A New York Times Notable Book: A far-future coming-of-age tale from the SF Grand Master, “one of the world’s finest stylists and storytellers” (San Antonio Express-News).
“What wonders and adventures he has to tell us,” is how Ursula K. Le Guin characterized the work of Robert Silverberg, and in The Longest Way Home, he takes readers on another dazzling odyssey.
Joseph, fifteen and separated from his family in the land known as Getfen, awakens to an attack on the Great House in which he is visiting. Narrowly escaping with his life but still pursued by enemies who wish to see him killed, Joseph must journey across a dark, unfamiliar world on his quest to return to his home of Helikis and his father. He has thousands of miles to travel and much to learn about this perilous alien world in transition—and about himself.
“What the greatly changed Joseph might find at the end of his journey, and how he might react, are questions that I came to care deeply about.” —The New York Times Book Review
“The Longest Way Home recalls, in a lot of ways, the old-time frontier adventures, not the ones with the cowboys and the Indians, but the ones where people have to learn to survive in the wilderness or along the prairie. [Joseph’s] adventures in survival are exciting, and the travels along this world are a pleasant escape.” —SF Site
“This engaging, entertaining book is a fast read with many thoughtful themes.” —School Library Journal