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Lord Valentine #1
Lord Valentine's Castle
Valentine, a wanderer who knows nothing except his name, finds himself on the fringes of a great city, and joins a troupe of jugglers and acrobats; gradually, he remembers that he is the Coronal Valentine, executive ruler of the vast world of Majipoor, and all its peoples, human and otherwise...
Valentine's journey is a long one, a tour through a series of magnificent environments. Fields of predatory plants give way to impossibly wide rivers, chalk-cliffed islands and unforgiving deserts. The prose is unrelentingly dreamlike—no accident given that on Majipoor, dreams rule the minds of great and humble alike.
Originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in four parts: November 1979, December 1979, January 1980 and February 1980.
Valentine's journey is a long one, a tour through a series of magnificent environments. Fields of predatory plants give way to impossibly wide rivers, chalk-cliffed islands and unforgiving deserts. The prose is unrelentingly dreamlike—no accident given that on Majipoor, dreams rule the minds of great and humble alike.
Originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in four parts: November 1979, December 1979, January 1980 and February 1980.
506 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1980
344 people are currently reading
5475 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
2,342 books1,600 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.
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August 16, 2019
Lord Valentines Castle, Robert Silverberg’s brilliant 1980 publication that won the Locus Award and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel is a superb mix of fantasy and science fiction.
Beginning with a seemingly obvious theatrical irony, Silverberg invites his reader along for a very entertaining visit to his world creation – Majipoor.
Aside from an engaging and well-written conflict involving the amnesiac Valentine regaining his past, Silverberg’s Majipoor is the real protagonist –the novel is a vehicle by which Silverberg can introduce us to his magnificent invention.
Similar to China Mieville’s New Crobuzon world building, Silverberg’s Majipoor swells with life and vibrant history. We learn about the millennia history of the planet, how it was settled by humans and a variety of alien races who cohabitate together on the enormous planet. Describing Majipoor as a galactic backwater, Silverberg only hints at the planet’s connection to the rest of humanity and goes on to illustrate the world’s political, social, cultural and economic group dynamics. This is then all rolled up in an exceptionally well-written and pleasing adventure told by a true Grandmaster of the genre.
As in his 1971 novel The Book of Skulls and his 1984 book Gilgamesh the King, meditation and initiation into mysteries may be a ubiquitous theme in Silverberg’s canon. Silverberg fans will also note common themes such as sexuality, mind alteration and variations on telepathy and dream seeing.
A must read for Silverberg fans and an excellent introduction to his work.
Beginning with a seemingly obvious theatrical irony, Silverberg invites his reader along for a very entertaining visit to his world creation – Majipoor.
Aside from an engaging and well-written conflict involving the amnesiac Valentine regaining his past, Silverberg’s Majipoor is the real protagonist –the novel is a vehicle by which Silverberg can introduce us to his magnificent invention.
Similar to China Mieville’s New Crobuzon world building, Silverberg’s Majipoor swells with life and vibrant history. We learn about the millennia history of the planet, how it was settled by humans and a variety of alien races who cohabitate together on the enormous planet. Describing Majipoor as a galactic backwater, Silverberg only hints at the planet’s connection to the rest of humanity and goes on to illustrate the world’s political, social, cultural and economic group dynamics. This is then all rolled up in an exceptionally well-written and pleasing adventure told by a true Grandmaster of the genre.
As in his 1971 novel The Book of Skulls and his 1984 book Gilgamesh the King, meditation and initiation into mysteries may be a ubiquitous theme in Silverberg’s canon. Silverberg fans will also note common themes such as sexuality, mind alteration and variations on telepathy and dream seeing.
A must read for Silverberg fans and an excellent introduction to his work.
May 3, 2016
Robert Silverberg is one of the greats of sci-fi literature, he is, to my mind, criminally underrated today, several Hugo and Nebula wins notwithstanding. I always start my Silverberg reviews along this line. If you have read any of those, this kind of intro must be getting old. So enough of that then!
“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.”
I love this opening sentence, it is the first time I have ever seen a novel start with “and then”; it is a great way to introduce a protagonist. It feels like he is walking around, minding his own business and suddenly the narrative encounters him and latches on to him for the entire book.
Lord Valentine’s Castle is, I believe, Robert Silverberg’s first stab at something like an epic fantasy, though a more appropriate label would be science fantasy. The storyline is fairly simple. Sets in the far future, on a massive human-colonized planet called Majipoor, a young man called Valentine is wandering around enjoying a pointless, but not unpleasant, existence. He has no memory of who he is, where he is from, and why does he have a substantial amount of money in his possession. He meets a friendly boy who shows him around the city of Pidruid where there is a festival for welcoming a visit by the Coronal (king) who is also called Valentine. He soon falls in with a troupe of jugglers, decides to learn their craft and travel with them. Gradually, through dreams, events and an enigmatic member of the troupe, Valentine finds that he is the true ruler of Majipoor, his memory has been wiped, he is occupying somebody else’s body, and an evil usurper sits on the throne in his stead, wearing his body. So begins Valentine’s quest to restore his position as the rightful Coronal.
Prior to writing Lord Valentine’s Castle Silverberg was known for several thought provoking standalone “new wave” sci-fi novels like Dying Inside, A Time of Changes, To Live Again, The World Inside etc. He wrote Lord Valentine’s Castle after a few years break from writing, and the change in style and pace from his previous books is noticeable. Lord Valentine’s Castle is something of a lighthearted romp, a straightforward adventure yarn. Even so, Silverberg imbues it with his considerable craftsmanship, the characters are better developed than most books of his kind, the world of Majipoor is meticulously built, and the book is stuffed to the gills with aliens, strange creatures, and even some sci-fi tech. His prose style is less lyrical than his more profound books but is still a pleasure to read.
Interestingly, in spite of being an adventure yarn, there is very little violence in this book. There are many deaths in this book but they tend to occur outside the narrative (“off screen”), Valentine himself is a man of peace and does not kick anybody’s ass, preferring instead to use his guile and charms to achieve his objective. There is also quite a lot of juggling in this book. From his elaborate description of juggling techniques, Silverberg must have done a lot of research on it. It is also often employed as a metaphor for balancing pros and cons during moments of crises.
"Juggling is a series of small discrete motions done in quick sequence, that give the appearance of constant flow and simultaneity. Simultaneity is an illusion, friend, when you are juggling and even when you are not. All events happen one at a time."
(click on image for larger, and complete, picture)
At the end of the day, I enjoyed Lord Valentine’s Castle very much, but I personally prefer his more thought provoking standalone books. There are many SF/F adventures of this kind, and some are better than this book. His best standalone novels are unique and he is at his best when he writes these. Still, Lord Valentine’s Castle is very entertaining, without a dull moment, it is also his most commercially successful book and the beginning of a series he often returns to. Majipoor is too awesome a world to be contained in just one book.
If, for some reason, you are looking for a science fantasy book with a lot of juggling in it, this is the only book I can recommend!
“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.”
I love this opening sentence, it is the first time I have ever seen a novel start with “and then”; it is a great way to introduce a protagonist. It feels like he is walking around, minding his own business and suddenly the narrative encounters him and latches on to him for the entire book.
Lord Valentine’s Castle is, I believe, Robert Silverberg’s first stab at something like an epic fantasy, though a more appropriate label would be science fantasy. The storyline is fairly simple. Sets in the far future, on a massive human-colonized planet called Majipoor, a young man called Valentine is wandering around enjoying a pointless, but not unpleasant, existence. He has no memory of who he is, where he is from, and why does he have a substantial amount of money in his possession. He meets a friendly boy who shows him around the city of Pidruid where there is a festival for welcoming a visit by the Coronal (king) who is also called Valentine. He soon falls in with a troupe of jugglers, decides to learn their craft and travel with them. Gradually, through dreams, events and an enigmatic member of the troupe, Valentine finds that he is the true ruler of Majipoor, his memory has been wiped, he is occupying somebody else’s body, and an evil usurper sits on the throne in his stead, wearing his body. So begins Valentine’s quest to restore his position as the rightful Coronal.
Prior to writing Lord Valentine’s Castle Silverberg was known for several thought provoking standalone “new wave” sci-fi novels like Dying Inside, A Time of Changes, To Live Again, The World Inside etc. He wrote Lord Valentine’s Castle after a few years break from writing, and the change in style and pace from his previous books is noticeable. Lord Valentine’s Castle is something of a lighthearted romp, a straightforward adventure yarn. Even so, Silverberg imbues it with his considerable craftsmanship, the characters are better developed than most books of his kind, the world of Majipoor is meticulously built, and the book is stuffed to the gills with aliens, strange creatures, and even some sci-fi tech. His prose style is less lyrical than his more profound books but is still a pleasure to read.
Interestingly, in spite of being an adventure yarn, there is very little violence in this book. There are many deaths in this book but they tend to occur outside the narrative (“off screen”), Valentine himself is a man of peace and does not kick anybody’s ass, preferring instead to use his guile and charms to achieve his objective. There is also quite a lot of juggling in this book. From his elaborate description of juggling techniques, Silverberg must have done a lot of research on it. It is also often employed as a metaphor for balancing pros and cons during moments of crises.
"Juggling is a series of small discrete motions done in quick sequence, that give the appearance of constant flow and simultaneity. Simultaneity is an illusion, friend, when you are juggling and even when you are not. All events happen one at a time."
(click on image for larger, and complete, picture)
At the end of the day, I enjoyed Lord Valentine’s Castle very much, but I personally prefer his more thought provoking standalone books. There are many SF/F adventures of this kind, and some are better than this book. His best standalone novels are unique and he is at his best when he writes these. Still, Lord Valentine’s Castle is very entertaining, without a dull moment, it is also his most commercially successful book and the beginning of a series he often returns to. Majipoor is too awesome a world to be contained in just one book.
If, for some reason, you are looking for a science fantasy book with a lot of juggling in it, this is the only book I can recommend!
December 17, 2025
Една от най-любимите ми книги от времето, когато бях юноша бледен, четена и препрочитана поне десетина пъти.
Силвърбърг има невероятна фантазия и усет за светоизграждане, комбинирани с причудливи изобретения и сполучливо създадени герои от множество различни раси. До степен, да се надявам силно че чудния Маджипур съществува наистина и че ще се разходя някой ден из неговите пазарища, ще опитам екзотично ястие от количката на уличен продавач или ще се впусна в приключение, което може да ме отведе на друг континент, през девет океана, в десети.
Мащабите са огромни, описанията дъзки и цветни, миризми, обичаи и усещания успяват да вдъхнат истински живот на тази фантатична и уникална сама по себе си планета.
Валънтайн, главният герой в това приключение е изгубил паметта си, но бива приютен от група странстващи жонгльори и започва да учи занаята от тях. С времето, булото на забравата се повдига и тогава излизат наяве чертите на дързък и безмилостен заговор, в който той е една от основните цели. И трябва да се бори на живот и смърт с могъщите си врагове.
Абсолютна sci-fi класика, чете се на един дъх и е много интересна. Историята продължава в няколко последователни книги, за съжаление само част от тях са издадени на български.
Това е един от романите направили поредицата "Галактика" толкова значима за българските почитатели на фантастиката и фентъзито.
Естествено, чудесна корица на Текла Алексиева.
Няма да съжалявате, ако я прочетете!
Силвърбърг има невероятна фантазия и усет за светоизграждане, комбинирани с причудливи изобретения и сполучливо създадени герои от множество различни раси. До степен, да се надявам силно че чудния Маджипур съществува наистина и че ще се разходя някой ден из неговите пазарища, ще опитам екзотично ястие от количката на уличен продавач или ще се впусна в приключение, което може да ме отведе на друг континент, през девет океана, в десети.
