What do you think?
Rate this book
New Springtime #2
The New Springtime
Humans have emerged to reclaim the Earth after the Long Winter. But they never anticipated the battle that awaited them . . .
As Earth thaws after the Long Winter, the remaining human tribes journey from beneath the continent to the fertile land above. But the hjjk, an ancient insectlike race that remained on Earth’s surface throughout the frozen eons, stand in their way. Keeping a tight grip on their power, the hjjks are the chief barrier to the people’s further expansion in the New Springtime. When Kundalimon, a human who has lived with the hjjk for seventeen years, arrives as an emissary of peace, the tribes are wary. They rely on Nialli Apuilana, who had been stolen at thirteen by the hjjk and released months later, to ascertain his true mission. But in this new world, it’s hard to know whom to trust. As both sides prepare for war, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance.
As Earth thaws after the Long Winter, the remaining human tribes journey from beneath the continent to the fertile land above. But the hjjk, an ancient insectlike race that remained on Earth’s surface throughout the frozen eons, stand in their way. Keeping a tight grip on their power, the hjjks are the chief barrier to the people’s further expansion in the New Springtime. When Kundalimon, a human who has lived with the hjjk for seventeen years, arrives as an emissary of peace, the tribes are wary. They rely on Nialli Apuilana, who had been stolen at thirteen by the hjjk and released months later, to ascertain his true mission. But in this new world, it’s hard to know whom to trust. As both sides prepare for war, the fate of the planet hangs in the balance.
472 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
67 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,343 books1,601 followersThere are many authors in the database with this name.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Robert Silverberg is a highly celebrated American science fiction author and editor known for his prolific output and literary range. Over a career spanning decades, he has won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2004. Inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1999, Silverberg is recognized for both his immense productivity and his contributions to the genre's evolution.
Born in Brooklyn, he began writing in his teens and won his first Hugo Award in 1956 as the best new writer. Throughout the 1950s, he produced vast amounts of fiction, often under pseudonyms, and was known for writing up to a million words a year. When the market declined, he diversified into other genres, including historical nonfiction and erotica.
Silverberg’s return to science fiction in the 1960s marked a shift toward deeper psychological and literary themes, contributing significantly to the New Wave movement. Acclaimed works from this period include Downward to the Earth, Dying Inside, Nightwings, and The World Inside. In the 1980s, he launched the Majipoor series with Lord Valentine’s Castle, creating one of the most imaginative planetary settings in science fiction.
Though he announced his retirement from writing in the mid-1970s, Silverberg returned with renewed vigor and continued to publish acclaimed fiction into the 1990s. He received further recognition with the Nebula-winning Sailing to Byzantium and the Hugo-winning Gilgamesh in the Outback.
Silverberg has also played a significant role as an editor and anthologist, shaping science fiction literature through both his own work and his influence on others. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, author Karen Haber.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 1, 2022
The cover intrigued me but the story flopped. It reads like a Saturday morning matinee taking place on Earth in the distant future. Ape type humans and giant ant type beings wage a pointless war over worthless land.
Book #2 of an unfinished trilogy gets the first 2 star rating I've given in years. Usually I would simply trash uninspired work like this. Character names are impossible to pronounce. It reads like the author had a contract to fill rather than a story to tell.
Book #2 of an unfinished trilogy gets the first 2 star rating I've given in years. Usually I would simply trash uninspired work like this. Character names are impossible to pronounce. It reads like the author had a contract to fill rather than a story to tell.
July 29, 2024
A bit of a long journey that at times felt a bit of a meander
February 1, 2014
Not as good as the first book, but still quite a good read. It was very entertaining and I enjoyed getting to see the progression of the species as they forged ahead in the New Springtime. I am a little disapointed to find out though that this intended trilogy was never completed. Silverberg never wrote the third book. This leaves the series feeling somehow incomplete as if there was meant to be more, and in fact, I know there was. My husband and I, who read this book together, are actually looking for ways to contact the author to see if he ever intends on completing the trilogy, although, given his age and how long it's been since he wrote the first two, it's unlikely the final book will ever see the light of day. :(
March 9, 2013
At first, I thought I would hate this book thanks to the insect-people (was not a fan of Kafka's The Metamorphosis), but I ended up getting really into it. I think one of the reasons I like sci-fi/fantasy so much is that it's a genre that can deal with big issues like racism, discrimination, religion, philosophy, ethics, war, etc. without pointing any fingers at any real life person or issue. There is no cut and dry good vs. evil in this book. We have to delve into the journeys that each main character takes and decide for ourselves how we are going to react to things. This is a book that really makes you think.
August 23, 2017
I always enjoy Robert Silverberg's novels and this one was no exception. A radically different take on Earth about 1,000,000 years hence after a series of catastrophes. Humanity no longer exists, neither do most of the other sentient races who shared the planet with them. There is a new race, The People, and an old race of insect creatures and this is the second book in a pair. I hadn't read the first one, At Winter's End, but found I didn't need to as Silverberg skillfully wove the relevant features into the story. Highly recommended.
July 9, 2012
Some fine storytelling, and isn't that what it is all about.
