A 1975 tale set in Jack Vance's Alastor Cluster part of his Gaean Reach fictional universe. An amnesiac is helped by the ruling benevolent Connatic Oman Ursht to regain his memory, and find out where he came from and why he lost his memory. Amnesia is a very common story mechanism, which can be very effective. Here it is part of the almost detective mystery to be solved.

A great example of Vance's world building. I remember the description of a ceremony of exchanging different smells, and how impressed I was by the author's creativity. Much later I did come across mention of a real such ceremony as happening on our Earth. If Vance didn't know then I am impressed by his creativity. If Vance did know I am equally impressed by his knowledge and ability to weave what he knew into his stories.

A motif that recurs in Vance is the magic of apparently primitive beings. In Marune the hero regains his memory thanks to such magic. In another book someone gets turned into a tree.

Marune has an uplifting ending for me, where the hero grows through his experience, and perhaps escapes the confines of his peculiar culture.