To Live Forever (1956)

Wikipedia quotes Floyd C. Gale as saying "frighteningly logical...[t]he sick, inbred society of Vance's imagination comes fully alive, even though his characters remain mere symbols."

I really can't say it better than that. Where most Vance work is focused on atmosphere, attitude, and of course punctilio, Clarges (previously and better titled To Live Forever), is unusual in being a fairly direct exploration of a concept. The Clarges society is tightly restricted in space, and the bulk of the population work toward the goal of eternal life. The book imagines the effect and logical outcome of such a society. While Vancian characters are here, they're fairly low-key, and much less aloof than normal. The book is short, but effective.

Overall, recommended as an introduction to the Vance voice, or just as a good social SF thought experiment (that's also a good read).

CVIE vol IV

PS Why was this not retitled The Graven Waylock? ( )

Wikipedia quotes Floyd C. Gale as saying "frighteningly logical...[t]he sick, inbred society of Vance's imagination comes fully alive, even though his characters remain mere symbols."

I really can't say it better than that. Where most Vance work is focused on atmosphere, attitude, and of course punctilio, Clarges (previously and better titled To Live Forever), is unusual in being a fairly direct exploration of a concept. The Clarges society is tightly restricted in space, and the bulk of the population work toward the goal of eternal life. The book imagines the effect and logical outcome of such a society. While Vancian characters are here, they're fairly low-key, and much less aloof than normal. The book is short, but effective.

Overall, recommended as an introduction to the Vance voice, or just as a good social SF thought experiment (that's also a good read).

CVIE vol IV

PS Why was this not retitled The Graven Waylock? ( )

This is the first Vance novel I have read. It is definitely old-school science fiction, almost pulp-ish, with a many-twisted plot that is sometimes hard to follow and some thinly drawn characters (particularly the women). But I appreciated Vance’s big ideas about the lure of immortality and the lengths people will go to achieve it.

Read based on a recommendation on my book review blog (2010). ( )

Halfway though this book, I wasn't sure what to think. The main character was a nice enough guy, but also a murderous, conniving opportunist. And he's the main POV character, so it was difficult to feel much involvement in the story, because I really thought he deserved to die. It became much more enjoyable once I realized that the story wasn't about him; rather, it's a story about the downfall of a society that rations out immortality to its citizens, with the protagonist as the catalyst, not the hero. (And it's absolutely not a love story, contrary to the blurb on the back; whoever wrote that bit obviously didn't read past the first chapter.) Vance's prose here isn't anything special, and the technology is amusingly out-of-date (being a book of the far future written in 1956), and though I was never bored, the story never really engaged me either. 3 out of 5 stars, but juuuust barely. ( )