A rookie with Time Service, Edward Davis goes back in time to to the ancient city of Thebes in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt, where he is befriended by a beautiful Egyptian slave girl and where he learns the trade of the embalmers. Reprint.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Edward Davis travels through time to ancient Egypt in search of a pair of renegade time travelers in the latest novella by sf veteran Silverberg. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of an almost mystical civilization, Davis struggles with his sense of duty and his growing affection for a young slave girl. Silverberg's mastery of the art of storytelling is perhaps most evident in his short fiction, as he demonstrates how much can be told through nuance and implication. Recommended for large sf or paperback collections.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
A Miller Genuine Draft kind of story,
I am a fan of Silverberg's work--he creates richly imagined worlds and populates them with psychologically plausible characters that aren't completely one-dimensional. He writes Miller Genuine Draft sorts of crowd-pleasing fantasy/science fiction. Nothing wrong with that. The Egypt of this short story is beautiful, gorgeous--I have a bit of a bias since I've been to Luxor, so it was a fun thought-experiment to 'stand in' in a way for the time traveller protagonist of the story and 'experience' this past in the same way he did when he 'studied' for his mission. Silverberg also uses some nice classical references to dress things up, casually taking lines from Shelley's Ozymandias, for example, in order to casually meditate on the vanity of life and power and its inevitable decline.The downside of Miller Genuine Draft is that it isn't really that complex or compelling. The basic story is something you might find late night on the Sci Fi channel--protagonist goes back in time to rescue two other members of the 'Time Service' who have 'gone native.' Conrad's Heart of Darkness, among others, did this line of story much better. And this observation points out the downside: there's nothing particulary 'science fiction'-esque about the story. That is, it really could have been set in any time or place, and time travel doesn't add any sort of unique twist or provide a special motivation. You have to use the story to generate your own ideas and thoughts to make the story worthwhile. For example, would it be better to live the life of an ancient Egyptian elite or an average middle class person of today? NPR's Planet Money did a recent show on that topic, a little differently, by polling whether people would prefer to live today earning $70,000 per year, or rather in the year 1900 earning the same amount. That can make for good cocktail conversation. There are some other points of departure which could have been explored, and are raised, besides the vanity-of-life issue earlier--like, for example, the ethical treatment of a slave as a visitor from the 'advanced' society--but they are all dropped. 'Thebes' is a pleasant evening entertainment which may enthrall you with its depictions of ancient Egypt--beyond that, as long as you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Mercifully Short,
By
This review is from: Thebes of the Hundred Gates (Mass Market Paperback)
For themes which inherently inspire curiosity and mystery (time travel and the culture of ancient egypt) this book manages to be nothing but a dull and repetitive disappointment - despite its length. This book gets one star for its sheer brevity - the author thankfully subjects us to only 116 pages of pure emptiness. The characters are flat with the motivation of two year olds and the plot is rudiculous and almost non-existant. Add in a sprinkling of clumsy, misplaced sexuality and you've got a truly repulsive story on your hands. Do yourself a favor and skip this vapid tale.
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