Downward to the Earth

One day some publisher will wise up and make a nice slipcase set of all of Silverberg's thirteen or so classic seventies novels, if only to startle people into Silverberg's sheer level of variety in that decade, something that I've seen very few authors do since (Iain Banks comes the closest and even he has a bunch of "Culture" novels). Most of the books are short, they make their points concisely, poignantly and finish off in a way that keeps the themes resonating in the readers' minds. Of course, most of them are out of print, although the situation is much better than it was only a couple of years ago. "Dying Inside" is back, as is "Tower of Glass" and "The Masks of Time" and even "A Time of Changes" I've seen recently. So it looks like the long drought is over, but there are still some outliers roaming around, waiting to be republished. "Downward to the Earth" is one of them, alas, sadly enough. The story concerns itself on one level with the theme of transcendence, along with trying to understand an alien culture and adapt its lessons to ourselves. The main character of the story was an administrator of a planet inhabited by two sets of sentinent cultures, a planet that Earth subsequently relinquished all claims on and let the cultures retake the planet. He comes to visit to see the changes that the years have wrought and to visit the old spots that he used to know. But he also uses the visit as a time to reflect over potential wrong acts that he allowed under his watch, some which he personally enacted. So what follows is a journey into the planet, as he comes into contact with the races and goes to discover the meaning of their "rebirth", along the way finding that the planet changes people far more than people ever hoped to change the planet. What is always amazing about these books is the absolute effortlessness of Silverberg's writing and plotting, how it all fits together seamlessly, how it swaggers with quiet confidence, not needing loud action scenes or screaming, for the most part it's people walking around and talking. And it's absolutely fascinating. Silverberg does an excellent job of detailing the cultures and making them suitably alien, not so different that we can't relate but it's clear that there are some things that we'll never completely understand. The revelations come as planned, and are absolutely shocking and his control over the plot is masterful. These days a story like this would probably warrant an over-the-top trilogy of sorts, bringing the characters through wrenching changes. Silverberg doesn't need to do that, everyone and everything feels real and if not for the setting and the outlandishness of some scenes, it could be a normal story about one man's acceptance of the past and his search for forgiveness. That it still works, even in the strange setting, with unfamiliar creatures, is a testament to Silverberg's skill as a writer. In the seventies he accomplished that rare thing, a compact, com

This is the book that changed my pleasant love for reading into a deep desire to experience the best of science fiction literature. Vivid, lush and exotic. Rich with compassion and ideas. A complete sensory and soulful immersion into a truly alien world.

Excellent. Initially appears slightly two-dimensional, but soon takes off. The central character is vividly realised, and is motivated by deep moral and ethical concerns. As a reader I was drawn into his journey totally, and the sections dealing with his immersion into the inhabitants culture and ritual are visualised with a pure anamalistic energy and flavour which jumps off of the page. Recommended as one of Silverberg's finest.

A foreign planet once considered for colonization by humans is the setting for this story. Native elephant-like creatures of the planet were used as labor by a company that first worked on developing land there. After the project is abandoned, the planet becomes a tourist attraction. A man who oversaw the original development returns years later, due to a vague guilt that haunts him regarding the alien creatures. He soon learns that those creatures are much more coomplex than he realized. He then begins a journey towards understanding and redemption. The journey is fascinating, and ends with a very moving revelation about one of the creaturess that assists the man. This is my favorite book by Silverberg. As usual, it addresses many human issues. The strength here is how gradually yet fully we come to see the harm and tragedy of man's tendency to compare others with himself. We also learn about acceptance and forgiveness, for ourselves. Superb book for those who enjoy thought provoking material.