This is the first book in the "Majipor" trilogy. Set in an immense world teeming with alien races and fantastic magical machinery, Valentine wakes up one morning with only a vague and troubled idea of who he is. His dreams suggest he is the ruler of Majipor - but no one will believe him.
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About the Author
Robert Silverberg has won five Nebula Awards, four Hugo Awards, and the prestigious Prix Apollo. He is the author of more than one hundred science fiction and fantasy novels -- including the best-selling Lord Valentine trilogy and the classics Dying Inside and A Time of Changes -- and more than sixty nonfiction works. Among the sixty-plus anthologies he has edited are Legends and Far Horizons, which contain original short stories set in the most popular universe of Robert Jordan, Stephen King, Ursula K. Le Guin, Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, Orson Scott Card, and virtually every other bestselling fantasy and SF writer today. Mr. Silverberg's Majipoor Cycle, set on perhaps the grandest and greatest world ever imagined, is considered one of the jewels in the crown of speculative fiction.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Sarah Sammis
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Lord Valentine's Castle is one of my favorite Sci/Fi Fantasy novels I've read. It has its feet firmly planted in both genres and also dabbles in mystery. The book follows a young blond man, Valentine who shares the name of the Coronal but has very little of his memory save for his name. Valentine joins up with a circus, learns to juggle (and oh how I wanted to learn after reading this book) and ultimately discovers the truth of his past!
By J R Zullo
Format:Mass Market Paperback
It's hard do agree if this is mostly a work of science fiction or fantasy. I think "Lord Valentine's castle" is more in the fantasy realm, but Silverberg accomplished, in this acclaimed book, a great blend of both. The story, the names, the characters, all have a big resemblance to Tolkien's work, but Majipoor is a world that stands on its own.
The story is simple, a quest in fact: Valentine "wakes up" as a thirty-year-old man whose past is misty and pratically lost. In Majipoor, a giant planet, metal-poor, and home to more than 20 billion people of diverse races (humans and aliens), Valentine travels hundreds of thousands of miles, gathering interesting characters around him, trying to disclose who he was, and what has been stolen from him.
Many other reviewers state that Valentine's quest has little and simple difficulties, and that's right. His group has many problems along the way, but every time they resolve it quickly and thoroughly. I think the main feature Silverberg accomplished in this work is to present Majipoor and its people. The governing system, the grandness of scale, the unusual situations and most of the characters are really interesting, and the reader can't help but like them, in one way or another. But sometimes, due to the number of characters existing on the story, some of them disappear for many pages, only to come back again, in minor passages, as if the author suddenly remembered about them.
The only thing that doesn't fit is the lenght of the book. Suddenly, it's all over. Silverberg could have developed the last two chapters of the book in a more complete fashion, adding another couple of hundred pages, and the book wouldn't be too long.
Anyway, this is one of the best ideas I've come along regarding fantasy/sci-fi. Great reading.
Grade 9.0/10
By C. T. Hunter
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The extremely fascinating world of Majipoor is introduced in this novel. There are lots of great things about this book, but it doesn't really live up to its potential. While the characters, plot, dialogue, and imagery are all top rate, there is a serious lack of action and suspense. The book is very predictable (from the first chapter you'd be able to guess at most everything that happens in the rest of the book). I actually would have given this book three stars if not for the last couple of chapters, which contained some good action and threw in an unexpected (but welcome) twist.
The story takes you through Valentine's journey to take back his castle from a usurper. While there are a couple of times during the journey when he is challenged in some way or another, he is able to coast through most of his journey without too much adversity. While the story had all the elements of a truly epic adventure, Silverberg dissapoints by failing to give his character more than a small challenge every now and than. (There couldn't have been more than 2 battle scenes the entire book, and even those weren't very suspenseful). For the most part, Valentine and his friends have a free ride along their journey. They are always able to find everything they need and luck stays with them the entire way. Overall, this book was disapointing because it just didn't live up to its potential.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unique Fantasy Masterpiece
Capsule Description: An unusual epic fantasy with some science-fictional overtones and a unique protagonist. A fantasy quest, but not really like any other fantasy book I've read. Read more
Published on Oct 28 2003 by Ryk E. Spoor
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good Gawd what a boring book!!!
One thing I will say about this book is the author has some great imagination and this book seemed to be an excuse for him to get the fantastical creatures out of his system and... Read more
Published on July 22 2003 by "yenezie"
3.0 out of 5 stars
My Second Reading
This book is a fantasy by one of the greatest living Science Fiction writers. In this it fails
: that is is wordy; that it over uses devices like man eating plants and... Read more
: that is is wordy; that it over uses devices like man eating plants and... Read more
Published on Dec 10 2002 by R. Bagula
5.0 out of 5 stars
Continental Adventure
Rob Silverberg must love mountains. Like his Kingdoms of the Wall (where the heroes climb mountains for the adventure) and The Alien Years (where the heroes live on mountains to... Read more
Published on Feb 12 2002 by "arem9"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Epic science fiction with the flavor of fantasy
I first read Robert Silverberg's amazing novel "Lord Valentine's Castle" many, many years ago, but his superbly drawn world has remained with me. Read more
Published on Oct 19 2001 by Michael J. Mazza
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Very heroic in sweep. World scaled very large. This is the first book in the series. I am a bit surprised that no film has been made of this - it definately has movie potential.
Published on Sep 5 2001 by logan9a
4.0 out of 5 stars
Basically a Good Story
Welcome to the world of Majipoor, a very interesting world full of many things to taste and touch. Silverberg intrigues your imagination will excellent descriptions of every place... Read more
Published on Aug 9 2001
2.0 out of 5 stars
Simplistic
After reading the other reviews i was stunned. I read this book years ago and although i am not avid SF reader found the book simplistic, unimaginative and predictable. Read more
Published on Jun 20 2001 by Robert Kramm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just fun.
Lord's Valentine castle is not one of the best fantasy book, It is not including aspiring dogma`s or bright ideas, it's only target is to give great pleasure to the reader, and... Read more
Published on Jun 6 2001 by Ran Bar Zik
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!
This was a very enjoyable book. It was almost too hard to put down!
Published on Jun 2 2001
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