Мащабите са огромни, описанията дъзки и цветни, миризми, обичаи и усещания успяват да вдъхнат истински живот на тази фантатична и уникална сама по себе си планета.
Валънтайн, главният герой в това приключение е изгубил паметта си, но бива приютен от група странстващи жонгльори и започва да учи занаята от тях. С времето, булото на забравата се повдига и тогава излизат наяве чертите на дързък и безмилостен заговор, в който той е една от основните цели. И трябва да се бори на живот и смърт с могъщите си врагове.
Абсолютна sci-fi класика, чете се на един дъх и е много интересна. Историята продължава в няколко последователни книги, за съжаление само част от тях са издадени на български.
Това е един от романите направили поредицата "Галактика" толкова значима за българските почитатели на фантастиката и фентъзито.
Естествено, чудесна корица на Текла Алексиева.
Няма да съжалявате, ако я прочетете!
January 15, 2016
Valentine finds himself outside the city of Pidruid one afternoon, completely bereft of memory, as the city makes ready for the arrival of Lord Valentine - one of the four great Powers of the mega-world of Majipoor. what's a man to do in such a situation? why, join a traveling band of jugglers, of course. travel a lot, meets lots of new people and see lots of new things, have a bunch of trippy dreams, and eventually reclaim a fabulous destiny. that's what i'd do too.
i reread this due to a group read. i first read it when living in Virginia Beach, sometime in junior high. it is an often dense novel and certainly a surreal one at times, but there is a purity to it that made me realize i must have been able to fully grasp it when first reading it age 14 or so. it became one of my favorite things. rereading it, it remains one of my favorite things. maybe not 5 stars worth of gold, but it is still pretty precious.
when i first bought the book - and this whole paragraph will just be a rambly recollection that has nothing to do with the book whatsoever, so you may as well just skip this part and move on to the next paragraph - the demented old woman who sold it to me thought i was buying a biography of St. Valentine of Valentine's Day. she proceeded to tell me the "true story" of St. Valentine. apparently he was not simply a saint for lovers. according to the bookseller, St. Valentine was a fiery sort who was captured by malevolent anti-christian forces and tortured for his christian beliefs. nothing would break Valentine. finally, his torturers sent an evil harlot to tempt Valentine. since he was chained down, there was little he could do to stop this nasty temptress from laying her hands all over his precious christian body. so he bit off his own tongue and spat it at her. hello sainthood! i just want you all to remember this the next time you are celebrating Valentine's Day with your loved one. anyway, the odd senior told me to report back to her after reading this novel and let her know if the author got the story right. i think i was too scared to return to that bookstore.
so this book has nothing to do with St. Valentine, whew.
although it is ostensibly about Finding Your True Self and What Makes A Good Leader, i found the novel was equally concerned with two other things: World Building and Silverberg's Vision of a (Semi) Perfect World.
haters of world building need to give this novel a pass. but for those who appreciate the intensely detailed visions of otherworlds created by various scifi and fantasy authors, this is the book for you. "intensely detailed" is a good phrase for this but it should be qualified. not intensely detailed like George RR Martin (you won't always know what color sash a person is wearing and if it matches their brocade jacket) but intensely detailed in that we visit so many different places across the grand world of Majipoor and they are all so beautifully described and so well-differentiated from each other. at times i was reminded of how easily Jack Vance rolls out cities & countries & worlds, one after the other, with such style and skill that he makes world-building look like a lark. however Silverberg does not have Vance's economy of language or spartan stylishness. this is world building in the classic sense in that the reader gets to enjoy sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph of gorgeous description. boring for some; entrancing for me. reading this really made me feel like a romantic (also in the classic sense of the word) young nerd again. the language is beautiful and Majipoor really came alive.
this is also in many ways a near-perfect world. it does not know war or famine or cruel leaders or reality tv. its species and races live in relative harmony. personalities are either sunny & open or, if not, at least genuinely amusing in their grouchiness or arrogance. cold-eyed justice and professional emotional support are both given by far off dream-senders, so no need for pesky police or helpful therapists to get up in your face - they'll see you in your dreams, whether you've been good or bad or inbetween. Majipoor is a liberal, generous, and usually cheerful society. its people respect the natural wonders of the world and various preserves are specifically set aside for keeping those wonders sacrosanct. reading Lord Valentine's Castle made me realize that this was all the author's version of his own ideal world. good for you, Silverberg. your dreams are wonderful and i would like to live in them, please.
Silverberg is known to be a sometimes challenging and often provacative author of the New Wave Science Fiction genre. Lord Valentine's Castle was a step in an entirely different direction: epic science fantasy. but such a curious version of an epic! writing that makes you slow down and enjoy things instead of rushing forward to the next conflict. a narrative that is full of dreams and dream battles and dream epiphanies. characters who are mainly undramatic and often trying to do right. an emphasis on the environment as a precious thing. turning the other cheek and not automatically drawing your sword when someone gets in your way. and writing that is charming and sometimes eerie and brightened by a lacquer of pleasantly vivid psychedelia. splendid writing.
look, one sentence:
a version of this review is a part of a longer article on Robert Silverberg posted on Shelf Inflicted.
i reread this due to a group read. i first read it when living in Virginia Beach, sometime in junior high. it is an often dense novel and certainly a surreal one at times, but there is a purity to it that made me realize i must have been able to fully grasp it when first reading it age 14 or so. it became one of my favorite things. rereading it, it remains one of my favorite things. maybe not 5 stars worth of gold, but it is still pretty precious.
when i first bought the book - and this whole paragraph will just be a rambly recollection that has nothing to do with the book whatsoever, so you may as well just skip this part and move on to the next paragraph - the demented old woman who sold it to me thought i was buying a biography of St. Valentine of Valentine's Day. she proceeded to tell me the "true story" of St. Valentine. apparently he was not simply a saint for lovers. according to the bookseller, St. Valentine was a fiery sort who was captured by malevolent anti-christian forces and tortured for his christian beliefs. nothing would break Valentine. finally, his torturers sent an evil harlot to tempt Valentine. since he was chained down, there was little he could do to stop this nasty temptress from laying her hands all over his precious christian body. so he bit off his own tongue and spat it at her. hello sainthood! i just want you all to remember this the next time you are celebrating Valentine's Day with your loved one. anyway, the odd senior told me to report back to her after reading this novel and let her know if the author got the story right. i think i was too scared to return to that bookstore.
so this book has nothing to do with St. Valentine, whew.
although it is ostensibly about Finding Your True Self and What Makes A Good Leader, i found the novel was equally concerned with two other things: World Building and Silverberg's Vision of a (Semi) Perfect World.
haters of world building need to give this novel a pass. but for those who appreciate the intensely detailed visions of otherworlds created by various scifi and fantasy authors, this is the book for you. "intensely detailed" is a good phrase for this but it should be qualified. not intensely detailed like George RR Martin (you won't always know what color sash a person is wearing and if it matches their brocade jacket) but intensely detailed in that we visit so many different places across the grand world of Majipoor and they are all so beautifully described and so well-differentiated from each other. at times i was reminded of how easily Jack Vance rolls out cities & countries & worlds, one after the other, with such style and skill that he makes world-building look like a lark. however Silverberg does not have Vance's economy of language or spartan stylishness. this is world building in the classic sense in that the reader gets to enjoy sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph of gorgeous description. boring for some; entrancing for me. reading this really made me feel like a romantic (also in the classic sense of the word) young nerd again. the language is beautiful and Majipoor really came alive.
this is also in many ways a near-perfect world. it does not know war or famine or cruel leaders or reality tv. its species and races live in relative harmony. personalities are either sunny & open or, if not, at least genuinely amusing in their grouchiness or arrogance. cold-eyed justice and professional emotional support are both given by far off dream-senders, so no need for pesky police or helpful therapists to get up in your face - they'll see you in your dreams, whether you've been good or bad or inbetween. Majipoor is a liberal, generous, and usually cheerful society. its people respect the natural wonders of the world and various preserves are specifically set aside for keeping those wonders sacrosanct. reading Lord Valentine's Castle made me realize that this was all the author's version of his own ideal world. good for you, Silverberg. your dreams are wonderful and i would like to live in them, please.
Silverberg is known to be a sometimes challenging and often provacative author of the New Wave Science Fiction genre. Lord Valentine's Castle was a step in an entirely different direction: epic science fantasy. but such a curious version of an epic! writing that makes you slow down and enjoy things instead of rushing forward to the next conflict. a narrative that is full of dreams and dream battles and dream epiphanies. characters who are mainly undramatic and often trying to do right. an emphasis on the environment as a precious thing. turning the other cheek and not automatically drawing your sword when someone gets in your way. and writing that is charming and sometimes eerie and brightened by a lacquer of pleasantly vivid psychedelia. splendid writing.
look, one sentence:
"He saw himself standing rooted at Zimroel's edge with the sea behind him and a continent unrolling before him, and the Inner Sea punctuated by the Isle of Sleep, and Alhanroel beyond, rising on its nether side to the great swollen bulge of Castle Mount, and the sun overhead, yellow with a bronze-green tint, sending blistering rays down on dusty Suvrael and into the tropics, and warming everything else, and the worlds from which the Skandars came and the Hjorts and the Liimen and all the rest, even the world from which his own folk had emigrated, Old Earth, fourteen thousand years ago, a small blue world absurdly tiny when compared to Majipoor, far away, half forgotten in some other corner of the universe, and he journeyed back down across the stars to this world, this continent, this city, this inn, this courtyard, this small plot of moist yielding soil in which his boots were rooted, and told Sleet he was ready."cool!
a version of this review is a part of a longer article on Robert Silverberg posted on Shelf Inflicted.
November 21, 2011
"You may not pass!" the ugly, stupid guards thundered.
"Huh. Yikes. I really need to get by you, guys," Valentine said.
The guards considered this briefly. "Well, you may not!" they again thundered, just as stupidly and uglily.
Valentine had a momentary crisis of faith. He doubted himself. How could he ascend to his rightful throne on Castle Mount (thirty miles tall, home to the Fifty Cities, but plausible because the planet of Majipoor is enormous but very low-density, you see, so the gravity is just about Old-Earth-normal; also some ancient machines left by the ancient settlers from ancient Old Earth keep the air at the top of the mountain breathable and mild of temperature) if he could not even get past some ugly, stupid guards? His despair was sudden, but nonetheless crippling. He felt unable to go on. He fell to the ground and prepared to weep.
But no. He was the Coronal, probably. He drew upon reserves of strength that he did not even know he had, reserves even deeper than the reserves he had tapped the last time a minor inconvenience confronted him. Surely there can be no deeper reserves than these, Valentine thought to himself.
He stood tall, faced the guards, smiled, and said, "Would it change anything if I told you I was the Coronal? I mean, I know I don't look like the Coronal, but if you squint a bit—"
"My Lord!" the guards cried, falling to their knees and making the sign of the starburst with their ugly, stupid fingers. "M-my Lord! Forgive us!"
Oh, nice, Valentine thought. I should solve all my problems this way. And so he did.
THE END
"Huh. Yikes. I really need to get by you, guys," Valentine said.
The guards considered this briefly. "Well, you may not!" they again thundered, just as stupidly and uglily.
Valentine had a momentary crisis of faith. He doubted himself. How could he ascend to his rightful throne on Castle Mount (thirty miles tall, home to the Fifty Cities, but plausible because the planet of Majipoor is enormous but very low-density, you see, so the gravity is just about Old-Earth-normal; also some ancient machines left by the ancient settlers from ancient Old Earth keep the air at the top of the mountain breathable and mild of temperature) if he could not even get past some ugly, stupid guards? His despair was sudden, but nonetheless crippling. He felt unable to go on. He fell to the ground and prepared to weep.
