 Dust-jacket illustration from the book edition (hardback) | |
| Author | Jack Vance |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Covington |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 1969 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 261 |
Emphyrio is a science fiction adventure novel by American writer Jack Vance. It tells the story of a young man who overturns the foundations of his world.
Ghyl Tarvoke grows up on the planet Halma with his father Amiante. Their people are ruled by two hundred lords whose forefathers arrived 1500 years earlier and rebuilt a world devastated by many wars. In return, they were granted a 1% tax. Later, all mass manufacturing was outlawed and the people became artisans, selling their handmade work to a single company controlled by the lords. Amiante is a master woodcarver, and his son follows in his trade.
When he is eight, Ghyl attends a puppet show; part of the entertainment is the traditional drama of Emphyrio, a legendary hero. The proprietor points out a young girl in the audience and informs the boy that she is the daughter of a lord. Some time later, he and a friend sneak aboard a space yacht out of curiosity and are caught by the same girl. She has them beaten and thrown out.
As time passes, Ghyl comes to realize that his father is dissatisfied with the constraints of their society. Twice, Amiante is caught by the authorities illegally duplicating ancient documents; the second time, he is taken away for four days. His personality is greatly changed, and soon after his release, he dies.
A few years later, Ghyl goes to a ball and encounters the girl, now an appealingly attractive woman, for the third time and finally learns her name, Shanne. That night, they become lovers. But she tells him that she is leaving soon to travel to the stars.
An acquaintance, the dynamic but unscrupulous Nion, persuades Ghyl and three others to hijack a space yacht and hold the passengers for ransom. The scheme is only made possible because Ghyl knows the departure date and the particular ship (the same one he sneaked aboard years before) that Shanne is leaving on. However, no ransom is forthcoming. When Ghyl wants to release their captives, there is violent opposition from Nion and Ghyl's childhood friend Floriel, resulting in several deaths. In the end, they reach an uneasy compromise: Ghyl is left on a planet with the lords, while Nion and Floriel take the ship.
Ghyl guides his charges to civilization, but notices their odd behavior along the way. Two of them are killed by local denizens when they ignore his warnings. After they reach a town, he slips away before they have him arrested. By chance, he sees one of his father's works in a shop. He discovers that it is a reproduction and that the priceless original is in a museum. He talks the shop owner into financing a venture to buy artwork on Halma for more than the pittance the lords pay.
However, for some reason, no one is willing to sell to him. Then, though disguised, he is recognized and sentenced to death for his earlier crimes. Escaping a horrible execution undetected, he steals the best works from a warehouse, takes his cargo to Earth, and sells it for a fortune.
While there, he visits the Historical Institute and learns the true history of his homeworld. The alien Damarans were forced to abandon Halma by spacefaring invaders. They found refuge on its moon and eventually struck back with warriors they had bred, but by then, their enemy had departed and humans had arrived, only to be attacked. Emphyrio attempted to negotiate peace, but was killed by the Damarans. However, the warriors listened to his message and stopped fighting, forcing the Damarans to resort to other means.
Ghyl visits the Damaran moon and finds Emphyrio's place of execution. Seeing the Damarans firsthand, he deduces something of monumental importance. He goes to see the head of the lords on Halma and threatens to broadcast the truth about their relationship with the Damarans. With this leverage, he forces them to leave Halma. Soon afterwards, a human fleet lands on the Damaran moon and extracts payment for centuries of unwitting slavery.
Joanna Russ found Emphyrio to be "a fine book," saying Vance's "tone is perfectly controlled" and that "one would swear he had read Bert Brecht and decided to produce a novel that would be one extended Verfremdungseffekt ". [1]
Richard Horton wrote in his SF Site review:
This is one of Vance's better novels, and in many ways a good introduction to this author. On display are many of the hallmarks of his mature style: his elegant writing, his wonderful depiction of local colour, his unusual social systems. Emphyrio lacks only the humour that is so often present in Vance: this is one of his more melancholy books. [2]
Donald Allen Wollheim was an American science fiction editor, publisher, writer, and fan. As an author, he published under his own name as well as under pseudonyms, including David Grinnell, Martin Pearson, and Darrell G. Raynor. A founding member of the Futurians, he was a leading influence on science fiction development and fandom in the 20th-century United States. Ursula K. Le Guin called Wollheim "the tough, reliable editor of Ace Books, in the Late Pulpalignean Era, 1966 and '67", which is when he published her first two novels in Ace Double editions.
Consider Phlebas, first published in 1987, is a space opera novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks. It is the first in a series of novels about an interstellar post-scarcity society called the Culture.
John Holbrook Vance was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. Though most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance, he also wrote several mystery novels under pen names, including Ellery Queen.
