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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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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