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Valentine Pontifex (1983)Aliens

Cover art by Jim Burns
  • HB: Arbor House, 1983, 347 pages
  • PB: Bantam, 1984, 368 pages, ISBN 0-553-24494-9

From the cover blurb:

Dark dreams stir Lord Valentine's sleep. The Shapeshifters scheme in secret to regain their stolen world, and confusion and chaos are whispered on the winds of Majipoor. A planet that has known only peace for countless centuries must now prepare itself for war.

To save Majipoor, Valentine faces an anguishing choice--accept the mantle of Pontifex and surrender the high office of Coronal to his ambitious young successor Hissune, or use his own great powers to avert a long nightmare of bloodshed and battle.
The third book in the Majipoor series begun with Lord Valentine's Castle and Majipoor Chronicles, concluding the story of Valentine (since Mountains of Majipoor and Sorcerers of Majipoor are set in different eras on the big planet). Well, almost concluding: "The Seventh Shrine" is a short novel set after this book.

Things are not going well for the restored Lord Valentine. All across the continent of Zimroel, blights strike the crops; the sea-dragons have changed their migration path; vicious animals rampage through the land. The peace that has reigned for eight thousand years could be shattered at any moment, and Valentine does not want to be remembered as the Coronal who brought war back to Majipoor.

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Last updated October 21, 2002

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