throatsprockets's review against another edition
4.0
For the first half of this book, I was disappointed by the paucity of skulls. However at the halfway point skulls started to appear, and by the end not only were there many depictions if skulls, and not only was skull imagery central to the themes and metaphors that Robert Silverberg was putting across, but skulls began to get involved in the action. If you came yo this book because of the title don’t be put off by the slow burn, this really is a book of skulls.
The story, part road trip part character study part spiritual journey, is satisfying. Silverberg crafts four central characters who start as stock types but grow and deepen as the story continues. It’s a dark tale that takes a fairly dim view of humanity, but it wraps up in a very satisfying manner both in terms of narrative and theme.
But let’s face it, we’re here to read about skulls and Silverberg delivers.
Four skulls out of five. One skull deducted for the very 1970s sexism.
The story, part road trip part character study part spiritual journey, is satisfying. Silverberg crafts four central characters who start as stock types but grow and deepen as the story continues. It’s a dark tale that takes a fairly dim view of humanity, but it wraps up in a very satisfying manner both in terms of narrative and theme.
But let’s face it, we’re here to read about skulls and Silverberg delivers.
Four skulls out of five. One skull deducted for the very 1970s sexism.
bigenk's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A journey of four college-aged men as they seek out the House of Skulls, where they believe (to varying degrees) that two of them can find the source of eternal life, through the death and sacrifice of the other two. This novel defies genre, landing somewhere in the nebulous space between science fiction, fantasy, and horror, without really satisfying the qualities of any of them. This is the third novel that I've read by Silverberg, and probably the hardest to both rate and qualify for myself.
The quality of the writing itself, like Man in the Maze and Hawksbill Station, is superb. It reads effortlessly, even as the subject matter increases in complexity. It has a trance-like quality to it, where I found myself getting wrapped up in the prose itself. The Book of Skulls has a compelling premise, that I enjoyed from beginning to end, especially satisfied with it's ambiguous conclusion that leaves the reader to determine the outcomes. Silverberg touches on some important themes like sacrifice, guilt, and betrayal, but saves most of his thoughts for death. How humans relate to it, what a meaningful death entails, how much of our energies go towards fighting it, what it would mean to be immortal. I also found most of the characterization work to be fruitful and detailed. All of the main characters were starkly different, with unique life experiences, fears, and thought processes that fed into their actions.
I especially enjoyed the novel as it turned inward, exploring the darker crevices of each character's psyche. The reader slowly begins to unfurl each one in turn as they expose themselves mental and emotionally, making for compelling reading.
This all being said, I do think this novel dates itself more harshly than the others that I've read from Silverberg. His treatment of not only women, but also homosexuality, is cringe inducing at best, flat out appalling at worse. Women only serve as objects of sexual appetite to all of the main characters, and while some might argue that this is befitting for late-teen, early-college aged men, it is not handled in a way in which it is clear that these men are exclusively at fault for their backwards behavior. Sex in this context played a huge role in the novel, which made it not only a distraction from Silverbergs more sane and salient points, but actively made the work significantly worse.
Ultimately, I am left feeling wholly disappointed. The ingredients of something amazing are here, but they are largly ruined. I think a modern take on same plot and themes could drop all of the sexist and homophobic nonsense, but lose none of the value.
The quality of the writing itself, like Man in the Maze and Hawksbill Station, is superb. It reads effortlessly, even as the subject matter increases in complexity. It has a trance-like quality to it, where I found myself getting wrapped up in the prose itself. The Book of Skulls has a compelling premise, that I enjoyed from beginning to end, especially satisfied with it's ambiguous conclusion that leaves the reader to determine the outcomes. Silverberg touches on some important themes like sacrifice, guilt, and betrayal, but saves most of his thoughts for death. How humans relate to it, what a meaningful death entails, how much of our energies go towards fighting it, what it would mean to be immortal. I also found most of the characterization work to be fruitful and detailed. All of the main characters were starkly different, with unique life experiences, fears, and thought processes that fed into their actions.
I especially enjoyed the novel as it turned inward, exploring the darker crevices of each character's psyche. The reader slowly begins to unfurl each one in turn as they expose themselves mental and emotionally, making for compelling reading.
This all being said, I do think this novel dates itself more harshly than the others that I've read from Silverberg. His treatment of not only women, but also homosexuality, is cringe inducing at best, flat out appalling at worse. Women only serve as objects of sexual appetite to all of the main characters, and while some might argue that this is befitting for late-teen, early-college aged men, it is not handled in a way in which it is clear that these men are exclusively at fault for their backwards behavior. Sex in this context played a huge role in the novel, which made it not only a distraction from Silverbergs more sane and salient points, but actively made the work significantly worse.
