Customer Reviews

Lord Valentine's Castle

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

Capsule Description: An unusual epic fantasy with some science-fictional overtones and a unique protagonist. A fantasy quest, but not really like any other fantasy book I've read. Extremely highly recommended.

Review: I find Silverberg to be erratic in terms of whether what he writes appeals to me. Some of it is interesting but, in my opinion, flawed (Up the Line) while others just don't grab me (several of the later Majipoor books). But Lord Valentine's Castle ranks up at the very top of the SF/Fantasy heap, one of the books I would call a true classic.

"And then, after walking all day through a golden haze of humid warmth that gathered about him like fine wet fleece, Valentine came to a great ridge of outcropping white stone overlooking the city of Pidruid." This is one of my favorite opening sentences of all time -- "And then..."?? Why do we start out this way? Is this the way our viewpoint character sees it? Is this lush description going to continue, and should it?

The "Why" we have to wait for -- a large part of the book, in fact, will pass before we understand "why". But the other questions can all be answered "yes". This is a book with the Sense Of Wonder in full gear, one that will take us into the world that Silverberg has created and immerse us in it. A world where everyone takes Dreams seriously, and where there are two rulers, not one, yet only one who acts. A world of dozens of different races and a depth of description that lends conviction to the believe that not only does Majipoor, that impossibly huge world, exist, but that we have visited there and seen its incredible cities, ascended the unbelieveable Castle Mount, and touched the essence of the Divine.

Much of the book's appeal, and a great deal of its originality, comes from its protagonist, Valentine. I love a square-jawed, butt-kicking Hero as well as (or perhaps better than) just about anyone, yet even I will admit that there seem to be a bit TOO many of these around at times. On the other hand, though I will recognize the literary merit of the anti-hero, and a few such I can even enjoy reading about (such as Thomas Covenant, from the series by Stephen Donaldson), I really don't LIKE spending much time in the company of people who either make me want to kick them or shoot them. Valentine is neither; the protagonist of this book, the man who becomes the center of a struggle of mythic proportions, is a convincing man of peace, one who recognizes that violence perhaps is necessary at times, but whose very nature rebels against such things. It takes a great deal to convince me to believe in a man who can forgive things that I, personally, could not. Valentine convinces, effortlessly, because he seems so real that I could imagine meeting with him.

Try a visit to Lord Valentine's Castle; you won't regret it.

If you're into fast action and shock, this isn't the book for you. Lord Valentine's Castle is filled with rich description and detail, and is a character-driven story.
Valentine, a gentle man with no memory, who takes up juggling, is actually Lord Valentine whom the Shapeshifters- the despised original natives of Majipoor - have misplaced within a different body, while inhabiting his real body in order to rule their world again. Valentine's eventual realization of this truth- and his quest to regain his own body, and throne, takes us through a marvelous journey over vast portions of Majipoor - and what a world! Ten times the size of Earth, with an incredible assortment of creatures and plant life.
I found Silverberg's descriptions and details of the planet and the flora fascinating and a lot of fun. The characters who accompany Valentine on his journey are herioc, likable, and easy to root for. The political structure of the planet, with the Coronal high on Castle Mount, the Pontifex miles deep beneath the planet, and the Lady Of Dreams, was laid out in a visually beautiful manner, easy to understand and visualize.

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

I picked up this book with high hopes based on the reviews but was uninspired by its text. Although the first 50 pages were interesting, the next 450 were a struggle to finish as the novelty of juggling (I'm a juggler) wore off and the plot became predictable. I would not recommend to those over fifteen.

Robert Silverberg is deservedly one of the most revered names in the sci-fi pantheon, not so much for his ability to communicate the dry facts of hard science (à la Clarke and Asimov) as for his imaginative extrapolations and mythic themes. So one might reasonably expect great things from him in the realm of fantasy, which after all, seems to play to his strengths. And that's the main reason this book was rather disappointing.

