The Face of the Waters

Rating:
Summary: Collectivist SF
Review: Gripping in Silverberg's usual way because even his heroes are all too human--flawed people doing their best in extreme situations. The books sags a bit in the middle, but features a masterful and mind-blowing conclusion with both metaphysical and religious implications

Rating:
Summary: Drags on too long to maintain the required suspense
Review: Moby Dick meets Homer's Odyssey in this sci-fi adventure by Robert Silverberg. The planet Hydros is almost completely covered by water, and given the lack of sufficient metals to support a technological civilization, there is no escape. Our hero is Dr. Lawler, a respected healer and voice of reason, whose tiny collection of Earth-made artifacts ties him to the dreams of a lost past on a distant home world. Captain Delagard is the irrationally motivated merchant prince who uses his dreams of greatness to justify the most disreputable sort of means. Tricked into a seemingly endless voyage to nowhere, the ragtag crew of human survivors faces terrible dangers before deciding if they want to maintain their essential humanity, or trade it in for the possibility of something far greater.

From a sci-fi perspective, the best part of this novel is the dazzling array of bizarre alien life forms, but most are just one-shot threats, and only the island-building Gillies are really developed to any extent. There are long sections where Silverberg seems to be more interested in the psycho-social dynamics of the ship's crew than in the voyage itself, a tactic that only emphasizes how wooden and one-dimensional these characters are to begin with. Our perspective being such that only the doctor is really important to us, none of the others are sufficiently realistic, complex, or engaging to sustain the kind of psychological thriller that Silverberg seems intent on creating. So while this book is not a bad read, there are too many long stretches where the writer seems to be killing time before the next alien attack. And after the long journey's end, the grand conclusion we were waiting for is based on one of the more tired clichés in science fiction. Silverberg's fans will surely enjoy this book, but given his prodigious output, casual readers would be better advised to pick one of his better novels over this substandard effort. I personally suggest the beautiful and delicate Nightwings, or the monumental The World Inside.

Rating:
Summary: Drags on too long to maintain the required suspense
Review: Moby Dick meets Homer's Odyssey in this sci-fi adventure by Robert Silverberg. The planet Hydros is almost completely covered by water, and given the lack of sufficient metals to support a technological civilization, there is no escape. Our hero is Dr. Lawler, a respected healer and voice of reason, whose tiny collection of Earth-made artifacts ties him to the dreams of a lost past on a distant home world. Captain Delagard is the irrationally motivated merchant prince who uses his dreams of greatness to justify the most disreputable sort of means. Tricked into a seemingly endless voyage to nowhere, the ragtag crew of human survivors faces terrible dangers before deciding if they want to maintain their essential humanity, or trade it in for the possibility of something far greater.

From a sci-fi perspective, the best part of this novel is the dazzling array of bizarre alien life forms, but most are just one-shot threats, and only the island-building Gillies are really developed to any extent. There are long sections where Silverberg seems to be more interested in the psycho-social dynamics of the ship's crew than in the voyage itself, a tactic that only emphasizes how wooden and one-dimensional these characters are to begin with. Our perspective being such that only the doctor is really important to us, none of the others are sufficiently realistic, complex, or engaging to sustain the kind of psychological thriller that Silverberg seems intent on creating. So while this book is not a bad read, there are too many long stretches where the writer seems to be killing time before the next alien attack. And after the long journey's end, the grand conclusion we were waiting for is based on one of the more tired clichés in science fiction. Silverberg's fans will surely enjoy this book, but given his prodigious output, casual readers would be better advised to pick one of his better novels over this substandard effort. I personally suggest the beautiful and delicate Nightwings, or the monumental The World Inside.

Rating:
Summary: Collectivist SF
Review: My guess is that Silverberg's intention with this novel was to take the Campbell/Heinlein/Golden Age paradigm of man mastering his environment and turn it on its head. The end, which I won't spoil for you Silverberg fans intent on reading it, strikes this individualist as the most philosophically corrupt ending he has ever read. That said, the book is written with Silverberg's usual intelligence and skill; he brings a hellish world to horrifying life.

Rating:
Summary: Fatalism at its Best
Review: Robert Silverberg's novel, The Face of the Waters, is one of his better novels. I believe that the soul of the novel lies not in the characters themselves, but in their reactions to the situations presented. If I were to pick one character which Silverberg has developed, it would be the Doctor. He is pretty much the only character that Silverberg chooses to develop well, but this does not detract from the novel. Instead, it gives the reader insight enough to understand the implications and strength of the end of the novel. Without the Doctor's inclination to be a loner, yet his desire to fit in, the ending could not have the impact it does.

Yes, the journey/plot sometimes lags, but one has to admire the richness of Silverberg's world of Hydros. Many other authors simply leave it at the fact that the world is an alien one and that it's different form Earth. Silverberg, on the other hand, shows the biodiversity of Hydros (which is a key aspect of the novel).

Overall, Silverberg creates a rich world teeming with alien life and infested with the few humans who live on Hydros. In my opinion, he develops well the only character who matters and creates a great story. Unlike some of his other books (namely The Stochastic Man and To Open the Sky), Silverberg does not let his apparent fatalism, cynicism, and pessimism influence the novel too much, leaving the reader with just the right combination of all three, with even a bit of optimism thrown in. In general, I think Silverberg did a wonderful job in writing this novel, and, unlike another reader, I'm going to keep it and not return it to the second-hand bookstore.