Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg

Hello, Stranger.

Let's talk about Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle.

The Short of It

Plot: An amnesiac wanderer goes on an epic quest to reclaim his identity. 

Page Count: 506

Award: 1981 Locus

Worth a read: Yes
Primary Driver: (Plot, World, or Character)
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Minimal.
Review: Despite it's sluggish pace and constant meanders there is something absolutely engrossing about this book. Tap dances right on the border of SF and Fantasy - and successfully balances both. Character interaction and conversations are solid throughout. Remarkable establishment of side-character personalities - including minor characters having their own arcs. Excellent use of power crawl and believable evolution of Valentine from passive to active protagonist. Got pretty tired of reading about juggling.

The Medium of It

Spoiler Free!

I dreaded reading this. It's quite the hefty tome - and my only other Silverberg experience was A Time of Changes, which even at 220 pages felt like a chore to get through. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found myself not just enjoying this but recommending it to my friends. 

The "Amnesiac Protagonist Who Has Amazing Abilities" setup is a bit trite at this point - looking at you, Robert Ludlum. But dang, Silverberg does it here extremely well. Valentine does not develop amazing skills from nothing, except that he has a natural aptitude for juggling. Anything else he learns along the way.

It's hard to discuss plot in any way without major spoilers, though the broad strokes are pretty obvious if you have read the name of the protagonist and the title of the book. For the most part, though, the actual details of the plot are primarily vehicles to show off different characters and/or locales. We start with a "Circus Nomad" deal (consider Station 11, Cirque du Freak, the Night Circus, The Name of the Wind, and a whole lot of other texts). At some point that shifts to a "Pilgrim on a Journey" plot. Then later we hit "Returning With Purpose" - with a few other pretty standard plot structures tossed in as well. Yet the plot beats are convincing enough that the fetch-quest structure feels necessary - and the different places we get to explore and the characters we meet are fantastic.

This obviously means that the plot is in some ways predictable. However, the individual story beats are often totally surprising, and the quality of writing in descriptions is superb. Much more a question of journey than destination.

For obvious reasons, this book would not be able to stand if Valentine was not a good protagonist. He's great. We go along on his journey of self-discovery, watching as he learns how the world really works - and he changes in ways that make sense, based upon his experiences. 

This is part of a broader world; I have not read any of the others. I found the conclusion of this quite satisfying - I don't know that I want to go further, though I probably will at some point.

I certainly recommend giving this a read; just don't expect a quick pace or much action.

If you'd like to pick it up, consider using the link below! I'll get a few cents at no extra cost to you.

Lord Valentine's Link

The Long of It

Spoilers Ahead!

Well, I sure don't want to ever read about juggling ever again. In a book that has so many interesting characters and places we spend a shocking amount of time on... juggling. And yeah, we get it. He's good at juggling, like, you know, juggling tasks, so it's, like, you know, a metaphor, you know? The same subtlety that led to Silverberg naming a book about changes A Time of Changes and a book about Lord Valentine trying to reclaim his castle... well, Stranger, you see where I'm going with this.

I really liked the juggling gimmick at the beginning. It's an excellent justification for interacting with different social tiers; jugglers perform for rich and poor, in cities and towns, and travel. There are a few points where it does not come up for around 50 pages, but then we're right back in it. 

Except, of course, that I loved the juggling scene at the end. It's a textbook-perfect way to bring the narrative full circle; it completes that arc of Valentine as a just ruler; it fulfills a promise to do just that much earlier in the book; and it shows his continued bonds to those who helped him on his way. 

This probably has one of the strongest casts of supporting characters of anything I've encountered in this reading challenge so far. They're just fun to read. When a seven foot tall mercenary woman shows up screaming bloody murder and then proceeds to engage in price gouging - it's just fun. Watching the slow transition of the head juggler from abrasive and insecure in his power to feeling like a part of something greater. 

Anyway, Stranger, I bought a set of juggling balls from Craigslist.

And don't forget to read a book!