Lord Valentine's Castle is the first in a series of books set on the planet Majipoor, a vast, metals-poor world, settled by humanity thousands of years ago, and now home to several other sentient species as well. The story has a naïve simplicity to it that will enable most readers to figure out the main plot points within the first few pages of this seemingly endless book, so this reviewer will refrain from giving too much away here. Suffice it to say that an amnesiac joins a troupe of itinerant jugglers and embarks on a solemn quest. As is typical of fantasy, there's no real point being made here; the work exists solely for its entertainment value, which unfortunately is not that great. This reviewer found the first enormous chapter intriguing enough, but the story slowly plodded downhill from there. Not only is the tale bone-dry humorless, but there isn't really that much action either.

Silverberg works hard to create a sense of awe at the beauty and size and variety and majesty of this world he's created, and to some extent he's successful, but at the same time it all seems to fall rather flat, perhaps because there're just too many pages to slog through between the interesting parts. Only the protagonist shows any sign of being more than a one-dimensional character; everyone else exists only to serve him in his quest, with little enough motivation of their own. And the conclusion would have been laughable if the readers hadn't already worn themselves out getting there. The ease with which the hero vanquishes his enemies seems more consistent with a short story than with a 500+ page novel.

Approaching it as a fantasy, this book probably rates four stars, being perhaps better than the run of the mill, but as science fiction, it deserves no more than two. While there are few obvious inconsistencies in the story, Silverberg's approach here is distinctly non-scientific. He shows us the marvels of Majipoor, but he doesn't explain the details of how it's done, except to say in passing that someone "has a device" that accomplishes this. But science fiction fans who want to know the theory behind it, and some details of its construction, may be forgiven for not bothering to finish this ponderous tome.

For devotees of the epic fantasy, this may be fairly good stuff, but hard science fiction fans will surely be disappointed, and the general reading public may find themselves regretting the 20 hours of their lives that they'll never get back.

I have been in a phase lately of re-reading science fiction and fantasy favorites from when I was a teenager. What I have generally found is that I still enjoy them, but that nostalgia provides most of the pleasure. Lord Valentine's Castle is the rare example that I suspect I would enjoy as much if I were reading it for the first time today.

The adventures of Valentine, the juggling apprentice with disturbing holes in his memory, are well conceived and written. Majipoor is a fascinating world-- heir to complex issues of right and wrong and full of a variety of races. Not only is there enough material to keep this book interesting, but there enough unexplained details to keep the world worth exploring for the next book (and the book after that).

One of the things that has really disturbed me in reading science fiction and fantasy from this period has been the female characters. It is very difficult for me to believe that I digested them so easily as a young teenager. I am very happy that Silverberg is an exception in this regard. The women are more than able to take care of themselves and are strong vibrant characters in their own right.

Highly recommended for science fiction readers of any generation.

One of the purposes of SciFi is to create a situation similar yet unlike our own, in order to deal with a current issue. Take, for instance, the terrific Star Trek episode of the last two folk of a race, one white & black, the other black & white. All on board saw this as a distinction without a difference, yet for these two, it was worth being the final destruction of their race. We were to look at our own turbulent race issues of that day, and perhaps see it clearly for the first time.

This book is about the injustice to the aboriginals, long time gone, long since swept away. Their whole society was sick in oh so many ways (other reviewers were able to note that, as well as focus on oh so many physical aspects of the story). Their society was spiritually sick.

There's not always a clear connection between the spiritual and physical manifestation. When the Dalai Lama, or Pope John Paul, speak to this, though given much homage in their own right, when they speak to this, they are meddlesome crack-pots. Was it Tolstoy who said, everyone wants to change the world, no one wants to change themselves.

That is what this book is about. Let the story take you for a ride. See how finally, Lord Valentine, as he makes his journey from knowing nothing to regained and restored knowledge, also finally sees this. Not unlike the banker finally seeing The Pigeon Lady in Mary Poppins. In both cases, they then also see what has to be done, in both cases they eat their Powder Milk Biscuits and get the courage to do what needs to be done.

It is that curing of the soul sickness that makes everyone live happily ever after.

Enjoy the book.
See beyond the fault, see the need.

Lord Valentine's Castle is one of my favorite Sci/Fi Fantasy novels I've read. It has its feet firmly planted in both genres and also dabbles in mystery. The book follows a young blond man, Valentine who shares the name of the Coronal but has very little of his memory save for his name. Valentine joins up with a circus, learns to juggle (and oh how I wanted to learn after reading this book) and ultimately discovers the truth of his past!

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!