Read
October 23, 2025From the Five-Time Nebula Award-Winner The death stars that brought the apocalyptic destruction on Earth seven hundred thousand years before have stopped falling, and Earth has begun to renew itself. The Long Winter that held the human tribes in their cocoons beneath the ground is over, and the People are spreading rapidly across the newly fertile land. The Queen of Springtime continues the chronicles of the People’s reclamation of Earth begun in the first volume, At Winter’s End. The human tribes struggle to fulfill their destiny as rulers of Earth, but they find the seats of power already occupied. The hjjks, the somber, cold-eyed insect-folk, never retreated, even at the time of greatest chill. The world fell to them by default, and they have been its sole masters for seven hundred thousand years. The Queen of Springtime follows the struggle between these dissimilar beings to establish dominance in the newly emerging world. Exclusive to this Bison Books edition, Robert Silverberg provides an introduction and a synopsis of the unwritten concluding volume of The New Springtime trilogy. Appearing for the first time in print, “The Summer of Homecoming” outline reveals the fates, two hundred years later, of the heroes and their world that were introduced in At Winter’s End and The Queen of Springtime.
July 21, 2023
I’ve read this twice now, starting with the paperback edition, and now with the nicer hardcover editions for the library, as I intend to read a third and fourth time. So, yeah, based on the Goodreads average score, I guess I somehow like this more than most.
This is my kind of smart and engaging science fiction fantasy. The premise may seem far-fetched, about a talking ape-like species in the far distant future, but the excellent characterization draws the reader in and the anthropomorphic alternate reality is accepted.
Like Orwell’s Animal Farm, this has many subtle references to our own society - its hopes, fears, and philosophical quandaries – which makes the story so intriguing. It does seem that sometimes Silverberg takes characters on the most brash and abrupt changes of direction just for the sake of shock value. Nevertheless, I slightly prefer this sequel to the original At Winter’s End, because of its probing explorations of war, societal stagnation, class structure (those with privilege and those without), political machinations, and intrapersonal perspectives.
After the initial excitement of exploring the remnants of a city left by the Great Ones, the tribe settles into disillusionment, having evolved no further than using animal-driven carts to haul goods around. The chieftain’s daily duties are to hear the gripes of merchants and complaints of citizens about clogged sewer lines and such. It’s a really dreary portrait of a society that lives with a sense of inferiority, the malaise gradually creating entropy and implosion.
Silverberg wraps things up very nicely as a new generation with hope takes the reigns. As always, the character development, and the epic scope, of these stories are masterful. One helluva story.
This is my kind of smart and engaging science fiction fantasy. The premise may seem far-fetched, about a talking ape-like species in the far distant future, but the excellent characterization draws the reader in and the anthropomorphic alternate reality is accepted.
Like Orwell’s Animal Farm, this has many subtle references to our own society - its hopes, fears, and philosophical quandaries – which makes the story so intriguing. It does seem that sometimes Silverberg takes characters on the most brash and abrupt changes of direction just for the sake of shock value. Nevertheless, I slightly prefer this sequel to the original At Winter’s End, because of its probing explorations of war, societal stagnation, class structure (those with privilege and those without), political machinations, and intrapersonal perspectives.
After the initial excitement of exploring the remnants of a city left by the Great Ones, the tribe settles into disillusionment, having evolved no further than using animal-driven carts to haul goods around. The chieftain’s daily duties are to hear the gripes of merchants and complaints of citizens about clogged sewer lines and such. It’s a really dreary portrait of a society that lives with a sense of inferiority, the malaise gradually creating entropy and implosion.
Silverberg wraps things up very nicely as a new generation with hope takes the reigns. As always, the character development, and the epic scope, of these stories are masterful. One helluva story.
March 5, 2023
The Queen of Springtime is a continuation of Winters End after 40 years. It kept my attention the whole way through.
I suppose it would be nice to explain what happened to the other races and how things used to be.
I suppose it would be nice to explain what happened to the other races and how things used to be.
Read
July 21, 2020Must be missing a lot from not reading 1st book. Seemed very superficial. Read 174 pages and not really engaged.
Read
July 30, 2020really enjoyed the story, world building, characters, relationships, just got lost in the reading.
April 24, 2023
I'd give this a 3.5 if I could. Much more cerebral than the first in the series.
March 31, 2025
interesting
A little of planet of the Apes. But a real look at what makes us human. I really really liked this book.
A little of planet of the Apes. But a real look at what makes us human. I really really liked this book.
March 6, 2021
Great sequel fantastic ideas about our evolution
June 9, 2023
That love story between Nialli Apuilana and Thu-Kimnibol felt really lazy. Like Silverberg just desperately wanted Nialli to be in some sort of relationship. And that whole talk about who the hjiks are and if they can be defeated or not got extremely contradictory towards the end. I still liked the series but I think Silverberg should have payed some more attention to detail.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2010
Good second book. The first was better, but this one answered lots of questions. I thought it was odd though that Bolderinthe's death was not described. It seemed like it had been in there, then got edited out. Something else odd is that on page 340 of the hardcover edition, there is a typo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2017
2.5 stars.
This mystery and oddity that I enjoyed in the first novel is gone here for a more familiar tale of personal and political drama. I had a lot of trouble adjusting, but was finally won over enough about half way through to enjoy it for what it was.
This mystery and oddity that I enjoyed in the first novel is gone here for a more familiar tale of personal and political drama. I had a lot of trouble adjusting, but was finally won over enough about half way through to enjoy it for what it was.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews