Tom O'Bedlam

Two of my favorite genres mixed in one book. "Post Apocalyptic" and "first contact". Tom, Poor Crazy Tom, has been haunted by visions of distant worlds his whole life. He tries to convey their communications as he wanders the devastated lands of america years after the "dust wars". Then others start having the dreams. Tom unwittingly goes from "madman" to messiah. This book is a brilliant character study about how people survive in a post apocalyptic world and how they handle first contact with alien worlds. Some find their religious beliefs being strengthened or questioned. Others try to use the strange phenomena to their advantage. This book is a real "thinker". You'll find yourself pondering for days, especially personal faith and religion.

Here Robert Silverberg created a minor sci-fi masterpiece with a quite profound and moving look at how different people would handle the existence of aliens. For all his life, the main character Tom has been having visions of alien worlds and super-advanced beings that are infinitely beyond humans, but everyone just treated him like he was crazy. But eventually, other people start having the same dreams, and this is where Silverberg's treatment of the concept is most interesting. The establishment thinks that those receiving the visions are mental cases that should be heavily sedated, religious adherents think they're signs of God, and the downtrodden see them as inspiration to join a cult founded by charlatans for their own gain. It turns out that the visions are really broadcasts from godlike aliens inviting humans to drop their physical existence and join them. But even though poor crazy Tom emerges as the chosen one, it's impossible to convince all people of what's good for them. Silverberg utilized some relatively common sci-fi concepts, but constructed a stirring theme that encourages a surprising amount of deep thought for the philosophically minded reader. [~doomsdayeer520~]

One of the most beautiful, thought-provoking sci-fi novels ever written. To put it quite simply, this book is brilliant; easily ranks as one of Silverberg's best novels...Written during Robert Silverberg's artistic/creative peak (the 1980's), this book deals with the complex issues of personal faith, spiritualism and religion... it is at times violent, passionate, poetic, sensual, symbolic & profound... and it will leave you speechless...Silverberg also introduced some of his most sympathetic, likable characters here... anyone who has ever faced an obstacle or dealt with a disability (mental or physical) will surely find inspiration in the character of Tom. I've had my hardback copy for 15 years; it's one of my all-time favorite novels and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning what GOOD sci-fi is all about.

Probably the best book Silverberg has written, in my opinion. Left me thinking for weeks about the nature of religion and humanity's relationship to the unknowable. It doesn't offer any easy answers, but rather poses the *real* questions better than almost any book I know of -- and knowing what the questions really are is the most important step in finding the answers.

Tom O'Bedlam is an example of a separate genre. Like the Dune Series, Stranger in a Strange land and the Godmakers, it is science fiction with a religious quality. It left me feeling stunned.