Ultimately, I am left feeling wholly disappointed. The ingredients of something amazing are here, but they are largly ruined. I think a modern take on same plot and themes could drop all of the sexist and homophobic nonsense, but lose none of the value.
wegmarken2006's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
storyonlystory's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely not like other Silverberg novels. This one barely qualifies as genre and then it's horror. Even then, it's more of a book about the subject of faith than even that. It can get a little long winded at times, slightly preachy but I still don't know exactly what it was trying to preach at me about. It's certainly a book worth reading. I enjoyed it a lot.
ladyofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
As usual another book by Robert Silverberg turns out to be rather good. Glad I picked this one up, especially seeing as it was only .25! :)
jacalata's review against another edition
2.0
ok is the wrong word. It was weird. Deliberately so in some ways, in other ways I think it's the 70s writing context coming through, which is fascinating - the book is written in first person narrative by four college boys, one gay and one Jewish, and half the book seems to be dealing with stereotypes thereof. The central weirdness of the possibility of eternal life barely comes into it, and you could have written the exact same book calling it fiction if you just said it was a cult. (Although Silverberg does have an interesting foreword on 'is this science fiction?' which deals with that)
toniherrero's review against another edition
3.0
Robert Silverberg no defrauda nunca, aunque quizás en este caso genere unas expectativas que no llega a satisfacer al final del libro. Con una premisa excelente el autor nos presenta a cuatro jóvenes que se embarcan en un viaje que les llevará a la muerte o a vivir eternamente, según de que lado se incline la balanza de su destino. Los personajes, bastante estereotipados y con voces narrativas que pretenden ser únicas pero no lo logran del todo, pecan de algunas excentricidades y defectos formales; en mi opinión el chico homosexual es tratado con excesivos clichés y cierto menosprecio. Pese a ello los personajes evolucionan correctamente y nos tienen preparadas alguna que otra sorpresa.
Si bien el viaje hasta el monasterio resulta de lo más atractivo (el autor nos prepara para lo que tiene que llegar) una vez estamos allí la emoción se diluye en parte (quizás falte más descripción del lugar, o más profundidad al conocer a la hermandad, que sé yo). Lo cierto es que llegados a este punto mi interés se rebajó un poco y se me antojó previsible un desenlace que, no por esperado, deja de ser impactante pero algo brusco.
Creo que Silverberg aprueba con nota en la creación de atmósferas pero que una vez genera los conflictos no es capaz de resolverlos con el tono adecuado. A pesar de ello "El libro de los cráneos" es una lectura más que recomendable, un libro bastante más profundo de lo que sus (en aparencia) simples personajes nos hacen creer al principio.
Si bien el viaje hasta el monasterio resulta de lo más atractivo (el autor nos prepara para lo que tiene que llegar) una vez estamos allí la emoción se diluye en parte (quizás falte más descripción del lugar, o más profundidad al conocer a la hermandad, que sé yo). Lo cierto es que llegados a este punto mi interés se rebajó un poco y se me antojó previsible un desenlace que, no por esperado, deja de ser impactante pero algo brusco.
Creo que Silverberg aprueba con nota en la creación de atmósferas pero que una vez genera los conflictos no es capaz de resolverlos con el tono adecuado. A pesar de ello "El libro de los cráneos" es una lectura más que recomendable, un libro bastante más profundo de lo que sus (en aparencia) simples personajes nos hacen creer al principio.
pandoozled14's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
This book started out great for classic science fiction. Not quite 5 star, but a close 'SF classic' equivalent. I never changed my opinion so hard in the middle of reading a book.
1) The women are just objects.
2) Sexual activity is grossly explained.
3) The traits and storylines off the gay characters are taken from (in my opinion) completely harmful stereotypes.
4)The confessions they make at the last part of the book are completely over the top, nasty and as said before harmful.
5) The offhanded comment of pitying someone forraping his own sister?! I don’t care who you do it to, that is just a disgusting thing to write.
I could only finish with a look of disgust on my face. The fact that I did finish it is in itself a miracle after the complete nose dive into that harmful mess.
1) The women are just objects.
2) Sexual activity is grossly explained.
3) The traits and storylines off the gay characters are taken from (in my opinion) completely harmful stereotypes.
4)
Spoiler
5) The offhanded comment of pitying someone for
Spoiler
I could only finish with a look of disgust on my face. The fact that I did finish it is in itself a miracle after the complete nose dive into that harmful mess.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
3.0
I had a dream recently where I was reading a Robert Silverberg book - Lord Valentine's Castle. In the dream I spent a fair amount of time talking about his books. I don't often dream about books in a way that is this specific so when I went to the library I thought I'd pick up something he'd written. As it happened, The Book of Skulls was on the new books shelf - that seemed like a sign so I grabbed it.
This is a great book up until our heroes arrive at their destination - the House of Skulls. The road trip is wonderful and the author's ability in writing in four distinct voices is particularly evident. Once at the House of Skulls, however, things start to fall apart - not just from a plot perspective, but from a writing perspective, as well. It's a great story, but much of the book is really dated and showing its age the most in the last section. Ignoring all of that, however, this was mostly a fun read.
This is a great book up until our heroes arrive at their destination - the House of Skulls. The road trip is wonderful and the author's ability in writing in four distinct voices is particularly evident. Once at the House of Skulls, however, things start to fall apart - not just from a plot perspective, but from a writing perspective, as well. It's a great story, but much of the book is really dated and showing its age the most in the last section. Ignoring all of that, however, this was mostly a fun read.