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Emphyrio

Jack Vance

3.89 · Rating details · 2,317 ratings · 121 reviews

Halma, a world where humans were ruled by a race of effete and arrogant lords; where a neo-feudal system banned all work by machines; where a mock welfare state rewarded painful hand labor with a pitiful dole.Young Ghyl Tarvok was a rebel. In a pirated spaceship, he began his search through the civilizations of the galaxy, hunting the elusive key to the time-shrouded secre ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, #2345, 222 pages

Published September 1970 by Dell (first published 1969)

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May 16, 2012 mark monday rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-60s-70s-80s, z-jack-vance

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 's 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? ...more

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Oct 30, 2009 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: political-fiction, mystery, science-fiction, 1954-1969, cordwainer-vance-zelazny-and-esque

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 ...more

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Apr 05, 2012 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok

Shelves: sci-fi, grand-masters

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, (view spoiler) 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, (view spoiler)

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 (view spoiler) 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. ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 Baal Of rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tea, grilled-eel

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 thi ...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Simon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, sf-masterworks

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 ...more

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Nov 09, 2013 Kristian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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. ...more

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Jul 20, 2015 Andrew Hamblin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: jack-vance-books-i-ve-read

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. ...more

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Nov 11, 2016 TJ rated it really liked it

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.

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 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.

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. ...more

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Aug 24, 2020 Jim rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi

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 h ...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Daniel Roy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-masterworks, sf, wwe-gmrc

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 th ...more

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Jan 11, 2009 Mohammed rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, science-fiction-masterworks, jack-vance

Jack Vance's strongest single novel it is seen as and i can clearly see why. A great book and my first Vance it showed my way to him. ...more

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Aug 14, 2012 David Hill rated it it was amazing

An underrated book but perhaps Vance's best stand-alone work. ...more

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Feb 26, 2019 James rated it really liked it

Wood carvings, amber light and a quest for truth. Looking forward to reading more Jack Vance.

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May 12, 2018 Buck rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, reviewed

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. (view spoiler) ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Sable rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 k 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. ...more

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Jul 08, 2015 Bryan rated it really liked it

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 S 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.
...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Ivan Stoner rated it it was amazing

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 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 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 . . .”

...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Erik Bloom rated it it was amazing

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 descripti ...more

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Dec 17, 2010 Jonathan rated it liked it

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 ...more

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Sep 23, 2017 Jon Norimann rated it liked it

Shelves: science_fiction

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 ...more

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Aug 15, 2010 Pierre rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Ankush rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

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 ...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Jim Mcclanahan rated it liked it

What starts out as a "coming of age" novel (I think we have more than enough of those out there right now) develops into a search for liberation from oppression. The mystery is in who the oppressors really are and by what mechanisms they maintain power. The journey toward that end is captivating. A little wrapped up in the 1960s as regards style, but beautifully written and intelligently presented. ...more

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Aug 28, 2013 Panagiotis Siozos rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi

Eerily similar to the current situation in Greece. Unsuspecting peasants kept in conditions of eternal underpaid manual labour in a rustic environment that attracts tourists, overzealous tax collectors and "enforcers of regulations", an irrational religion with devout "jumping" clerics. All governed by an oblivious blood-sucking upper class which itself is controlled by some distant "troika". Only the names change... ...more

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Dec 28, 2017 Capitalismissexy rated it it was amazing

Jack Vance might be best ever Author.
His Tales of the dying earth inspired dungeons and dragons.
His gaiean reach was star trek like.
His magnus rindolf were aprt doctor who part sherlock holmes.
Only Robert E Howard, Michael Moorcock, and AE Van Vogt contend for worlds best Author ever.
Suppressed because he had tiny pro capitalism flavour.
A Giant given fewer than deserved awards by democrat laden scifi associations.

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Nov 20, 2014 Daniel rated it it was amazing

I am always marveled by Vance's imaginative histories and capacities to create believable alien societies and put the human condition in some place further in time or in an ancient past. Emphyrio is a book that combines the science fiction story teller along with the mystery author which Vance was both along with some virulent criticism towards the exploitation of the human work. ...more

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Nov 06, 2008 William rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of the bleakest settings I have ever encountered.

Liberals have taken over an entire planet and transmogrified it into an oppressive welfare state.

A young freedom fighter adopts a name from antiquity, that of the legendary hero Emphyrio, and risks everything to set things right.

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Nov 17, 2009 Nicole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, sci-fi

Took me a couple of chapters to get the hang of the world, but then I got sucked in. Really liked the book's main character, his dilemmas, his search for truth. Looking forward to checking out some more Vance books. ...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Neale rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction-and-fantasy

‘Emphyrio’ is sombre work, by Jack Vance’s quirky and colourful standards - which is not to say that it isn't full of more quikiness and colour than most fantasists could dream of. Like ‘Suldrun’s Garden’, it is one of the few books where the author reins in his picaresque tendencies, and his sense of the outrageous, and concentrates on character development in a single location. The opening section is extremely powerful: its evocation of Ghyl Tarvoke's youth is intensely evocative and moving. I ...more

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Jun 17, 2015 John Burns rated it liked it

This one explores the more Kafkaesque theme of a heroic protagonist escaping from a suffocating life of ceaseless servitude. It's a recurring theme in Vance's work but it takes centre stage here.

It lacked the magic and the untethered quality his books sometimes have. The Dystopian setting is oppressive and so the whole novel doesn't breathe like his work usually does.

I also thought the weird dream-like idea didn't work when used as a premise behind a big serious story. Those oneiric setups of h ...more

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About Jack Vance

Jack Vance

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Aka 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 g ...more

Books by Jack Vance

The Eyes of the Overworld (The Dying Earth #2)

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Quotes from Emphyrio

“Freedom, privileges, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience. Otherwise they fall into desuetude and become unfashionable, unorthodox—finally irregulationary.” — 9 likes

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