A review by angrywombat
Lord Valentine's Castle, by Robert Silverberg
3.0
Intro
I am frankly torn. This story is a wonderful example of amazing worldbuilding that presents new and compelling sights around every corner, and constantly made me want to pick up the book every time i saw it lying on the table... and yet is equally full of an excruciating internal monologue that made me want to poke my eyes out at times. This is all the best things I want from Sci Fi and Fantasy, but mixed with some of my most hated excesses of a character wallowing in indecision. Luckily for me the balance fell over on the fantastic imagination, and I managed to make my way through.
Depending on tastes though, this could fall to a 2 or 1 star (if you dont like the "world tour" aspect and hate the constant internal thoughts) or perhaps reach up to 4 stars (if you like following the thoughts of an amnesiac and constant self doubt, and love the imaginative worldbuilding)
Characters
This is Valentine's story through and through - and what an odd hero he is! He is a Hero in the classic mode - a do-gooder and righter of wrongs. But he doesn't achieve this is the good ol' waving sword way - he juggles and uses compassion to win people over. He is at heart a true pacifist who just wants everyone to be happy, and honestly finds the idea of pomp and ceremony and the weight of responsibility to be distasteful - and yet he sets out to reclaim the ultimate throne of power on this huge world because it is the right thing to do. I actually really liked this change - as it felt very different, and Valentine was a very likably and sympathetic character...
His only drawback is that he is so conflicted.. and he does go on (in his head) constantly agonising over what choices he should make... until often the choice is taken away from him and he just has to act on what is forced upon him.
There are a bunch of other characters, but few really impinge on the bubble of self-conflicted thoughts that fill most of this narrative. But the array of alien species and strange cultures is a constant kaleidoscope that doesn't leave me feeling too left out.
Plot/Setting
Oh wow. The sheer scope leaves me breathless.
This is a straightforward story. We start with a guy who doesn't really remember what is going on, and while trying to survive he joins a juggling troupe in a strange world. But as his memories come back he realises he's the deposed ruler of the world, and he's got to get his position back.
But along his trip he meets dozens of strange new races, is exposed to amazing devices of science and magic, crosses mountains, forests, cities, rivers, oceans.. all across the massive world of Majipoor.
I love Majipoor. Its a strange mix of Science fiction and fantasy. We have anti-grav vehicles, genetically engineered animals, talk of space-farers and aliens and colonists from earth, and terraforming machinery - but along side that we have dream-reading oracles, strange magicians and sorceries, and a plot pulled out of the pages of an epic high-fantasy. The best I can imagine is a high-tech scifi world that has long long ago fallen back into a semi-feudal society where very few people have any understanding of how technology works and so it has fallen into the realm of mysticism and occultism - but the result of horse-drawn anti-grav carriages, bows and arrows vs plasma guns - it all feels really dream like and just flat out strange.
Pacing/tone/Writing Style
Here is my sore point. This book is a collection of things that happen, but they are not really tied together by a cause and effect / action and repercussions. They are nearly all "just things that happen along the way", but only a few of them really push the plot in any real way, and we get pages and pages of time wasted on Valentine agonising over "am I the real ruler, or just wishing it" or things along that line. It was interesting the first time, but he agonises over the same questions pretty much after every encounter - and it gets really really draining (and predictable). I think if we cut the repetition the book would be about half the length...
Sometimes I just came to the end of a chapter and felt I couldn't take it anymore and put the book down, but by the next day I was wondering what new things Valentine would see and had to pick up the book again.
You'd like this if : You want to see some truly imaginative landscapes - and want to see a truly good, peaceful and compassionate character try to take back his throne without bloodshed.
