Kingdoms of the Wall

This fabulous story is told to us by Poilar Crookleg, who is about to ascend the mountain of Kosa Saag, like his forefathers before him, along with 39 comrades, to perform the holy pilgrimage to meet the gods. What follows is a tale of friendship, hardship and the power of faith, not to mention a hell of a Rite of Passage. Great, fully fleshed characters, incredible imagination, a true sense of mystery and fantastic twists, turns and surprises. What is up there on the summit? What are the Kingdoms of the Wall? Who will survive the journey and who will not? What a great author Robert Silverberg is. A true master of his genre. This book is spellbinding. Read it.

Like an ancient palimpsest, this is a book with layers of meaning. Picture a planet whose physical features are dominated by a single tremendously massive mountain peak with attendant foot-hills. At the foot of the mountain are clustered numerous villages, each with defined strata of clans and guild-like rankings. The people of the villages revere an ancient ancestor who is believed to have scaled the mountain and at its peak met with and received gifts from the Gods that enabled him to kick-start "human" civilization. Every year in commemoration, each village sends a team of chosen Pilgrims to replicate his climb. Few have returned from this pilgrimage and none of those few returnees has retained his or her sanity. To be selected as one of the Pilgrims is a sought-after honor that most of the village children aspire to. The story follows one team of Pilgrims through the words of Poilar Crookleg, its leader. Silverberg takes us through the culling of the Pilgrims from the pool of applicants (a process that first causes Poilar to begin questioning some of his beliefs) and on to the actual climb. On its trek, the team of Pilgrims must surmount numerous hazards ranging from the violent to the beguiling. Many are the temptations to turn aside and leave the Pilgrimage; the growing hardships, the lure of sirens, the seductive hypnosis of the Kavnalla, the bliss of eternal youth. These are well described indeed, in their allure and their horror, and I initially thought Silverberg was spinning an allegorical rite of passage.The culmination of the Pilgrimage however shatters the Pilgrims (through the reader sees it coming well beforehand). I do not wish to spoil the pleasure of readers so I will only say that Silverberg makes us feel the loss of moorings and direction experienced by the Pilgrims when they learn that their entire life has been given to a fable. A great work by a great author.

This is his best, in my opinion. The theme of the book is fairly simple (almost cliched when you get to the surprise near the end) yet it is still an engrossing read. However, the biggest surprise (unless you're smarter than me - not too hard!) is when you find out the nature of the main characters in the book, which happens not too far into it. All in all, a great book.

This book ios one of the best books that I've ever read. This is the only book that'll I'll read more then once and still be excited. He is by far one the best sci-fi writers of our times!