But no. He was the Coronal, probably. He drew upon reserves of strength that he did not even know he had, reserves even deeper than the reserves he had tapped the last time a minor inconvenience confronted him. Surely there can be no deeper reserves than these, Valentine thought to himself.
He stood tall, faced the guards, smiled, and said, "Would it change anything if I told you I was the Coronal? I mean, I know I don't look like the Coronal, but if you squint a bit—"
"My Lord!" the guards cried, falling to their knees and making the sign of the starburst with their ugly, stupid fingers. "M-my Lord! Forgive us!"
Oh, nice, Valentine thought. I should solve all my problems this way. And so he did.
THE END
April 4, 2018
I read this years ago, maybe the year it was published (1980). The thing is I didn't recall much about the book...at all. I was in a period of upheaval about then (not an unusual situation in my past as it happens) so I sort of "lost" the book I suppose.
So, that said I have been meaning for some time to go back and pick it up. It was a rewarding experience. The plot if described may sound like a version of one you've seen before. That could be misleading however as the twist on it is at least somewhat less common and it's handled very well.
Lord Valentine has no memory that he is "Lord" Valentine. He begins the book thinking he's just "Valentine" and has no memory of who he is, where he came from or anything about his past. He's strangely calm about all this. Upon the realization however he finds work as a juggler (he seems to have an unusual talent for it) and joins a traveling troop of jugglers....
From there we launch off with Valentine on his voyage of discovery and the quest to which it leads. In a book that could easily have bogged down into a detail laden tome of background details about the alien world on which it happens, the peoples of that world and all the other world building, character and plot minutiae we instead get an interesting a very well told story.
I can recommend this one, enjoy.
So, that said I have been meaning for some time to go back and pick it up. It was a rewarding experience. The plot if described may sound like a version of one you've seen before. That could be misleading however as the twist on it is at least somewhat less common and it's handled very well.
Lord Valentine has no memory that he is "Lord" Valentine. He begins the book thinking he's just "Valentine" and has no memory of who he is, where he came from or anything about his past. He's strangely calm about all this. Upon the realization however he finds work as a juggler (he seems to have an unusual talent for it) and joins a traveling troop of jugglers....
From there we launch off with Valentine on his voyage of discovery and the quest to which it leads. In a book that could easily have bogged down into a detail laden tome of background details about the alien world on which it happens, the peoples of that world and all the other world building, character and plot minutiae we instead get an interesting a very well told story.
I can recommend this one, enjoy.
June 15, 2009
A peculiar book, since no matter how bored or frustrated I was with the infuriating characters and slogging pace, I still wanted to finish it. And I did, to my disappointment Trite and more or less predictable, the book is really no more than a tour of Majipoor Silverberg's made-up planet of far-away pseudo-magic and leftover bits of science. There is some cleverness and creativity, but creating an unproven fantasy ecosystem is nothing new. Majipoor brings a few tasty tidbits to the table, but a crap story does nothing to help.
Let me summarize: If you don't guess that the amnesiac hero is actually the high king of the planet 10 pages in, you are probably soaked to the gills with barbituates. He gathers a group of stereotypes and cardboard cutouts around him to help him on his mysterious quest (which he himself rejects!) until through a series of dreams he realizes the truth. Then he spends a year of book time plodding across the planet to get to a city on a mountain in order to have a final fight. Meanwhile, the non-lobotomized reader has figured it all out long ago and my neck was cramping from all the eye-rolling as I impatiently waited for the hero to get the hell on with it.
As such, it ends up a scenic guide to the planet with lots of unnecessary details that only derail the plot and serve to stroke Silverberg's creative and descriptive ego.
But here is the kicker and my not-so-secret shame: I read the whole thing. The landscape was interesting, and I was curious about how the world worked. But I'd have been better off reading an introduction to plumbing, or something useful. I cannot recommend this to anyone, nor will I ever read this again, unless trapped in a coma from which I cannot awake. Excessively harsh condemnation for a book I actually liked a bit. It's just that there are so many far better works to waste time on.
Let me summarize: If you don't guess that the amnesiac hero is actually the high king of the planet 10 pages in, you are probably soaked to the gills with barbituates. He gathers a group of stereotypes and cardboard cutouts around him to help him on his mysterious quest (which he himself rejects!) until through a series of dreams he realizes the truth. Then he spends a year of book time plodding across the planet to get to a city on a mountain in order to have a final fight. Meanwhile, the non-lobotomized reader has figured it all out long ago and my neck was cramping from all the eye-rolling as I impatiently waited for the hero to get the hell on with it.
As such, it ends up a scenic guide to the planet with lots of unnecessary details that only derail the plot and serve to stroke Silverberg's creative and descriptive ego.
But here is the kicker and my not-so-secret shame: I read the whole thing. The landscape was interesting, and I was curious about how the world worked. But I'd have been better off reading an introduction to plumbing, or something useful. I cannot recommend this to anyone, nor will I ever read this again, unless trapped in a coma from which I cannot awake. Excessively harsh condemnation for a book I actually liked a bit. It's just that there are so many far better works to waste time on.
October 26, 2025
„ Струва ми се — каза Карабела, — че този човек почти през цялото време живее в центъра на своето аз. Или пък е без център и затова никога не е далеч от него.“
Великолепна книга... „Замъкът на лорд Валънтайн“ представлява невероятно сполучливо съчетание на научна фантастика и фентъзи, пренасящо читателите на пътешествие в страхотен алтернативен свят!
Планетата Маджипур притежава вълнуваща приказна атмосфера и на нея живеят в сравнително мирни времена не само хората, но и най-различни други същества. Тя е управлявана чрез много любопитна монархическа система с двама владетели... Един от тях е главният герой Валънтайн, чиято позиция е узурпирана по загадъчен начин, а той е захвърлен сред обикновените хора, без да си спомня нищо от миналото. От негова гледна точка изучаваме начина на живот в Маджипур, виждаме различни краища на този свят, както и срещаме страшно интересни персонажи! Самият Валънтайн е чудесно изграден образ и постепенно се развива още повече - както в посока на придобиване на нови умения (като обикновен жонгльор и пътешественик), а и на намиране на нови приятели и влюбване, така и в посока на възстановяване на спомените си и осъзнаване на изключително тежката мисия, да бъде управник на планета с огромно население.
Валънтайн първоначално няма желание да предизвика конфликти, за да си върне влиянието и стария начин на живот, обаче получава доста странни, но и важни сънища, че трябва да потегли на пътешествие и открие Господарката на сънищата, като впоследствие спомените му се завръщат... Според мен, най-ценното от качествата му е това, че успява да съхрани своята добрина, въпреки битките и други сложни ситуации... Приключенията на героите са разнообразни и майсторски поднесени, а същевременно книгата съдържа много задълбочени и философски разсъждения!
„— Философия ли?
— Да не мислиш, че жонглирането е обикновен трик? — запита дребният човечец, в гласа му като че се долавяше обида. — Развлечение за зяпачи? Средство за изкарване на някоя и друга крона на провинциален карнавал? То е всичко туй заедно, да, но най-напред е начин на живот, приятелю, вяра, един вид култ.
— И нещо като поезия — вметна Карабела.“
„Той се упражняваше с часове, без да стига по-далеч от каскадата с три топки, ала я повтаряше, докато не вникна в безкрайността десетина пъти, преминавайки от отегчение към екстаз и към отегчение толкова често, че самото отегчение ставаше екстаз.“
„Съногадателката кимна мрачно.
— Да, той ме предизвести. Този мошеник! Но въпреки всичките му дяволии заслужава си човек да получи благопожелания от него.“
„Във всеки случай метаморфите дори и да са водили някога по-сложен начин на живот, сега предпочитаха да бъдат горски обитатели. Дали това беше регрес или прогрес, Валънтайн не можеше да каже.“
„— Всеки капитан сънува дракони — обясни той. — Съзнанието ни е настроено спрямо тях: усещаме приближаването на душите им.“
„Много по-късно разбра, че това беше ключът за придвижване напред из Острова: възход на душата отвътре, засилваща се способност да различава и отхвърля неуместното.“
„— Необходима за какво? — попита Слийт. — Понтифексът спи дълбоко под земята. Той не знае нищо за каквото и да било. Има ли понтифексът армия, която да ви отстъпи? Изобщо съществува ли понтифексът?
— Понтифексът има армия от дребни чиновници и служители — изтъкна Делиамбър спокойно. — Те ще ни бъдат крайно полезни. Не от войниците, а от тях зависи равновесието на силите в нашия свят.“
„Той напираше напред, почти незабележим на полесражението. Победата отново му изглеждаше близка: но тя щеше да струва твърде скъпо, прекомерно скъпо, ако се купеше със смъртта на Елидат.“
„Сега, когато се намираше отново тук, разбираше колко много обича това място, и то не само защото беше символ на власт и имперско величие, каквито бе притежавал, а главно защото беше такова творение на вековете, такава жива, дишаща тъкан на историята.“
Великолепна книга... „Замъкът на лорд Валънтайн“ представлява невероятно сполучливо съчетание на научна фантастика и фентъзи, пренасящо читателите на пътешествие в страхотен алтернативен свят!
Планетата Маджипур притежава вълнуваща приказна атмосфера и на нея живеят в сравнително мирни времена не само хората, но и най-различни други същества. Тя е управлявана чрез много любопитна монархическа система с двама владетели... Един от тях е главният герой Валънтайн, чиято позиция е узурпирана по загадъчен начин, а той е захвърлен сред обикновените хора, без да си спомня нищо от миналото. От негова гледна точка изучаваме начина на живот в Маджипур, виждаме различни краища на този свят, както и срещаме страшно интересни персонажи! Самият Валънтайн е чудесно изграден образ и постепенно се развива още повече - както в посока на придобиване на нови умения (като обикновен жонгльор и пътешественик), а и на намиране на нови приятели и влюбване, така и в посока на възстановяване на спомените си и осъзнаване на изключително тежката мисия, да бъде управник на планета с огромно население.
Валънтайн първоначално няма желание да предизвика конфликти, за да си върне влиянието и стария начин на живот, обаче получава доста странни, но и важни сънища, че трябва да потегли на пътешествие и открие Господарката на сънищата, като впоследствие спомените му се завръщат... Според мен, най-ценното от качествата му е това, че успява да съхрани своята добрина, въпреки битките и други сложни ситуации... Приключенията на героите са разнообразни и майсторски поднесени, а същевременно книгата съдържа много задълбочени и философски разсъждения!
„— Философия ли?
— Да не мислиш, че жонглирането е обикновен трик? — запита дребният човечец, в гласа му като че се долавяше обида. — Развлечение за зяпачи? Средство за изкарване на някоя и друга крона на провинциален карнавал? То е всичко туй заедно, да, но най-напред е начин на живот, приятелю, вяра, един вид култ.
— И нещо като поезия — вметна Карабела.“
„Той се упражняваше с часове, без да стига по-далеч от каскадата с три топки, ала я повтаряше, докато не вникна в безкрайността десетина пъти, преминавайки от отегчение към екстаз и към отегчение толкова често, че самото отегчение ставаше екстаз.“
„Съногадателката кимна мрачно.
— Да, той ме предизвести. Този мошеник! Но въпреки всичките му дяволии заслужава си човек да получи благопожелания от него.“
„Във всеки случай метаморфите дори и да са водили някога по-сложен начин на живот, сега предпочитаха да бъдат горски обитатели. Дали това беше регрес или прогрес, Валънтайн не можеше да каже.“
„— Всеки капитан сънува дракони — обясни той. — Съзнанието ни е настроено спрямо тях: усещаме приближаването на душите им.“
„Много по-късно разбра, че това беше ключът за придвижване напред из Острова: възход на душата отвътре, засилваща се способност да различава и отхвърля неуместното.“
„— Необходима за какво? — попита Слийт. — Понтифексът спи дълбоко под земята. Той не знае нищо за каквото и да било. Има ли понтифексът армия, която да ви отстъпи? Изобщо съществува ли понтифексът?
