Product Description Majipoor, an immense planet populated by a wide variety of exotic races, first appeared in Robert Silverberg's 1980 novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, a book that has since acquired the status of a modern classic. In subsequent decades, Silverberg has revisited Majipoor on numerous occasions, and it has become one of this gifted and prolific author's signature creations.The latest offering in the cycle, Tales of Majipoor, is both a superb literary accomplishment and a gift to Silverberg's legion of devoted fans. This generous volume contains seven long stories, each of which explores a different aspect of life on Majipoor. Together, they encompass several thousand years of colorful, dramatic history. The opening tale, 'The End of the Line,' tells the story of Lord Stiamot and his rise to the role of Coranol, a position second only to Pontifex in Majipoor's complex hierarchy. The final entry, 'The Seventh Shrine,' circles back to the very beginning of the series, giving us a murder mystery set during the reign of Lord Valentine. In between are stories that involve magic ('The Sorcerer s Apprentice'), religion ('The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar'), and even poetry ('The Book of Changes'). Supplementing all this is a brief but crucial historical prologue and a series of detailed maps that add richness and depth to these singular--and endlessly absorbing--narratives. Beautifully written and thoroughly imagined on every level, Tales of Majipoor combines irresistible storytelling with the sort of meticulously detailed world building that only the finest imaginative literature can provide. It is a book that only Robert Silverberg, a true Grand Master, could have written. From the Inside Flap Majipoor, an immense planet populated by a wide variety of exotic races, first appeared in Robert Silverberg's 1980 novel, Lord Valentine's Castle, a book that has since acquired the status of a modern classic. In subsequent decades, Silverberg has revisited Majipoor on numerous occasions, and it has become one of this gifted and prolific author's signature creations.The latest offering in the cycle, Tales of Majipoor, is both a superb literary accomplishment and a gift to Silverberg's legion of devoted fans. This generous volume contains seven long stories, each of which explores a different aspect of life on Majipoor. Together, they encompass several thousand years of colorful, dramatic history. The opening tale, “The End of the Line,” tells the story of Lord Stiamot and his rise to the role of Coranol, a position second only to Pontifex in Majipoor's complex hierarchy. The final entry, “The Seventh Shrine,” circles back to the very beginning of the series, giving us a murder mystery set during the reign of Lord Valentine. In between are stories that involve magic (“The Sorcerer's Apprentice”), religion (“The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar”), and even poetry (“The Book of Changes”). Supplementing all this is a brief but crucial historical prologue and a series of detailed maps that add richness and depth to these singular—and endlessly absorbing—narratives. Beautifully written and thoroughly imagined on every level, Tales of Majipoor combines irresistible storytelling with the sort of meticulously detailed world building that only the finest imaginative literature can provide. It is a book that only Robert Silverberg, a true Grand Master, could have written.

The years since first be gained the Starburst Crown have been difficult ones for Coronal Lord Prestimion and the vast, unfathoniable realm he rules. But finally peace has been restored to Majipoor. And now it is time for Prestimion to name the able Prince Dekkeret his succeeding Coronal and to descend to the Labyrinth as Pontifex. But a power from a dark past that both men believed was dead is stirring once again -- an evil more potent and devastating than either leader dares to remember. Once, decades past, a then knight-initiate Dekkeret had his dreams stolen from him. His quest for recovery led him to a remarkable helmetthat could invade the psyches of sleeping foes, a device the newly anointed Coronal Prestimion later utilized to defeat his enemy Dantirya Sambail, tyrant of the continent Zimroel. In the fires of civil war, the terrible weapon was destroyed forever -- or so it was believed. The noxious weed of rebellion was torn out at its roots but its seeds have borne frightening fruit. Dantirya Sambail is dead, and the hungry jackals who ran at his heels now scheme to recover his lost lands and power. At their head is the tyrant's former henchman Mandralisca -- a villain of great wiles and icy heart, who somehow has unleashed a devastating plague of the mind upon Prestimion's subjects, Dark visions are invading the sleep of those loyal to the Lords and the Lady of Majipoor -- soul-shattering scenes of madness and monstrosity, driving those inflicted to commit horrible, destructive acts. And the dark wave is flowing ever-closer to the throne, seeping beneath the doors of the 30,000 rooms of the towering edifice atop Castle Mount ... and into sacrosanct depths of the imperial Labyrinth itself. A new campaign for the soul of Majipoor has been declared -- and its catastrophic opening salvos have been fired in silence and in mystery. Once again Prestimion and Dekkeret have been called onto the battlefield of nightmare. But this time it will be a war to the death against a foe greater than all who came before: the master of murderous shadows who aspires to be King of all.