The Book of Skulls
| File:Bookofskulls.jpg Cover of first edition (hardcover) | |
| Author | Robert Silverberg |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Robert Aulicino |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Charles Scribner's Sons |
Publication date | 1972 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 222 |
| ISBN | 0-684-12590-0 |
| OCLC | 240381 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.S573 Bo PS3569.I472 |
The Book of Skulls is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg, first published in 1972. It was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1972,[1] and both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1973.[2]
Synopsis
The plot concerns four college students who discover a Catalan manuscript, The Book of Skulls, dealing with an order of monks living in a monastery in the Arizona desert, whose members claim the power to bestow immortality on those who complete their bizarre initiation rite. Most morbid among the order's mysteries is the ninth: for each group of four initiates, only two will become immortal; one will sacrifice himself; and one will be sacrificed by the others. The boys travel across America to the monastery, where they are accepted as a "Receptacle" and told that if one was to leave after swearing their life to the order, the three others would be forfeit.
Reception
Baird Searles found the novel well-crafted but unsatisfying, saying of the viewpoint characters that "none [were] particularly likeable, interesting, or convincing."[3] James Blish, despite finding the novel a "noble failure," described it as "so unobtrusively, flawlessly written that even at its most puzzling it comes as perilously close to poetic beauty as any of the contemporary novels I've ever read."[4]
Film adaptation
In 2003, Paramount Pictures optioned the film rights, with William Friedkin to direct and Jeff Davis adapting.[5] No further development were made. The cover of the 2006 paperback edition[6] stated that the novel is "Soon to be made into a major motion picture". While there has been speculation on various film-related websites, plans for production failed to materialize.[7]
References
- ↑ "1972 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
- ↑ "1973 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
- ↑ "Boo Kreviews", The Haunt of Horror, June 1973, p.123
- ↑ "Books", F&SF, January 1973, p. 51
- ↑ Kit, Zorianna (August 4, 2003). "Par Pics to crack 'Skulls' for Friedken". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 25, 2003. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
- ↑ Silverberg, Robert (January 2006). The Book of Skulls. Del Rey/ Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-47138-5.
- ↑ "The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg".
External links
- The Book of Skulls title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Book of Skulls at Worlds Without End
