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Kelver had been chosen by a heretic to be the chosen one who would bring down a galactic empire that had lasted twenty thousand years and controlled a million worlds. He was sent to Uran s'Varek, the vast artificial sphere build around the black hole at the heart of the galaxy, to be trained in the ways of the High Inquest, the godlike elite who ruled the known universe.Instead, he fell in love with the beautiful, cruel White Inquestrix Siriss, and the violet-eyed boy Arryk - was entranced show more by the singing city of Shentrazjit - wept at the sepulcher of worlds - made love in a desert of powdered chocolate - and was finally possessed by the Throne of Madness, whose unimaginable power came from the deaths of stars.The Inquestor Series, a dazzling future history of a galactic empire of shattering beauty and brutality, was iconic science fiction of the 1980s by World Fantasy Award and Campbell Award winner S.P. Somtow, who created worlds, languages, cultures and spectacle. In the words of Analog magazine, "He may yet give us the greatest science fiction novel of all time."Forty years on, the series has come to life again, with additional novels, revised editions and new introductions and ancillary materials. Somtow's far-flung galactic civilization is a creation to rival Silverberg's Majipoor or Herbert's Dune. It is a universe with its own language and exotic customs, vividly etched characters and rich history that spans thousands of worlds and tens of thousands of years.The godlike Inquestors of the High Inquest had forsaken all that made them human. But one young Inquestor rediscovered the power of compassion and hastened the end of their ancient, starflung empire...."In a prose that evokes the spirited imagination of thesymbolist painters and poets, Somtow postulates a complex universe of immense scope ... upholds the author's place as one of SF's formidable talents."- Publishers Weekly show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This was a re-read for me - but it's been over 20 years since I first read it. It's interesting to come back to something after so long. I'm happy that I still really, really liked it.
It's a reading experience that's more like experiencing a poem or a song than a typical novel. This is not to say that the plot is not clear and easy to follow (if anything, the plot might be overly simple, given such a rich and complex universe), but it is suffused with almost a synaesthesia of the senses, with music and glittering darkness. It's full of weird and wonderful imagery.
That said, perhaps some people might find it dated in some ways - personally, I found it giving me a nostalgia for the time period when it was written, which was much more show more filled with over-the-top fantasy, with an unabashed flair for the dramatic. Although this is sci-fi, it reminded me of when goth was all about beauty, decadence and playing at cruelty and power, skirting the edges of convention. Some people found goth rock too bombastic too. I don't.
I wish Somtow would write more SF. Being a conductor is all very nice and worthwhile, but.... More Books! :-)" show less
It's a reading experience that's more like experiencing a poem or a song than a typical novel. This is not to say that the plot is not clear and easy to follow (if anything, the plot might be overly simple, given such a rich and complex universe), but it is suffused with almost a synaesthesia of the senses, with music and glittering darkness. It's full of weird and wonderful imagery.
That said, perhaps some people might find it dated in some ways - personally, I found it giving me a nostalgia for the time period when it was written, which was much more show more filled with over-the-top fantasy, with an unabashed flair for the dramatic. Although this is sci-fi, it reminded me of when goth was all about beauty, decadence and playing at cruelty and power, skirting the edges of convention. Some people found goth rock too bombastic too. I don't.
I wish Somtow would write more SF. Being a conductor is all very nice and worthwhile, but.... More Books! :-)" show less
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Author Information
122+ Works 3,430 Members
S. P. Somtow is a composer, film director, and author of over forty books His prolific output spans the genres of horror, science-fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and children's literature. His work has won or been nominated for dozens of major awards, including the John W. Campbell Award, the Locus, the Bram Stoker, the Hugo, and the World show more Fantasy Award He has written and directed two feature films -- The Laughing Dead and Ill met at Moonlight -- and will soon direct Timetwist from his own script. His epic ballet, Kaki, premiered as a Royal Command performance in Bangkok and he recently conducted the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Somtow -- otherwise known as the Secret Godfather of the New Age -- currently lurks somewhere in the bowels of Los Angeles show less
S. P. Somtow is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Throne of Madness
- Original publication date
- 1983
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 105
- Popularity
- 309,576
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.90)
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 2