— Понтифексът има армия от дребни чиновници и служители — изтъкна Делиамбър спокойно. — Те ще ни бъдат крайно полезни. Не от войниците, а от тях зависи равновесието на силите в нашия свят.“
„Той напираше напред, почти незабележим на полесражението. Победата отново му изглеждаше близка: но тя щеше да струва твърде скъпо, прекомерно скъпо, ако се купеше със смъртта на Елидат.“
„Сега, когато се намираше отново тук, разбираше колко много обича това място, и то не само защото беше символ на власт и имперско величие, каквито бе притежавал, а главно защото беше такова творение на вековете, такава жива, дишаща тъкан на историята.“
June 20, 2020
A grand and imaginative adventure on an alien planet. Our prototypical hero has been transplanted from his rightful throne, and he must rise from rags to power through the sheer will contained in his magical dream-enhancing powers and his innate juggling ability. He will gather a band of weird followers, and inspire all those around him with his glorious destiny. If this sounds corny, it is. Silverberg has produced some questionable literary material in his time, but this is good, relatively clean fun. Unlike the other science fiction novels of his I've read, he seems to have put a great deal of effort into designing a complex system of well-realized constraints.
All told, it is an effective novel or journeying, with danger around every corner and never enough tension to make you gasp. You get the pulp-novel jokes that fail to make you laugh, the slyly inserted sexual encounters, the tentacled beasts wrapping their tentacles over peoples' faces, tentacle-tickling them into submission, the psychedelic undertones reverberating through almost every chapter, pretending at mysticism, the labyrinth wandering, ornate architectural descriptions worthy of Lovecraft, the tricksters appearing out of the woodwork to impede and cajole our band of misfits, the segment at sea, with its predictable outcome. How could you not have fun in such a well-realized fictional set-up? The world building really elevates this book out of the crowded realm of its fantasy trappings. Majipoor is a memorable, colorful planet, chock full of strange islands, allegorical chimeras and inhabited by a dozen alien races, each with their own history, relation to the hierarchies ruling the bureaucratic government and an endless wilderness, as treacherous as any intelligent adversary.
The stakes are fairly low, when you consider that Lord Valentine is really the only one who needs to take back his rights. In the grand scheme of things, Majipoor was not in shambles as a result of his usurpation. He could have lived a merry life among the entertainers. But he chose to forsake simplicity and pleasure for the mighty calling of Fate. He makes for a silly protagonist, another product of wish-fulfillment. But seldom have I ever encountered another world I would have liked to explore more. The reward is in the discovery, and there is a magnificent treasure-trove of fantastical elements to unearth, even if the book is none too deep.
All told, it is an effective novel or journeying, with danger around every corner and never enough tension to make you gasp. You get the pulp-novel jokes that fail to make you laugh, the slyly inserted sexual encounters, the tentacled beasts wrapping their tentacles over peoples' faces, tentacle-tickling them into submission, the psychedelic undertones reverberating through almost every chapter, pretending at mysticism, the labyrinth wandering, ornate architectural descriptions worthy of Lovecraft, the tricksters appearing out of the woodwork to impede and cajole our band of misfits, the segment at sea, with its predictable outcome. How could you not have fun in such a well-realized fictional set-up? The world building really elevates this book out of the crowded realm of its fantasy trappings. Majipoor is a memorable, colorful planet, chock full of strange islands, allegorical chimeras and inhabited by a dozen alien races, each with their own history, relation to the hierarchies ruling the bureaucratic government and an endless wilderness, as treacherous as any intelligent adversary.
The stakes are fairly low, when you consider that Lord Valentine is really the only one who needs to take back his rights. In the grand scheme of things, Majipoor was not in shambles as a result of his usurpation. He could have lived a merry life among the entertainers. But he chose to forsake simplicity and pleasure for the mighty calling of Fate. He makes for a silly protagonist, another product of wish-fulfillment. But seldom have I ever encountered another world I would have liked to explore more. The reward is in the discovery, and there is a magnificent treasure-trove of fantastical elements to unearth, even if the book is none too deep.
November 24, 2021
This review is for all three primary books in the Lord Valentine series. Reading the Valentine trilogy was a trip down nostalgia lane. I read the series in early high school and remembered it being one of my favorites. And honestly, i wasn’t disappointed.
Book one, Lord Valentine’s Castle is easily the best. It has such a delightful vibrant aura to it. The tone is just right for discovering a strange new world with new species. It’s also one of the earliest blends of fantasy with science fiction, although lighter on the sci fi side. Books two and three are solid outings, but they take a hit in the tone/mood zone getting progressively darker and gloomier. Even so, this classic story, published in 1980, manages to hit on contemporary issues that are still relevant and in fact did not feel dated to me.
I’ve recently found myself irritated by fantasy books that focus on characters who are members of royalty but then learn the lesson that they ought to care about the peasants. Typically, in these cliche stories, their lives are save by a commoner or they find themselves forced to spend time with the poor people and then whoop look at that, I oughta be a nicer king/queen instead of such a selfish dick because lo-and-behold poor people are people too. It also grates on me by indirectly promoting the “kind dictator” philosophy of governance. This scenario has been done to death in fantasy, but this series is the original of that genre while yet going much further than most and critiqueing the foundation of that premise. Lord Valentine was not only deposed but the enemy drained him of all his memories before setting him out into the world as a commoner. So he didn’t learn from them, he became one of them. The rest of the series follows Valentine’s as he recovers his memories and attempts to overthrow the tyrannical forces that have taken control of Majipoor. And yet Valentine himself questions and challenges the right of kings and rule by birth as his adventure goes.
Thematically, the series deals with gender roles, royalty and proper governance, reparations for colonialism, noblesse oblige and social manipulation of society. It’s not a huge stretch to see parallels between contemporary political issues and the series. In one book of the trilogy, we find the primary foes create a disaster and then offer themselves up as the solution. It felt so much in line with how the rich and corporations manipulate the economy to their benefit, then manipulate the media to blame people of color and immigrants so that whites target their anger at being cheated against the wrong people. Only Trump, Repugs, etc can stand against the tide of the subhumans and Make Majipoor Great Again. As long as the working classes and poor are stuck in a culture war, they can’t dismantle the actual system holding them down.
Although Valentine himself is well crafted and a handful of other characters get their day, for the most part this is not a series about characters so much as the tone and feeling of discovering and adventuring in an imagined universe. And at that, it succeeds marvelously.
Book one, Lord Valentine’s Castle is easily the best. It has such a delightful vibrant aura to it. The tone is just right for discovering a strange new world with new species. It’s also one of the earliest blends of fantasy with science fiction, although lighter on the sci fi side. Books two and three are solid outings, but they take a hit in the tone/mood zone getting progressively darker and gloomier. Even so, this classic story, published in 1980, manages to hit on contemporary issues that are still relevant and in fact did not feel dated to me.
I’ve recently found myself irritated by fantasy books that focus on characters who are members of royalty but then learn the lesson that they ought to care about the peasants. Typically, in these cliche stories, their lives are save by a commoner or they find themselves forced to spend time with the poor people and then whoop look at that, I oughta be a nicer king/queen instead of such a selfish dick because lo-and-behold poor people are people too. It also grates on me by indirectly promoting the “kind dictator” philosophy of governance. This scenario has been done to death in fantasy, but this series is the original of that genre while yet going much further than most and critiqueing the foundation of that premise. Lord Valentine was not only deposed but the enemy drained him of all his memories before setting him out into the world as a commoner. So he didn’t learn from them, he became one of them. The rest of the series follows Valentine’s as he recovers his memories and attempts to overthrow the tyrannical forces that have taken control of Majipoor. And yet Valentine himself questions and challenges the right of kings and rule by birth as his adventure goes.
Thematically, the series deals with gender roles, royalty and proper governance, reparations for colonialism, noblesse oblige and social manipulation of society. It’s not a huge stretch to see parallels between contemporary political issues and the series. In one book of the trilogy, we find the primary foes create a disaster and then offer themselves up as the solution. It felt so much in line with how the rich and corporations manipulate the economy to their benefit, then manipulate the media to blame people of color and immigrants so that whites target their anger at being cheated against the wrong people. Only Trump, Repugs, etc can stand against the tide of the subhumans and Make Majipoor Great Again. As long as the working classes and poor are stuck in a culture war, they can’t dismantle the actual system holding them down.
Although Valentine himself is well crafted and a handful of other characters get their day, for the most part this is not a series about characters so much as the tone and feeling of discovering and adventuring in an imagined universe. And at that, it succeeds marvelously.
October 9, 2024
About a million years ago I read a story by Robert Silverberg. I can’t remember anything about it except that I liked his writing style enough and knew that he was one of the well-respected, prolific, late Golden Age writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy that I went out and bought a used copy of this book. So, yes, this book has been on my shelf and TBR list for nearly a million years. It’s definitely one of the books that has been there for the longest.
I’m so glad that I read it (actually, I found the audio book on Scribd and listened to it and consulted the paperback only every once in a while when I need a visual aid in the form of the maps included in the paperback). Thanks to my buddies at SpecFic Buddy Reads for following me on the adventure of reading an older work (that group really loves to read new and newer works).
There are some sadly typically old-school attitudes and stances in this book, strangely balanced with some surprisingly progressive ideas. The most glaring is that the real “bad guys” of the story were the indigenous beings from the planet which was colonized by humans 14k years ago and who were treated quite badly ever since (mostly because of their decided otherness). This was leavened somewhat by the MC (the amnesiac, victimized, true ruler) wishing to make amends for these wrongs and to some how start to make up for the 14k years of abuse.
This is definitely a sort of quest cum travel novel and the flora and fauna play a prominent role, as do the other types of sentient beings.
Also juggling plays an important role. I really enjoyed the zen state that Valentine is able to get into while juggling. Apparently, there are some inaccuracies regarding actual juggling, but Silverberg apparently consulted experts, but I’d like to know how you assess the accuracy of describing juggling done by creatures with 2 sets of arms!
At any rate, I did really enjoy the book and the narration was very well done. I think I will read the Chronicals of Majipoor eventually. Hopefully sooner than a million years from now.
I’m so glad that I read it (actually, I found the audio book on Scribd and listened to it and consulted the paperback only every once in a while when I need a visual aid in the form of the maps included in the paperback). Thanks to my buddies at SpecFic Buddy Reads for following me on the adventure of reading an older work (that group really loves to read new and newer works).
There are some sadly typically old-school attitudes and stances in this book, strangely balanced with some surprisingly progressive ideas. The most glaring is that the real “bad guys” of the story were the indigenous beings from the planet which was colonized by humans 14k years ago and who were treated quite badly ever since (mostly because of their decided otherness). This was leavened somewhat by the MC (the amnesiac, victimized, true ruler) wishing to make amends for these wrongs and to some how start to make up for the 14k years of abuse.
This is definitely a sort of quest cum travel novel and the flora and fauna play a prominent role, as do the other types of sentient beings.
Also juggling plays an important role. I really enjoyed the zen state that Valentine is able to get into while juggling. Apparently, there are some inaccuracies regarding actual juggling, but Silverberg apparently consulted experts, but I’d like to know how you assess the accuracy of describing juggling done by creatures with 2 sets of arms!
At any rate, I did really enjoy the book and the narration was very well done. I think I will read the Chronicals of Majipoor eventually. Hopefully sooner than a million years from now.
