Majipoor Chronicles

'Majipoor Chronicles' is a refreshing change after the weightier 'Lord Valentine's Castle. More like a collection of short stories. Silverberg used Hissune's jaunts into 'The Register of Souls' as a frame for stories about people of the past; relative unknowns and great figures. But also a means to show the diversity of the Majipoor itself.

The people represented give us a good idea of Majipoor's collective psyche. Diverse the characters might be, but they come together to show us Majipoor as a complicated, compelling whole.

Lord Valentine's Castle

My prejudice against epics is strong. The reasons I even picked up this epic of fantasy/sci-fi (yes it's both, no, don't scoff):

• It and the next book in the series were 50 cents each
• I'd just read (and enjoyed) a short story by Robert Silverberg, set in this world (Majipoor)
• That story had reminded me of how much I'd enjoyed reading this book the first time, nearly 20 years ago, before I'd formed my epic prejudice (pun intended =D)

Now most epics turn me cold. I'm not sure what it is, probably because it's becoming clichéd. This story never irritated me though, I think because the quest came naturally, as a part of the characters' development. It wasn't forced on them from outside by say, a wizard or *shudders* a prophecy.

It is still an epic, with all the travels, travails, and overreaching themes, that entails. Majipoor's size and diversity is what makes a futuristic epic and travel story possible. With chances to meet rich and varied characters and peoples.