Majipoor Cycle

The first three novels in the acclaimed sci-fi fantasy series from the award-winning author: "An imaginative fusion of action, sorcery, and science fiction" (The New York Times Book Review). In the first three books of the Majipoor Cycle, Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Robert Silverberg delivered a vast and vividly imagined world full of epic adventure, court intrigue, and high drama.  In Lord Valentine's Castle, an amnesiac wanderer receives dreams of his true destiny as ruler of the planet Majipoor. In Majipoor Chronicles, the planet's bloodthirsty history is revealed through tales of rulers and thieves. And in the final novel, Valentine Pontifex, Valentine faces the threat of civil war as well as conspiracy within his court.

In the third novel of this acclaimed sci-fi/fantasy series, the ruler of a vast planet faces a threat of war-and conspiracy within his own court. Plagued by nightmares of blizzards and earthquakes besieging the planet Majipoor, Lord Valentine believes these dreams signal the coming of war between his people and the Shapeshifters, who once ruled the planet. For centuries they have conspired to regain their stolen world, and recently they were discovered impersonating members of the kingdom's inner circle. Since coming to power, Valentine has made peaceful overtures to the Shapeshifters. This has led select members of the royal court to question his loyalties. Now some even want to remove Valentine from his governing role-casting him into the higher, ceremonial office of Pontifex. But if Valentine accepts the mantle of Pontifex and surrenders his position to his successor-in-waiting, he may be remembered as a leader who evaded his duties-and shattered the peace that has reigned for eight thousand years. . . . "[Valentine Pontifex is] a dance of conflicting emotions and political intrigue. Both the world and Lord Valentine have matured, and the trilogy becomes whole in a way that the form rarely achieves." -The Village Voice "There's an almost hypnotic grandeur to the thoughtful way Silverberg weaves the strands of the story together, effortlessly jugging the various motifs." -Publishers Weekly