Thorns [Paperback]

Robert Silverberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1983

Duncan Chalk's six-hundred-pound frame is nearly as large as his media empire. Beneath the depths of his immense rolls of flab, the fabulously wealthy mogul wields the editorial power to deliver his programming across the solar system to billions of viewers. His newest real-life romance drama is between a starman who survived painful surgical experimentation while in alien captivity, and an emotionally scarred 17-year-old virgin. When the arranged relationship takes off on a whirlwind tour of the antarctic and out to the moons of Saturn, the viewers are swept up in the romance, but Chalk's true motives are revealed when the doomed relationship begins to unravel ... and Chalk can feed on the emotional anguish of the two lost souls. Nebula Award- Nominee, Hugo Award Nominee

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) (August 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553235737
• ISBN-13: 978-0553235739
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,352,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Blech., March 11, 2011

By 

E. S. Charpentier (Brainerd, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thorns (Paperback)

This book was well written and quite interesting with a good, solid premise and believable, dynamic characters. So, why didn't I like it? First of all, I didn't really like any of those characters, no matter how well-developed and genuine they were. The premise, which is that an unbelievably fat, disgustingly rich emotional vampire pairs up two very damaged people so that he can get a thrill off it when their relationship implodes, made me mildly queasy. The world-building was excellent, probably the best part of the book, but each of the disparate scenes (a low-rent tenement, a high-class restaurant built on the outside of a dome, the South Pole resort, the Moon Carnival, the high-class hotel on Titan) seemed cold and sterile, despite being imaginatively described. All in all, not Silverberg's best.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark and Gloomy Silverberg Tale, January 27, 2011

By 

Mithridates VI of Pontus (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Thorns (Paperback)

1968, Best Novel Hugo Award Nomination; 1968, Best Novel Nebula Award Nomination

Silverberg's brooding, post-utopian, rumination has the makings of a great science fiction novel. This horrifically dark vision follows two psychologically devastated characters who are set up to fall in love for the entertainment of the world. The cracks in the work's delivery appear about a third of the way through when the two characters meet -- the uncanny edge of the situation and its players loses some of its precision and verges into a somewhat soap opera infused interplanetary meandering which reveal the tensions and growing dislike between the main characters. There's nothing wrong with this per se since it's definitely the object of the book to pastiche (somewhat) Beauty and the Beast, but, the first third is definitely superior in every regard. I also found the heavy "sleaze" undercurrents that crop up every now and then frustrating and distracting...

Brief Plot Summary

Minner Burris, a spaceman, returns to Earth after captivity among a group of aliens -- whose motives are never uncovered -- horribly disfigured and modified. His body chemistry has been changed, he has extra joints, peculiar eyes, a tentacle attached to his hand... He hides in his room afraid that the world might see his face.

Lona Kelvin, a 17-year old young woman, is psychologically scarred after a fertility experiment (I guess in the 60s in vitro fertilization was a shocker) that made her a mother of one hundred children yet still a virgin. She never sees her children... After the brief media sensation she retreats away from the world and attempts to commit suicide.

Enter, Duncan Chalk, a massively obese man who peddles pleasure and pain for the entertainment of millions. He arranges for the two characters to meet and fall in love -- bribing each with vague promises: Burris will receive a new body and Lona will have at least some of her children back.

Final Thoughts

The first third of the novel is masterful. And the rest, well, somewhat laborious. It's inevitable that the relationship will eventually fracture -- the characters are so drastically different from each other. Lona acts like a child. Burris, a 40-year-old man, definitely wants an intellectual equal. However, what is so impressive is that Silverberg never indulges in the more obvious sorts of clichés. The visceral realism of the relationship is maintained throughout.

My main complaint is a rather minimal one. Duncan Chalk's role in peddling their suffering to the populace is never made explicit. And here, I find the disturbing/creepy edge so prevalent in the first third could have been highlighted.

That said, this is a worthwhile read which rambles along a dark path... Well done.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The turning point for Robert Silverberg, September 9, 2010

By 

Old Norseman (Highland Park, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thorns (Paperback)

After making his mark with a series of clever but callow science fiction novels, Robert Silverberg set out to transform his work (and, by example, the entire genre) by holding himself to higher literary standards. Thorns was the first Silverberg novel to reflect this renewed dedication, and while parts of it have aged badly -- the science behind Lona Kelvin's fertility experience is no longer novel -- it remains a bracing, hard-nosed read. The idea of using mass media to manipulate weak and vulnerable people has, if anything, become more timely with the rise of "reality" shows. A watershed novel in Silverberg's career, and a must-read for anyone interested in seeing the best SF has to offer.