordinary guys" do have to win sometime!
But when Ghyl's father, who insists upon reproducing a legend of a mythological figure called Emphyrio, who dares to challenge the system (which he doesn't have the ending to) is "reconditioned" to death, Ghyl undergoes a transformation. At first he is roped along into a scheme with his criminal "friends," and ends up being the fall guy in the situation due to their selfishness and attempts to control him, and their contempt for life. Ghyl attempts to come to the rescue of their victims, lords of the land on a stolen ship (that he and his "friends" stole,) and is summarily sentenced to "banishment" (which is actually an execution).
I realized that Vance wasn't dragging us through the miserable complaints of an anti-hero; he was showing us that the world doesn't want heroes. It doesn't like people who rattle the cage and rock the boat. It represses, suppresses, and oppresses anyone who asks questions, and mostly, even the ones who do question don't give a damn how it affects anyone else, they just don't want it to affect them.
I won't give away the rest of the story, as Ghyl quests to finally find the truth of the legend of Emphyrio and to avenge himself on the lords who murdered his father and tried to murder him. But I will say that having given up on this book would have been a terrible mistake. The ending is provocative and ambiguous. Great stuff!
Why then, the three star rating? Because you really had to slug through a lot of tediousness to get there.
If you're persistent, I highly recommend this book. But if you want quick action that grabs you right away, this is definitely not for you.
I had a really hard time getting into this book. At first I was ready to dismiss this whole thing as a bunch of right wing propaganda claptrap. Ghyl, our protagonist, is an anti-hero (in the traditional sense of the word, which is to say an ordinary man fighting heroism every step of the way) who becomes a victim of circumstance. His father questions the system in which they are raised, which is a world kept deliberately primitive so that no non-handmade items could be created on their planet, which is famed in the universe for its handmade creations. But little of that wealth trickles down to the citizens, who are described as "welfare recipients" and kept in line through a not-mandatory but mandatory religion and regulations that allow them to be taken for "reconditioning" and deprived of "benefits" if they don't precisely toe the party line or ask too many questions. I thought it was a Cold War age anti-communist propaganda piece, espousing how any one in a socially provided for system will become "lazy." Furthermore, everyone in Ghyl's life is a jerk, from his mostly-disinterested father to his so-called "friends" and the girls he dates. I thought it was a lot of "grim for grim's sake," and I have had enough of that in my fiction and entertainment. "Realistic" means that the "good guys" or the "ordinary guys" do have to win sometime!
But when Ghyl's father, who insists upon reproducing a legend of a mythological figure called Emphyrio, who dares to challenge the system (which he doesn't have the ending to) is "reconditioned" to death, Ghyl undergoes a transformation. At first he is roped along into a scheme with his criminal "friends," and ends up being the fall guy in the situation due to their selfishness and attempts to control him, and their contempt for life. Ghyl attempts to come to the rescue of their victims, lords of the land on a stolen ship (that he and his "friends" stole,) and is summarily sentenced to "banishment" (which is actually an execution).
I realized that Vance wasn't dragging us through the miserable complaints of an anti-hero; he was showing us that the world doesn't want heroes. It doesn't like people who rattle the cage and rock the boat. It represses, suppresses, and oppresses anyone who asks questions, and mostly, even the ones who do question don't give a damn how it affects anyone else, they just don't want it to affect them.
I won't give away the rest of the story, as Ghyl quests to finally find the truth of the legend of Emphyrio and to avenge himself on the lords who murdered his father and tried to murder him. But I will say that having given up on this book would have been a terrible mistake. The ending is provocative and ambiguous. Great stuff!
Why then, the three star rating? Because you really had to slug through a lot of tediousness to get there.
If you're persistent, I highly recommend this book. But if you want quick action that grabs you right away, this is definitely not for you.
August 25, 2020
I've always loved Jack Vance's Dying Earth series, among the first works he published, but I am not that sure about the works that follow. Emphyrio has parts that are very good ... and parts that are not. For one thing, I found the ending to be anything but believable. If one tells the truth to villains, one does not expect them to just 'fess up and step aside and say "Aw, shucks!".
I liked the character of Ghyl Tarvoke and his father Amiante. I also liked the weird setup on the world on which he lives. There are nobles who live in castles, but most of the people are artisans who receive a stipend from the Welfare Commission, which frequently inspects the artisans to make sure they are not using time-saving methods of duplication (for instance, printing) and supporting the Temple of Finuca, who is worshipped by leaping.
