Emphyrio
Vance, Jack. 2004. Emphyrio. I Books.
Rating:
10
Summary:
Great science fiction novel!
The story begins with Ghyl Tarvok as a young man. He is the son of a woodcarver named Amiante. They live on the planet Halma in the city Ambroy. They are in a unique situation (thus the story) for several reasons. First, the citizens of Ambroy live and function in a strictly regulated economic system. Almost all of the citizens fall under the regulation of the Welfare Agency, which provides a basic minimum amount of support each month. On top of that, most of the citizens also work, as does Amiante, in a trade. In addition to their base salary, the citizens of Ambroy are also paid based upon both the quantity and quality of their work. Thus, while everyone is guaranteed the bare essentials, excelling in your trade can improve your lot in life, though not a whole lot. In this sense, the system seems to represent a quasi-socialistic type of society. Also, there are strict rules concerning the trades, the most important being that all work must be done by hand, without any form of duplication (bulk manufacturing, etc.) But there is a catch to the system that makes it seem less socialistic: There is another group of people living in the city of Ambroy called ‘lords’ who receive 1.18% of all the profit made by the citizens of Ambroy. The lords don’t otherwise work. They receive this amount because of their role in returning normalcy to Ambroy nearly 2,000 years previously after a devastating war. The lords arrived with money to invest and got the water, sewer, transportation and other systems functioning again. As a result, they now skim off the top of the profits.
The second thing that puts Ghyl and Amiante in a unique situation is Amiante’s secret affiliation with the Institute of Knowledge on the human home world, Earth. Amiante is secretly an informant, for which he receives some additional funding, but more importantly, he also receives knowledge. As a result, he knows much more about the situation of the people of Ambroy than most and is far more insightful. Included in this knowledge is the legend of Emphyrio. Amiante shares the legend with Ghyl that goes something like this: Two thousand years ago there was a terrible war in which a group of humans were living in peace until a group of monsters arrived from outerspace. The humans were being destroyed until one man, Emphyrio, found a way to communicate with the monsters and helped them understand why what they were doing was wrong. The monsters stopped their destruction and changed, but the story ends without saying what happened to Emphyrio (the manuscript is actually cut off).
This story seems to subtly motivate Ghyl throughout the book, though in the end it is no longer a subtle motivation but the primary motivation. Meanwhile, Ghyl ages and enters the same trade as his father. Throughout the book, Amiante does his best to shield Ghyl from some of the irrationalities of both the economic and religious systems of Ambroy (the religious system involves devotion to a strange god through dancing). Likely as a result of Amiante’s influence on him, most of Ghyl’s friends are free-thinkers who question the legitimacy of the Welfare system and the skimming of profits by the lords. One of these adventures leads Ghyl to run for mayor (using the pseudonym Emphyrio), one of the few positions in Ambroy that remains as a result of the original charter from before the time of the lords and the Agency. Ghyl loses the election, but more importantly, Amiante breaks the rule of duplication in putting up signs for Ghyl. As punishment for the duplication infraction Amiante is rehabilitated (a mental reprocessing to force people back in line). Not long after this, Amiante dies.
Though it takes some time, Amiante’s death ultimately leads Ghyl to rebel against the Welfare system. Joining his free-thinking friends, he decides to take matters into his own hands by kidnapping some of the lords for ransom and stealing their space yacht. The plan works, minus the ransom, until Ghyl’s friends turn on him. But Ghyl is quick enough to end the betrayal in a stand off that is only resolved when Ghyl and the lords are deserted on a remote world. Thus begins Ghyl’s real adventure as he attempts to discover who the real Emphyrio was.
While on this new planet, Ghyl happens to see one of his father’s carvings. But the price on it is lower than what Amiante was paid. Ghyl, surprised, enters the shop and asks the shopkeeper why. As it turns out, the original carving is priceless and in a museum. This replica is priced at almost the amount Amiante received. Ghyl realizes that he and the other tradesman of Ambroy have been swindled, receiving only pennies for their work when it is actually worth millions. Ghyl then learns that a corporation has a monopoly on the goods produced by Ghyl’s home world. Seeing an opportunity to help his people, Ghyl sets up a plot to undermine the monopoly and with luck pulls it off. He sells the merchandise, creating for himself and his accomplices a tremendous fortune. He then uses the money to discover the truth about the legend of Emphyrio.
