Lord Prestimion Series by Robert Silverberg

The Long-Awaited Prequel! A thousand years before Lord Valentine, the Majipoor Cycle explores another grand epic in a world conceived on a truly epic scale.On the planet Majipoor, it is a time of great change. The aged Pontifex Prankipin, who brought sorcery (and prosperity) to the Fifty Cities of Castle Mount, is dying. The Coronal Lord Confalume, who will become Pontifex, begins the Funeral Games before his own replacement is chosen... moreThe Long-Awaited Prequel! A thousand years before Lord Valentine, the Majipoor Cycle explores another grand epic in a world conceived on a truly epic scale.On the planet Majipoor, it is a time of great change. The aged Pontifex Prankipin, who brought sorcery (and prosperity) to the Fifty Cities of Castle Mount, is dying. The Coronal Lord Confalume, who will become Pontifex, begins the Funeral Games before his own replacement is chosen. It is no secret that the next Coronal will be Prince Prestimion. By law and custom, the blood son of the present Coronal, Korsibar, an avid hunter'cannot rule. But Korsibar has a secret quarry'the Starburst Crown. Visited by an oracle, Korsibar has heard a prophecy that will plunge the planet into a fearsome conflagration and alter destiny itself: "You will shake the world!"Outstanding Praise for The Majipoor Cycle"Plotted like a Shakespearian play.... With a brand new cast of characters and engaging conflicts of heart and soul, Silverberg'one of the world's finest stylists and storytellers'breathes fresh life (and quality) into sci-fi's sister genre."-- "San Antonio Express News""Boasting Machiavellian plot twists, underhanded and power-hungry backstabbers, and plenty of literary allusions, Sorcerers of Majipoor serves as a fine historical foundation for a wondrous world. Readers, both old and new, will want to accompany him in exploring this treasure trove of imagination."--Des Moines (IA) Sunday Register"Silverberg has created a big planet, chock-a-block with life and potential stories."-- "The Washington Post""There are two things that abide: absolute awe at Silverberg's capacity for creating images ... he makes yousee, believe, be there witnessing ... and [the] overarching compassion that colors every word and all the souls in his enormous planet."-- "Los Angeles Times""I was happy to visit Majipoor again, and to know there's room on that great and grand world for even more events to be chronicled."-- "Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine" "A grand picaresque tale by one of the great storytellers of the century." --Roger Zelazny less

As the Majipoor Cycle continues, Prestimion, the new Coronal Lord of Majipoor, has finally earned the Starburst Crown, after a bloody civil war no one remembers. In his hour of triumph, Pestimion will face a threat to his kingdom far more insidious than war--a twisted madness that cannot be controlled.

The years since first he gained the Starburst Crown have been difficult ones for Coronal Lord Prestimion and the vast, unfathomable realm he rules. But finally peace has been restored to Majipoor. And now it is time for Prestimion to name the able Prince Dekkeret his succeeding Coronal and to descend to the Labyrinth as Pontifex. But a power from a dark past that both men believed was dead is stirring once again -- an evil more potent and devastating than either leader dares to remember... moreThe years since first he gained the Starburst Crown have been difficult ones for Coronal Lord Prestimion and the vast, unfathomable realm he rules. But finally peace has been restored to Majipoor. And now it is time for Prestimion to name the able Prince Dekkeret his succeeding Coronal and to descend to the Labyrinth as Pontifex. But a power from a dark past that both men believed was dead is stirring once again -- an evil more potent and devastating than either leader dares to remember. Once, decades past, a then knight-initiate Dekkeret had his dreams stolen from him. His quest for recovery led him to a remarkable helmet that could invade the psyches of sleeping foes, a device the newly anointed Coronal Prestimion later used to defeat his enemy Dantirya Sambail, tyrant of the continent Zimroel. In the fires of civil war, the terrible weapon was destroyed forever -- or so it was believed. The noxious weed of rebellion was torn out at its roots but its seeds have borne frightening fruit. Dantirya Sambail is dead, and the hungry jackals who ran at his heels now scheme to recover his lost lands and power. At their head is the tyrant's former henchman Mandralisca -- a villain of great wiles and icy heart, who somehow has unleashed a devastating plague of the mind upon Prestimion's subjects. Dark visions are invading the sleep of those loyal to the Lords and the Lady of Majipoor -- soul-shattering scenes of madness and monstrosity, driving those inflicted to commit horrible, destructive acts. And the dark wave is flowing ever-closer to the throne, seeping beneath the doors of the 30,000 rooms of the towering edifice atop Castle Mount ... and into sacrosanct depths of the Imperial Labyrinthitself. less