September Books 4) A Time of Changes

[nwhyte]

4) A Time of Changes, by Robert Silverberg

Two more Nebula winners to read, Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin and The Terminal Experiment by Robert J Sawyer

Comments

[scott_lynch]

Groovy. I read Rite of Passage and The Terminal Experiment within the last few months, and had fairly strong reactions to them. I'll lurk, and blather once you're finished with them.

[nwhyte]

I have not exactly been grabbed by Sawyer's prose in the past, but am trying to keep an open mind.

I don't think I've read anything by Panshin, or heard anything about Rite of Passage, so we will see...

[frumiousb]

I hadn't thought about Silverberg in years, and actually just got around to re-reading the Lord Valentine books. I thought that they stood up very well over time. Will have to look for A Time of Changes.

[nwhyte]

You'll have difficulty finding it in the shops, I think - it's well out of print. Though farily easy to get hold of online second-hand.

[dougs]

this was pretty much the first thing I read when ajr joined my friends list. My reactions to the book are in the comments there.

A good book.

[nwhyte]

Thanks - his review is much more complete than mine.

I've been trying to analyse what makes this a good read, compared to the many other books of the period about exploring inner space which have been forgotten. Partly that the society depicted, though a bit extreme in its rejection of the ego, is recognisable as an intensification of our own. Partly that the world is well-built, the landscapes and seascapes are vivid. And partly that the sex is well-described and convincingly unsatisfactory.