The novel “The Asutra” by Jack Vance was published for the first time in 1973 serialized in “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” and in 1974 as a book. It’s the third book in the Durdane trilogy and follows “The Brave Free Men“.
Gastel Etzwane left the government of Durdane to devote himself to music but it seems that the problem of the Roguskhoi, the creatures that brought terror in many areas of Durdane, hasn’t been completely solved. Rumors suggest that the Roguskhoi appeared on the continent of Caraz and it’s necessary to verify their connection with the mysterious Asutra.
A new encounter with the earthling Ifness offers new information to Gastel Etzwane and the two men decide to go on a journey to solve all the mysteries. Rumors of sightings of alien spaceships above Caraz could be linked to the Asutra and Etzwane is determined to go all the way to find the truth while Ifness intends to act only through his official channels.
The Durdane Trilogy is one of the planetary romance series where Jack Vance put his great imagination to create various societies, human and alien. The three novels tell different parts of Gastel Etzwane’s adventures but are interconnected so it’s necessary to have already read the first two novels to understand the events and characters of this final book.
In “The Asutra” Jack Vance deviates a bit from the planetary romance subgenre due to the importance of the aliens who intervened in the history of the planet Durdane, even if they kept themselves hidden. Gastel Etzwane can’t continue to be a musician when there’s the possibility of really understanding what is behind the Roguskhoi.
Gastel Etzwane’s adventure on the continent of Caraz is developed in the classic style of Jack Vance, with descriptions of the people who live there and lots of action that takes the protagonist farther than ever. Dangers and twists marked the entire Durdane trilogy, in which the author invented something new with each novel.
The complex relationship between Gastel Etzwane and Ifness affects their behavior more than ever. Etzwane knows that the earthling is acting in his interests and doing his job, and the bureaucrats he answers to will not help Durdane. For these reasons, he feels compelled to act facing a series of dangers that are impossible to assess in advance.
The combination of factors leads Gastel Etzwane to face events different from what he knows. These are situations that show all the complexity that can be present in Jack Vance’s stories and go beyond simple adventure. Certain surprising developments of those events are revealed only at the end.
The ending of the Durdane trilogy is quite peculiar and can leave the readers looking for a certain type of emotional satisfaction perplexed. It doesn’t help that Gastel Etzwane sees something of all that is going on outside of Durdane but without a true understanding of the complexity of civilizations that aren’t just the human civilization. That can be a sort of cold shower for the reader as it is for the protagonist.
Probably the ending of “The Asutra” contributes significantly to the common opinion that the Durdane trilogy isn’t among the best works of Jack Vance. Perhaps other stories by this author have more memorable settings but even in this cycle, we see his great imagination and also the best of his satirical skills. For this reason, I believe the Durdane trilogy is worth reading.
