jay1051971's Full Review: Robert Silverberg - Lord Valentine's Castle
A while back, I wrote a review on a literary magazine called Realms of Fantasy, which promotes the fantasy/science fantasy/sci fi genres. I was taken to task by one reader of the review for making the blunder of not knowing who Robert Silverberg was. Apparently, what made this blunder even more embarrassing, is the fact that Silverberg is one of the most highly acclaimed authors in the genre, having won numerous prestigious awards for his works. Well, not being one to take it lying down, I set out to find one of this man’s books and read it for myself. After asking a friend who is familiar with Silverberg’s novels to recommend and appropriate choice, I went out and bought a copy of Lord Valentine’s Castle. In hindsight, the time I spent reading this book was a near waste, and I can see why I had never heard of Silverberg.
The Plot:
The story opens with Valentine standing on a cliff overlooking the city of Pidruid, where he meets up with a young boy on his way to the city to sell some livestock. The city is in the midst of preparing for a huge festival to celebrate the arrival of the Coronal - essentially, the planet’s version of a Prince-King – the newly crowned Lord Valentine. (Coincidence?) In the city, Valentine meets up with a troupe of jugglers who travel across the planet performing wherever they can. Having nothing better to do, Valentine joins the group and begins learning the juggling arts.
On Majipoor, dreams play an important role in people’s lives. They are viewed as “sendings” from two mystical entities: The Lady of the Isle, who sends positive, inspiring visions, and The King of Dreams, who sends darker, foreboding dreams often as punishment for those who have done unethical deeds. These two are almost like forces of nature, and help provide balance to an otherwise peaceful and orderly people.
Along the way, Valentine starts having turbulent, confusing dreams. With the help of his companions, he consults with various people, until he gradually comes to learn that not only does he share the same name with the Coronal, he actually is the Coronal whose soul has been displaced into someone else’s body! In an act of treachery, the Coronal’s throne was usurped, presumably for nefarious purposes. He must travel to the center of power on Majipoor and reclaim his title.
Before he does that, he travels to the Isle of Sleep, where the Lady resides. The Lady, it turns out, is the mother of the Coronal. He seeks her out to enlist her help in her mission. From there, he goes to a place called the Labrynth, where the Pontifex resides. The Pontifex is the real ruler of Majipoor, and for whom the Coronal carries out his role as the more visible chief executive. At both places, Valentine must do a little scheming to overcome certain obstacles to secure audiences with the two people he needs most. Once he gains their backing, he then takes his companions, and a growing army of followers and travels to the castle of the Coronal for a final showdown.
Thoughts
In a word, this book was absolutely boring. First of all, there was little action and no suspense. Everything was telegraphed 100 pages in advance. Beginning with the fact that Valentine shared a name with “Lord” Valentine, it was fairly obvious what was going on from the start. There were only two or three fight scenes where anything of consequence took place, and the descriptions of these encounters were lackluster at best.
Furthermore, little attention was paid to character development. We really don’t know much about Valentine’s companions. He grows very attached to them, but we never really get a sense of why these people come to mean a great deal to him. The sheer volume of people that are introduced throughout the story tends to minimize the importance of each. And the lack of character development was overshadowed by the lack of description of the places, culture, and technology of the people of Majipoor.
A lot of questions went unanswered. For instance, we know that Majipoor was settled thousands of years ago by human beings from earth. How they got there is a mystery. There are many other races that live on the planet as well, and even one character that joins Valentine’s entourage is an alien from another world. What I never got a clear picture of was that if interstellar travel is so obviously possible, why were the characters traveling around in a wagon pulled by mounts? Silverberg keeps referring to the size of the planet, but it would seem that there should be some more technologically advanced means of travel available. For that reason, it was hard to get a clear picture of what kind of setting this story is taking place. It almost seems to be a cross between a futuristic world that ironically is stuck in the Renaissance era.
Another question that didn't get answered was how exactly the transferring of souls took place. Was it magic? Technology? How? One of the characters in Valentine's group is a "sorceror", but aside from references to a veiled skepticism, its unclear whether it really was sorcery, or some other art.
Many areas of the storyline where action and suspense could have been cultivated were simply overlooked. I thought for sure the time Valentine and his companions spent on the Isle of Sleep in their quest to meet the Lady would have explored for the dramatic value. Nope. Instead, the reader is immersed in the setting about as deep as a child in a moving car is immersed in the scenery along the highway.
What bugged me was that the first real signs of action and suspense came in the last 15 pages of the book. It’s so obvious that Silverberg is setting the reader up for the next book. I won’t give away what happens in those pages, but when I read them I said to myself, “now why didn’t he employ that kind of mystery in the earlier parts of the book?”
To his credit, Silverberg does write very fluidly. I was thankful for the fact that since I was going to read a boring story, at least I wasn’t going to get bogged down in a tedious and meandering writing style. His writing is easy enough for most people to pick up. But don’t mistake form with content. Just because he’s easy to read, doesn’t mean its worth reading.
Overall:
Obviously, I would not recommend this book. The sheer blandness of the story warrants a non-recommendation. And while I must admit, I’m curious to see what happens in the next few stories with regards to certain events in the last few pages of the book, I have resolved myself to not get fooled into wasting more time on this story line. Neither should you. One and one-quarter stars.
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