Science Fiction Book Review Podcast · Luke Burrage

SFBRP #574 – Robert Silverberg – A Time of Changes

·33 min·2 clips

The book’s central rule is that saying “I” and “me” is treated as a crime.

1. Science Fiction Book Review Podcast #574 covers Robert Silverberg’s A Time of Changes, a 1971 Nebula-winning novel about the planet Borthan. 2. Luke Burridge hosts the episode, and Juliana joins as the regular co-host who reacts to the book’s premise and plot turns. 3. The episode asks why A Time of Changes matters in the 1971 science-fiction canon and whether its social idea still lands today. 4. Luke says Borthan treats the words “I” and “me” as obscene, and he reads a blurb that calls self-bearing a crime punished by exile or death. 5. He compares that setup to The Left Hand of Darkness and 1984, because the society controls speech in order to control thought. 6. Luke explains that the novel is written as a memoir in first person, which makes the act of saying “I” part of the book’s structure. 7. He says the protagonist, Kinal Dararval, is a prince of Salia whose father dies and whose position as a second son becomes dangerous. 8. Luke describes Kinal’s flight into exile, wilderness life, and later connection to a trading city through bond-brother and bond-sister ties. 9. He says those bond relationships function like a social network, since they let people be open with a small trusted circle. 10. Luke notes that the story eventually brings in drugs and telepathic contact, which he treats as a very 1970s science-fiction move. 11. He says the drug creates a mental link between people in the same room, turning the novel toward mind-melding and social transformation. 12. Luke also says he realized midway through the audiobook that he had read the novel before, probably in the 1990s from a charity shop or library copy. 13. He comments that very little of the book stayed in his memory, which surprised him given how distinct the premise is. 14. The episode spends time on the book’s indirect speech rules, including the example that one should ask, “Is there a room to be had?” instead of using direct first-person phrasing. 15. Luke argues that the novel is clever because it forces a character to expose his life, shame, and contradictions through a memoir that keeps returning to selfhood. 16. He says the protagonist’s sexual insecurity, including premature ejaculation, becomes a major recurring detail and not just a throwaway joke. 17. Luke describes the novel’s tone as focused, self-analytical, and strongly shaped by 1970s ideas about drugs, psychology, and social rebellion. 18. He and Juliana keep the conversation conversational and evaluative, with Luke often pausing to compare Silverberg to other science-fiction novels. 19. Listeners who like 1970s SF, social thought experiments, and award-history discussion will get the most from it. 20. Listeners who want fast action or dislike extended introspection may skip it.

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