Review of "Face of the Waters" by Robert Silverberg

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The Face Of The Waters
by Robert Silverberg

Review Copyright (c) 1991 Andrew J. Walley

With humanity spread through the galaxy on hundreds of worlds, there
is still no world quite like Hydros. It is totally devoid of land and its
seas are filled with life, much of it seemingly intelligent. The dominant
life-form, called "Gillies" by the humans, build massive floating rafts
large enough for small communities to live on, safe from the largely
inimical sea-life. Man is barely tolerated by the Gillies, who refuse to
allow all advanced technology which means that it is a one-way trip for
anyone wishing to descend to the planet's surface. Humans are forced to live
a simple existence, communicating by radio and their small fleet of trading
ships.

The story follows Lawler, the doctor on the island of Sorve as he is
forced to leave his quiet little life behind to voyage across Hydros'
colourful seas in search of somewhere new to live. Like "Lord Valentine's
Castle" this is a colourful adventure on a weird and wonderful planet and
Silverberg's inventive mind creates enough strange sea creatures to satisfy
the reader's curiosity. The character of Lawler is reasonably well drawn but
some of the other characters are inconsistent in their opinions and actions.
The finale is not unexpected and something of an anti-climax but on the
whole this is a reasonable read. (7/10)

N.B. The publisher's synopsis on the cover tends to spoil one of the
intended surprises in the book.

%A Robert Silverberg
%T The Face Of The Waters
%D 1991
%P 348 pages
%I Grafton Books, Hammersmith, London
%O Hardback, 13 pounds 99p
%G ISBN 0-246-13718-5