I liked the character of Ghyl Tarvoke and his father Amiante. I also liked the weird setup on the world on which he lives. There are nobles who live in castles, but most of the people are artisans who receive a stipend from the Welfare Commission, which frequently inspects the artisans to make sure they are not using time-saving methods of duplication (for instance, printing) and supporting the Temple of Finuca, who is worshipped by leaping.
October 17, 2017
A wonderful, pulpy sci-fi adventure, revolving around a kind of struggle of the common man against bureaucratic tyranny and oppression. As with other Vance works I'm familiar with, the real gem here is his mastery for painting a beautiful, rich world. Alien, and yet not so unrecognizable from our own.
December 25, 2022
It has the reputation as Jack Vance's best standalone novel and i can clearly see why. A great book,my first Vance it showed me the way to his works, what. It was a very good gateway to JV even if it maybe wasnt the typical "Vancean" novel.
October 21, 2019
Poca cosa.
Trama abbastanza interessante, ma svolta con una faciloneria imbarazzante.
Tutto è iper semplice, non c'è dramma né pathos.
Il finale poi ...
Trama abbastanza interessante, ma svolta con una faciloneria imbarazzante.
Tutto è iper semplice, non c'è dramma né pathos.
Il finale poi ...
April 9, 2020
There's a strong argument that Emphyrio is the best of Vance's stand-alone novels. It is a near-perfect example of one of Vance's greatest strengths, and what he has somehow managed to do over and over again, often multiple times within single works. He creates a perfectly-tuned society that is totally familiar, and yet totally strange. Where we somehow recognize the institutions, the street names, the religious practices, the scholarship, the social mores, the childhood games, even though they are pure products of Vance's remarkable imagination.
I have a hard time articulating it, so I'm going to offer these words from Joanna Russ's 1970 review (she is also great).
I have a hard time articulating it, so I'm going to offer these words from Joanna Russ's 1970 review (she is also great).
I really cannot do it justice. Mr. Vance knows about childhood, grief, love, social structure, idealism, and loss, but none of these breaks the perfect surface of the book; everything is cool, funny, and recognizable while at the same time everything is melancholy, real, and indescribably strange. There are veins of pure gold. The seven-year-old hero, after seeing a puppet play, "had come to suspect that the puppets were stolen children, whipped until they acted and danced with exact precision: an idea investing the performance with a horrid fascination." Or "I watched a Damaran walk; it walked with soft feet, as if its feet hurt."
. . . [T]he tone is perfectly controlled. What is one to say of a puppet play the title of which is "Virtuous Fidelity to an Ideal Is the Certain Highroad to Financial Independence"? Or of an author whose ear is so sure that among names like Ambroy, Undle, and Foelgher, he can serenely place a district called Riverside Park? Others grunt and heave to sweat out sophomoric diatribes against organized religion; Mr. Vance merely produces a Temple Leaper who asks, the hero’s father severely whether he has lately leapt to the glory of Finuka. Even the "happy” ending of the book is curiously abrupt and somehow sad; what remains is not the euphoria of a successful revolution but the memory of two boys watching the sunset from Dunkurn’s Heights and dreaming of riches, the exact and effortless taking-apart of a whole social system, the old puppeteer (his puppets are living creatures) who says, "The years come fast. Some morning they’ll find me lying stark, with the puppets climbing over me, peering in my mouth, tweaking my ears . . .”
May 30, 2012
The great Jack Vance is sometimes described as a "gardener of worlds", a description that encompasses much of the strength of Emphyrio. But unfortunately, for all the brilliant world-building, the novel lacks a certain dramatic tension, as well as a real appeal for the world it portrays.
The world of Emphyrio is interesting, but strangely placid. There are otherworldly lords and ladies, and puppet-makers who build puppets of the flesh. There are spaceships and a plethora of worlds. But most of the story takes place on a small world of artisans, away from the most interesting aspects of Vance's creation. Vance, instead, focuses on the workings of a "welfare society", where artisans, deprived of any reproduction method whatsoever, must create beautiful works of art by hand, in order to receive a living wage.
