D - Novels
From the Ace cover blurb:
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| A quite readable story from the early years which is the sequel to The Shrouded Planet. The story centers on Kris peKym Yorgen and his rise as the leader of the grassroots movement against the Earthmen. Norvis peRahn is there as the Merchant Party Secretary, with helpful suggestions and advice, but is not the central character for most of the book. The story is a little unusual for its time period in that the aliens (not the humans) are the viewpoint characters, the alien religion is treated seriously and respectfully, and even characters in opposition to the protagonists are given sympathetic roles. In spite of the cover painting, the underwater scenes in the story are done without any diving gear. | |
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From the cover blurb (Bantam edition):
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An interesting point is that the nildoror
look a lot like elephants (distinguished by the presence of three tusks, small horns atop their heads, three
gripping points at the end of their trunks, and a variety
of non-elephantine colors), so humans have difficulty
regarding them as an intelligent species. Furthermore,
having no hands, the nildoror possess nothing we would
call technology--no buildings or cities or tools. But
they undoubtedly have a rich cultural and religious life
which commercially-minded human colonists chose to ignore
in their exploitation of Belzagor's resources. And then
there are the mysterious sulidoror, denizens of the high
mist-country and possessors of their own distinct
culture. The parallel with historical situations
(American expansion into Native American territory as
well as the British time in India) is much in evidence,
as is the hypocrisy of so-called liberals who, when
confronted with the strangeness of alien customs, react
with prejudice or insulting paternalism. There are also
some jabs at tourists of the ugly-American variety.
Gunderson's journey of self-discovery is quite moving and well-portrayed. The story also has many parallels
(intentional on Silverberg's part) with Joseph Conrad's Heart
of Darkness, and even features a character named
Kurtz. In his Introduction to the 1979 edition, Silverberg admits that when he wrote this book, he did not consider it among his best, but over the years, the praise others have lavished upon it has caused him to re-evaluate it and see it strong points. |
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From the cover blurb (Del Rey edition):
Nominated for Nebula Award for best novel, 1972, and with good reason. It's an extraordinary book, brutally honest, hypnotic, literate, and intense, presented in a style that's nearly stream-of-consciousness, with excerpts from letters and papers, drifting freely from first to third person narrative, frequently addressing the reader directly. The science fictional elements are not really pre-eminent--it's more like a really good mainstream novel that happens to involve a telepathic protagonist--and probably seem less so today than when it was published. The setting is New York from around 1940 to 1976, so there isn't much in the way of predictive speculation. One can't help noticing autobiographical elements in Selig--a non-religious Jewish boy from New York, born in 1935, a graduate of Columbia, very well read in both classics and science fiction, with a predilection towards self-analysis and gloominess. Selig is very much what Silverberg might have been, given this extraordinary gift. The examination of the impact of receive-only telepathy is quite thorough, including such variations as meeting another telepath, meeting someone you're unable to read, trying to link during sex, reading the minds of animals and babies, the effects of drugs, and many more. The most striking thing about the story is that, far from being the success you might imagine given his power, Selig is a loser, unable to cope with the guilt he feels at prying into people's minds, unable to use the power to do or become anything useful. This stands in marked contrast to most other stories about telepaths. For those who read German, check out this commentary on the book. |
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Last updated October 21, 2002
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