As it turns out, Emphyrio was a real person who stopped an invasion. The monsters were genetically engineered creatures from Damaran, the moon orbiting Ghyl’s planet. The Damaranians wanted to destroy the race that had lived on Halma before humans did, but by the time the Damaranians had created their monsters, the old race had left and humans had settled there. Emphyrio foiled the attack, but was killed by the Damarians for doing so. Emphyrio’s intrusion into their designs gave the Damarians a new idea. They engineered the lords and sent them down to set up the situation that has existed on Halma for 2,000 years. In other words, the lords are not human, though they look human. They are genetically engineered creatures, similar to the monsters sent earlier. The Damaranians are the owners of the monopoly who make fortunes off the goods produced by Ghyl’s people. By not allowing duplication, the craftsmen of Ambroy master their trades and produce priceless masterpieces.
Once Ghyl finds all of this out, he returns to Halma, confronts the lords, and tells the people. The result is a revolution in which the humans of Halma first confront the lords, then confront the Damarians, demanding restitution.
Review:
The book is very well written and engaging. I have to admit the format was foreign to me. I’m not used to the bulk of the story taking place in the last 80 pages or so. It isn’t until over half way through the book that Ghyl finally decides to revolt. Of course, once the idea of Emphyrio is introduced, you know that Ghyl is going to do something revolutionary. So when each of Ghyl’s early attempts fail, it keeps forcing you to consider how he might eventually succeed. The result is a compelling story that keeps you engaged; you know what has to happen, because Vance set it up that way, but it doesn’t seem to happen the way you would predict and the actual outcome is only revealed in the last 40 pages or so.
I was also very impressed by both the caliber and insightfulness of the writing. Vance’s writing is complex, yet understandable. His prose is diverse and his descriptions are gripping. But where the book really shines is in the fact that there are a number of possible interpretations of what Vance seems to be critiquing. Obviously the book is designed to critique social organizations and social structures. The Welfare system of Ambroy appears to be socialistic, but by including the lords you get the impression that Vance is actually presenting a form of corrupt communism like that found in Russia, where a high level elite benefited from the labors of the poor working class, even though the working class were guaranteed food and work, etc. As this system is set up as the early evil, it seems as though the book might be a criticism of corrupted communism.
But taking this idea to another level you get the impression that what Vance is really criticizing is monopolization and capitalism. The Damarians were actually the ones profiting from the work of the people of Ambroy, though the lords did seem to be living well. Applying this to capitalism, the Damarians would be the very, very wealthy bourgeoisie who are so wealthy they don’t actually have to work, they just happen to own everything. The lords are the overseers employed by the bourgeoisie to ensure compliance. And the tradesmen are the proletariat who are being exploited.
At one point Ghyl tries to convince the leaders of the trade guilds that he could improve their profits if they would only consider trading with him instead of with the lords (who then turn the goods over to the Damarians). But the leaders refuse to change, claiming it would corrupt their functioning system. At the end of this debate, Ghyl has to admit that there is security in the system. But he is frustrated by it, in large part because he knows there are people who are financially independent (the lords). Thus, while there may be security in the Welfare system, there is also exploitation and the inability to ever improve one’s lot in life. Is this a criticism of Communism or Capitalism? In the end, it’s really not clear. Perhaps Vance is just trying to critique the exploitation of one person by another.
While the book is an interesting social commentary, it is also a fascinating story about how one man, Ghyl, comes to realize that he doesn’t control his fate. There are forces that are much larger than he is (the economy and social structure), and unless he proactively does something about those forces, they will control his life until he dies. Though idyllic and fanciful, there is some truth to the notion that change is possible, though whether it is achievable by one man is highly questionable.
I also need to note that I loved Vance’s quick and resolute critique of religion. He has Ghyl present a scenario to his religious leader in which he expounds the idea that perhaps gods are specific to a location or even a world (very much a sociological critique). Of course the religious leader forcefully rejects this notion, but Ghyl’s logic (talks about probabilities and chance) is engaging (see the quote from p. 89 below).
Overall, I highly recommend this book, especially to fans of science fiction who are also students of social structure and economic systems. The book is well written, engaging, and thought-provoking, attributes I believe any book should have in order to be good literature. I should also note that it was very difficult to track this book down. I had to search through a number of libraries before I found a copy. I wonder if the lack of penetration in American markets is due to Vance’s critique of capitalism, exploitation, and the rich (see my review on The Last Castle, where Vance really targets the wealthy). Though I customarily end my reviews with attempts at witticism, I’m going to end this one with a request: If someone can point me in the right direction as to which system Vance was actually critiquing, I would be greatly appreciative.