April 12, 2010
4.0 to 4.5 stars. I really debated whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars. The world of Majipoor created by Robert Silverberg is very well thought out. It is both complex enough to provide an endless supply of stories and yet defined enough in this first book to give you an excellent understanding of how it is governed and the composition of the world. I am a big fan of world-building so my favorite books usually have that as a component (Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards, China Mieville's New Crobuzon and Joe Abercrombie's First Law are three recent examples of series I have loved). So for world building, Majipoor gets five big stars.
I also really liked the characters, especially the main character Valentine who was your prototype "hero" with strong moral convictions who gets people to follow him by the strength of his convictions and good actions rather than through simply being bigger or stronger than the rest. The supporting cast (many of which are very interesting aliens) are also well developed. Another excellent point for the book and worthy of five stars.
I also thought The basic plot, though straight-forward and somewhat simple, was interesting and a great vehicle to explore the world of Majipoor.
With all that said, the only reason the book itself did not get 5 stars (or higher) was that there were parts of the story (which is fairly lengthy at 600 pages) where I thought the plot dragged a little bit and I found myself wanting to "move it along." With rare exceptions, this is going to happen in most long fantasy novels and it certainly does not take away from the overall quality of the book or my enjoyment of the story.
Overall, an excellent book and I look forward to visting Majipoor again in the not too distant future (hopefully to learn a lot more about the mysterious metamorphs). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Winner: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
I also really liked the characters, especially the main character Valentine who was your prototype "hero" with strong moral convictions who gets people to follow him by the strength of his convictions and good actions rather than through simply being bigger or stronger than the rest. The supporting cast (many of which are very interesting aliens) are also well developed. Another excellent point for the book and worthy of five stars.
I also thought The basic plot, though straight-forward and somewhat simple, was interesting and a great vehicle to explore the world of Majipoor.
With all that said, the only reason the book itself did not get 5 stars (or higher) was that there were parts of the story (which is fairly lengthy at 600 pages) where I thought the plot dragged a little bit and I found myself wanting to "move it along." With rare exceptions, this is going to happen in most long fantasy novels and it certainly does not take away from the overall quality of the book or my enjoyment of the story.
Overall, an excellent book and I look forward to visting Majipoor again in the not too distant future (hopefully to learn a lot more about the mysterious metamorphs). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Winner: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
March 4, 2024
.....Dont you just hate it when your a King of a massive world full of billions of people but youve forgotten? And you join a juggling circus? Happens all the time, Im sure....
Valentine stands on a hill just outside of this massive city. He has no knowledge of who he is or how he got there. ( Bourbon and chips are a bad combo, I always say)
There is a huge fuss in the City as the High Lord himself Lord Valentine is making a visit. Lord Valentine, the more astute of you will notice they share the same name.... coincidence? ...no.
This parade doesnt bother Valentine in the slightest and he somehow joins this group of travelling jugglers and as he and his new friends travel the vast lands Valentine begins to have dreams (in this world they hold dreams in a high regard) and they revolve around him being the REAL Lord Valentine.... and soon his friends begin to believe it too.
And so begins this EPIC journey across this vast and magical land full of wonder and mystery and excitement as Valentine takes steps closer and closer to uncovering the truth and getting back to where he belongs....
Great fun.
Valentine stands on a hill just outside of this massive city. He has no knowledge of who he is or how he got there. ( Bourbon and chips are a bad combo, I always say)
There is a huge fuss in the City as the High Lord himself Lord Valentine is making a visit. Lord Valentine, the more astute of you will notice they share the same name.... coincidence? ...no.
This parade doesnt bother Valentine in the slightest and he somehow joins this group of travelling jugglers and as he and his new friends travel the vast lands Valentine begins to have dreams (in this world they hold dreams in a high regard) and they revolve around him being the REAL Lord Valentine.... and soon his friends begin to believe it too.
And so begins this EPIC journey across this vast and magical land full of wonder and mystery and excitement as Valentine takes steps closer and closer to uncovering the truth and getting back to where he belongs....
Great fun.
June 3, 2025
Lord Valentine's Castle marked Silverberg's return to the genre after one of his periodic retirements. It was published as one of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction's rare serials, in four installments that ran from November of 1979 through February of 1980. It was very different from the kind of story we had grown to be accustomed to Silverberg writing, satiric observations and speculations about technology and society and in which everybody has sex a lot. Lord Valentine's Castle is a long fantasy quest with some minor scientific flavoring; it's a character study with an overwhelming emphasis on world-building. Majipoor is a huge world with several different alien races, all with richly designed and detailed societies, back-stories, and histories. (Possible spoiler, but not really, coming up next.) Valentine is a young man who has lost his memory, so he learns to juggle (perhaps that's a metaphor or something?), joins a travelling carnival, and gradually realizes he's the rightful ruler of the world as he makes his way across the land and sets his sights on regaining the throne. It's all about the journey, and it's a long and leisurely one. The average length of a genre book at the time was around 150 pages, long before the days of fantasy series that are bigger than your head. It's a fun book, very well written and engaging, and no one familiar with Silverberg would have pegged him as the author if they didn't see his name on the cover. It's a good read indeed!
September 4, 2016
Robert Silverberg was a huge sensation in the 80s and his most famous works - outside of some exceptional short stories - were the Majipoor Chronicles, of which Lord Valentine's Castle is the first complete novel. These works may have dated but at the time they were part of a 70s-80s zeitgeist, which blended sci-fi and fantasy. Think of Jack Vance's Lyonesse and Dying Earth, and Gene Wolfe's Books of The Old Sun and New Sun series. Silverberg was the easiest of these writers to read and his following was well-deserved.
Lord Valentine's Castle introduces us to Majipoor, and although peopled by a number of races who chiefly had origins from other planets, the genre leans towards fantasy more than sci-fi. In Majipoor, the racial discrimination and racial differences are clear cut, with humans on top of the hierarchical system.
In this novel, Lord Valentine has lost his memory as the city of Pidruid readies for his arrival and all the fanfare that comes with it. Valentine though has joined a travelling band of jugglers.
The story itself is a vehicle for the exploration of Silverberg's epic world - and the world building in Majipoor is splendid. The novel explores classism and racism and celebrates differences. By a blueblood becoming a traveller and member of a poorer socio-economic group, we gain a real insight into all aspects of the world. What I really enjoyed about Lord Valentine's Castle is that it was a major move away from the larger warring worlds that dominate the epic fantasy genre. This is a very gentle novel, yet it has enough story to keep the reader interested in Majipoor and all its colour.
Recommended for lovers of a gentle, original fantasy, along with those interested in influential writers of the fantasy genre.
Lord Valentine's Castle introduces us to Majipoor, and although peopled by a number of races who chiefly had origins from other planets, the genre leans towards fantasy more than sci-fi. In Majipoor, the racial discrimination and racial differences are clear cut, with humans on top of the hierarchical system.
In this novel, Lord Valentine has lost his memory as the city of Pidruid readies for his arrival and all the fanfare that comes with it. Valentine though has joined a travelling band of jugglers.
The story itself is a vehicle for the exploration of Silverberg's epic world - and the world building in Majipoor is splendid. The novel explores classism and racism and celebrates differences. By a blueblood becoming a traveller and member of a poorer socio-economic group, we gain a real insight into all aspects of the world. What I really enjoyed about Lord Valentine's Castle is that it was a major move away from the larger warring worlds that dominate the epic fantasy genre. This is a very gentle novel, yet it has enough story to keep the reader interested in Majipoor and all its colour.
Recommended for lovers of a gentle, original fantasy, along with those interested in influential writers of the fantasy genre.
June 12, 2024
Great book, very different from the others I’ve read by him.
The other Silverberg books I’ve read were all short, late 60’s early 70’s, new wave science fiction books.
This one seems like a conscious effort to appeal to a wider audience, that’s no criticism, it’s just different from his other stuff.
This is a big, sprawling science-fantasy story which were very popular at the time.
The plot is pretty straightforward but decent. The main focus is on world building, and the world is builded real good! Majipoor is a backwater in space, populated by a mix of aliens and humans with varying levels of technology and a rich history. My only complaint is that the last third drags on a bit.
The other Silverberg books I’ve read were all short, late 60’s early 70’s, new wave science fiction books.
This one seems like a conscious effort to appeal to a wider audience, that’s no criticism, it’s just different from his other stuff.
This is a big, sprawling science-fantasy story which were very popular at the time.
The plot is pretty straightforward but decent. The main focus is on world building, and the world is builded real good! Majipoor is a backwater in space, populated by a mix of aliens and humans with varying levels of technology and a rich history. My only complaint is that the last third drags on a bit.
July 26, 2016
"Conquest over self was the finest of victories."(467)
It pains me that this book is languishing in undeserved obscurity.
Lord Valentine's Castle follows the journey of Valentine, devoid of any semblance of identity and perhaps irretrievably deprived of indescribably defining memories, living a wanderer’s life, joining a band of jugglers, learning the trade in the only way it was meant to be learned, by heart and soul, and comes to the realization that he has fallen from the highest possible state of grace, comes to the inevitable understanding that he must journey to reclaim what he has lost, not for himself, but for the safety and order of Majipoor.
This is a journey of one man, his quest to define himself, as much as it is a voyage through the world of Majipoor. And it is splendid.
It is splendid because Silverberg is unlike most fantasy writers. This book is not filled with fantasy tropes and cliché plot devices. No. There are no dwarves, elves and well-defined magical schemes, no epic wars, but there are dragons! Like Ursula Le Guin, in the A Wizard of Earthsea, the struggle is much more personal, and to expect a diluted brilliance in this work is but a folly one must dispense with. As I have written in my review on the first book of the Earthsea Cycle which is suitably in consonance with my views on this book, “what is most fascinating in this unique work of fantasy is how personal and particular the main struggle is and yet it carries a worldly importance to the book. The perpetuation of the grand narratives of good against evil, or of the prosaic if not routinary overblown dilemmas of kings and men have endeavored to situate if not relegate this grand personal struggle everybody must go through in the background as mere subplots at the best and at worst as plot devices, never really brought in the forefront.” And I like this kind of books, not only because of the inherent mastery with which it is delivered but it reflects
Silverberg’s vehemence and audacity at writing out of the banalities in fantasy writing. This he achieved by masterfully incorporating a bit of sci-fi background in this world and highlighting the power of dreams to list a few, and of course envisioning our lovely charismatic engaging Valentine to be black. “I revel in the fact that the protagonist in this was envisioned to have had dark skin. For it is not so much as the color of the skin that talks but of the profound meaning and effect it carries concerning minute details of vital necessity not only in the fantasy genre but of printed work generally… for most fantasy plots are patterned if not derived from the middle ages of conquest where the dichotomy of the white and black or of the east-west conflict is fundamentally translated to good and bad respectively and the stratification of the social class is at its height..’’ Authors like this must be read!
Silverberg’s world building is exceptionally extensive and my imagination was left in no less a euphoric state given the way he wrote. His was so detailed, so wonderful, so mesmerizing. Not only were the cities strangely unique and uncompromisingly beautiful, they were real, they were real in the manner that Silverberg wanted them to be, as if you were there, standing before the gates of the city, drunkenly dazzling at the beauty of this alien world. Just as a painter masterfully but with adamant care puts life into the canvass with those slow adroit masterful strokes of genius, so does Silverberg conjures Majipoor to life with his phrases, sentences and paragraphs. And this world building in effect makes Valentine’s journey more empathic, and I would easily pledge my loyalty to this unprecedentedly deposed Coronal, even though most of his travels are uneventful compared to most fantasy books, I will choose to be beside this man and enter Majipoor once again.
This book is part of my LOCUS AWARDS reading list.
This review has been cross-posted at imbookedindefinitely
It pains me that this book is languishing in undeserved obscurity.
