Far in the future, the craftsmen of the distant planet Halma create goods which are the wonder of the galaxy. But they know little of this. Their society is harshly regimented, its religion austere and unforgiving, and primitive -- to maintain standards, even the most basic use of automation is punishable by death. When Amiante, a wood-carver, is executed for processing old documents with a camera, his son Ghyl rebels, and decides to bring down the system. To do so, he must first interpret the story of Emphyrio, an ancient hero of Halman legend.Jack Vance began to publish SF in 1945, and his 1950 science- fantasy classic The Dying Earth established him as a master of exotic, ironic style--still the hallmark of his 1990s novels. Emphyrio dates from 1969 and is perhaps his best handling of a favourite theme, a young boy's rebellion against a fossilized and unfair society. Ambroy, on the far world Halma, is a city of fine craft-workers where quiet tyranny wears the smiling face of a welfare state. Social workers with draconian powers enforce strict laws against mechanical duplication (each work of art must be unique), while priests of the absurd state religion go from door to door being loftily officious. Dissatisfied young Ghyl Tarvoke more or less prankishly runs for Mayor of Ambroy under the name of legendary hero Emphyrio--a quixotic act which leads indirectly to his master-craftsman father's tragic punishment and death, to despairing involvement in his wild friends' spaceship hijack plan, and to shocking revelations about Ambroy's real rulers. Legend says that Emphyrio long ago brought peace to Halma by uncovering truth, at the cost of his life. After colourful adventures Ghyl finds himself similarly placed: the truth can redeem the city he loves but means great personal loss. A fine, strangely underrated novel, now reissued as #19 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series. --David Langford