The society Vance describes is interesting, but not very dramatic. There is a sense that this place is unjust and something of a repressive environment for the protagonist, Ghyl, and his father; but the form of repression they live through is pretty mild and unthreatening. There is no outburst of violence, no sense of impending doom; just a quiet rebellion against the ordained march of days of a woodcarver and his son.
Likewise, Ghyl is not a fascinating protagonist. His obsession with a fragment of the legend of Emphyrio, and his slow draw away from his destiny as a woodworker, is well-written, but lacks dramatic tension. Action takes a long time to happen, and when it does, it doesn't depict Ghyl in a very positive light. We're meant to feel for him for being a noble outlaw, but I just found him easily manipulated, and too idealistic to realize the consequences of his criminal actions.
Overall, Emphyrio is well-written, and presents an original, evocative world. But the story told in this world lacks a punch that would make it as memorable as, say, To Live Forever.
The world of Emphyrio is interesting, but strangely placid. There are otherworldly lords and ladies, and puppet-makers who build puppets of the flesh. There are spaceships and a plethora of worlds. But most of the story takes place on a small world of artisans, away from the most interesting aspects of Vance's creation. Vance, instead, focuses on the workings of a "welfare society", where artisans, deprived of any reproduction method whatsoever, must create beautiful works of art by hand, in order to receive a living wage.
The society Vance describes is interesting, but not very dramatic. There is a sense that this place is unjust and something of a repressive environment for the protagonist, Ghyl, and his father; but the form of repression they live through is pretty mild and unthreatening. There is no outburst of violence, no sense of impending doom; just a quiet rebellion against the ordained march of days of a woodcarver and his son.
Likewise, Ghyl is not a fascinating protagonist. His obsession with a fragment of the legend of Emphyrio, and his slow draw away from his destiny as a woodworker, is well-written, but lacks dramatic tension. Action takes a long time to happen, and when it does, it doesn't depict Ghyl in a very positive light. We're meant to feel for him for being a noble outlaw, but I just found him easily manipulated, and too idealistic to realize the consequences of his criminal actions.
Overall, Emphyrio is well-written, and presents an original, evocative world. But the story told in this world lacks a punch that would make it as memorable as, say, To Live Forever.
March 18, 2016
Emphyrio je ozbiljna priča o surovom svijetu unikata na planetu Halma. Diktatura Lordova seže toliko duboko u pore društva da nitko ne smije koristiti tehniku, serijski proizvoditi dobra i s. DA ne spominjem porez koji je nametnut svima. Ghyl Tarvoke je sin, nazovimo stolara, koji kroz djetinjstvo ni ne razumije o čemu je riječ, ali kako godine prolaze shvaća da je njegov otac kršitelj pravila i kako prezire vlast kojoj se moraju pokoravati. Ghyil se konačno odmetne u trenutku kada mu Lordovi ubiju oca i postane gorljivi odmetnik željan osvete.
Ima tu i space opere u dijelu kada Ghyl otme svemirsku krstaricu i posjeti mjesec Damar gdje žive i rade misteriozni lutkari. Na brodu, ali pogotovo na Damaru, shvaća što je zapravo na stvari i kako njegov matični planet Halma funkcionira. To dolazi do nenadanog zaokreta u radnji koji me poprilično oduševio. Neću bacati spojlere, ali kraj je fantastičan. E sad...
Probiti se do kraja kroz ovaj engleski jezik bila je avantura. Vance piše za engleski pojam bravurozno, pa sam čak čitao i engleske recenzente koji se ponekad gube u njegovom jeziku. Zovu ga „skladatelj jezika“ jer barata s njim kao s notama koristeći pri tome arhaične, izumrle, nenadane izraze za poznate stvari što daje dojam nekog starog spisa, ali i uskraćuje dojam nama NE-englezerima jer se patimo dok čitamo.
Nije ovo loš roman, ali nije ni genijalan. Svijet je odlično izgrađen, likovi su korektni, opisi svijeta nesvakidašnje bogati i jezično komplicirani, a sama radnja je mlaka koju izvlači jako dobar kraj.
