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Gate of Worlds #1
The Gate of Worlds
In this alternate history novel, the Bubonic Plague sets the stage for a world where the West is powerless. After the Black Death has wiped out most of the European population, there is little defense against Turkish invasion and expansion, and by the 1980s, the major world powers are the Russians, the Turks, the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Japanese. However, the Turks have lost much of their territory, leaving England to self-rule in a delayed Industrial Revolution. Dan Beauchamp, a young Englishman whose heart longs for fortune and adventure, travels to industrial Mexico and discovers that he has a lot to learn. From the city of London, better known as New Istanbul, to the untamed wilderness of North America, here is a high adventure in an alternate history that is not to be missed.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
11 people are currently reading
437 people want to read
About the author
Robert Silverberg
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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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
March 20, 2025
This is an alternate-world YA novel that was published in 1967, and didn't have a mass market release until 1984. It's set in a 1963 in which the plague wiped out most of Europe in the 14th century; the Moslems came in to take over, and the Americas were pretty much left alone to develop on their own. It follows the travels of an English boy who voyages to Mexico, land of industrial opportunity in the middle of the Aztec Empire, from London (better known as New Istanbul) in third-world Britain. Silverberg's knowledge and use of historical fact leads to fascinating speculation of "What if?", and he tells a pretty interesting and entertaining story, too. Not among Silverberg's classic best, but still a worthwhile read.
January 19, 2022
I read it ten years ago or more, but I do recall enjoying the novel. You can never go too terribly wrong with a Silverberg!
May 4, 2011
This is THE STORY OF WHAT IF'S.
Set in a world where the English did not colonize the world or bring the industrial revolution.
An adventure / travel memoir of an 18 year old Englishman. He leaves behind a primitive England - ruled by fare off Ottoman Empire, to find his fortune in (one of the other 'super powers') Aztec Empire. Along the way he befriends a sorcerer, allies to a prince set on raising his own kingdom, falls in love carelessly... Constantly in danger from his loyalty to others, the story goes from one mishap to next, wondering if his luck or smarts will ever look up. Silverberg's imagination knows no bounds and he pulls you into a world that is so close to our own IF ONLY...
Set in a world where the English did not colonize the world or bring the industrial revolution.
An adventure / travel memoir of an 18 year old Englishman. He leaves behind a primitive England - ruled by fare off Ottoman Empire, to find his fortune in (one of the other 'super powers') Aztec Empire. Along the way he befriends a sorcerer, allies to a prince set on raising his own kingdom, falls in love carelessly... Constantly in danger from his loyalty to others, the story goes from one mishap to next, wondering if his luck or smarts will ever look up. Silverberg's imagination knows no bounds and he pulls you into a world that is so close to our own IF ONLY...
October 14, 2013
This is an interesting what-if world, which really didn't work out for me because the narrator/main character was just so prone to making stupid decisions. "Here is some good advice, I will proceed to ignore it. Oh, look, things went wrong. Well, oops."
It really felt on that level. The main thing the story had going for it was the flipping round of colonialism, and the fact that it didn't do that too exactly; Silverberg seems to have thought through the implications of the changes he made to world history.
It really felt on that level. The main thing the story had going for it was the flipping round of colonialism, and the fact that it didn't do that too exactly; Silverberg seems to have thought through the implications of the changes he made to world history.
June 1, 2019
First published in 1967, 'The Gate of Worlds' is a SF novel of the alternate-reality sub-genre. Set in the 1960s in a world where the Black Death had a far greater death toll in Europe, resulting in Europe never really achieving any dominance, and fast forwarding on to the current day with a world dominated by Incas, Russians, Turks etc. A terrific and exciting pretext, in which a deeply flawed main character lurches from one scenario to another as a way for the author to justify describing different societies and surroundings. Not one of his best, but still quite enjoyable.
February 13, 2022
I'm not always fond of alternate history but I do like Silverberg. This was a great little novel in which Europe never really comes back after the plague times. Turks are in power, they call London, New Istanbul and there's growing forces in Mexico and Peru. Our young man Dan sails to the New world, pretends to be a small political somebody to gain fame and fortunes, especially the fortune part. Our main female character ends up being strong enough to leave her man when she feels he's making the wrong choices. That would be rare for a novel written in the 1960's.
April 13, 2018
Not what I expected. I was looking for a Sci-fi and got a straight up adventure. An alternative reality (where the America's weren't conquered by Europeans, but Europe was by the Turks) so it was interesting from that perspective (lending to the Gate of Worlds idea). However, I found the story move rather slowly and was just a young man wandering around looking for fame and fortune and finding neither. Didn't hate it, but didn't love it.
March 11, 2010
A "what if" novel. What if the Black Death had wiped out 3/4 of Europe and the Turks were victorious? This is the story of a young man from England in the late 20th century who travels to the New World for adventure and fortune. Very entertaining.
October 18, 2009
The book that really turned me on to SF.
July 15, 2012
A great book with swashbuckling narration. It's a shame a followup was never written to this shortlived journey.
February 23, 2020
It got too weird and racist. I couldn’t get past 50 pages.
February 3, 2025
Sort of ended without some structure :)
February 15, 2025
I had read this bvvk a vvhile agv. Basically, the Turks take over Europe and reform the Roman Empire, even conquering England and Persia. The Aztecs don’t die instantly and China eats all of Asia.
December 26, 2024
"A boy should seek his soul in strange worlds."
"I want to get far away from this continent where one race must own another. I want to go to Africa, where men are free, where each nation observes its own boundaries, where science and art are alive."
This is the second of three YA novels Robert Silverberg penned in 1967. It is an adventure story, built around a detailed alternate history, aimed at older teens.
In this version of history, the Black Plague wipes out 75% of Europe's population rather than just 25%. This leaves Europe unable to repel a Turkish invasion a century later. The Moslems dominate Western history for half a millennium, founding a mighty empire that does not fall until the British finally throw off their yoke in the 1920's. London is known as New Istanbul. Turkish is the dominant world language, Islam its religion. The Bolshevik Revolution never happens; the czars rule Asia…
Because Moslems only sail east, the New World is not discovered until 1585. By that time the Aztecs have conquered the upper continent, and the Incas rule the lower (now called "the Hesperides” instead of "the Americas"). Their combined might makes them too strong to subdue: "I hear the Incas are building a fleet, these days, as a ploy in their war of nerves with their Mexican rivals. But as of now, if you want to cross the Ocean Sea, you do it in an Aztec vessel."
The level of technology is steampunk. The first airplane does not fly until 1985. Cars are powered by coal: "The electrical lights dazzled and awed me. Buckingham Palace has electricity now, and so do the houses of Parliament. But to see an entire city glowing with yellow light after dark--it made me want to sink to my knees in prayer at such wonders!"
Dan Beauchamp is a penniless young man from Britain who comes to the New World looking for fame, fortune, and conquest. He participates in a failed revolution with disgraced Prince Topiltzin... He journeys to the Pacific on foot over the Rocky Mountains... He plots an attack on a Russian trading post for Chief Tlasotiwalis... He falls in love with Princess Takinaktu…
Most important, the sorcerer Quequex teaches Dan about the Gate of Worlds, the nexus where one can see potential futures spawned by the individual choices of men…
Other better known science fiction novels like The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson and Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card owe some of their best ideas to this book.
The only reason I do not give it 5 stars is because it ends on a wide-open cliffhanger. Silverberg has never written a direct sequel (at least, not yet, some 57 years later). He did revisit the same milieu in 1990's "Lion Time in Timbuctoo". He also invited John Brunner and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro to write stories in this world. He collected all the short stories in the 1991 collection Beyond the Gate of Worlds.
"I want to get far away from this continent where one race must own another. I want to go to Africa, where men are free, where each nation observes its own boundaries, where science and art are alive."
This is the second of three YA novels Robert Silverberg penned in 1967. It is an adventure story, built around a detailed alternate history, aimed at older teens.
In this version of history, the Black Plague wipes out 75% of Europe's population rather than just 25%. This leaves Europe unable to repel a Turkish invasion a century later. The Moslems dominate Western history for half a millennium, founding a mighty empire that does not fall until the British finally throw off their yoke in the 1920's. London is known as New Istanbul. Turkish is the dominant world language, Islam its religion. The Bolshevik Revolution never happens; the czars rule Asia…
Because Moslems only sail east, the New World is not discovered until 1585. By that time the Aztecs have conquered the upper continent, and the Incas rule the lower (now called "the Hesperides” instead of "the Americas"). Their combined might makes them too strong to subdue: "I hear the Incas are building a fleet, these days, as a ploy in their war of nerves with their Mexican rivals. But as of now, if you want to cross the Ocean Sea, you do it in an Aztec vessel."
The level of technology is steampunk. The first airplane does not fly until 1985. Cars are powered by coal: "The electrical lights dazzled and awed me. Buckingham Palace has electricity now, and so do the houses of Parliament. But to see an entire city glowing with yellow light after dark--it made me want to sink to my knees in prayer at such wonders!"
Dan Beauchamp is a penniless young man from Britain who comes to the New World looking for fame, fortune, and conquest. He participates in a failed revolution with disgraced Prince Topiltzin... He journeys to the Pacific on foot over the Rocky Mountains... He plots an attack on a Russian trading post for Chief Tlasotiwalis... He falls in love with Princess Takinaktu…
Most important, the sorcerer Quequex teaches Dan about the Gate of Worlds, the nexus where one can see potential futures spawned by the individual choices of men…
Other better known science fiction novels like The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson and Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card owe some of their best ideas to this book.
The only reason I do not give it 5 stars is because it ends on a wide-open cliffhanger. Silverberg has never written a direct sequel (at least, not yet, some 57 years later). He did revisit the same milieu in 1990's "Lion Time in Timbuctoo". He also invited John Brunner and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro to write stories in this world. He collected all the short stories in the 1991 collection Beyond the Gate of Worlds.
July 9, 2024
This novel has quickly become one of my favorites. Anyone who is a fan of alternative history should give this book a read. The story is set in an alternate 1980’s where the Black Death was much more lethal than in our current timeline, wiping out about 75% of the European population and paving the way for Turkish conquest of Western Europe. The book’s protagonist is an Englishman named Dan who has traveled to Mexico, where the Aztec empire is a main world power. The novel explores different regional areas of this alternative world, their (lack of) technological advances, and their geopolitical differences.
November 25, 2021
Okay, die Geschichte an sich ist nichts besonderes, ein junger Haudrauf will in Amerika sein Glück suchen und verliert es wieder. Allerdings ist das ganze in eine sehr interessante alternative Wirklichkeit eingebettet: Was wäre geschehen, wenn Europa sehr viel stärker durch die Pest dezimiert worden wäre, und es nie ein Commonwealth gegeben hätte?
May 19, 2017
Interesting world, and it would be interesting to see it explored in more detail.
The story is only there to showcase the world, and the only thing driving the story forward is the sheer idiocy of the main character.
The story is only there to showcase the world, and the only thing driving the story forward is the sheer idiocy of the main character.
March 13, 2018
Una novel·la per a joves que va significar per a mi la porta d'accés a la ciència ficció ucrònica. Magnífic llibre que semblava iniciar una sèrie pero que Robert Silverberg no continuà. Us el recomano vivament, sobretot si teniu fills adolescents que el puguin gaudir.
January 5, 2019
6/10. Media de los 30 libros leídos del autor : 6/10
Leí mucho a Silverberg de chaval. Junto a joyas como "Tiempo de mutantes" o "El hombre en el laberinto" (o incluso la saga e Majipur) tiene libros normalitos o malos-malos. Este es normalito.
Leí mucho a Silverberg de chaval. Junto a joyas como "Tiempo de mutantes" o "El hombre en el laberinto" (o incluso la saga e Majipur) tiene libros normalitos o malos-malos. Este es normalito.
November 7, 2009
I really dig alternate reality stories (especially ones where the Americas were never conquered) and while this one had a lot going for it, I wasn't as engaged as I could have been.
August 31, 2010
I really liked the idea of gate of the worlds and about alternative worlds.
but still this book was not that exciting as i expected.
but still this book was not that exciting as i expected.
Want to read
August 6, 2016Alternate history novel where the major world powers are the Russians, the Turks, the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Japanese.
November 29, 2014
My favorite alternate reality book...
October 11, 2017
Interesting alternative universe story following the fortunes of a young man looking for adventure and fortune in Mexico, in a world in which the Turks colonised the world instead of Europe.
November 4, 2017
Entertaining, quick read, not his best work, but he did a lot of research and made it interesting.
September 20, 2018
Had forgotten I read this before. I had more context for this after TA-ing for my Middle East History course, so that made it more enjoyable. I wish it was longer, since everything felt rushed.
February 8, 2021
This is one of the few books I'm ok with having a lot of info dumps. It's good, I really liked it.
March 12, 2025
Robert Silverberg’s 1967 novel The Gate of Worlds was published in the UK in 1978. It’s an alternative history, set in 1963. Eighteen-year-old Englishman Dan Beauchamp is sailing from Byzantium England to Mexico on the evening of King Richard’s coronation to seek his fortune. Aircraft haven’t been invented yet, but they’re working on it. The Turkish conquest of Europe was long ago now, though they had left England. ‘People who try to rule over other people are going to be hated. That’s true of Turks in Europe, of Incas in the lower Hesperides, of Aztecs elsewhere in the New World, of Russians in Asia’ (p15).
This is a first-person narrative, vastly inferior to Silverberg’s excellent historical novel Lord of Darkness (1983). Yet it is fascinating in relating the coal-driven motor cars, ‘the electrical voice-transmitting machine is not yet perfected’ (p145), and the violent customs of the Incas he befriends on his way. It is laced with self-deprecating humour, too. ‘I was coming to like Mexican food, which was just as well, since I stood little chance of tasting Yorkshire pudding and leg of mutton again for a while’ (p32)
He meets up with a helpful magician and soothsayer, Quequex and they travel together. ‘a cart drawn by two plodding llamas, those sawed-off camels from Peru’ (p49). Dan serves as a bodyguard and Quequex talks of the Gate of Worlds – his belief that each person reaches a number of turning points in life where their life splits, depending on their decision, each going in a different direction in parallel worlds. ‘For each possible future, there is a possible world beyond the Gate’ (p56). Sadly, this sci-fi concept is not realised in any way – it’s a straight-forward picaresque journey, interspersed with new friendships, threat, battles and disappointments.
Thanks to his travels, Dan matures.
For fans of alternative history books and completists.
This is a first-person narrative, vastly inferior to Silverberg’s excellent historical novel Lord of Darkness (1983). Yet it is fascinating in relating the coal-driven motor cars, ‘the electrical voice-transmitting machine is not yet perfected’ (p145), and the violent customs of the Incas he befriends on his way. It is laced with self-deprecating humour, too. ‘I was coming to like Mexican food, which was just as well, since I stood little chance of tasting Yorkshire pudding and leg of mutton again for a while’ (p32)
He meets up with a helpful magician and soothsayer, Quequex and they travel together. ‘a cart drawn by two plodding llamas, those sawed-off camels from Peru’ (p49). Dan serves as a bodyguard and Quequex talks of the Gate of Worlds – his belief that each person reaches a number of turning points in life where their life splits, depending on their decision, each going in a different direction in parallel worlds. ‘For each possible future, there is a possible world beyond the Gate’ (p56). Sadly, this sci-fi concept is not realised in any way – it’s a straight-forward picaresque journey, interspersed with new friendships, threat, battles and disappointments.
Thanks to his travels, Dan matures.
For fans of alternative history books and completists.
July 19, 2025
This has a very interesting basic concept: The Black Death killed 3/4 of Europe and, before the ravaged countries could recover, most were annexed by the Ottoman Empire. Now the power balance of the world is entirely different to the one we know.
The problem with it is twofold, one of which can be blamed partly on the author, the other less so.
Firstly, it's aged very poorly. A core part of the setting is that without a powerful Europe (and Europe-colonised America), technology is around 100 years behind where it is in our world. Its never really explained why, other than a vague 'Europeans are much more inventive and creative than everyone else'. It also (and spoilers warning here) ends with the main character planning to blackmail his love interest, who hates him at this point due to him completely betraying her and breaking his word, into marrying him. Distinctly problematic.
The other issue, that the author can more solidly be blamed for, is that it's just a bit dull. After a promising start, the world isn't explored anywhere near as well as it could be. Instead the 'hero' is just driven by making the dumbest possible decision at every turn, and pretty much just bounces from disaster to disaster in an extremely frustrating way.
Recommend the first 50 or so pages to get a feel for the world, but not much past that
The problem with it is twofold, one of which can be blamed partly on the author, the other less so.
Firstly, it's aged very poorly. A core part of the setting is that without a powerful Europe (and Europe-colonised America), technology is around 100 years behind where it is in our world. Its never really explained why, other than a vague 'Europeans are much more inventive and creative than everyone else'. It also (and spoilers warning here) ends with the main character planning to blackmail his love interest, who hates him at this point due to him completely betraying her and breaking his word, into marrying him. Distinctly problematic.
The other issue, that the author can more solidly be blamed for, is that it's just a bit dull. After a promising start, the world isn't explored anywhere near as well as it could be. Instead the 'hero' is just driven by making the dumbest possible decision at every turn, and pretty much just bounces from disaster to disaster in an extremely frustrating way.
Recommend the first 50 or so pages to get a feel for the world, but not much past that
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2025
"The Gate of Worlds" by Robert Silverberg is an alternate history novel, set in a world where the Black Death wipes out almost all of Europe and the Turks take over. The main global superpowers are the Aztecs, the Russians and the Japanese, with the African kingdoms on the rise as well.
Focused on the Americas (which are called the Hesperides in this alternate world), this book can really carry you through an emotional rollercoaster, even though it may seem boring worldbuilding for some people. The novel also tackles philosophical questions regarding life, romance, religion, personal life and culture.
It is the best choice if you want to read a short book which talks about a lot of aspects in life. In this fantastic parallel Aztec world, you can almost feel as if you are there, completely moved by the charming characters.
Focused on the Americas (which are called the Hesperides in this alternate world), this book can really carry you through an emotional rollercoaster, even though it may seem boring worldbuilding for some people. The novel also tackles philosophical questions regarding life, romance, religion, personal life and culture.
It is the best choice if you want to read a short book which talks about a lot of aspects in life. In this fantastic parallel Aztec world, you can almost feel as if you are there, completely moved by the charming characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews