To Live Forever
First edition | |
Author | Jack Vance |
---|---|
Cover artist | Richard M. Powers |
Language | English |
Genre | Science fiction |
Publisher | Ballantine Books |
Publication date | 1956 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 185 |
To Live Forever is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in 1956. In the Vance Integral Edition, it was retitled Clarges.
Plot summary
The city of Clarges in the future is a near-utopia, surrounded by barbarism throughout the rest of the world. Abundant resources and the absence of political conflict lead to a pleasant life that should be stress-free. However, nearly everyone is obsessed with a perpetual scramble for longer life, as measured by slope.
Medical technology has led to a great lengthening of the human lifespan, but, in order to prevent the Malthusian horrors of overpopulation, it is awarded only to those citizens who have made notable contributions. Five categories have been created for those playing the life-extension game, the first four each offering an additional allowance of life: ten more years for achieving the second stage, then sixteen years, and finally an extra twenty years (a lifespan of 128 years) before achieving immortality. One's progress can be shown as a graph, whose upward direction indicates a greater likelihood of achieving the next level. Therefore, the slope of one's "lifeline" is a measure of success. A person whose lifeline reaches the vertical terminator is not merely deprived of life-lengthening treatment, they are deliberately eliminated by government operatives, known as "Assassins".
Eventually the Fair-Play Act was drafted, and won a grudging approval. In essence, the system rewarded public service with years of extended life. Five phyle, or levels of achievement, were stipulated: Base, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth. Base became known as Brood; Second, the Wedge; Third, less frequently, Arrant; and Fourth, Verge. When the original Grand-Union group organized the Amaranth Society, Fifth became Amaranth.[1]
The ultimate prize is the top category, called Amaranth, which offers true immortality to the fortunate few. People who achieve this distinction are accorded the honorific "The" in front of their name.
Grayven Warlock was one of those few (thus known as The Grayven Warlock), but he has become a fugitive after a feud with another Amaranth resulted in the latter's death. Masquerading as his own "relict" (clone) using the name Gavin Waylock, he lives in obscurity, looking for the accomplishment that will reinstate him among the immortals. However, Waylock's dramatic stratagems result in changes to society far beyond anything he had intended.
Reception
Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the novel as "frighteningly logical", saying that "[t]he sick, inbred society of Vance's imagination comes fully alive, even though his characters remain mere symbols."[2]
References
External links
- To Live Forever title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- v
- t
- e
- The Dying Earth
- The Eyes of the Overworld
- Cugel's Saga
- Rhialto the Marvellous
related |
|
---|
- Star King
- The Killing Machine
- The Palace of Love
- The Face
- The Book of Dreams
- Trullion: Alastor 2262
- Marune: Alastor 933
- Wyst: Alastor 1716
- Suldrun's Garden
- The Green Pearl
- Madouc
- Ports of Call
- Lurulu
Big Planet novels |
---|
- The Five Gold Bands
- Vandals of the Void
- To Live Forever
- The Languages of Pao
- Slaves of the Klau
- Space Opera
- The Blue World
- Emphyrio
- Bad Ronald
- The Gray Prince
- Maske: Thaery
- Galactic Effectuator
- Night Lamp
- The Dark Ocean
- The House on Lily Street
- Strange People, Queer Notions
- The Deadly Isles
- The Flesh Mask
This article about a 1950s science fiction novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |
- v
- t
- e