Nije loše, ali Vancea nemojte početi čitati s ovom knjigom. Možda počnite sa 4 knjige serijala „Tales of the dying Earth“
Ima tu i space opere u dijelu kada Ghyl otme svemirsku krstaricu i posjeti mjesec Damar gdje žive i rade misteriozni lutkari. Na brodu, ali pogotovo na Damaru, shvaća što je zapravo na stvari i kako njegov matični planet Halma funkcionira. To dolazi do nenadanog zaokreta u radnji koji me poprilično oduševio. Neću bacati spojlere, ali kraj je fantastičan. E sad...
Probiti se do kraja kroz ovaj engleski jezik bila je avantura. Vance piše za engleski pojam bravurozno, pa sam čak čitao i engleske recenzente koji se ponekad gube u njegovom jeziku. Zovu ga „skladatelj jezika“ jer barata s njim kao s notama koristeći pri tome arhaične, izumrle, nenadane izraze za poznate stvari što daje dojam nekog starog spisa, ali i uskraćuje dojam nama NE-englezerima jer se patimo dok čitamo.
Nije ovo loš roman, ali nije ni genijalan. Svijet je odlično izgrađen, likovi su korektni, opisi svijeta nesvakidašnje bogati i jezično komplicirani, a sama radnja je mlaka koju izvlači jako dobar kraj.
Nije loše, ali Vancea nemojte početi čitati s ovom knjigom. Možda počnite sa 4 knjige serijala „Tales of the dying Earth“
August 14, 2012
An underrated book but perhaps Vance's best stand-alone work.
January 30, 2025
This is an interesting sci-fi novel with several interwoven themes, but with a prose and presentation that may drag more than necessary.
Let me start with the more technical aspects before diving into the themes.
This is, somewhat, a framed narrative. The book opens with a young man, called Ghyl Tarvoke, being interrogated; he argues that to answer the question he needs to give context to the torturers (Lords of the planet's high society) and so the narration jumps back to Ghyl's childhood. It eventually 'catches up' with current-Ghyl, and continues from there.
It is a third-person past-tense narrative that follows Ghyl quite closely. However, and this is a personal opinion, the narration didn't really convey Ghyl's emotions and changes of mind even though they are highly important to the plot itself. Thoughout the entire story we see how Ghyl's beliefs are formed, challenged, molded by the events, and changed as he grows up... yet the narrative is bland, body-beat focused, and with little introspection.
In terms of pace, this is quite slow-paced. The first chapter is curious, but after jumping into the framed narrative everything becomes excruciatingly slow, to end up quite rushed in about ~20 pages or so.
Now, in terms of themes, there are a few interesting ideas, and I think that the most important one is the subtlest one.
It is easy to mistake this book to be a complain or cautionary tale about socialist/communist states. The story is set on Halma, a planet where a handful of lords rebuilt a world and now collect a repayment. There is no actual government but a Welfare Agency which pays the recipients in vouchers. The recipients are all artisans who work under exhaustive rules not to duplicate—everything is handmade, and the processes are thoroughly ensured.
Within this setting, you can find typical commentary: a 'rehab' process for Chaoticist (people that rebel against the Welfare Agency), a thoroughly enforced religion, people that live on the fringes (called noncups), lords and nobles that live in luxury, a population that knows little or nothing of their own history...
To me, that's not the point of the story—Emphyrio is. Emphyrio is an in-book legend; a man who lived and died by the truth, and tried to reveal the truth to the masses. Ghyl's father has Emphyrio's legend printed in a piece of paper and written in an archaic language. Ghyl becomes enthralled by Emphyrio's legend.
The principal theme derives from what Emphyrio represents: the need to unearth the truth, and how the truth can change the status quo of an entire society. Let me complete this within a spoiler tag.
Ultimately, while it is an interesting book it is the storytelling left much to be desired. It is slow and dull, exactly as living in Halma seemed to be, and the character's emotions—which are so fundamental to the plot itself—were left behind and not truly addressed. Ghyl has little-to-no inner dialogue, and everything is presented in quite a detached way.
Although it's not a book I'd re-read, it has definitely aged far better than other books in the SF Masterworks collection.
Let me start with the more technical aspects before diving into the themes.
This is, somewhat, a framed narrative. The book opens with a young man, called Ghyl Tarvoke, being interrogated; he argues that to answer the question he needs to give context to the torturers (Lords of the planet's high society) and so the narration jumps back to Ghyl's childhood. It eventually 'catches up' with current-Ghyl, and continues from there.
