The novel “The Anome”, also known as “The Faceless Man” by Jack Vance was published for the first time in 1971 serialized in “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” and in 1973 as a book.

Mur is only a young boy when he begins the purification rites of the Chilite sect in which he grew up. His aspiration is to become a musician like his biological father, whom he has never known, but his soul-father Osso Higajou has other plans for him. Deeply dissatisfied with his mother being indentured to his soul-father and the strict discipline imposed on the members of the sect, Mur runs away and takes the name Gastel Etzwane.

Gastel Etzwane’s plan is to appeal to the Anome, also known as the Faceless Man, the mysterious man who is in control of the torcs, the explosive collars worn by the citizens of Shant state. Gastel wants to have his mother’s indenture contract voided but the appeal procedure is expensive and the boy has to go through various ups and downs.