Bibliography Entry: The Fall of the Towers

The Fall of the Towers

Editions

Publisher	Country	Date	Pages	Binding	Out of Print?	For sale?
Ace	USA	1971	-	Paperback	Y
Sphere	UK	-	-	Paperback	Y
Gregg Press	USA	1977	-	Hardcover	Y	[Buy from Amazon]
Bantam Books	USA	1982	401	Paperback	Y	[Buy from Amazon]

Brain-dead publishing hack summary:

"Out of the ashes of the Great Fire arose the mighty empire of Toromon, poised to war against an evil entity from across space called THE LORD OF THE FLAMES." (Bantam 1982)

What the books are actually about:

Once again, the world is recovering from nuclear annihilation. Superscience and post-civilized, telepathic mutants sit comfortably side by side, and most of the likeable characters sound like bright, cosmopolitan high school or college students, with their free-ranging discussions and interests in ethics and ideals. It's possible that I'm reading too much into the text, but it seems clear that Delany was writing what he knew when he created his characters.

Plot plays a central role in the trilogy, as well as the ethical ramifications of science. Each of the three books is nominally structured around a confrontation between the book's protagonists and the Lord of the Flames, a nebulous galactic nemesis whose motivations are never made clear. However, the confrontations are often in odd places in the books, and each book also has a plot that makes it perfectly adequate on its own.

Last updated: Jan 9, 1998 at 15:31

Forrest L Norvell