It is a third-person past-tense narrative that follows Ghyl quite closely. However, and this is a personal opinion, the narration didn't really convey Ghyl's emotions and changes of mind even though they are highly important to the plot itself. Thoughout the entire story we see how Ghyl's beliefs are formed, challenged, molded by the events, and changed as he grows up... yet the narrative is bland, body-beat focused, and with little introspection.
In terms of pace, this is quite slow-paced. The first chapter is curious, but after jumping into the framed narrative everything becomes excruciatingly slow, to end up quite rushed in about ~20 pages or so.
Now, in terms of themes, there are a few interesting ideas, and I think that the most important one is the subtlest one.
It is easy to mistake this book to be a complain or cautionary tale about socialist/communist states. The story is set on Halma, a planet where a handful of lords rebuilt a world and now collect a repayment. There is no actual government but a Welfare Agency which pays the recipients in vouchers. The recipients are all artisans who work under exhaustive rules not to duplicate—everything is handmade, and the processes are thoroughly ensured.
Within this setting, you can find typical commentary: a 'rehab' process for Chaoticist (people that rebel against the Welfare Agency), a thoroughly enforced religion, people that live on the fringes (called noncups), lords and nobles that live in luxury, a population that knows little or nothing of their own history...
To me, that's not the point of the story—Emphyrio is. Emphyrio is an in-book legend; a man who lived and died by the truth, and tried to reveal the truth to the masses. Ghyl's father has Emphyrio's legend printed in a piece of paper and written in an archaic language. Ghyl becomes enthralled by Emphyrio's legend.
The principal theme derives from what Emphyrio represents: the need to unearth the truth, and how the truth can change the status quo of an entire society. Let me complete this within a spoiler tag.
Ultimately, while it is an interesting book it is the storytelling left much to be desired. It is slow and dull, exactly as living in Halma seemed to be, and the character's emotions—which are so fundamental to the plot itself—were left behind and not truly addressed. Ghyl has little-to-no inner dialogue, and everything is presented in quite a detached way.
Although it's not a book I'd re-read, it has definitely aged far better than other books in the SF Masterworks collection.
February 26, 2019
Wood carvings, amber light and a quest for truth. Looking forward to reading more Jack Vance.
June 2, 2018
Emphyrio is well written, literary, with good character development, but it tended to plod. We get to know quite well the protagonist Ghyl and his motivations.
August 26, 2015
Jack Vance was a master wordsmith, albeit a woefully neglected one. He knew how to turn a lovely phrase, sometimes with some wonderfully obscure language, and though his dialogue was quite unrealistic, it was always clever and usually pretty funny. All this is true in Emphyrio, and actually Vance tones down his prose somewhat to better suit the rather bleak and prosaic setting of Ambroy. His prose throughout the novel is lush without stepping over the line into what Eric Flint refers to as the Saudi School Of Writing; where no noun may let itself be seen unless veiled in grandiloquence and accompanied by an adjective. Although it’s not really related to the writing itself, I’ll note here that my copy had quite a few typos in it, but I’ll chalk that up to it being a first printing and give it a pass.
Emphyrio is an SF bildungsroman following the political awakening of Ghyl Tarvoke, a young man obsessed with the mythical Emphyrio, a Christ analogue. The so-called “welfare state” which is the setting of the book is a fairly transparent critique of socialism, although still well-written and convincing despite being a relatively common SF trope from when the novel was published. Though the characters were a little weak, the worldbuilding was superb. Vance allows young Ghyl to go about his business and live his bleak and depressing life, which not only set up the motivating factors for the end of the book but also showed in minute detail the inner workings of Ambroy society without resorting to clumsy expository scenes. In this way, Vance did the majority of his worldbuilding in a way I didn’t really even notice until afterwards, and kudos to him for that. At the beginning of the book he used a few footnotes, which, though interesting, broke the flow of the story, and Vance thankfully abandoned this approach before too long. There was some nice foreshadowing there in the play at the beginning, and I’m almost always a fan of the story-within-a-story literary technique.
A few criticisms could be made, although they’re fairly mild ones. The aforementioned contrived dialogue and thin characters combined with a slow-building plot all work against the story to a certain extent, except that the plot was actually quite interesting if you set aside the desire for typical SF action and adventure. There is some of that anyway in the second half of the book, and here we get to see Vance stretch his creative faculties in the construction of some quite interesting alien flora and fauna. The humour is a little toned down compared to Vance’s Cugel The Clever stories, but hey, not every story can be as hilarious as those masterpieces are.
