The Mountains of Majipoor
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Silverberg returns to the world of his greatest triumph - Majipoor - to tell the thrilling story of a young man's quest into the unknown!
For young Prince Harpirias, the journey into the tundra beyond Majipoor might as well be a death sentence. But it is the only way to escape his dull job in a provincial city. The mission: to rescue a lost party of palaeontologists searching for the remains of a fabled species of dragons. With only a small band of soldiers and one wily Shapeshifter for company, Harpirias must endure blizzards, ice storms, privation and strange beasts.
But when they reach their destination, they discover a shockingly barbaric culture. One mistake, one minor violation of custom, and the prince and his retinue will face endless captivity - or endless death!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Silverberg's fourth Majipoor book--his first in over 10 years--is, like the second novel in this popular fantasy series, Majipoor Chronicles, a bildungsroman. Set five centuries after the events in book three, Valentine Pontifex, it details the adventures of Prince Harpirias, a young bureaucrat exiled from Castle Mount when he commits an unintentional indiscretion during a hunting expedition. The prince is given a chance to redeem himself by rescuing a group of scientists who have been taken captive by a previously undiscovered, less technologically advanced people whom Harpirias considers ``savages.'' Aided by a Shapeshifter and several others, Harpirias makes several discoveries that startle him much more than they will the reader. While there are moments here that recall the glorious descriptive passages displayed earlier in the series, these are infrequent, and sadder still is the author's apparent lack of interest in his characters. Hissune in Majipoor Chronicles and Valentine himself were living creations, but Harpirias and the Shapeshifter seem less full-fledged characters than elements tailored to further the plot. While fans may be grateful for any return to Majipoor, this shadow of a novel doesn't provide the journey they might have hoped for.