Other Thoughts
I honestly don't think i would have made it through this book if it wasn't for book-bingo. The first 1/4 was weird and enchanting, but the next 1/4 was absolutely horrible - with Valentine really unsure of himself or the reality of his situation and just questioning everything in his own head - but this questioning never seems to have an effect on his actions or his choices... he agonises so much that the time to make choices just slips away... But by the half way point he doesn't sort himself out a little bit and actually start making a plan and acting on it, which makes the book go a whole lot better. It took me more than a week to get through that second quarter - the last half only took a couple of days :)
I am frankly torn. This story is a wonderful example of amazing worldbuilding that presents new and compelling sights around every corner, and constantly made me want to pick up the book every time i saw it lying on the table... and yet is equally full of an excruciating internal monologue that made me want to poke my eyes out at times. This is all the best things I want from Sci Fi and Fantasy, but mixed with some of my most hated excesses of a character wallowing in indecision. Luckily for me the balance fell over on the fantastic imagination, and I managed to make my way through.
Depending on tastes though, this could fall to a 2 or 1 star (if you dont like the "world tour" aspect and hate the constant internal thoughts) or perhaps reach up to 4 stars (if you like following the thoughts of an amnesiac and constant self doubt, and love the imaginative worldbuilding)
Characters
This is Valentine's story through and through - and what an odd hero he is! He is a Hero in the classic mode - a do-gooder and righter of wrongs. But he doesn't achieve this is the good ol' waving sword way - he juggles and uses compassion to win people over. He is at heart a true pacifist who just wants everyone to be happy, and honestly finds the idea of pomp and ceremony and the weight of responsibility to be distasteful - and yet he sets out to reclaim the ultimate throne of power on this huge world because it is the right thing to do. I actually really liked this change - as it felt very different, and Valentine was a very likably and sympathetic character...
His only drawback is that he is so conflicted.. and he does go on (in his head) constantly agonising over what choices he should make... until often the choice is taken away from him and he just has to act on what is forced upon him.
There are a bunch of other characters, but few really impinge on the bubble of self-conflicted thoughts that fill most of this narrative. But the array of alien species and strange cultures is a constant kaleidoscope that doesn't leave me feeling too left out.
Plot/Setting
Oh wow. The sheer scope leaves me breathless.
This is a straightforward story. We start with a guy who doesn't really remember what is going on, and while trying to survive he joins a juggling troupe in a strange world. But as his memories come back he realises he's the deposed ruler of the world, and he's got to get his position back.
But along his trip he meets dozens of strange new races, is exposed to amazing devices of science and magic, crosses mountains, forests, cities, rivers, oceans.. all across the massive world of Majipoor.
I love Majipoor. Its a strange mix of Science fiction and fantasy. We have anti-grav vehicles, genetically engineered animals, talk of space-farers and aliens and colonists from earth, and terraforming machinery - but along side that we have dream-reading oracles, strange magicians and sorceries, and a plot pulled out of the pages of an epic high-fantasy. The best I can imagine is a high-tech scifi world that has long long ago fallen back into a semi-feudal society where very few people have any understanding of how technology works and so it has fallen into the realm of mysticism and occultism - but the result of horse-drawn anti-grav carriages, bows and arrows vs plasma guns - it all feels really dream like and just flat out strange.
Pacing/tone/Writing Style
Here is my sore point. This book is a collection of things that happen, but they are not really tied together by a cause and effect / action and repercussions. They are nearly all "just things that happen along the way", but only a few of them really push the plot in any real way, and we get pages and pages of time wasted on Valentine agonising over "am I the real ruler, or just wishing it" or things along that line. It was interesting the first time, but he agonises over the same questions pretty much after every encounter - and it gets really really draining (and predictable). I think if we cut the repetition the book would be about half the length...
Sometimes I just came to the end of a chapter and felt I couldn't take it anymore and put the book down, but by the next day I was wondering what new things Valentine would see and had to pick up the book again.
You'd like this if : You want to see some truly imaginative landscapes - and want to see a truly good, peaceful and compassionate character try to take back his throne without bloodshed.
Other Thoughts
I honestly don't think i would have made it through this book if it wasn't for book-bingo. The first 1/4 was weird and enchanting, but the next 1/4 was absolutely horrible - with Valentine really unsure of himself or the reality of his situation and just questioning everything in his own head - but this questioning never seems to have an effect on his actions or his choices... he agonises so much that the time to make choices just slips away... But by the half way point he doesn't sort himself out a little bit and actually start making a plan and acting on it, which makes the book go a whole lot better. It took me more than a week to get through that second quarter - the last half only took a couple of days :)