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Title: Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg ISBN: 0-06-105487-9 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.06 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Fantastyc...
Comment: I recently picked up "Lord Valentine's Castle" in a used book store, and was very pleasantly surprised. This book is at least as good as (although stylistically different from) the works of Robert Jordan, L.E. Modesitt, and the other leading lights of contemporary fantasy fiction. Author Robert Silverberg writes with a texture reminiscent of such diverse works as the Wizard of Oz books, Lovecraft's "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath", Zelazny's "Lords of Light", and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan". Silverberg also pays homage to Robert Heinlein with the title character Lord Valentine, whose name (among other things) is an allusion to "Stranger in a Strange Land".
If you like high fantasy, or any of the books or stories noted above, please give "Lord Valentine's Castle" a try. One sentence of caution: the protagonist begins this novel in an amnesic state of zen detachment, and his character and relationships build gradually. I put the book down after 10 pages on the first occasion I tried to read it (about a decade ago). Persevere -- it's well worth the effort. Besides, since "Lord Valentine's Castle" was written in 1979, there's already 20 years of sequels published and waiting for you!
Rating: 5
Summary: Epic science fiction with the flavor of fantasy
Comment: I first read Robert Silverberg's amazing novel "Lord Valentine's Castle" many, many years ago, but his superbly drawn world has remained with me. Re-reading the book reminded me why I initially fell in love with it. LVC is an interesting, almost hybrid sort of novel: it is a work of science fiction that has the feel of an epic fantasy novel.
LVC takes place thousands of years in the future on the distant world of Majipoor, a gigantic world with a population of 20 billion people of many different species: humans; the three-eyed Liimans; the four-armed, "Bigfoot"-like Skandars; the planet's shapeshifting aboriginal folk; and more. Silverberg brilliantly evokes the history, geography, zoology, botany, politics, and architecture of Majipoor, a world of great strangeness and great beauty. The plot takes Silverberg's hero on an epic quest across this richly imagined world.
Along the way are some amazing sensations: a view of the crystalline Ghayrog city of Dulorn, a taste of sea-dragon milk, and more. Silverberg addresses many relevant issues: memory, bigotry, responsibility, leadership, and the terrible burdens of history. The art of juggling is a fascinating motif that distinguishes the book. And the whole story is enlivened by Silverberg's superb writing style: accessible and contemporary, yet with a timeless, classic feel. "Lord Valentine's Castle" is a triumph by a master of the fantastic.
Rating: 5
Summary: Grand Majipoor
Comment: It's hard do agree if this is mostly a work of science fiction or fantasy. I think "Lord Valentine's castle" is more in the fantasy realm, but Silverberg accomplished, in this acclaimed book, a great blend of both. The story, the names, the characters, all have a big resemblance to Tolkien's work, but Majipoor is a world that stands on its own.
The story is simple, a quest in fact: Valentine "wakes up" as a thirty-year-old man whose past is misty and pratically lost. In Majipoor, a giant planet, metal-poor, and home to more than 20 billion people of diverse races (humans and aliens), Valentine travels hundreds of thousands of miles, gathering interesting characters around him, trying to disclose who he was, and what has been stolen from him.
Many other reviewers state that Valentine's quest has little and simple difficulties, and that's right. His group has many problems along the way, but every time they resolve it quickly and thoroughly. I think the main feature Silverberg accomplished in this work is to present Majipoor and its people. The governing system, the grandness of scale, the unusual situations and most of the characters are really interesting, and the reader can't help but like them, in one way or another. But sometimes, due to the number of characters existing on the story, some of them disappear for many pages, only to come back again, in minor passages, as if the author suddenly remembered about them.
The only thing that doesn't fit is the lenght of the book. Suddenly, it's all over. Silverberg could have developed the last two chapters of the book in a more complete fashion, adding another couple of hundred pages, and the book wouldn't be too long.
Anyway, this is one of the best ideas I've come along regarding fantasy/sci-fi. Great reading.
Grade 9.0/10
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Title: Valentine Pontifex : Valentine Pontifex by Robert Silverberg ISBN: 0061054860 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 March, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Majipoor Chronicles : Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg ISBN: 0061054852 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 July, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Sorcerers of Majipoor by Robert Silverberg ISBN: 0061057800 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: MOUNTAINS OF MAJIPOOR, THE by Robert Silverberg ISBN: 0553096141 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Lord Prestimion by Robert Silverberg ISBN: 0061058106 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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