Valentine Pontifex

I really enjoyed these books when they came out. Valentine continues his quest to bring peace and stability to the giant planet of Majipoor. Majipoor was settled long ago by humans, but no longer have contact with other planets and there are natives to contend with. A great, complex book with compelling characters and setting.

In Lord Valentine's Castle, Valentine, the Coronal of Majipoor, faced a long, hard road to regain his usurped throne. In this sequel, Valentine now finds himself facing some unpleasant duties of his office. One is the threat of war with the native race of Shapeshifters. A Shapeshifter plot is causing havoc in the far reaches of Majipoor and threatening the well being of the realm. Must Valentine, a man of peace, shed blood to save his people? The other duty is that of tradition. It has always been that upon the death of the Pontifex, the Coronal of Majipoor would leave the Castle Mount and take his predecessor's place in the depths of Labyrinth. The Pontifex Tyeveras is ancient, kept alive by machines. With a word, Valentine can release show more Tyeveras and continue the cycle of things. But he is reluctant to so quickly abandon the world of light and take his role below. Like most sequels, Valentine Pontifex is not as good as the original, but it is a great read.
--J. show less

A story that takes far too long to get underway, that drags with no interruptions by surprise or unexpected events.
Many of the characters lack true form and the stories journey is overall uninteresting and a poor pay off for 367 pages.
Regrettably, Robert Silverberg is not an author for me.

I enjoyed this book, but maybe not quite as much as the first in the trilogy, Lord Valentine's Castle. I felt like it was a slow read at the beginning, but it definately picked up towards the middle. I enjoyed the chapters about other non-main characters throughout Majipoor, which really let you experience what they were going through. The only negative feeling I have about the book is I felt the end was very rushed and ended quite abruptly. But still worth a read.

In the third book of the Valentine trilogy Lord Valentine faces the greatest threats of his life and his reign. The aboroginal Shapeshifters masterminded a cunning plan to eradicate all other races from the face of Majipoor and if that's not enough there are his own inner fears to became a Pontifex and to live in the underground Labyrinth. A great ending of a trilogy became classic.

F/SF