Lord Prestimion: The Majipoor Cycle Continues

I have read all of the Majipoor books, which are wonderful but this book is good but the ending seemed "too easy". The book before Lord Prestimion was great. Basically this book deals with the aftermath of a war and the consequences and tries to bring closure. If you have read the other books in the series, give this one a try. Could have been better but still pretty good.

For all its shortcomings, I still found this an enjoyable read. After thinking about why I found Lord Prestimion not as satisfying as the previous novels, I feel my frustration originates from Mr Silverberg's giving us a flawed character in Prestimion. Here is a man who fought a war and then chose to remove the memory of that war from every mind on the planet. His rationale? Well, Majipoor has never had a war before. This is Prestimion's first poor value judgement from the last novel. Now, in this new book, Prestimion has doubts and angst and while chewing his nails to the quick, he allows the notorious Procurator Dantirya Sambail to escape from the royal dungeons. And so now we have the plot for this novel- saving the planet from the insanity the inhabitants are experiencing as a result of having their minds tampered with, and fighting the evil Procurator whom Prestimion didn't have the balls to put to death. (Poor value judgement number two.) It's very frustrating to care about a character one cannot admire- and wants to wallop a good one in his derriere. That said, the other characters are marvelous. Prestimion's close friends are a delight, Dekkeret is given good characterization, Maundigan-Klimd is fascinatng, and the main "character" - Majipoor- is as marvelous as ever. Not much excitement, except for the misery- for both the inhabitants and the reader- of detailed descriptions of incidents of insanity, but if you've come to love this world and its characters, you won't feel you've wasted your money.

I love this book! The events that take place on Majipoor are at least on a scale with Tolkien's Middle Earth (almost). In this wonderfully told story of intrigue and strife, Lord Prestimion certainly proves himself worthy to be Coronal. After all the struggles and heartache, he at last sits on the throne and takes charge (as if he didn't all along). I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Septach Melayn again. I adore that guy!! I was once again captivated by Majipoor. I'm re-reading The Majipoor Chronicles, just to explore that huge jewel all over again. After all, I believe Majipoor is a world that you can visit again and again and learn something new every time. Obviously, Mr. Silverberg has "caught the bug", so to speak. I know Majipoor and all its people, lands, seas, and animals will live on for ages to come.