The Languages of Pao is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in 1958, based on the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which asserts that a language's structure and grammar construct the perception and consciousness of its speakers. In the novel, the placid people from the planet Pao rely on other planets for technological innovations and manufactured goods and they do not resist when an invading force occupies the land and levies heavy taxes. To expel the aggressors and make the planet more independent, three new languages are introduced. A scientific language induces its speakers to innovate more; a well-ordered language encourages its speakers to be industrious; and a warlike language induces competitiveness and aggression. The new languages change the culture and Pao ousts their overlords and develops a sophisticated modern economy.
Sexual themes are frequently used in science fiction or related genres. Such elements may include depictions of realistic sexual interactions in a science fictional setting, a protagonist with an alternative sexuality, a sexual encounter between a human and a fictional extraterrestrial, or exploration of the varieties of sexual experience that deviate from the conventional.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is a series of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics between 1993 and 1998. They are part of the fictional Star Wars expanded universe, and cover the Great Sith War and the Great Hyperspace War. The series represented the earliest chronological Star Wars stories until the publication of the Dawn of the Jedi series of comics and novels.
John Stewart Williamson, who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American science fiction writer, one of several called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term genetic engineering. Early in his career he sometimes used the pseudonyms Will Stewart and Nils O. Sonderlund.
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order is a series of 19 science fiction novels, published from 1999 to 2003, set in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The series revolves around the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy 21–25 years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi. The New Jedi Order was the restored and reformed Jedi organization, following the Great Jedi Purge and subsequent fall of the Galactic Empire. The Jedi Knights, reduced in number to only a handful, were slowly restored, primarily under the leadership of Luke Skywalker. Additional related stories were published, some as e-book novellas and others as comic books ; these increase the total number of published NJO-related stories to 26. The authors that contributed to the series include R.A. Salvatore, Michael Stackpole, James Luceno, Michael Jan Friedman, Troy Denning, Matthew Stover, Kathy Tyers, Greg Keyes, Elaine Cunningham, Aaron Allston, Walter Jon Williams, and Sean Williams & Shane Dix.
Vance Astrovik, also known as Justice and formerly known as Marvel Boy, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character possesses the superhuman power of telekinesis and has often been affiliated with the New Warriors and The Avengers. He appeared in Giant-Size Defenders #5 for the first time, which was created by Don Heck and Gerry Conway.
Libertarian science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on the politics and social order implied by right-libertarian philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and private ownership of the means of production—and in some cases, no state whatsoever.
The Snow Queen is a 1980 science fiction novel by American writer Joan D. Vinge. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1981, and was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1981.
Final Fantasy IV, a role-playing video game released by Square in 1991, revolves around Cecil Harvey, a knight of Baron who embarks on a quest to defeat Golbez, a man that is controlling the king of Baron. During Cecil's quest, he is joined by his childhood friends Kain Highwind and Rosa Farrell, as well as other warriors from around the world who also seek to stop Golbez. The visuals of the characters were designed by Yoshitaka Amano. After its initial release, Final Fantasy IV was later ported to multiple consoles. In 2007, Square Enix released an enhanced remake for the Nintendo DS that added voice acting to both the Japanese and English versions.
Ship of Fools is a science fiction novel by Richard Paul Russo. First published in 2001, it won the Philip K. Dick Award for that year.
The Lords of the North is the third historical novel in The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell published in 2006. The story is set in the 9th century Anglo-Saxon kingdoms Wessex and Northumbria. Uhtred wants revenge against his uncle, and falls in love. He fights for both the Danes and for Alfred.
The Palace of Love (1967) is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the third in his Demon Princes series. It is about a wealthy man, Kirth Gersen, who is obsessed with seeking vengeance on the remaining Demon Princes who killed his family many years ago. To get access to the elusive and secretive Viole Falushe, one of the Demon Princes, Gersen poses as a journalist and wrangles a rare invitation to Falushe's hedonistic Palace of Love.
Trullion: Alastor 2262 (1973) is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published by Ballantine Books. It is one of three books set in the Alastor Cluster, "a whorl of thirty thousand live stars in an irregular volume twenty to thirty light-years in diameter."Three thousand star systems are inhabited by five trillion humans, who are governed by the mostly hands-off Connatic. Occasionally, in the manner of Harun al-Rashid of The Thousand and One Nights, the Connatic travels in disguise among the people.
Ports of Call is a 1998 science fiction adventure novel by American writer Jack Vance. Followed by the novel Lurulu, it tells the story of a young man named Myron Tany on a picaresque journey through the Gaean Reach.
The Lotus Eater is a 1921 American silent romantic drama film produced and directed by Marshall Neilan and released through Associated First National. The Lotus Eater starred John Barrymore with Colleen Moore as the female lead. The Lotus Eater is now considered lost.
The Silent Stars Go By is a hardback Doctor Who novel written by Dan Abnett for the BBC Books New Series Adventures line. The novel features the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams and sees the return of the Ice Warriors. The novel was re-released in 2013 in paperback in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who, with a different front cover.
Vandals of the Void is a young adult science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, published in 1953. It was his first novel, although he was already known for his many short stories.