A thousand years before Lord Valentine, the Majipoor Cycle explores another grand epic in a world conceived on a truly epic scale.
One of the best-loved science fiction sagas of all time finds new resonance in the unforgettable tale of treachery and passion, destiny and war.
On the gigantic planet Majipoor, it is a time of ancient mysteries and new wonders. The aged Pontifex Prankipin, who brought sorcery (and prosperity) to the Fifty Cities of Castle Mount, is at last near death. Omens are seen, prodigies are born, wine and blood are consumed...even the sea-dragons have been glimpsed from the cliffs. Truly, a change is at hand!
The Coronal Lord Confalume, who will become Pontifex, decides to begin 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 cannot rule the seemingly endless castle with its 30,000 rooms. Besides, everyone knows that young Korsibar is an outdoorsman, preferring the pleasures of the hunt to the intrigues of the court.
What everyone does not know it that the hunter has a new and secret quarry – the Starburst Crown. Korsibar has been visited by an oracle. From the thin lips of the two-headed Su-Suheris, he has heard the whispered words that will plunge the planet into a fearsome conflagration, engulfing all the myriad races of Majipoor in a war to alter destiny itself.
You will shake the world!