Lord Valentine's Castle

Lord Valentine's Castle, the 1980 novel that launched Robert Silverberg's Majipoor series, earned the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel the following year and was also nominated for a Hugo. The story unfolds on the planet Majipoor, where multiple species coexist—mostly peacefully, though the native shapeshifters, the Metamorphs, are met with suspicion. Four rulers govern in concert: the Coronal (the chief executive), the Pontifex (always a former Coronal), the Lady of the Isle of Dreams (the Coronal's mother, who sends pleasant dreams), and the King of Dreams (who dispatches nightmares to keep order).

The protagonist, Valentine, awakens in the city of Pidruid with no memory. A boy named Shanamir teaches him about the world, and Valentine soon joins a juggling troupe that includes four-armed Skandars, a Vroon sorcerer called Deliamber, a man named Sleet, and a woman named Carabella, who becomes his lover. Through recurring, vivid dreams, Valentine learns he is the true Coronal—his soul was stolen, and a usurper, Dominin Barjazid (son of the King of Dreams), now occupies his body. Determined to reclaim his identity, Valentine sets out to seek help from the Lady of the Isle of Dreams, his mother.

As the troupe travels across Majipoor, it grows in size and faces numerous perils: ape-like Forest Brethren, carnivorous plants, Metamorph attacks, and a shipwreck caused by sea dragons. Reaching the Isle of Dreams, Valentine undergoes spiritual tests to meet the Lady, who gives him a magical circlet that restores his memories and grants him influence over others' minds. He then journeys to the Labyrinth, an underground maze of bureaucracy, to find the Pontifex Tyeveras—an ancient man kept alive by machines. Despite his frailty, Tyeveras pledges support.

With two of Majipoor's rulers backing him, Valentine raises an army and marches on Castle Mount. There, Dominin Barjazid, trapped in the castle, shuts off the atmospheric generators that provide heat and air at the high elevation, endangering hundreds of millions. Valentine enters the castle, captures Dominin, and learns that the King of Dreams has been replaced by a Metamorph. The entire conspiracy was a Metamorph rebellion against human rule. The novel concludes with Valentine reclaiming his throne and the juggling troupe performing at his coronation.

Critical reception was mixed. Greg Costikyan, writing in *Are