In Which We Discuss Robert Silverberg

Warning; this post will contain spoilers for Nightwings and Downward to the Earth, especially if you've read one but not the other.

We've got that out of the way now? No one here who doesn't want to be? Good.

I finished Nightwings in a rush last night, and I found myself struck by how similar the ending was to that of Downward to the Earth.

In Downward to the Earth, the hero takes part in a ceremony which changes his body, and makes him one with the other creatures on the planet. There's also another character in whom the ritual fails, due to their own moral failings.

That's also how Nightwings ends. In Nightwings, there are actually two ceremonies - one called 'renewal', in which the body becomes physically younger, and another which involves joining together with the minds of the other beings on the planet.

I find it interesting that Silverberg has repeated this idea, of a physical change as a new beginning, and this goal of full, true, empathy between various - very different - people. In both cases, this change is difficult to attain, and those who want it most, for their own selfish reasons, fail, while those who seek true redemption succeed.

Just a thought.