Return to Nevèrÿon

This work was first published by the title mentioned in the review title, in 1987 (November) by St. Martins Press/New York. I have verified this by viewing the content page of "Return to Neveryon". While this is perhaps an unimportant detail, the search was sparked by the review below, and of course, my desire to find any other Samuel R. Delany (SRD) books about Neveryon (disappointed). However, the book is a satisfying conclusion to the four published texts in the series, perhaps beginning with "Triton", mentioned briefly in one of the appendices as having a significant role in the development of what Delany (in the guise of an alter-ego K. Leslie Steiner) calles "The Modular Calculus", a philosophical attempt to construct a measure of the degree of approach of a "model of reality" (that is, a book or series of books) to the "reality" itself. Thus, one may infer that the entire Neveryon series and the book Triton, (only mentioned in passing in the appendix to the third book of the series "Flight from Neveryon") is part of a philosophical musing by the author on the nature of society, civilization and the development and nature of the self, as demonstrated by various inhabitants of the "model" or fictional world he has created. Despite these deeper philosophical conjectures, the book is a fascinating romp through what is perhaps, and perhaps not, an alternate world. Enjoy!

Delany finishes his series of Neveryon novels but focusing on the character who not only kicked off the series but has provided most of the impetus for the events in the novels, either as a main character, through cameo roles, or through an offscreen yet tangible presence. Delany's stories in this volume are less self-consciously experimental (at least in structure) than the last volume and thus come across as more conventional. They really aren't, most of them explore topics in semniotics, a subject I really don't have that great a knowledge of and as usual probably missed most of the bigger points he's trying to make. But the stories make for interesting reads on their own. The first story (which is the longest) has Gorgik, at the end of his career, tell a story about himself to a barbarian boy who could care less. This one is probably the least exciting since it's basically all monologue, but it's still entertaining and delves a bit more into the nature of perception versus reality (at least that's how I read it). The second story is a lot of fun and barely even involves Gorgik, instead telling the tale of a petty criminal, moving back and forth along his life, creating a very complex charactization, and highlighting more aspects of Delany's very intricately created culture. The last story ends the series on a high note and is a slightly rewritten version of the first story from the first volume, showing Gorgik's formative years. It's not too different from the original (if at all) I thought some sections were tweaked slightly and some parts were expanded upon more, but overall it was great the first time and it's just as good the second time. One thing that's neat about the stories is how they inform each other, there aren't explicit connections between them but the connections are there (plus the chronology goes backward, adding another level of meaning) especially between the second and last stories (the one you'd least think would be connected) and it shows a level of thought and plotting and an attention to structure that you don't normally see in fantasy. All in all, a nice cap to a fun series, one of the best pure sword and sorcery series to come along in a while. What they lacked in blood and guts they made up in imagination and pure thought and for that reason they'll stand head and shoulders over other fantasy books that seek to continue the status quo and tell the same old stories.