In a standalone novel, Jack Vance follows the exploits of his main character, Ghyl Tarvoke, as he struggles against the indignities of a seemingly cloistered and provincial society, only to discover that societal corruption goes deeper than anyone could have expected. This was my first exposure to Vance, and I appreciated all of the fascinating societal details that he includes in this novel. The narrative style was simplistic, though: All action takes place through the eyes of a single character, and there are no real secondary subplots to speak of. Every chapter involves the same basic protagonist. From that standpoint, the book itself is not terribly daring or inventive. The invention here comes from Vance's use of a parable to carry off what basically amounts to a Marxist critique of capitalist labor exploitation, though couched in a science fiction narrative. So, where the book's characters are largely two-dimensional, the book succeeds on the strength of this parable.

I'll read more Vance in the future, but it seems to me like there are the germs of serious thought and societal critique at work here. It's just that other authors employ more sophisticated narrative techniques to explore those critiques with the reader (Asimov's masterful Foundation series comes to mind here). Overall, the book is recommended, but I'll need to read a lot more of Jack Vance to come to some more definitive conclusions about his place in the pantheon of 20th Century science fiction greats.