Clarges eBook Jack Vance
Download As PDF : Clarges eBook Jack Vance 
In the far-future city of Clarges, you can live forever – if you can make the grade.
In Clarges, everyone competes for the ultimate prize immortality. Gavin Waylock had that prize – the live-forever rank of Amaranth, but lost it when he was accused of murder. Now, after seven years in hiding he begins again the struggle to reach the top. But a strong-willed woman,The Jacynth Martin, is determined to see him fail – and failure means death.
SF Grandmaster Jack Vance crafts a classic tale of man against dystopia, rich in intrigue, suspense and dark humor.
Cover art by Joel Anderson
Clarges eBook Jack Vance
This book I first read about 7 years ago in the first edition paperback with the old title. This version is from the VIE texts ( for more info on the project, check out [...] and is therefore Vance's preferred edition.For those new to Vance, I would recommend you begin elsewhere. Perhaps with The Tschai series or The Dying Earth books. This was Vance's first actual novel as The Dying Earth was a fix-up. It is SF of the fantastical variety, not hard SF. It takes place at some indefinite point in the distant future (of Earth? Vance is never explicit about this fact) when the citizens of a city called Clarges have long since discovered a method for immortality. But how to decide who lives and who dies? Well, in typical Vancean fashion this question is explored and answered. The main character is one Gavin Waylock whose past is mysterious and who seems to be new to the intricacies of Clarges. What he sees is a culture of competitive striving, those who wish to add years to their lives never getting a moment's respite. It is ironic as so much of Vance's work is. Since I don't go into plot details in my reviews, I will leave the rest to your imagination. Needless to say, Waylock's story is quite an adventure, as is the world Vance created.
While some reviewers of this book say that Vance's style is muted here, I disagree. I think Vance wrote this book in the style the story required. And don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Vance's style is not apparent here because it most certainly is. If you are curious, give Clarges a try. If nothing else you will find beautiful writing that is so rare in the SF of the 50's. Enjoy!
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Clarges eBook Jack Vance Reviews
One of Jack Vance’s very best sf novels. Originally published as “To Live Forever.” Based on the Vance Integral Edition text.
Jack Vance is one of science fiction's most distinctive voices, in some ways completely unique. Read a paragraph of any of his mature works, and it's difficult to mistake him. He selects words that have flavour, and the baroque elaboration of his dialogue is - for me - pleasing in itself.
He is also brilliant at proposing and realising societies with customs and mores radically different from anything we recognise, impelled by economies more exotic and strange than any that have ever existed. Here we have one where a small elite may earn immortality, a slightly larger group very long life, and other classes that live out lives of the usual span in an economy of abundance - provided the population is strictly controlled. To ensure that nobody exceeds their lawful years, a corps of assassins operates.
Immortals are selected by impersonal judgement of merit, made by a computer that records everything. This is apparently a computer-audited meritocracy - on the surface, at least. And it is, must be, a panoptic one.
But what happens when this arrangement is subverted? Such is the argument of this novel.
Alas, in his lesser works - and this is one - Vance seems far more interested in filigree and gingerbread, in decorated line and grotesquerie, than in working out a credible plot, or indeed in the motivation of his protagonists or principal characters. After a series of loosely connected events, his hero subverts the basis of the Clarges system, producing a violent revolution against the state and its basic principles. But the means by which he achieves this are very simple, and implicit in the technology itself - so much so that it is difficult to see why it didn't happen long before - and the outcome is simply incredible. Not only incredible - unexamined. We simply don't know what will come of it.
It's a lovely set-up, and the prose is something to savour, but the resolution falls dismally flat. It's as if Vance were satisfied with working out the basis of his society and the reason for its instabilty, and had no interest in doing more.
Like all of Vance's works, "Clarges" is very highly nuanced, the dialogue is witty and intelligent, and the story is full of twists and turns. The ending isn't quite as strong as some of his other stuff, but it's still satisfying. Recommended.
5 stars for Clarges, another masterpiece from Jack Vance. His "high English" writing style is without equal. He reminds us that no matter where we find ourselves in time or space, human frailties and strengths are unchanging. Recommended for readers looking for more than the superficial in science fiction.
I love most of Jack Vance's works. This is one of his more philosophical books, and deals with some classic sci-fi themes in interesting ways. It is not as light as the dying earth books, or even Lyoness, but still has its humorous moments. A great read.
This isn't your usual Vance. The hero is many times a murderer, but still a sympathetic character. In this novel, published in 1956, Vance predicts the CCTV surveillance state, clones and digital personality programming. But human nature remains as venal and grasping as ever. Great read.
Classic middle period Vance! A great place to start with Vance and awesome to reread - my 2nd reading and it was much better the 2nd time! Full of the usual irony, humor and cynicism but a strong undercurrent of human strength, decency and justice. So deftly drawn and convincing. The sections at "Carnavalle" are beautiful, wondrous and lasting - highly recommended.
This book I first read about 7 years ago in the first edition paperback with the old title. This version is from the VIE texts ( for more info on the project, check out [...] and is therefore Vance's preferred edition.
For those new to Vance, I would recommend you begin elsewhere. Perhaps with The Tschai series or The Dying Earth books. This was Vance's first actual novel as The Dying Earth was a fix-up. It is SF of the fantastical variety, not hard SF. It takes place at some indefinite point in the distant future (of Earth? Vance is never explicit about this fact) when the citizens of a city called Clarges have long since discovered a method for immortality. But how to decide who lives and who dies? Well, in typical Vancean fashion this question is explored and answered. The main character is one Gavin Waylock whose past is mysterious and who seems to be new to the intricacies of Clarges. What he sees is a culture of competitive striving, those who wish to add years to their lives never getting a moment's respite. It is ironic as so much of Vance's work is. Since I don't go into plot details in my reviews, I will leave the rest to your imagination. Needless to say, Waylock's story is quite an adventure, as is the world Vance created.
While some reviewers of this book say that Vance's style is muted here, I disagree. I think Vance wrote this book in the style the story required. And don't get me wrong, I am not saying that Vance's style is not apparent here because it most certainly is. If you are curious, give Clarges a try. If nothing else you will find beautiful writing that is so rare in the SF of the 50's. Enjoy!
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