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LORD VALENTINE’S
CASTLE Robert Silverberg needs little introduction to aficionados of the genre. He has been nominated for more awards than any other living SF writer and this is possibly his best-known and most well loved work to date. First published in 1979 it combines fantasy and SF to create a stunningly enduring vision of the huge planet Majipoor. Here everything is larger than life and wonders abound. The Pontifex, but his heir the Coronal has been overthrown and replaced with an impostor rule this mighty world. Meanwhile the real Lord Valentine is making his way as a travelling juggler and seeing his world from the point of view of an ordinary citizen. He will make many friends and enemies, meet some of the marvellous races including the feared shape shifting Metamorphs of Piurifayne before he has to overcome the impostor and take his rightful place as Coronal once more. Described thus it sounds like a standard work of fantasy fiction but it is a lot more than that. Silverberg is adept at creating likeable and well-rounded characters that the reader cares about, but the main thing that sets this series apart from many others is the vivid descriptions of Majipoor. The reader is there in the lush jungles or twisting labyrinths and every portrayal is imbued with a sense of marvel at it all. I was sorry when I had turned the last page as there seemed to be so much more to say and yet the story was complete with no need for two more parts of the inevitable fantasy trilogy. Silverberg has instead created a set of stand-alone novels where different stories are told in each. All writers of fantasy and SF ought to read these beautiful books. |