Majipoor Chroncicles

by Robert Silverberg

Book Overview

In the sequel to Lord Valentine's Castle, the history of Majipoor is revealed through thrilling tales of rulers, warriors, murderers, and thieves. "If you like tales with an Arabian Nights piquancy,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553229281
• ISBN13: 9780553229288
• Release Date: February 1983
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 281 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Wonderful

I stumbled across this second book in the Majipoor series, and read it before I read the other books in the series. What an introduction! When Silverberg is on, there is no greater science fiction/fantasy writer, which is, obviously, high praise indeed.After letting this book sit on the shelf a few years, I lent it out to a 'friend'. Of course, I never got it back, so I had to hunt it down again. And when I got it for the second time, I thought I'd leaf through it again. A week of intermittent reading later, I finished it for the second time. It was not a disappointment. Wow. This is as good as SF gets.Highly recommended.

Exploring the Register of Souls

This book very cleverly covers the adolescence of the boy Hissune between his first meeting with Valentine in LORD VALENTINE'S CASTLE and his later career on Castle Mount. Hissune works as a clerk in the House of Records of the Labyrinth of Majipoor - the underground city from which the Pontifex administers the bureaucracy that runs most of the life of Majipoor. Hissune is young, restless - and in the same complex lies the Register of Souls, that treasurehouse of memory recordings from lives scattered all through the thousands of years of Majipoor's history. It's closed to all but authorized personnel, but Hissune isn't one to resist a challenge, and once he gets in, he begins sampling lives - the short stories making up this book, tied together with short passages wherein Hissune's reaction to the events he experienced sometimes provides an artistic rounding off of the story, in cases where he knows how the story turned out. As it happens, his explorations are set out in chronological order as he works forward in time. "Thesme and the Ghayrog" - For his first venture into the Register, Hissune selects a woman 9000 years dead on the far continent of Zimroel. Thesme, like Thoreau, went to the woods to live deliberately - more or less. Living half a day's walk from town, she had become ever more solitary, and welcomed the company of the injured Ghayrog she rescued in the forest. (Ghayrogs, introduced in LORD VALENTINE'S CASTLE, are sleepless for much of the year, so it's no joke for one to be laid up with a broken leg so far from civilization, without access to the entertainment even healthy Ghayrogs need to alleviate boredom.) "The Time of the Burning" - Hissune, curious about the legendary Coronal Lord Stiamot, who conquered Majipoor's native intelligent species - the Metamorphs - seeks out the recording of a soldier of his army in the last days of the war. "In the Fifth Year of the Voyage" - Huge as Majipoor's three continents are, they cover only a small area of the planet's surface; the Great Sea, most of which has never been explored, makes up the rest. But once, long ago in the reign of Coronal Lord Arioc, Sinnabor Lavon sought glory on the shores of Alhanroel by setting out to sail the long way around. (An incident from this story is the basis of the Jim Burns cover painting on the 1983 paperback edition.) "Calintane Explains" - Oddly enough, although all the short stories herein are memory recordings, only this one is presented from the first person viewpoint of the soul thus recorded. Arioc, the Coronal mentioned in the previous story, became one of the most famous Pontifexes in Majipoor's history, although the truth has been obscured by time. Hissune in this case sought out the memory of a member of Arioc's court in the Labyrinth to find out what really happened. "The Desert of Stolen Dreams" - Something of how the Barjazid family came to hold Majipoor's fourth crown, that of the King of Dreams, although not the whole story. "The S

Majipoor Chronicles is Breathtaking!

I loved Lord Valentine's Castle, and figured that this installment in the Majipoor series would only be a necessary stepping stone before reading another book about Valentine. Little did I know how incredible and thorough this book would be, or how deeply affected I would be by the wonderful memories of the characters in the Registry of Souls. All of the stories are wonderful, though Inyanna Forlana's and Arioc's are by far my favorites. And the broad view of Majipoor you get through this book is perfect preparation for Valentine Pontifex. Silverberg's story-telling is rich, vivid, and complex, and this book will remain one of my favorites for years to come.

A Wonderful Way to Learn About Majipoor

Here Silverberg offers us the chance to experience first-person vignettes from across the thousands of years of Majipoor's history. Silverberg does an outstanding job of making historical personages come alive in such a way that, when you encounter oblique references to them in later novels you feel as if someone has just mentioned an old friend.In addition, Silverberg takes you behind the scenes at some of the pivotal moments in Majipoor's past. He crafts those events with insight and cleverness (and throws in a few surprises). The complicated and seductive world of Majipoor is even more so after the glimpses which Silverberg offers.Every story in this collection would stand alone as an enjoyable and thought-provoking reading experience. Together, they are a must-have for fans and non-fans alike.

Fabulous tales

Robert Silverberg's world of Majipoor is an incredibly rich setting for his stories, sending the reader's imagination to new and wonderful places. The scope and detailed history Silverberg has created for this world is breathtaking. Other authors might bog the reader down with useless detail, but Silverberg inspires awe rather than boredom. For readers who have been initiated through "Lord Valentine's Castle", "Majipoor Chronicles" takes you further into Majipoor with a collection of stories covering thousands of years of the planet's history. An excellent book. Compares extremely favorably to Asimov's "Foundation" series, but even better in some ways.