Lord Valentine's Castle follows the journey of Valentine, devoid of any semblance of identity and perhaps irretrievably deprived of indescribably defining memories, living a wanderer’s life, joining a band of jugglers, learning the trade in the only way it was meant to be learned, by heart and soul, and comes to the realization that he has fallen from the highest possible state of grace, comes to the inevitable understanding that he must journey to reclaim what he has lost, not for himself, but for the safety and order of Majipoor.
This is a journey of one man, his quest to define himself, as much as it is a voyage through the world of Majipoor. And it is splendid.
It is splendid because Silverberg is unlike most fantasy writers. This book is not filled with fantasy tropes and cliché plot devices. No. There are no dwarves, elves and well-defined magical schemes, no epic wars, but there are dragons! Like Ursula Le Guin, in the A Wizard of Earthsea, the struggle is much more personal, and to expect a diluted brilliance in this work is but a folly one must dispense with. As I have written in my review on the first book of the Earthsea Cycle which is suitably in consonance with my views on this book, “what is most fascinating in this unique work of fantasy is how personal and particular the main struggle is and yet it carries a worldly importance to the book. The perpetuation of the grand narratives of good against evil, or of the prosaic if not routinary overblown dilemmas of kings and men have endeavored to situate if not relegate this grand personal struggle everybody must go through in the background as mere subplots at the best and at worst as plot devices, never really brought in the forefront.” And I like this kind of books, not only because of the inherent mastery with which it is delivered but it reflects
Silverberg’s vehemence and audacity at writing out of the banalities in fantasy writing. This he achieved by masterfully incorporating a bit of sci-fi background in this world and highlighting the power of dreams to list a few, and of course envisioning our lovely charismatic engaging Valentine to be black. “I revel in the fact that the protagonist in this was envisioned to have had dark skin. For it is not so much as the color of the skin that talks but of the profound meaning and effect it carries concerning minute details of vital necessity not only in the fantasy genre but of printed work generally… for most fantasy plots are patterned if not derived from the middle ages of conquest where the dichotomy of the white and black or of the east-west conflict is fundamentally translated to good and bad respectively and the stratification of the social class is at its height..’’ Authors like this must be read!
Silverberg’s world building is exceptionally extensive and my imagination was left in no less a euphoric state given the way he wrote. His was so detailed, so wonderful, so mesmerizing. Not only were the cities strangely unique and uncompromisingly beautiful, they were real, they were real in the manner that Silverberg wanted them to be, as if you were there, standing before the gates of the city, drunkenly dazzling at the beauty of this alien world. Just as a painter masterfully but with adamant care puts life into the canvass with those slow adroit masterful strokes of genius, so does Silverberg conjures Majipoor to life with his phrases, sentences and paragraphs. And this world building in effect makes Valentine’s journey more empathic, and I would easily pledge my loyalty to this unprecedentedly deposed Coronal, even though most of his travels are uneventful compared to most fantasy books, I will choose to be beside this man and enter Majipoor once again.
This book is part of my LOCUS AWARDS reading list.
This review has been cross-posted at imbookedindefinitely
January 12, 2015
"Valentine, a wanderer who knows nothing except his name, finds himself on the fringes of a great city, and joins a troupe of jugglers and acrobats; gradually, he remembers that he is the Coronal Valentine, executive ruler of the vast world of Majipoor, and all its peoples, human and otherwise..."
This book may be 35 years old, but the political issues that it deals with still resonate strongly today. Majipoor is a very multicultural world, supporting many different races, including a persecuted aboriginal population largely confined to their own province. Leadership is the prime issue, as Lord Valentine has been bumped out of his body and migrated into a different form. He must decide if he wants that life back and if so, how to go about the process.
I sincerely doubt that Silverberg had Canada in mind when he wrote this story, but it certainly could be seen to apply to today’s situation. What with Senate spending scandals, a lot of poo-slinging in the House of Commons, plus a lot of other rather undemocratic behaviour, the issue of good leadership is an important one. It is beginning to feel like all of our politicians are crooks, just some of them haven’t been exposed yet! What kind of leaders do we want? How do we convince those people that they want to engage in the political process, when they are likely to have their reputations slagged, their motives questioned, their decisions second-guessed, and their private lives held up to the scrutiny of the chimpanzee-like political community? [With apologies to chimpanzees, animals which I’m actually quite fond of].
Similarly, do we want our multi-cultural society to work and are we willing to admit our own prejudices? Does it matter that your employer has four arms and is covered in thick coarse hair? How will you deal with a displaced aboriginal population who resent the out-worlders who have taken over their planet/continent?
Silverberg doesn’t directly answer any of these questions, but he does, I think, make some gentle suggestions. Lord Valentine is a likeable protagonist—but his gentle ways and general good-naturedness make him a target for more brutal would-be rulers. Can you be a nice guy and still be tough enough to govern?
It was fun to explore the world of Majipoor—I enjoyed the variety of races described, the elaborate festivals, and especially the sea-dragon hunting! Not only Valentine, but most of the population seemed very much on the nicey-nice side, supposedly because of a long stretch of stable rule. It was a bracing change when Valentine had to start dealing with bureaucracy—I was relieved to see that it was typical red-tape and crankiness! Majipoor is not a Utopia.
A fun, light read, nice to intersperse with more difficult volumes.
More of a 3.5 stars for me.
This book may be 35 years old, but the political issues that it deals with still resonate strongly today. Majipoor is a very multicultural world, supporting many different races, including a persecuted aboriginal population largely confined to their own province. Leadership is the prime issue, as Lord Valentine has been bumped out of his body and migrated into a different form. He must decide if he wants that life back and if so, how to go about the process.
I sincerely doubt that Silverberg had Canada in mind when he wrote this story, but it certainly could be seen to apply to today’s situation. What with Senate spending scandals, a lot of poo-slinging in the House of Commons, plus a lot of other rather undemocratic behaviour, the issue of good leadership is an important one. It is beginning to feel like all of our politicians are crooks, just some of them haven’t been exposed yet! What kind of leaders do we want? How do we convince those people that they want to engage in the political process, when they are likely to have their reputations slagged, their motives questioned, their decisions second-guessed, and their private lives held up to the scrutiny of the chimpanzee-like political community? [With apologies to chimpanzees, animals which I’m actually quite fond of].
Similarly, do we want our multi-cultural society to work and are we willing to admit our own prejudices? Does it matter that your employer has four arms and is covered in thick coarse hair? How will you deal with a displaced aboriginal population who resent the out-worlders who have taken over their planet/continent?
Silverberg doesn’t directly answer any of these questions, but he does, I think, make some gentle suggestions. Lord Valentine is a likeable protagonist—but his gentle ways and general good-naturedness make him a target for more brutal would-be rulers. Can you be a nice guy and still be tough enough to govern?
It was fun to explore the world of Majipoor—I enjoyed the variety of races described, the elaborate festivals, and especially the sea-dragon hunting! Not only Valentine, but most of the population seemed very much on the nicey-nice side, supposedly because of a long stretch of stable rule. It was a bracing change when Valentine had to start dealing with bureaucracy—I was relieved to see that it was typical red-tape and crankiness! Majipoor is not a Utopia.
A fun, light read, nice to intersperse with more difficult volumes.
More of a 3.5 stars for me.
September 22, 2021
Маджипур І на практика обхваща съдържанието на двете книжки-бижута, излизали с логото на култовата Библиотека Галактика, в превода на Борис Миндов, които съм чел и препрочитал през годините, а именно:
Замъкът на лорд Валънтайн I
1. Книга на краля на сънищата
2. Книга на метаморфите
Замъкът на лорд Валънтайн II
3. Книга на Острова на съня
4. Книга на Лабиринта
5. Книга на замъка
Въображението на Робърт Силвърбърг е почти толкова необятно, колкото мащабен е замисленият от него свят - планета, където човешката съжителства с половин дузина други раси. Фабулата би могла да бъде приета за остросюжетно клише - онеправдан главен герой, натоварен с изключителна отговорност, който трябва да възстанови отнетото му с помощта на своите верни другари, но това съвсем не е проблем, когато изпълнението е безапелационно брилянтно - уникален микс от sci-fi и фентъзи. Лично за мен най-оригинален в цялата история е подходът при решението на големия конфликт - пацифизмът и хуманизмът са интимно вплетени в тъканта на творбата от първата до последната страница, а "екшънът", доколкото го има е по-малко от 10% от общия обем на романа. Обаче това по никакъв начин не намалява интригата, не създава усещане за скука, напротив - прозата на Силвърбърг притежава магически пулсиращ ритъм, който неусетно превръща читателя в учудено хлапе с широко отворени очи.
Замъкът на лорд Валънтайн I
1. Книга на краля на сънищата
2. Книга на метаморфите
Замъкът на лорд Валънтайн II
3. Книга на Острова на съня
4. Книга на Лабиринта
5. Книга на замъка
Въображението на Робърт Силвърбърг е почти толкова необятно, колкото мащабен е замисленият от него свят - планета, където човешката съжителства с половин дузина други раси. Фабулата би могла да бъде приета за остросюжетно клише - онеправдан главен герой, натоварен с изключителна отговорност, който трябва да възстанови отнетото му с помощта на своите верни другари, но това съвсем не е проблем, когато изпълнението е безапелационно брилянтно - уникален микс от sci-fi и фентъзи. Лично за мен най-оригинален в цялата история е подходът при решението на големия конфликт - пацифизмът и хуманизмът са интимно вплетени в тъканта на творбата от първата до последната страница, а "екшънът", доколкото го има е по-малко от 10% от общия обем на романа. Обаче това по никакъв начин не намалява интригата, не създава усещане за скука, напротив - прозата на Силвърбърг притежава магически пулсиращ ритъм, който неусетно превръща читателя в учудено хлапе с широко отворени очи.
April 27, 2024
Honestly if the narrator didn't have such a superb voice (Stephan Rudnicki), I would have given up from the start. As it is I made half way. Entertaining, just not my thing.
November 24, 2020
Meh. This book reads like an over-simplified version of David Eddings' Belgariad, which is no compliment.
Silverberg has absolutely no concrete concept of quantity. He writes of an "agrarian society" which contains "a small village of perhaps eleven million people." Lord Valentine marches 2,000 miles with an army of 50,000 in less than a month. (And it wasn't until that army reached 30,000 or so that Lord Valentine decided he couldn't handle all its attendant administrivia and made his best friends - jugglers and performers all - marshals of 10,000 soldiers apiece, but I digress...) Castle Mount alone is home to something on the order of 30 cities and no fewer than one *billion* people. Seriously? The population of India living on one mountain? It would have to be the size of China!
Oh, and somehow in that 1-month, 2,000 mile forced march of 50,000 soldiers, Lord Valentine only has to provision them once, and only then with "a little fruit and meat."
But size and quantity are not Silverberg's only failings. Oh, no. From Silverberg we learn that machines once put into place and set to working never stop working even when the society's level of technology mysteriously regresses. We also learn that even though an entire world may never have a war or even a serious armed skirmish in seven or eight thousand years, should the leader of that world call upon them, every citizen is an "skilled and able warrior."
What utter tripe.
Silverberg has absolutely no concrete concept of quantity. He writes of an "agrarian society" which contains "a small village of perhaps eleven million people." Lord Valentine marches 2,000 miles with an army of 50,000 in less than a month. (And it wasn't until that army reached 30,000 or so that Lord Valentine decided he couldn't handle all its attendant administrivia and made his best friends - jugglers and performers all - marshals of 10,000 soldiers apiece, but I digress...) Castle Mount alone is home to something on the order of 30 cities and no fewer than one *billion* people. Seriously? The population of India living on one mountain? It would have to be the size of China!
Oh, and somehow in that 1-month, 2,000 mile forced march of 50,000 soldiers, Lord Valentine only has to provision them once, and only then with "a little fruit and meat."