All in all, not my favourite work of his, but certainly worth the read for anyone who likes very well-written SF.
Emphyrio is an SF bildungsroman following the political awakening of Ghyl Tarvoke, a young man obsessed with the mythical Emphyrio, a Christ analogue. The so-called “welfare state” which is the setting of the book is a fairly transparent critique of socialism, although still well-written and convincing despite being a relatively common SF trope from when the novel was published. Though the characters were a little weak, the worldbuilding was superb. Vance allows young Ghyl to go about his business and live his bleak and depressing life, which not only set up the motivating factors for the end of the book but also showed in minute detail the inner workings of Ambroy society without resorting to clumsy expository scenes. In this way, Vance did the majority of his worldbuilding in a way I didn’t really even notice until afterwards, and kudos to him for that. At the beginning of the book he used a few footnotes, which, though interesting, broke the flow of the story, and Vance thankfully abandoned this approach before too long. There was some nice foreshadowing there in the play at the beginning, and I’m almost always a fan of the story-within-a-story literary technique.
A few criticisms could be made, although they’re fairly mild ones. The aforementioned contrived dialogue and thin characters combined with a slow-building plot all work against the story to a certain extent, except that the plot was actually quite interesting if you set aside the desire for typical SF action and adventure. There is some of that anyway in the second half of the book, and here we get to see Vance stretch his creative faculties in the construction of some quite interesting alien flora and fauna. The humour is a little toned down compared to Vance’s Cugel The Clever stories, but hey, not every story can be as hilarious as those masterpieces are.
All in all, not my favourite work of his, but certainly worth the read for anyone who likes very well-written SF.
September 20, 2017
Jack Vance är nog en av genrens stora doldisar; lycka till att hitta någon som inte har grävt i alla fall lite i genren som känner till namnet. Vilket i vanlig ordning är synd och skam, om än att det bästa jag läst av honom har varit de två böckerna han skrev om Cugel the Clever. Härlig efter-slutet fantasy med en mörk ådra av svart humor, rappa dialoger och ett fantastiskt språk. "Emphyrio", däremot, är en science fiction novell av respektabelt kort längd (knappt 200 sidor) som släpptes 1969 och är markant mer återhållsam. Men visst är det kvalitet, fortfarande. Språket glimmar fortfarande till ibland och det märks absolut att det är Vance som håller i pennan. Manen har en ganska säregen stil, kan man ju minst sagt säga. Största skillnaden jag har märkt än så länge är hur pass politisk denna är. Inte i den mening att det utövas mycket politik men det är en central del av boken och i förlängningen på sätt och vis den drivande faktorn för huvudkaraktären.
Världsbygget och karaktärerna är alla solida rakt igenom. Det första, speciellt, är Vance som briljerar med ett samhälle och dess system. Samhället karaktärerna lever i är absolut ett förtryckande sådant men generellt så är det inget som tynger dem, egentligen. Vilket gör vissa av nämnda karaktärer till oerhörda skitstövlar. Språket är mer sparsmakat än vad jag hoppats på men Vance är ändock Vance och vet hur man använder målande språk på ett bra vis. Den kan bli lite seg ibland, speciellt i början, men författaren knyter ihop det hela så snyggt att det inte spelar så stor roll. Absolut läsvärd.
April 24, 2013
From my Amazon.com review:
I found this novel by chance, as part of a collection of classic science fiction works. I knew Jack Vance from his Dying Earth novels (The Compleat Dying Earth) but this book is different. Although it takes in the future, with many futuristic bits of technology (such as interstellar starships), the science fiction background is not particularly important. It is really more a parable than anything else. A well written parable, with beautiful use of language and description. But like a parable or a fable, it does not feel complete (several other reviewers made mention of this). This is not a defect, simply the style of the book. It perhaps should be described as a dytopia novel.
The story is about Ghyl, the son of a leading craftsman on the planet Halma and his quest to find freedom, the truth, and justifce for his father. Halma is a highly regimented state, part a guild capitalist state and part a welfare state. The planet is controlled by the Lords, owners of major industries, who (with the guild) control all trade and keep things under control.
The novel takes aims at a number of targets. Both collectivism and corporate greed. It is not an ideological novel by any means, it just has clear targets and points to make. The written is charming and the book is easy and enjoyable to read.
I found this novel by chance, as part of a collection of classic science fiction works. I knew Jack Vance from his Dying Earth novels (The Compleat Dying Earth) but this book is different. Although it takes in the future, with many futuristic bits of technology (such as interstellar starships), the science fiction background is not particularly important. It is really more a parable than anything else. A well written parable, with beautiful use of language and description. But like a parable or a fable, it does not feel complete (several other reviewers made mention of this). This is not a defect, simply the style of the book. It perhaps should be described as a dytopia novel.
The story is about Ghyl, the son of a leading craftsman on the planet Halma and his quest to find freedom, the truth, and justifce for his father. Halma is a highly regimented state, part a guild capitalist state and part a welfare state. The planet is controlled by the Lords, owners of major industries, who (with the guild) control all trade and keep things under control.
The novel takes aims at a number of targets. Both collectivism and corporate greed. It is not an ideological novel by any means, it just has clear targets and points to make. The written is charming and the book is easy and enjoyable to read.
December 17, 2010
A commercially unstable dystopia lasts a rather unlikely two millennia, guided by flighty and cold hearted descendants of Mr Punch. It succumbs to a languid threat to reveal the true state of affairs, an even less likely event, though followed by a proper riot and revolution.
As dystopia's go, this is a decidedly utopian one, static and unyielding, yet full of individual endeavour, glamorous maidens, enchanting pavilions filled with fine costumes, dancing and a certain pride in fine craftsmanship.
The cover of my edition features a rather sturdy couple, the male clutching at a gun, whilst spacecraft wizz past across a starry backdrop. This is rather at odds with the gentle political tale of ineffectual rebellion, kidnapping and mercantile swindling inside the covers.
As dystopia's go, this is a decidedly utopian one, static and unyielding, yet full of individual endeavour, glamorous maidens, enchanting pavilions filled with fine costumes, dancing and a certain pride in fine craftsmanship.
The cover of my edition features a rather sturdy couple, the male clutching at a gun, whilst spacecraft wizz past across a starry backdrop. This is rather at odds with the gentle political tale of ineffectual rebellion, kidnapping and mercantile swindling inside the covers.
September 23, 2017
Emphyrio is a rather standard story about a human in the distant future on a distant colonized planet trying to improve his situation in life. It all also a search for truth, revenge etc. A bit like an SF version of The Count of Monte Cristo if you like. Although SF, there is little science involved. Still it all taking place on a colonized planet in the future qualifies it as SF and in addition there is some space travel done.
I am left with the feeling this is an expanded short story. The start is poor but the story picks up a bit. Emhpyrio contains nothing to make it memorable but can be summarized as a nice read.
I am left with the feeling this is an expanded short story. The start is poor but the story picks up a bit. Emhpyrio contains nothing to make it memorable but can be summarized as a nice read.
August 15, 2010
I love Vance. His use of language is always interesting and enjoyable. He is sharp, witty and intelligent. He also has the ability to create fascinating worlds/societies and intriguing characters. Emphyrio is fantastic novel. It's rather short and quick to read, but Vance packs a lot in. He's very highly regarded when it comes to creating unique scenarios and landscapes, but this novel does more than that. It delves into themes such as self-responsibility and individualism. But mostly, like all of Vance's work, it's a great deal of fun.
September 7, 2016
4.5 stars, actually.
There's a certain soft touch to the way the book is written that I found appealing, even though I started to feel as though the plot was being neglected. At the end, I realised this was not the case at all, and Vance had pulled off a fairly neat trick, and managed to develop all the elements of the book (characters, plot, setting) in a perfectly synergistic way.
The key characters will stay with me for a long time, I feel - Ghyll is a more subtle, layered hero than those of most sci fi novels.
There's a certain soft touch to the way the book is written that I found appealing, even though I started to feel as though the plot was being neglected. At the end, I realised this was not the case at all, and Vance had pulled off a fairly neat trick, and managed to develop all the elements of the book (characters, plot, setting) in a perfectly synergistic way.
The key characters will stay with me for a long time, I feel - Ghyll is a more subtle, layered hero than those of most sci fi novels.
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