But size and quantity are not Silverberg's only failings. Oh, no. From Silverberg we learn that machines once put into place and set to working never stop working even when the society's level of technology mysteriously regresses. We also learn that even though an entire world may never have a war or even a serious armed skirmish in seven or eight thousand years, should the leader of that world call upon them, every citizen is an "skilled and able warrior."
What utter tripe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2015
Two questions, the answers to which I find unfathomable, dominate my thinking about this terrible book:
1) How can Robert Silverberg, an interesting and occasionally excellent writer of countless science fiction and fantasy novels, sometime prose artist of vivid skill and imagination and creator of memorable, generally avaricious or morally dubious characters, write and publish such a childish, asinine piece of vacuous drivel as this book?
2) How in the name of Bilbo Baggins and Gully Foyle did it win both the Hugo and Locus awards in 1981?
There is no doubt that Silverberg's golden period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he found the courage to write however he wanted, having probably induced a fair stack of the same drugs Philip K Dick was also dabbling with at that time.
But I also know that some of his later stuff was good too as I have read and enjoyed both Tom O'Bedlam and The Face of the Waters, which were both written after this risible tosh, so I can't put this down to an irreversible decline in taste and sense.
When you think of all the great books that never won either the Hugo or the Locus - let alone both - the mind boggles with regards what that year's panel were thinking!
Reading this book can make you want a place a pox on your own house if, like me, you have that ridiculous, masochistic predilection to finish every book you start.
I really need to bin that habit, just like I binned this book (once I had read it all first, of course!).
1) How can Robert Silverberg, an interesting and occasionally excellent writer of countless science fiction and fantasy novels, sometime prose artist of vivid skill and imagination and creator of memorable, generally avaricious or morally dubious characters, write and publish such a childish, asinine piece of vacuous drivel as this book?
2) How in the name of Bilbo Baggins and Gully Foyle did it win both the Hugo and Locus awards in 1981?
There is no doubt that Silverberg's golden period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he found the courage to write however he wanted, having probably induced a fair stack of the same drugs Philip K Dick was also dabbling with at that time.
But I also know that some of his later stuff was good too as I have read and enjoyed both Tom O'Bedlam and The Face of the Waters, which were both written after this risible tosh, so I can't put this down to an irreversible decline in taste and sense.
When you think of all the great books that never won either the Hugo or the Locus - let alone both - the mind boggles with regards what that year's panel were thinking!
Reading this book can make you want a place a pox on your own house if, like me, you have that ridiculous, masochistic predilection to finish every book you start.
I really need to bin that habit, just like I binned this book (once I had read it all first, of course!).
January 27, 2016
I know this is supposed to be one of the classics of modern SiFi but I just could not get into the book. The story seemed to drag and never pick up for me. Not recommended
November 17, 2024
After reading Silverberg’s Dying Inside years back and finding it fairly mediocre and being less than enthusiastic about it, a few of my friends and reading buddies recommended I try Lord Valentine's Castle. And let me just say: this one came through with flying colors.
Silverberg handles so many elements superbly to make this one an entertaining, enlightening, and enjoyable ride.
Lord Valentine’s Castle thus begins Silverberg’s Majipoor book series, and the novel is a perfect blending of fantasy, adventure, and science fiction that fans of these genres can enjoy.
The novel begins with Valentine looking down on the city of Pidruid with what appears to be a festival taking place and the Coronel being welcomed. Ironically, this is another Valentine, a Lord Valentine, who is being honored. Valentine, in a sort of mind haze and suffering from amnesia as he cannot recall past events, eventually befriends a boy named Shanimar and they join a traveling juggling troupe.
One of the more compelling dynamics of the story is how the world of dreams and the physical world coincide and are equal to each other in significance. The dreams, often referred to as sendings, reveal probable future destinies and fates. In this way, dreams carry a great weight and level of import and can even be a method of communication from one character to another, and we see this play out in the novel.
As Valentine treks from place to place with his juggling companions, it begins to dawn on him that he may be in store for a bigger destiny:
“These tortured dreams, these squirming dragons in his soul, these portents and omens…”
What destiny lay in store for Valentine that is desperately trying to break out?
On this planet, there are beings and creatures of all sorts. Humans share this planet with Hjorts, a creature who are a part of the juggling troupe, and there are Metamorphs, creatures who can readily alter their appearance at will.
The level of imagination contained within the plot and storytelling is quite profound.
I also liked how the characters were so well drawn, especially our protagonist, Valentine. As Valentine begins to comprehend his past, he must do quite a bit of grappling and soul-searching. There is a deep conflicted nature that exists between Valentine the juggler and Lord Valentine as he tries to maintain his simple principles all the while accepting the future and all the challenges he must overcome. In this way, there is a depth to his character, and this makes him a character one will readily root for. The secondary characters like Carabella are also distinct and memorable as well.
Much like an Arthurian Legend or an adventure, the archetype of “the quest,” both physical and internal, becomes a prominent aspect as the novel progresses and new revelations come into focus.
Some reviewers have complained that, over five hundred pages, the novel takes a leisurely route in getting to the heart of the matter. I do agree that the novel does a scenic route to its destination, but I didn’t mind this at all. The author takes his time to let us get to know this world, the characters, and the main conflicts at hand. I know it’s a little cliché, but this was a novel that I didn’t want to end because I was hooked each time I picked it up, being transported back into this world of Majipoor.
Silverberg went on to write more novels in this series, and I am eager to pick them up. This was a fantastic start to the series, one that I think will appeal to fans of science fiction, adventure, or fantasy.
Definitely my favorite read for this year!
Silverberg handles so many elements superbly to make this one an entertaining, enlightening, and enjoyable ride.
Lord Valentine’s Castle thus begins Silverberg’s Majipoor book series, and the novel is a perfect blending of fantasy, adventure, and science fiction that fans of these genres can enjoy.
The novel begins with Valentine looking down on the city of Pidruid with what appears to be a festival taking place and the Coronel being welcomed. Ironically, this is another Valentine, a Lord Valentine, who is being honored. Valentine, in a sort of mind haze and suffering from amnesia as he cannot recall past events, eventually befriends a boy named Shanimar and they join a traveling juggling troupe.
One of the more compelling dynamics of the story is how the world of dreams and the physical world coincide and are equal to each other in significance. The dreams, often referred to as sendings, reveal probable future destinies and fates. In this way, dreams carry a great weight and level of import and can even be a method of communication from one character to another, and we see this play out in the novel.
As Valentine treks from place to place with his juggling companions, it begins to dawn on him that he may be in store for a bigger destiny:
“These tortured dreams, these squirming dragons in his soul, these portents and omens…”
What destiny lay in store for Valentine that is desperately trying to break out?
On this planet, there are beings and creatures of all sorts. Humans share this planet with Hjorts, a creature who are a part of the juggling troupe, and there are Metamorphs, creatures who can readily alter their appearance at will.
The level of imagination contained within the plot and storytelling is quite profound.
I also liked how the characters were so well drawn, especially our protagonist, Valentine. As Valentine begins to comprehend his past, he must do quite a bit of grappling and soul-searching. There is a deep conflicted nature that exists between Valentine the juggler and Lord Valentine as he tries to maintain his simple principles all the while accepting the future and all the challenges he must overcome. In this way, there is a depth to his character, and this makes him a character one will readily root for. The secondary characters like Carabella are also distinct and memorable as well.
Much like an Arthurian Legend or an adventure, the archetype of “the quest,” both physical and internal, becomes a prominent aspect as the novel progresses and new revelations come into focus.
Some reviewers have complained that, over five hundred pages, the novel takes a leisurely route in getting to the heart of the matter. I do agree that the novel does a scenic route to its destination, but I didn’t mind this at all. The author takes his time to let us get to know this world, the characters, and the main conflicts at hand. I know it’s a little cliché, but this was a novel that I didn’t want to end because I was hooked each time I picked it up, being transported back into this world of Majipoor.
Silverberg went on to write more novels in this series, and I am eager to pick them up. This was a fantastic start to the series, one that I think will appeal to fans of science fiction, adventure, or fantasy.
Definitely my favorite read for this year!
April 29, 2020
Валънтайн трябва да се завърне в своя замък: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/z...
Началото е крайно обещаващо. На една огромна планета (неясно как с по-слабо привличане от Земята) на име Маджипур в мир от хилядолетия живеят различни раси, включително хората. Обособени в гигантски многомилионни градове, те са намерили начин да се спогодят под споделена четиристранна власт, която включва две мистериозни фигури с власт върху сънищата. Обособено в нещо като резерват живеят автохтонните жители на планетата, които умеят да променят своя външен вид по почти магически начин. Те са примитивни, отдавна победени от нашествениците от други планети, затворени в своята изолирана общност. Всички останали по малко се страхуват от тях и не ги допускат свободно в своите градове.
Издателска къща БАРД
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/z...
Началото е крайно обещаващо. На една огромна планета (неясно как с по-слабо привличане от Земята) на име Маджипур в мир от хилядолетия живеят различни раси, включително хората. Обособени в гигантски многомилионни градове, те са намерили начин да се спогодят под споделена четиристранна власт, която включва две мистериозни фигури с власт върху сънищата. Обособено в нещо като резерват живеят автохтонните жители на планетата, които умеят да променят своя външен вид по почти магически начин. Те са примитивни, отдавна победени от нашествениците от други планети, затворени в своята изолирана общност. Всички останали по малко се страхуват от тях и не ги допускат свободно в своите градове.
Издателска къща БАРД
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/z...
March 31, 2011
3.5 stars, audio version
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Valentine has been wandering the planet of Majipoor for a couple of years, but has almost no memory of where he’s been or what his life was like before. When he discovers that he has a talent for juggling and joins a troop of entertainers, he becomes more connected to his world and aware that something is wrong with him. After experiencing some “sendings” in dreams and hearing about the dreams of others, he begins to realize that he is Lord Valentine, one of the four rulers of Majipoor, whose soul has been put into some other body. So, with a loyal group of friends, he sets out to get some answers and to try to make things right.
Lord Valentine’s Castle (1980) is considered a classic SFF novel and, therefore, it’s one I’ve been planning to read (and expecting to love) for years. Indeed, there is much to love about Robert Silverberg’s world of Majipoor — it’s a huge hinterlands planet full of jungles, volcanoes, archipelagoes, deserts, long rivers, and sprawling cities populated by alien races and Old Earth humans. Majipoor contains no fossil fuels and few metals and, while there are still some genetically engineered animals and plants, most of Earth’s technology has been lost (though some is still being used by the rulers). Thus, Majipoor reminds me of what I love about Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun — an old-world style with hints of unknown technological wonders that we hope to explore in future books.
As Valentine travels, he explores much of Majipoor and comes to understand and love many of its inhabitants as he experiences their cultures, economic systems, geographies, and ecologies. Of course, once he takes his rightful place as ruler of Majipoor, in the sprawling castle on a remote plateau in the clouds, all of this experience will serve him well.
The premise and the world-building are the strengths of Lord Valentine’s Castle. The plot, though it has so much potential, sometimes seems to crawl under the weight of that huge planet. Valentine plans to go to the castle to confront the imposter, so he goes. It’s a long slow journey which has some obstacles, but they’re all rather easily overcome. Much of the hard work is done in dreams or images as the Lady of Dreams (and, later, Valentine himself) convinces the people around him that Valentine is the true ruler of Majipoor. There’s not much tension and what there is, is quickly relieved. (However, the scene in which Valentine juggles for the shape shifters gave me chills).
There were also some things I didn’t think were adequately explained. For example, why doesn’t the imposter kill Valentine rather than put him into a different body? (There was an explanation for this which only made sense until the real imposter was revealed at the end of the story.) I also wanted to know how the body-switch happened. I hope these things will be explained in later Majipoor books.
I listened to Blackstone Audio’s production of Lord Valentine’s Castle which was read by one of my favorite narrators: Stefan Rudnicki. As usual, this was a very nice production and a great way to read Lord Valentine’s Castle.
If you want to explore a vast imaginative world, and don’t mind the leisurely pace, try Robert Silverberg’s Majipoor Cycle.
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Valentine has been wandering the planet of Majipoor for a couple of years, but has almost no memory of where he’s been or what his life was like before. When he discovers that he has a talent for juggling and joins a troop of entertainers, he becomes more connected to his world and aware that something is wrong with him. After experiencing some “sendings” in dreams and hearing about the dreams of others, he begins to realize that he is Lord Valentine, one of the four rulers of Majipoor, whose soul has been put into some other body. So, with a loyal group of friends, he sets out to get some answers and to try to make things right.
Lord Valentine’s Castle (1980) is considered a classic SFF novel and, therefore, it’s one I’ve been planning to read (and expecting to love) for years. Indeed, there is much to love about Robert Silverberg’s world of Majipoor — it’s a huge hinterlands planet full of jungles, volcanoes, archipelagoes, deserts, long rivers, and sprawling cities populated by alien races and Old Earth humans. Majipoor contains no fossil fuels and few metals and, while there are still some genetically engineered animals and plants, most of Earth’s technology has been lost (though some is still being used by the rulers). Thus, Majipoor reminds me of what I love about Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun — an old-world style with hints of unknown technological wonders that we hope to explore in future books.
As Valentine travels, he explores much of Majipoor and comes to understand and love many of its inhabitants as he experiences their cultures, economic systems, geographies, and ecologies. Of course, once he takes his rightful place as ruler of Majipoor, in the sprawling castle on a remote plateau in the clouds, all of this experience will serve him well.
The premise and the world-building are the strengths of Lord Valentine’s Castle. The plot, though it has so much potential, sometimes seems to crawl under the weight of that huge planet. Valentine plans to go to the castle to confront the imposter, so he goes. It’s a long slow journey which has some obstacles, but they’re all rather easily overcome. Much of the hard work is done in dreams or images as the Lady of Dreams (and, later, Valentine himself) convinces the people around him that Valentine is the true ruler of Majipoor. There’s not much tension and what there is, is quickly relieved. (However, the scene in which Valentine juggles for the shape shifters gave me chills).
There were also some things I didn’t think were adequately explained. For example, why doesn’t the imposter kill Valentine rather than put him into a different body? (There was an explanation for this which only made sense until the real imposter was revealed at the end of the story.) I also wanted to know how the body-switch happened. I hope these things will be explained in later Majipoor books.
I listened to Blackstone Audio’s production of Lord Valentine’s Castle which was read by one of my favorite narrators: Stefan Rudnicki. As usual, this was a very nice production and a great way to read Lord Valentine’s Castle.
If you want to explore a vast imaginative world, and don’t mind the leisurely pace, try Robert Silverberg’s Majipoor Cycle.
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
July 27, 2015
This may have been the first Silverberg story I read. Almost certainly the first novel, and I think it's the best work of his that I've read (and a clear step above others in the series). I still have the paperback I bought around the time this first came out - despite the fact that I foolishly left it out, and some SOB apparently showed off by ripping it partly in half. I don't know what s/he learned. I learned never to leave books around people who can read, but are too foolish to want to. (Not to worry - I bought a replacement. I use this one as a travel book.)
In any case, the magic worked again. This time, I learned that Silverberge has something of Vance's knack with weird description, but without the cold-bloodedness. In fact, one of the strength's of the novel is Valentine's warm heart. Where Vance travels though bizarre lands tense but unmoved, Valentine pours his heart out to anyone that will listen. Of course, since it's a novel, they all do. It works remarkably well. There are a few throwaway characters that get thrown away, and the non-human bystanders that don't get much screen time. But the humans are the heart of the story, and that's done very well.
The main weakness of the story is that while it sets up a fascinating planet, and explores both its surface and its governance, the story doesn't dig very deeply into the main mystery - the Metamorphs whose planet this is. Silverberg addressed that reasonably well in subsequent books, but as a standalone, Lord Valentine's Castle does leave you wanting a little more.
All in all, though the book is a very enjoyable, literate adventure story about identity, discovery, and the power of a warm and generous heart.
Plus, as I found this time through, there's a nice tip of the hat to Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast in reference to the complex Labyrinth and vast Castle.
In any case, the magic worked again. This time, I learned that Silverberge has something of Vance's knack with weird description, but without the cold-bloodedness. In fact, one of the strength's of the novel is Valentine's warm heart. Where Vance travels though bizarre lands tense but unmoved, Valentine pours his heart out to anyone that will listen. Of course, since it's a novel, they all do. It works remarkably well. There are a few throwaway characters that get thrown away, and the non-human bystanders that don't get much screen time. But the humans are the heart of the story, and that's done very well.
The main weakness of the story is that while it sets up a fascinating planet, and explores both its surface and its governance, the story doesn't dig very deeply into the main mystery - the Metamorphs whose planet this is. Silverberg addressed that reasonably well in subsequent books, but as a standalone, Lord Valentine's Castle does leave you wanting a little more.
All in all, though the book is a very enjoyable, literate adventure story about identity, discovery, and the power of a warm and generous heart.
Plus, as I found this time through, there's a nice tip of the hat to Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast in reference to the complex Labyrinth and vast Castle.
April 30, 2021
I can't believe I actually read this. I think, at the time, I had a choice between reading this or studying for my physics finals, and I made a poor choice (on several fronts.)
I don't remember much of it, except that it seemed much longer than the 506 pages the publisher claims, and it was filled with weird pseudo-olde-english sentences like,
I think this book ruined me for fantasy and world-building forevermore, not to mention the toll it took on my grade point average.
I don't remember much of it, except that it seemed much longer than the 506 pages the publisher claims, and it was filled with weird pseudo-olde-english sentences like,
The air was filled with the smell of roasted meats. There would be much feasting this day.
I think this book ruined me for fantasy and world-building forevermore, not to mention the toll it took on my grade point average.
April 29, 2011
Another book I've read several times. The whole series is good, but this book is my favorite in the series (and it is the first). Valentine wakes up as a circus performer traveling through an interesting world (set in an alternate world, not earth) but stricken with amnesia. Overtime he comes to realize that he is actually the ruler of this kingdom, but he has been driven from power by villians and has to find his way back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2018
Robert Silverberg’s novel “Lord Valentine’s Castle” (first published in 1980) is a clever mix of science fiction and Tolkien-esque fantasy, and I’m pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I’m generally not a fan of fantasy as a whole. It’s a genre that I have tried, numerous times, to read and enjoy, but it never quite grabs me in the way that science fiction or even horror grabs me.
While I enjoyed the Fellowship of the Rings series by Tolkien, I have attempted other series with very little success. George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series was, I thought, very well-written, but I stopped after the second book, not because I didn’t like it but because I felt there were simply too many characters. Plus, most of my favorites were quickly killed off in the second book, so there’s that. I have tried reading Terry Brooks’s Shanarra series but find it to be nothing more than a retread of Tolkein. Terry Goodkind’s “Wizard’s First Rule” put me to sleep, honestly.
Ursula LeGuin’s first book in her Earthsea series wowed me, but I have yet to pick up the second book. Stephen King’s Dark Tower series has come the closest to kindling a fiery passion for fantasy in me, as I voraciously read all seven books in that series. Contemporary weird fantasists like Jeff VanderMeer and Neil Gaiman are beginning to win me over with their unique takes on the genre, but I still prefer straight sci-fi and horror.
Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting much from Silverberg’s novel. Perhaps the planets were aligned in just the right way, or perhaps the King of Dreams enchanted me with some kind of spell. Whatever the case, I liked it. A lot.
The book is set on the planet Majipoor, which has been inhabited by humans for several thousand years, along with other alien species. Travel between the stars is possible but happens infrequently. Majipoor is a planet o’ plenty.
The main character is named Valentine, a mysterious figure who has little to no memory of his previous life. It’s as if he awoke one day to find himself a nondescript weary traveler. When he stumbles across a troupe of jugglers, Valentine discovers that he has a talent for the art of juggling.
There is something weighing on his mind, however. The thought that he was, perhaps, meant for something more. Even worse, his recurring dreams reveal the possibility that he was once royalty and that he has been brought down by an evil conspiracy.
Of course, as it turns out (spoiler alert!), Valentine is truly the rightful heir to the throne of Alhanroel. Somehow, through magical means, his mind has been transferred to the body of a mere farmer, while an imposter takes possession of his body on the royal throne at the top of Castle Mount.
Valentine must somehow convince everyone that he is the true Lord Valentine, amass an army to take back his kingdom, and somehow transfer his mind back into his body.
Not an easy task, especially for a simple juggler. Than again, maybe a professional juggler is exactly the type of person who can pull it off.
Silverberg won me over with a smooth-as-silk prose that evokes Tolkien without sounding lofty and pretentious. There is also a subtle humor to Silverberg, as if he isn’t quite willing to take himself too seriously. (In one scene, Valentine rides into battle in an automobile.) This was my first Silverberg novel, but it won’t be my last.
There are, apparently, two more books in the Lord Valentine series.
While I enjoyed the Fellowship of the Rings series by Tolkien, I have attempted other series with very little success. George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series was, I thought, very well-written, but I stopped after the second book, not because I didn’t like it but because I felt there were simply too many characters. Plus, most of my favorites were quickly killed off in the second book, so there’s that. I have tried reading Terry Brooks’s Shanarra series but find it to be nothing more than a retread of Tolkein. Terry Goodkind’s “Wizard’s First Rule” put me to sleep, honestly.
Ursula LeGuin’s first book in her Earthsea series wowed me, but I have yet to pick up the second book. Stephen King’s Dark Tower series has come the closest to kindling a fiery passion for fantasy in me, as I voraciously read all seven books in that series. Contemporary weird fantasists like Jeff VanderMeer and Neil Gaiman are beginning to win me over with their unique takes on the genre, but I still prefer straight sci-fi and horror.
Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting much from Silverberg’s novel. Perhaps the planets were aligned in just the right way, or perhaps the King of Dreams enchanted me with some kind of spell. Whatever the case, I liked it. A lot.
The book is set on the planet Majipoor, which has been inhabited by humans for several thousand years, along with other alien species. Travel between the stars is possible but happens infrequently. Majipoor is a planet o’ plenty.
The main character is named Valentine, a mysterious figure who has little to no memory of his previous life. It’s as if he awoke one day to find himself a nondescript weary traveler. When he stumbles across a troupe of jugglers, Valentine discovers that he has a talent for the art of juggling.
There is something weighing on his mind, however. The thought that he was, perhaps, meant for something more. Even worse, his recurring dreams reveal the possibility that he was once royalty and that he has been brought down by an evil conspiracy.
Of course, as it turns out (spoiler alert!), Valentine is truly the rightful heir to the throne of Alhanroel. Somehow, through magical means, his mind has been transferred to the body of a mere farmer, while an imposter takes possession of his body on the royal throne at the top of Castle Mount.
Valentine must somehow convince everyone that he is the true Lord Valentine, amass an army to take back his kingdom, and somehow transfer his mind back into his body.
Not an easy task, especially for a simple juggler. Than again, maybe a professional juggler is exactly the type of person who can pull it off.
Silverberg won me over with a smooth-as-silk prose that evokes Tolkien without sounding lofty and pretentious. There is also a subtle humor to Silverberg, as if he isn’t quite willing to take himself too seriously. (In one scene, Valentine rides into battle in an automobile.) This was my first Silverberg novel, but it won’t be my last.
There are, apparently, two more books in the Lord Valentine series.
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